Black-eyed Suzan Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 DS9 has not had any outside academic classes yet, and I'd like for him to have a good first experience. He is also quite asynchronous; I know that not every class will be a good fit. Whenever I consider them, I tend to get overwhelmed with the options and not choose anything. I'm also trying to form my philosophy regarding outsourced classes to make this easier in the future. So, how did you choose the first outsourced academic class for each student? Was the subject the child loved/hated/was indifferent to? Was the class in a topic of relative strength or weakness for your student? Was the choice based on your needs as a teacher? In person or on-line? How old was your student? Why did you make those choices? To what extent was the child involved in the decision? Were you pleased with the outcome? If you have any guiding principles about how to choose outsourced classes, I've love to hear details. Thanks in advance! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 (edited) DS9 has not had any outside academic classes yet, and I'd like for him to have a good first experience. He is also quite asynchronous; I know that not every class will be a good fit. Whenever I consider them, I tend to get overwhelmed with the options and not choose anything. I'm also trying to form my philosophy regarding outsourced classes to make this easier in the future. So, how did you choose the first outsourced academic class for each student? Was the subject the child loved/hated/was indifferent to? A subject DS loved (mythology) Was the class in a topic of relative strength or weakness for your student? A strength Was the choice based on your needs as a teacher? Not so much...he decided to try the national mythology exam and took this class as preparation (with OnlineG3, later, it was taught by Athena) In person or on-line? online How old was your student? 7, needed a little help with keyboarding Why did you make those choices? National mythology exam participation To what extent was the child involved in the decision? Child is always involved in learning decisions, usually 75-100% Were you pleased with the outcome? Yes If you have any guiding principles about how to choose outsourced classes, I've love to hear details. Subject matter is of interest to child. Teacher is very approachable be it online or inperson. Teacher is willing to offer a trial class (and depending on how much child wants it I am willing to pay for the trial). Sometimes, you can find teachers who are not as motivated by money as they are by passion to teach...usually indicative when they willingly exchange emails with you with added info, are open to giving trial lessons free of charge, and put you in touch with other parents for testimonials (if the teacher is experienced), and bring additional materials to class (if in person). Are open to all your questions about dealing with out-of-the-box learners, they don't patronize you when you try to give additional background info. For my asynchronous guy, we initially chose classes that were not writing heavy. A few of these principles also applied to his first DE classes (interest in subject matter, highly rated instructors, instructors who were willing to go above and beyond etc) EDITED: teachers should also be willing to give you more info about their qualifications, ALWAYS ASK! Thanks in advance! :) Good luck! Edited December 8, 2015 by quark 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 So, how did you choose the first outsourced academic class for each student? We choose languages because kids like the socialisation and music/singing/acting aspect. DS11 - chinese at 2yrs old to get him "socialised" for academic preschool, then german at 7 years old when we started online public charter because he was lonely. DS10 - german at 6 years old because he was potty trained after 5. Was the subject the child loved/hated/was indifferent to? DS11 like to learn many languages, DS10 like to tag along. Was the class in a topic of relative strength or weakness for your student? Neither a strength nor a weakness. Was the choice based on your needs as a teacher? I need a break from my boys and I do not enjoy mentoring languages In person or on-line? In person How old was your student? 2 - chinese, 6, 7 - german 8,9 - science and math homeschool hands on classes 9 - flute, cello 10 - music theory, cello Why did you make those choices? My kids made them. Both my kids are opinionated. To what extent was the child involved in the decision? They went for open houses, sat in for trials and pick what they like. Some open houses of private classes did not appeal to them. Were you pleased with the outcome? Yes. Emotionally we were better off with kids in their outsource classes. They were less lonely, less annoyed with being coop up with their siblings. They have their own best friends. They enjoy chatting up about things like minecraft and super mario with their classmates. As parents we get couple time knowing our kids are "babysitted" and having fun while having native speakers to practice with. My kids were also with the online public charter (K12 VA) from 5-9 years old and AoPS online this year (9,10) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 Was the subject the child loved/hated/was indifferent to? We chose History, which DS likes, but I wouldn't say he loves it.. Was the class in a topic of relative strength or weakness for your student? Strength, but nothing way over the top. Was the choice based on your needs as a teacher? Yes and no, I just wanted a nice intro to someone else teaching him on a regular basis, so that as my needs do become an issue, he's used to online classes/ classes with someone besides me teaching. In person or on-line? Online How old was your student? 