Blue Tent Honors English 1: Opinions and how many hours a week?

[Sunshine Mama]

If your child has done this class how did he/she like it? Also, how many hours a week would you say needs to be devoted to this class?

[Luckymama]

Dd liked it so much she took English 2 from Mrs. Proctor this year :D

 

The average week required about 6-7 hours. However, if it was an essay-writing week, dd needed much more time during the first half of the year. There were tears, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth-----------over things like writing a thesis statement or a proper conclusion. She could drag two pages out over eighty bazillion hours :rolleyes:

 

A perfectionist, she is :lol:

 

But that all passed :) By the end of the year, she had no problem getting started with writing. Thank goodness! And this year, she can bang out 300 words in one sitting without agonizing over each and every word.

 

For future reference, dd has been spending 6-10 hours a week on Blue Tent English 2 (I'm including time spent on tests and on the optional chats).

[teachermom2834]

My ds is in it this year.  He spends about 5 hours per week maybe.  He is a minimalist.  He will do what he needs to do to satisfy requirements and get a decent grade but he isn't going to try to make it perfect.  He is not going to be up for doing anything optional either.

 

He doesn't necessarily like the class because it is demanding and if he doesn't follow directions he can't slide by.  However, Mrs. Proctor is so stinking nice he can't dislike her/the class even when he has to redo something or do something annoying to him (like write a sonnet). 

 

We likely would have continued next year but the price has gone up and it is just too high for us.  But, we have gotten our money's worth and he has learned quite a bit. It has been thorough without being overwhelming for my kid who just works to get it done.

 

 I recommend it. 

[dereksurfs]

Thanks for both reviews, Luckymama and teachermom.  It's nice to see two sides of the coin on this.  I can imagine my son would probably have a similar experience as teachermom's ds.  He is a reluctant but compliant writer.  It's just not his favorite subject.  He would much rather spend more time on math and science.  So spending long hours on writing and rewriting, no matter how wonderful the teacher, is not going to thrill him.

[Luckymama]

Dd would try to get by with the minimum if she could :lol: But she knows that (1) the grade will be on her transcript, (2) if she wants to be considered for certain scholarships and colleges she needs specific classes, grades and scores, and (3) once she does well on an AP English exam she'll be able to choose whatever type of English class she wants for the remaining high school years.

 

Mrs. Proctor told me this week that dd has shown amazing growth and will be ready to take AP English Language next year (there is no way she'd want to do the Lit version--lit analysis w her is like pulling teeth omg). My English-hating yet motivated kid will "suffer" through a demanding English class next year to see that mythology/ancient lit light at the end of the tunnel :D

[Sunshine Mama]

Thank you everyone for your input!!

[Mom22ns]

Mrs. Proctor told me this week that dd has shown amazing growth and will be ready to take AP English Language next year 

 

You have contact with Mrs. Proctor? I have never heard anything from Blue Tent. We didn't get a mid-term grade in December (although I looked at dd's online grade book), no feedback to parents, ever. It is one of my complaints.

 

Dd's experience with English 2 is just like teachermom's ds. She hasn't been a fan, she doesn't do anything beyond the required, but she does feel like she has learned a lot and that her writing is improved. She got a grade on her first college paper today and it was 100%. I wouldn't have given it that high of a grade, but still, Mrs. Proctor would get my thanks if we were in touch. :)

[teachermom2834]

I have interacted with Mrs. Proctor once when I emailed her about something at the beginning of the year. She was very receptive and I suspect if I initiated contact she would respond. I have just used this course as an opportunity to be very hands off. We did get a very detailed midterm report and I check his online grade book which she keeps up to date. I do notice that she messsges ds and responds to any messages he sends her quickly so I would not say she is out of touch. I feel like I have opted to be out of touch or less involved. That is not a complaint I would ever have about Mrs. Proctor.

[LNC]

Best online classes ever. Up there with Lukeion Latin and PAH AP classes. I stay completely out of it - except to check grade book about 1x month. They work long and hard. For English (and Math), that time investment pays for itself in every other subject. They actually enjoy it and don't at all mind am 8-10 hr week. They definately realize the value of every component. Writing, literary analysis, poetry study, discussion forums - it covers everything well. They both want to take Blue Tent for AP English.

 

Mrs. Proctor is very involved teacher and mentor. She makes me want to get a teaching certificate, to go along with my BA in English. One committed teacher can really change the trajectory of a reluctant writer's academic future!

