X-Post - Anything Even Easier than American School?

[Negin]

Dd is doing American School and she's doing very well, given that it's rather bland at times.  

Their math is simply awful, however. I have never, ever seen a worst math program than theirs :banghead:. 

Their writing also leaves much to be desired. 

The only reason we went with American School is that it's accredited, simple for the most part, and all the other advantages that have been mentioned in other threads. 

I'm concerned for ds who will need to start on a high school program in the next year or two. He struggles. Is there anything that's even simpler and is accredited? Thank you. He'll do fine with all the subjects except their math and writing. He doesn't do well with most writing programs. He does fine with most math programs, but again, American School's math simply and absolutely stinks :blink:. 

[TLC]

ACE's Lighthouse Academy and Christian Light Education both have vocational hs diplomas available.  

[Negin]

Thank you so much. 

I forgot to mention that we'd prefer something secular. 

[Jann in TX]

Many state universities have high school programs (not the same as dual enrollment).  In Texas these qualify as public schools so the credits will transfer to a brick and mortar school if that is ever necessary.  Some classes are independent study, some are online, some are recorded and some are final (test) based only. 

 

I've sent two kids to college with just my mommy diploma.  No questions asked.

 

[Jann in TX]

Many state universities have high school programs (not the same as dual enrollment).  In Texas these qualify as public schools so the credits will transfer to a brick and mortar school if that is ever necessary.  Some classes are independent study, some are online, some are recorded and some are final (test) based only. 

 

I've sent two kids to college with just my mommy diploma.  No questions asked.

 

[Negin]

Many state universities have high school programs (not the same as dual enrollment).  In Texas these qualify as public schools so the credits will transfer to a brick and mortar school if that is ever necessary.  Some classes are independent study, some are online, some are recorded and some are final (test) based only. 

 

I've sent two kids to college with just my mommy diploma.  No questions asked.

Jann, thank you. It's quite comforting to hear that you sent your two kids to college without a high school accredited program. I am leaning towards that for ds - to just focus on doing what we do - an eclectic approach and lots of SAT/ACT prep. 

[Lanny]

Many state universities have high school programs (not the same as dual enrollment).  In Texas these qualify as public schools so the credits will transfer to a brick and mortar school if that is ever necessary.  Some classes are independent study, some are online, some are recorded and some are final (test) based only. 

 

I've sent two kids to college with just my mommy diploma.  No questions asked.

 

If the OP is looking for something easy, TTUISD is not in that category. Rigorous courses, based on what we are seeing now. And, Texas will still require 5 EOC examinations (down from 15), for high school graduation and those examinations are very difficult. And, there is a lot of writing, which he would have a problem with.

 

I understand that some other schools (University of Missouri?) have Multiple Choice tests, which can be scored by a computer, so that would be much easier for him, but I don't know if that also applies to their High School. Check into the different high school programs run by public universities (Missouri, Nebraska, Mississippi, Indiana, etc.)

 

OT: Congrats Jann in TX! 2 successful kids in college!  :-)

[gingersmom]

If the OP is looking for something easy, TTUISD is not in that category. Rigorous courses, based on what we are seeing now. 

 

That has not been my experience. We just dropped a 8th grade science class that required you to do 2 word searches and submit to the teacher to be graded. Can't get easier than that!

 

Then there was the useless video to watch and a whopping two question quiz about it. The questions were so easy you could just answer them without watching the video. 

[Catwoman]

Dd is doing American School and she's doing very well, given that it's rather bland at times.

Their math is simply awful, however. I have never, ever seen a worst math program than theirs :banghead:.

Their writing also leaves much to be desired.

The only reason we went with American School is that it's accredited, simple for the most part, and all the other advantages that have been mentioned in other threads.

I'm concerned for ds who will need to start on a high school program in the next year or two. He struggles. Is there anything that's even simpler and is accredited? Thank you. He'll do fine with all the subjects except their math and writing. He doesn't do well with most writing programs. He does fine with most math programs, but again, American School's math simply and absolutely stinks :blink:.

Which math classes did your dd take at American School? I know they use Larson Algebra, which is actually a very solid program, and most of their other math courses are also based on popular texts from major textbook publishers.

 

Are you talking about the Essential Math courses? I'm not familiar with those at all, but it looks like they may be courses with the "written by American School staff" type of text, and they sound quite simplistic, so I could understand it if you're not impressed with those two classes.

