Fisher More Academy

[bluebonnetgirl]

Hello,

I am new here and hoping to get some advice. I am considering bringing my 5th grader home to homeschool as he enters 6th grade (middle school) in the fall. I am already homeschooling a teen with autism who requires much one on one assistance so I would prefer a largely independent curriculum for my soon to be 6th grader that I supervise vs teach. I am looking at Fisher More Academy. Does anyone here have any thoughts or experience with this curriculum? We are Catholic.


The live interactive online classes are attractive and the structure as well.   The accountability to another adult besides me is also a bonus.



My 5th grade son is a B student in a rigorous public school. He is not gifted, nor academically advanced nor a particularly motivated student but he gets the work done, albeit begrudgingly sometimes. He needs structure and routine or he will get lost in endless distractions and his imagination. He is an artist and loves to draw, make movies, create, and will likely pursue this as a profession.



Any thoughts on curriculum for him?



Thanks!

 

[ssavings]

A few people in my local Catholic homeschool group are using Fisher More for writing and literature classes this year. They have been pleased with the quality of education their children are receiving, and I would consider them to be rigorous homeschoolers.

Edited to add: 

They have said that the Fisher More classes are a significant amount more work than they expected (as compared to Seton, which they used previously), so I'd be prepared for that. 

 

[elah]

I'm also bringing my 5th grader home for 6th grade and have looked into them as well. I thought that maybe it would be an easier transition for us. Hopefully someone else has experience! The one thing that makes me leary is that I signed up to be invited to their webinars back in the fall. They said that the info would be sent out in January for the Feb. ones. I have yet to receive any info on it and I have also sent them 2 follow up emails trying to get them to respond with no luck. Not sure how to take that!

[elah]

A friend just emailed me this from her local HS mom's email group. Thought you might find it helpful. I emailed her a few questions and if I hear back from her I'll post those answers as well. 

 

"A few people have asked me about how our year is going at Fisher More Academy, so I thought I would write about my experience and send it to everyone in case someone was wondering about a school for next year. 

 

First, I would say that I believe Fisher More to be unique in the sense that they are only an on-line school.  They do not offer classes that are not on-line, like Mother of Divine Grace, for example.  Also, their classes are live and they are offered Monday through Thursday from morning until afternoon.  In this respect, they resemble a regular school day plan.  It is necessary for students to attend these classes each day or they will not be able to keep up with the work and they are graded on attendance as well.  For us, this part of the arrangement has been an absolute God send!  Children have instructors that hold them accountable, students that they interact with and deadlines they have to meet.  The classes are live, but if there is a need – illness, appointment, death, etc., the teachers can be contacted and the classes recorded. 

 

There are three time-zone schedules that families can choose from – Central, Eastern and Pacific.  If you are early risers, you can take the Eastern time schedule and begin classes at 8:30 Central time.  If you are late risers, like we are, you can choose Pacific Time and begin classes at 10:30 and finish at 1:30.  Certain classes – Math and Foreign Language are held every day.  The others are held once a week. 

 

Each year, children are scheduled for a standard curriculum of History, Literature, Math, Science, Religion and Foreign Language.  If there is a need, the curriculum can be amended to fit the child.  We, for example, dropped Science for this year.  If it is necessary, children may take longer to complete their High School Education – five years for example.  Or they may move more quickly through their courses and take classes for college credit in their senior year.  Because FisherMore Academy is also a college, it is possible for students to take some courses on-line. 

 

All in all, I feel Fisher More is a great school.  There are some rough points though.  We feel that it is a pretty tough school.  There is a lot of work.  Some of the books are difficult.  (Warren Carroll’s History of Christendom is the freshman History book --- NOT easy at all!!!!)  There is some flexibility with deadlines, but not much.  We had some difficulty with this in the first quarter.  In the second quarter, we knew the parameters.  We still needed extensions, but we were better prepared and the teachers were more accommodating for some reason.  In fact, I was very pleased with all the help provided.  The Latin teacher, for example, spent at least 10 extra hours, outside of class, to help students who were having trouble.  And the wonderful thing is that this was all done at our kitchen table!  That is awesome! 

 

I should also mention that the week for exams and papers is called “Dead Week.† The children don’t attend classes, they only work on their papers or exams.  It sounds easy, and we were very fooled by this.  It can be brutal!  Our first quarter I told the administrator that “Dead Week†was a very appropriate name for it because by the end of it, I was almost dead!!!!!! You may be wondering why it was ME that was almost dead and not my daughter, but there was a lot of whining and late nights (almost all nighters!!!) and lack of understanding of material and deadlines and ill preparedness, etc., etc., etc., Furthermore, any shortcomings that your homeschooled children may have will really become obvious when someone else is trying to teach them….

 

All that being said, while we have our shortcomings, I will say that some of the teachers have shortcomings, too…  They aren’t perfect -  I’ve had differences of opinion on some grading, manner of teaching and speed at which students are expected to move through material.  I have also felt that at times there was too much work for them to do.  But I can also say that this second quarter there were improvements in many of these areas.  I also reminded myself this quarter that this is a HOMESCHOOL opportunity.  So, to a certain extent I have taken back the reigns of working with my daughter and making allowances for her when they are needed.  For example, we do the History class together.  She does her own quizzes, but I help her to arrange her material for papers and homework.  We also read the book together, I might add.  And that has been good for me – Warren Carroll does have a lot to teach his readers!!!!!!

 

All in all, I think it’s a great school.  We fully intend to return next year.  I love hearing the teachers pray with the children.  I love hearing them talk about the saint of the day.  I love my daughter having the wholesome environment.  And the reason I’m telling all of you about my experience is because I hope to bring more people to this opportunity for schooling.  I think we need to support environments like this.  Today we need offerings like this more than ever and what they offer is unique. I’m not getting any kick-back from the school or anything like that.  I just know that for me, when the day came to choose a high school, it was a nightmare.  We stewed and suffered over the whole thing.  We didn’t want to lose the home school environment, but my daughter was not taking enough direction from me for her to ever receive a high school diploma.  FisherMore allowed us to have the best of both worlds.  I also wish that there were more people giving their input of various school experiences.  We could all help each other that way.  I know I could have used some ideas last year.

 

Whew!!!!!  Well that was LONG winded!  Please feel free to pass this information along. And, God bless all of you!"

[OneStepAtATime]

Have you considered something that would be less rigid and time consuming than an entirely on-line school requiring several hours of mandatory attendance every day that would allow your child some leeway on areas of interest?  He might be more motivated if he were able to pick certain topics himself, such as certain areas of history or science that he is particularly interested in, and had the opportunity to pursue them in a way he has some say so in.  I know that with DS especially he has really taken off with his love of history because he has free time every afternoon to do research, watch documentaries, etc on the areas of history he has real interest in.  And those pursuits have lead to his expanding his areas of interest exponentially.  

 

Keep in mind that there will be an adjustment period coming home from a brick and mortar school and having that ability to pursue something he might really enjoy could keep him going during difficult times and might provide him with some great areas of detailed pursuit that can be turned into job and extracurricular opportunities later on.  DVD's coupled with one of the many already created curriculums out there might give him some independence without putting tremendous time pressure on him or you in these subjects.  The core subjects could still be outsourced in some way.  Have you looked at Angelicum?  Our Catholic neighbors are going through them and are happy.

 

Best wishes....