Are there some Great Courses that are easier than others?

[FairProspects]

Ds 10 is responding really well to lectures (Coursera) and has asked for more of that style learning. His output is still not great but are there some Great Courses that might be good intros for a younger kid who wants to learn from lectures? He has many varied interests and would probably enjoy a variety of topics. Suggestions?

[MomatHWTK]

I like Understanding the World's Greatest Structures and think it is fairly approachable for a young age. 

[Tiberia]

The Fundamentals of Math with Dr. Sellers is actually quite interesting for a kid. My dd watched it at 9. 

[quark]

A similar thread from a few months ago. HTH!

Tom Shippey's course, Heroes and Legends, was very well received here!

[Chrysalis Academy]

I've just started prelistening to History of the Ancient World: A Global Perspective by Aldrete.  I think it's very approachable for younger students. My dd will be using it in 8th grade next year, along with Vandiver's Classical Mythology and The Iliad and The Odyssey.  I thought Noble's Western Civ might be a little dry, although I liked him very much.  Ditto with Daileader for the middle ages - for a younger kid I might choose Dorsey Armstrong's letures on Medieval topics rather than his.  And there is always How to Be a Superstar Student - perfect for a middle-grader.

 

On Coursera, she did Lou Bloomfield's How Things Work in 6th grade, and it was great.  She also did The Horse Course and enjoyed it a lot.  We've watched a few science ones together, but often they are a little too technical for her to fully appreciate them.  Have you checked out Open2Study?  We did the Human Anthropology course in 7th, it was awesome, and just 4 weeks long.  They have a Chemistry course I really like the looks of, though I haven't completed it.

[RootAnn]

Just a note that sometimes the content of the course might be inappropriate for younger kids even if the level of the work is fine.

 

Much of Vandiver's Classical Mythology was at a great level for dd#1-3, but the occasional $exual content wasn't what I wanted them to interact with at their ages. Each family / kid will have to decide that on their own. (Greek/Roman gods are obviously known for their $exual exploits/encounters, but most of the kid-friendly mythology materials my kids have encountered smooth over this aspect rather adroitly. Vandiver knows she is talking to an adult audience, so she calls it all out bluntly.)

 

I found this to be true with other courses - where $ex or adult-themes will come up as would be appropriate for an adult audience. The Skeptics Guide to the Great Books is also like this.

[deerforest]

Yes, agree with RootAnn. We had been doing great with the Ancients course Rose mentioned plus "The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World." That course was awesome until we got to the Greeks. We are extremely open about discussions about $exual content in our house, but I was caught completely by surprise by some of the content--mostly involving activity with more than one partner. Of course, my DD isn't shy about asking me what things meant so she immediately asked what an "o_ _ y" was. I told her, but I'll admit that I claimed that it was something that was just common in Ancient Greece. Those crazy ancient people!