 

Did you know that you can skip courses like Essential Math and start off in 9th grade with Algebra 1?

 

My ds is just getting ready to start the American School program later this month, so I'm hardly an expert on all of their courses, but it appears that they have a wide enough variety of course offerings that you can make it relatively easy or quite rigorous depending on which classes you choose for your kids. I called on a few occasions before I enrolled my ds13 and the people I spoke with were very helpful in letting me know which classes could be substituted for the courses my ds didn't need or want, so maybe you could give them a call and ask them to help you set up a program that would work for your ds.

 

I'm hoping that American School will work for my ds, but I only paid for a year at a time, just in case it turns out to be a bust! :)

[Guest]

Time4learning has a new high school program. Perhaps that might work for you? 

 

{For the record, I am not a newbie, don't have my kids using it, know nothing about it except it is there, and have been on these boards a while now. :)}

 

Easy Peasy?? oh wait, not accredited.

[Negin]

Thanks so much everyone. :)

 

Are you talking about the Essential Math courses?

Did you know that you can skip courses like Essential Math and start off in 9th grade with Algebra 1?

I'm hoping that American School will work for my ds, but I only paid for a year at a time, just in case it turns out to be a bust! :)

Yes, the Essential Math courses. I never knew about skipping those. No one told us. They were just mailed to us :confused1: . I may do that for ds. Thanks for letting me know. 

 

I feel quite relieved and happy that you're about to use American School for your ds also. This way I don't feel quite as alone in all this.  :grouphug:

[Catwoman]

Thanks so much everyone. :)

 

Yes, the Essential Math courses. I never knew about skipping those. No one told us. They were just mailed to us :confused1: . I may do that for ds. Thanks for letting me know.

 

I feel quite relieved and happy that you're about to use American School for your ds also. This way I don't feel quite as alone in all this. :grouphug:

When I registered my ds, I asked which 4 courses they were going to send us, and when I heard that Essential Math was one of them, I asked the woman I spoke with if I could substitute Algebra 1 for Essential Math and she said that I should just make a note of it in one of the little comments boxes on the online application form.

 

My ds has already done most of TT Algebra 1, but I didn't want him to test out of the American School course, because I noticed that they use the Larson texts for both Algebra and Geometry, so I wanted to be sure he didn't miss anything he needed to know. I also figured that some extra practice in algebra wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

I am kind of surprised that more people here aren't using American School if they are looking for an online or correspondence option. AS has far more courses than they used to offer, and students can take math courses all the way through calculus, and they also have good science offerings.

 

I think American School is what you make of it. Sure, kids can take easier courses and graduate with the minimum number of required credits, but they can also choose more challenging courses and add several classes to the required number in order to make their transcripts stronger. Additionally, I think it's a nice framework for high school, and I know we can add additional coursework (either stuff I design or classes taken at a local college or an online university,) as we see fit.

 

I know that an accredited diploma doesn't matter to many people, and it seems to work out for them just fine, but it does matter to my dh and I, so American School seems like it will be a good choice for our family.

 

That said, my ds hasn't even started his classes yet, so I'm hardly an expert on how it will work out in the long run! :blush:

[Negin]

I am kind of surprised that more people here aren't using American School if they are looking for an online or correspondence option. AS has far more courses than they used to offer, and students can take math courses all the way through calculus, and they also have good science offerings.

 

I know that an accredited diploma doesn't matter to many people, and it seems to work out for them just fine, but it does matter to my dh and I, so American School seems like it will be a good choice for our family.

Cat, thanks again. I couldn't agree more. :) Loved your post. 

[Lanny]

That has not been my experience. We just dropped a 8th grade science class that required you to do 2 word searches and submit to the teacher to be graded. Can't get easier than that!

 

Then there was the useless video to watch and a whopping two question quiz about it. The questions were so easy you could just answer them without watching the video. 

 

DD is in the 2nd semester of the 6th grade Science course (which is a "Print" course) and I would not classify  it as an "easy" course. To say nothing of trying to shop for one beaker, or one test tube, for an experiment  she needs to do. Nothing easy about the Final Exam for the English course. I believe half of the grade for the Final Exam was for the Essay portion of the exam. And the Final examinations count for 25% of the grade for the semester. DD loves Science, but at this time, the Middle School Art course (7th grade), which requires a LOT of work, is probably her favorite course. She spent about 50+ minutes on the Final Exam for the Science course, and 2 hours 10 minutes on the Final Exam for the Art course.