Biology: Thinkwell? Blue Tent?

[daijobu]

Is anyone out there using Blue Tent or Thinkwell for biology?  I'm on the fence about AP bio or regular bio for dd next year.  Thanks!  

[Woodland Mist Academy]

I am trying to make the same decision. How has your other dd found WTM biology in terms of workload, level, etc? Feel free to PM if you'd prefer.

[daijobu]

So, my 7th grade daughter was taking WTM biology, so young for a high school class.  It's a lot of work, but dd says it was not busy work.  There is a lot to learn.  Students do need to write 2 papers on scientific topics.  The first paper was stressful for my writing-averse kid, and the 2nd semester has an even long paper.  Also, the exams were stressful for my perfectionist kid.  So we dropped the class at the midterm, but I am continuing to follow the syllabus with the readings and the labs.  I'm adding a few labs of my own for fun.  Amy Upperman is lovely.  This semester we occasionally ping her with questions, and she has responded quickly.  We think she is terrific and despite our not continuing, we think the class is great.  It was just that while dd was academically capable of understanding the material (she got high grades), she just wasn't personally ready for the stress.  HTH.  

[Woodland Mist Academy]

Very helpful. Thanks!

 

What format are the tests? Multiple choice, short answer, essay questions, something else?

Was there something particularly stressful about them or just general test taking stress? Feel free to PM if you'd prefer. Thanks!

[daijobu]

She tells me "all of the above."  But the essays are short.  All exams are online, not with paper/pen.  She did have one episode where something happened and she thought she had finished the test, but she actually hadn't, and was distraught that she had missed half the points because she didn't see the exam.  But we emailed Amy, who fixed everything so that episode had a happy ending.  (We never figured out what went wrong, and it never happened again.)  Amy personally reads the responses to make sure lost points aren't due to misspellings, etc.  

 

We are very impressed with Amy.  She really knows her biology which is important to my dd who often notices small discrepancies or details that warrant explanations, and Amy has been very good about providing accurate satisfying answers.  I miss hearing her friendly voice over the computer!