May I make an important point?

[ValRN]

While reading several posts about which online provider to choose for a certain subject, something popped into my mind.  It's something I've always considered since my children entered their high school years, but something I've never shared on the board. Guess I assumed it is common knowledge.  Then while reading a post about DO AP Calculus, I felt the need to share.  I'm not sure if someone else has made this point or not, but it's worth mentioning again. 

 

When my oldest DC was going through the college application process, he needed letters of recommendation from several people.  Since he was applying to academic and music programs, he not only needed letters from teachers of academic subjects, but also he needed letters from music teachers.  I found it very helpful that DS had created rapport with his online and music teachers, had successive courses/lessons with teachers, and was able to ask for letters of recommendation from them. 

 

When choosing an online course for upper high school, I think it's very important to inquire about if the teachers are allowed to write letters of recommendation.  And if a teacher is a good teacher and the content of the course is rich, consider staying with that teacher if he/she teachers the next level course in that subject.  I also impress upon DC the importance of creating a rapport with instructors. 

 

We've used several online providers: TPS, DO, Ray Leven, AIM Academy, Jann in TX, Wilson Hill Academy (and more) and not all of them write letters of recommendation.  If your DC plan to go to a 4 year college, whether a teacher will write a letter should be high on your list when you are considering the pros/cons of a course provider. 

 

Just my two cents worth. :001_smile:

[maize]

Could you share which programs of those you have used to allow teachers to write letters of recommendation?

[StillStanding]

Could you share which programs of those you have used to allow teachers to write letters of recommendation?

 

I would like to know too :)

[yvonne]

 

We've used several online providers: TPS, DO, Ray Leven, AIM Academy, Jann in TX, Wilson Hill Academy (and more) and not all of them write letters of recommendation.

 

It never even occurred to me that an instructor, online or otherwise, would not write a letter of recommendation, assuming the student did well in the course and had some sort of connection with the instructor beyond merely attending class and turning in assignments. 

 

Is it that the umbrella organization (ie, the administration, not the individual teachers) has a general rule about not writing recommendations no matter how extensive the contact between instructor/student, period? 

 

Obviously, an instructor might not want to write a recommendation if the student has been relatively anonymous/"generic" and the instructor can only say, "Joe's attendance has been perfect and he has always submitted his assignments on time. He has a 99% average in the class."  But a student who's been relatively "anonymous" in a class probably wouldn't ask the instructor of that class for a recommendation, right?

 

Thanks for posting the heads-up.

 

yvonne

 

[Arcadia]

Is it that the umbrella organization (ie, the administration, not the individual teachers) has a general rule about not writing recommendations no matter how extensive the contact between instructor/student, period?

For us it was the organisation. The bigger the organisation the more likely the teacher needs to get approval from the admin to write a recommendation, because the organisation name is there (as in the teacher puts down her full designation in the organisation). My kids non-profit German school and their homeschool science class instructors don't have that problem.

 

You can ask the teachers what the policy is regarding writing letters of recommendation. Stanford OHS and some camps need letters of recommendations.

[ValRN]

Maybe it's more teacher specific more so than organization specific??? And maybe my experience is limited because I've only had one child go through the college application process. 

DS was never told no by anyone; however, no one offered or made mention of it, so we assumed that it was not an option. 

 

Jann in Tx wrote my son a letter of recommendation. I believed she offered. DS took his first 3 years of math with Jann. During his first year with her, he was the only students, so they developed a very good rapport with one another.  He asked a college professor for his second LoR. He had that professor for 3 semesters and they also had a good student teacher relationship.  His other LoR were written by his music teachers. 

 

My middle DC will be entering the application process in the fall.  Jann has offered to write him a letter and his science teacher at AIM Academy (he's taken two courses with her and will take another next year) offered. When I inquired about it with his math teacher at WHA, I was told (and I'm paraphrasing here), "We understand the importance of being able to provide letters of recommendation for students who have been with us a couple of years."  I took 'we' to mean teachers and admin at WHA and I took 'for a couple of years' to mean that the students needs to have taken more than one course.  I did not ask for clarification, so...

 

I don't see how DO could possibly provide a LoR for a student because he's done nothing (in most cases) but grade the students' papers.  My middle DC took DO for geometry and struggled through it, and DS had no contact at all with DO even when he needed help badly.  But in DO's defense, maybe he did not see that DS needed help because DS always made A's on tests (after he spent hours on end trying to teach himself the information or sitting with a tutor). 

 

DC have never asked a TPS teacher, but none have ever brought it up either. 

 

 

[quark]

I don't see how DO could possibly provide a LoR for a student because he's done nothing (in most cases) but grade the students papers.  My middle DC took DO for geometry and struggled through it, and DS had no contact at all with DO even when he needed help badly.  But in DO's defense, maybe he did not see that DS needed help because DS always made A's on tests (after he spent hours on end trying to teach himself the information or sitting with a tutor). 

 

 

DO was very happy to write an LoR for DS not based on seeing him personally (DS did the distance learning option) but based on DS's need to understand further applications of concepts and DS emailing DO regularly to ask questions that showed higher order thinking, and chatting about those concepts. DO's letter was truthful about not having f2f contact but gave some insight into the type of inquisitive learner that DS is.

 

HTH someone.

 

[ValRN]

DO was very happy to write an LoR for DS not based on seeing him personally (DS did the distance learning option) but based on DS's need to understand further applications of concepts and DS emailing DO regularly to ask questions that showed higher order thinking, and chatting about those concepts. DO's letter was truthful about not having f2f contact but gave some insight into the type of inquisitive learner that DS is.

 

HTH someone.

 

 

I stand corrected.

[8filltheheart]

Private tutors are also great sources for LOR. My kids have used math and foreign language tutors.

[FaithManor]

As 4-H leaders and council members, part of our responsibilities are to write letters of recommendation for worthy graduating members. So do not discount the extra curricular activities either. Dh and I have been pleased to help numerous good students get into college with merit aid. It's a privilege and an honor, and we love to be asked.

 

DD's letters of recommendation came from the veterinarian she saw practice with, a local farm owner for whom she performed a lot of farm sitting service, and two science fair judges. Many moons ago when I applied to college as a piano performance major, it was the recommendations of local band and choir directors for whom I had accompanied, my piano teacher, and an instructor at Interlochen that were necessary for me to get into my major. Ds's came from an elder in our church who is a public school algebra 2 teacher, and two science fair judges as well as a local business owner for whom he had completed some extensive artwork.

 

There are a variety of options for getting those letters, and keeping a list of willing sources on hand is a good idea.

[ValRN]

8FillTheHeart & FaithManor, you make excellent points. I had never considered asking extra curricular leaders (other than music teachers) to write letters.