[LNC]

I also wanted to add my daughter turned in a sloppy first draft paper the week of an AP Psych midterm, Latin test and AP Gov big test. She had too many extracurricular commitments that week also.

 

She made a 70 on her first draft. She fixed it for the 2nd draft but could only earn a low 80 even though the paper would have been an A except for the sloppy first draft. She told me she learned a lesson about time management that all my nagging could never have accomplished. She wants to EARN As in her online classes. So she works really hard and has to learn to budget her time. That is the value of outside teachers in high school to us...

[Wildcat]

You have contact with Mrs. Proctor? I have never heard anything from Blue Tent. We didn't get a mid-term grade in December (although I looked at dd's online grade book), no feedback to parents, ever. It is one of my complaints.

 

I would check your spam files and contact Christine if you can't find it. It is surprising that you didn't receive a mid-term report, as my dc have taken four classes with Blue Tent and each one had a wonderful, incredibly detailed mid-term write up. Over the years, several e-mails were caught in my spam folder while others would go through. It was strange.

 

*If you have, say, yahoo or gmail and have them sent directly to your computer, definitely go to yahoo or google directly and log into check your spam folder ---- that is where my e-mails were stuck.

[Mom22ns]

I would check your spam files and contact Christine if you can't find it. It is surprising that you didn't receive a mid-term report, as my dc have taken four classes with Blue Tent and each one had a wonderful, incredibly detailed mid-term write up. Over the years, several e-mails were caught in my spam folder while others would go through. It was strange.

 

*If you have, say, yahoo or gmail and have them sent directly to your computer, definitely go to yahoo or google directly and log into check your spam folder ---- that is where my e-mails were stuck.

 

Nope, not in my junk mail and I don't use yahoo or gmail. The last message I got from Christine was in August, but I'm so glad to know there should have been more! I emailed her and hopefully whatever the communication snafu is, we'll get it fixed.

 

Just another case of TWTM to the rescue.

[Mom22ns]

Turns out they had a glitch in their grade book program and she has been having to go back through each students grades manually to create their mid-year reports for dd's class (didn't effect all the classes) and is way behind because of the problems. She did mine immediately since I asked about it. I wish they had notified everyone of the issue, but I am glad to get the feedback!

[Luckymama]

Turns out they had a glitch in their grade book program and she has been having to go back through each students grades manually to create their mid-year reports for dd's class (didn't effect all the classes) and is way behind because of the problems. She did mine immediately since I asked about it. I wish they had notified everyone of the issue, but I am glad to get the feedback!

Actually, she did---in one of the weekly messages before the list of assignments. Sometime late in January? Or maybe the first week of February?

 

I read the website every Monday morning while drinking my coffee :)

[Mom22ns]

Actually, she did---in one of the weekly messages before the list of assignments. Sometime late in January? Or maybe the first week of February?

 

I read the website every Monday morning while drinking my coffee :)

 

I don't have access to the website. Dd lost her password long ago. She has requested it be reset twice, but they never did it. The only way we can access the site is from her laptop that remembers the password. I only check in on the class sporadically, since the only way I can check on it is on her computer.

 

Putting something in a morning message that goes to the kids but not directly to the parents isn't all that helpful. Now from PA Homeschoolers I get weekly emails with the schedule and my own parent login to the site so I can read morning messages to my hearts content, check the grade book, etc. Their grade book also has dates and whether assignments have been submitted. There has been so much I have preferred about their interface and communication with parents.

 

Live and learn.

[Luckymama]

Putting something in a morning message that goes to the kids but not directly to the parents isn't all that helpful. Now from PA Homeschoolers I get weekly emails with the schedule and my own parent login to the site so I can read morning messages to my hearts content, check the grade book, etc. Their grade book also has dates and whether assignments have been submitted. There has been so much I have preferred about their interface and communication with parents.

 

Live and learn.

I understand.

 

I come at this from the viewpoint of someone who had two older kids go through private high school. All direct communication from teacher went through my student, unless I emailed the teacher. I am used to saying "hey, what's going on in X class?" and "can I see the rubric for Y assignment?" :)

 

I do not have any direct communication from dd's other outsourced teacher from TPS. She is responsive to my emails, like when dd had a fever and would miss the live class, but that's been it.

 

I was actually surprised to see so many teachers at PAHS say that parents would be receiving weekly emails. I guess they must have had a number of students not doing the work.