8 Why did you make those choices? Answered above To what extent was the child involved in the decision? Very involved, I wanted it to be a pleasant experience. Were you pleased with the outcome? Yes, he wants to take the class next semester, and his writing has improved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted December 8, 2015 Share Posted December 8, 2015 DS9 has not had any outside academic classes yet, and I'd like for him to have a good first experience. He is also quite asynchronous; I know that not every class will be a good fit. Whenever I consider them, I tend to get overwhelmed with the options and not choose anything. I'm also trying to form my philosophy regarding outsourced classes to make this easier in the future. So, how did you choose the first outsourced academic class for each student? This is kind of a definition decision. In DD's case, her first outsourced class was a 6 weeks-I was an early childhood music professor at the time, and I put her in the parent/child lab class with one of my colleagues (I was teaching the preschool lab classes at the time). She continued as a lab program student until age 6, when she moved to private piano/Theory, and moved to attending classes without me at age 3. I put her in a lab science class for 6-7 yr olds at age 5, mostly so she could do the messy chemistry-type stuff. Her first online class was at age 7, the NME class at Athena's. However, she has yet to take a class that was 100% outsourced in that I supplement everything she does. So, while she was doing the Athena's or G3 lit classes, we've also been doing more writing and discussion at home. Same with history. She works with a mentor regularly for Biology/Microbiology/Research/Science writing, but this is less a formal class and more an advisory capacity. The level of instruction and support she gets is something I didn't get until graduate school, so this is definitely a serendipitous situation, not something to plan on! Was the subject the child loved/hated/was indifferent to? Depends on the class. For the Science and the NME, they were subjects she loved and wanted to do more. For Music, I admit that it was mostly supporting my program (and that, since my specialization is age 3-7, I kind of wanted to see how the theory played out in the group class for the younger kids). For the literature and history we've outsourced since, it's because DD really benefits from discussion with more than mom. Was the class in a topic of relative strength or weakness for your student? Generally strength. I will say that DD was very writing-phobic when she started doing online classes, and I credit the online classes with giving her a reason to HAVE to write that she wanted to do. Was the choice based on your needs as a teacher? Yes. Usually it's because there's an aspect that either requires a group or that I just don't like doing (like mixing corn starch, vinegar, baking soda, etc for the nth time....) In person or on-line? Usually online is easier to manage. Lab science is the exception-DD did 1 year of early elementary, 2 years of elementary, and one year of middle school lab science, and then moved to working in a college lab. How old was your student? See above-depends on the subject Why did you make those choices? Availability and interests at the time To what extent was the child involved in the decision? Depends on the subject. At this point, I hand DD course lists from several providers and let her pick which classes she wants to do-and then figure out what I need to add to make it complete to my standards. Were you pleased with the outcome? Yes. DD's writing has improved, and she finds her online classes a social outlet. It has also given us people who are willing to write recommendations for programs and another pair of eyes to give advice, which is helpful. I do wish there were a lab science course for kids that was at a higher level-even her science instructor admits that there is nothing for DD in those classes anymore. If you have any guiding principles about how to choose outsourced classes, I've love to hear details. Go with your gut. I had enough bad experiences in trying to find preschool programs and non-academic co-ops and the like that I'm not going to waste time on anyone who isn't willing to talk to DD before deciding she needs to be in a specific group (that is-if they aren't willing to hear HER out as to why she should be in a middle school class at age 8 before placing her in the elementary one, I'm not going to sign her up). In our case, I'm fairly confident at teaching just about everything-so, for that reason, I outsource to meet social/discussion needs, not teaching ones. For that reason, I'm very positive about Athena's and Online G3. Those classes tend to be a good level for discussion and the instructors have been excellent. I can supplement the output and make that more rigorous where needed-and do. Some of the providers who are more "rigorous" have been the ones who don't want to take DD based on age, or who have assignment and model lessons that just look like WAY too much output required compared to what DD is likely to need, so I've tended to avoid them at this point. I have not found any local live providers I consider acceptable for high school courses for those reasons-it seems like the "rigor" of a class has a lot to do with the amount of paper a kid is expected to generate, not the level of the output. When I look at what DD's bio mentor requires vs what the local classes do (or what some of the online science providers expect), DD is doing much less-but, I suspect, learning a lot more. Thanks in advance! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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