 

But one of our requirements for dd to take an online class is for me to have all of her log-in information with links to the classes on my devices as well as her laptop :)

[MorningGlory]

I must admit that I have found this conversation quite illuminating. I do not want to hijack this thread, so I will probably start another one. But for me...who is attempting to build an online course from the ground up...I am eager to hear what other moms expect as far as communication with parents goes. I send out a weekly update to all the "users" on my website, but it only goes to those moms who have created a parent account. Which is not many (surprisingly). So those moms who do not have a parent account do not receive much communication from me. I think I will really push the parent accounts next year, so there won't be a communication break-down. 

 

As far as PAH communication, it definitely varies with the teacher. We receive a weekly email letter from my son's AP English teacher....wonderfully written and engaging (of course!). But we have only received ONE update from the AP Chemistry teacher...and that was one month into the course. To be honest, I have been quite disappointed in the lack of communication between teacher and students/parents in that course. But that is another thread, too! lol!

[Wildcat]

I don't have access to the website. Dd lost her password long ago. She has requested it be reset twice, but they never did it. The only way we can access the site is from her laptop that remembers the password. I only check in on the class sporadically, since the only way I can check on it is on her computer.

 

Putting something in a morning message that goes to the kids but not directly to the parents isn't all that helpful. Now from PA Homeschoolers I get weekly emails with the schedule and my own parent login to the site so I can read morning messages to my hearts content, check the grade book, etc. Their grade book also has dates and whether assignments have been submitted. There has been so much I have preferred about their interface and communication with parents.

 

Live and learn.

 

I'm glad you contacted Christine and got everything figured out.

 

I'm sorry you aren't happy with the parental communication methods. By high school, I expected my kids to be responsible for their classes and relay any important messages/information to me, so I was quite happy with our experience with BlueTent. My dc had online classes before where I was constantly being bombarded with e-mails from the teacher, and, while I appreciated them at the lower grade levels, I never would have expected such communication at the high school level. If that is important to you, I would suggest you check on that before registering for classes in the future so you are not disappointed. In all the online classes we have utilized, each one is done differently.  I agree with you, though ~~ "live and learn".

[Mom22ns]

I'm glad you contacted Christine and got everything figured out.

 

I'm sorry you aren't happy with the parental communication methods. By high school, I expected my kids to be responsible for their classes and relay any important messages/information to me, so I was quite happy with our experience with BlueTent. My dc had online classes before where I was constantly being bombarded with e-mails from the teacher, and, while I appreciated them at the lower grade levels, I never would have expected such communication at the high school level. If that is important to you, I would suggest you check on that before registering for classes in the future so you are not disappointed. In all the online classes we have utilized, each one is done differently.  I agree with you, though ~~ "live and learn".

 

I expected mine to be responsible too, that is why I hadn't pursued anything. However, I literally had not one piece of communication from August until now. That is a bit less than I would like. 

 

If a parent login were possible, that would have been enough. I don't need weekly emails if I can look in if I am interested/worried/concerned. However, with no parent login, no email to parents saying there was a problem with midterm reports, nothing... I have been disappointed. It was fine. I wasn't wanting to micromanage the class. If I wanted to micromanage it, I wouldn't have outsourced it. However, maybe quarterly information, an email if there is a problem, things like that.

 

It turns out dd's grade is lower than we thought (not huge but 7 percentage points). I checked it at Christmas break, but the grade book was wrong. I am just now finding out that it was wrong and it is still wrong 2 months later. The class has been good, but total radio silence, even when there are problems on their end is an issue for me.

[teeterbunch]

My ds is in it this year.  He spends about 5 hours per week maybe.  He is a minimalist.  He will do what he needs to do to satisfy requirements and get a decent grade but he isn't going to try to make it perfect.  He is not going to be up for doing anything optional either.

 

He doesn't necessarily like the class because it is demanding and if he doesn't follow directions he can't slide by.  However, Mrs. Proctor is so stinking nice he can't dislike her/the class even when he has to redo something or do something annoying to him (like write a sonnet). 

 

We likely would have continued next year but the price has gone up and it is just too high for us.  But, we have gotten our money's worth and he has learned quite a bit. It has been thorough without being overwhelming for my kid who just works to get it done.

 

 I recommend it. 

 

I'm looking into Blue Tent for next year, so I appreciate your review.  As you say, the classes are expensive.  Have you found a more affordable option?  Thanks.

 

Ashley