Are four online classes too many for 9th grade?

[Annie Laurie]

My dd will be taking geometry online and a one year novel writing course online this fall, she will be in 9th grade.

 

She's also interested in an Adobe Illustrator class for the fall semester, and a forensics anatomy class.

 

She will still need a history course (not online, just something at home), a literature course (at home), and wants to take some art classes in person.

 

She is highly gifted and has ADHD. Math comes easily to her, but she says she hates it. She also says she hates science and history. She's very creative and art and writing are her loves. She spends her free time writing, painting, drawing, and reading. So it's a big deal that she's even interested in the forensics course since it's science related, and I think the Adobe Illustrator class would be a good experience, because she's been thinking about a career in graphic design.

 

So would four online classes be overload for her? She has been taking online math for awhile with the same teacher, so she's already used to managing that class.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Annie Laurie

[FriedClams]

It would be for my kids, especially if they hadn't already had online classes. Each provider has different requirements, schedules, grooves to get in to... For my kids 1 was a good start, two was a push.

[OneStepAtATime]

Can you get money back if it turns out to be too much?  4 on-line classes is a lot.  DD and DS would not be able to handle that plus other classes and extras.  Many on-line classes only meet once a week or twice a week and so they expect a tremendous amount of work to be done between classes.  This means the student is responsible for keeping up with assignments, reading,  projects and paperwork and deadlines, etc. without a whole lot of in-put/support from the on-line teacher.   Can you help her get really organized right at the beginning and get into a solid routine for each class?  Different teachers are going to expect different things.  She may need scaffolding to keep that schedule, especially if she is dealing with ADHD.

[texasmama]

I think four at once is too much. One of mine had one last year and two this year, and it has worked out fine. Online classes have a learning curve. Outside teachers have a learning curve. Combining both of these for the first time at high school level for a kid with ADHD would not be something I would do. Four online classes with four different teachers and syllabi and expectations and schedules would be a lot for any teen all at once.

[Annie Laurie]

Thanks! This is exactly why I posted, my expectations are often unrealistic. She has experience with online classes already, she has been taking math online for a few years. But the other classes will be a new format and new teachers, so I guess I'll have her narrow those other two down to one, so she has three online classes. But maybe that's too much as well. I'll talk to her about it tomorrow since she's in bed.

[hopskipjump]

 

 

She's also interested in an Adobe Illustrator class for the fall semester, and a forensics anatomy class.

 

 

I'm interested in this Adobe Illustrator class - which online provider has this?!?!!!!

[RootAnn]

My Dd jumped into two online classes a couple of years ago - one twice per week and one once per week. She did fine with those two academically.

 

I think it depends on the kid, the classes, and the requirements of the class.

 

She is used to the math, so you're adding three new things. Are Illustrator and Forensics both one semester? If so, can one be moved second semester? Look at the expectations and time commitments carefully.

 

My dd is going to take 4 online classes in the fall - all year-long, but one class is only once per month. Another is once per week. So, only two are twice per week. It'll be a stretch for her. We'll see how it goes.

 

Good luck to you.

[freesia]

I will be the outlier. I will say it depends. Ds, in tenth grade, dived into 4 after just a 6 week writing class online ( but he had had co-op classes). For us, two have flexible deadlines ( and one I can cancel and reschedule if necessary). But I would say two heavy work and set deadlines classes would be the limit for him.

 

So, if writing is s passion and she enjoys spending time on art--it might be doable if the rest of her classes at home can be flexible if the work piles on. ( for us, I slowed math a bit and will go into the summer)

[lmrich]

Has he taken online classes before?

[OnMyOwn]

Can you tind out what the homework expectation is for each class? My 9th grader will be taking 4 online classes next year, but she's already been doing online classes for a couple of years. Two of the classes she will take will have 5 hours or less of homework per week. The other two claim to take 10 hours a week. I know my dd can do this based on what she did this year, but because of the classes with a higher time commitment, we will do other classes at home that I'd rather do online. I want the flexibility of being able to adjust her workload from week to week so that she's not overloaded. Also, we are beginning chemistry this summer and she will do some math over the summer for added flexibility. Mh dd doesn't mind working hard during the week, but she doesn't want to have to do much, if any, homework on the weekends so that's what we aim for.

[Arcadia]

Adobe Illustrator course would complement the novel writing course. It is hard to tell how time consuming the forensic anatomy course would be. I would say four is possible if you help her in time management.

 

My oldest is doing four online course right now but the schedule is light as all four courses are once a week. He is doing physics, precalc, python and writing. He has two class on Monday, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. His B&M classes are on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Arcadia

[DebbS]

I depends on the kid whether that's too much or not. Maybe you could get a copy of the syllabi for the courses and get a better idea of what will be required.

 

I'm wondering why she would need literature if she's taking an novel writing course.  You can divide up English in high school such that this year would be composition with the novel writing and the pick up literature another year. Also, you could hold off on the in-person art course until Spring if she takes Adobe Illustrator in the Fall.  It isn't clear to me if the Forensic Anatomy course is just for the Fall or if it is a full year course. Either way, since history will be taken at home, you could cover a less(or none) in the Fall and more in the Spring. So, her year could look like this:

 

Fall - Geometry, Adobe Illustrator, Novel Writing(composition), Forensic Anatomy, History

Spring - Geometry, Art,Novel Writing, Forensic Anatomy, History

 

Obviously, only you can determine if this is doable. If you feel that you need more credits, you could add something easy like PE and Health.

[FriedClams]

I'm interested in this Adobe Illustrator class - which online provider has this?!?!!!!

I bet Lynda.com has tutorials and a good progression to work through. Their content is excellent.

[Annie Laurie]

I'm interested in this Adobe Illustrator class - which online provider has this?!?!!!!

 

This is at Landry Academy.

 

My Dd jumped into two online classes a couple of years ago - one twice per week and one once per week. She did fine with those two academically.

 

I think it depends on the kid, the classes, and the requirements of the class.

 

She is used to the math, so you're adding three new things. Are Illustrator and Forensics both one semester? If so, can one be moved second semester? Look at the expectations and time commitments carefully.

 

My dd is going to take 4 online classes in the fall - all year-long, but one class is only once per month. Another is once per week. So, only two are twice per week. It'll be a stretch for her. We'll see how it goes.

 

Good luck to you.

 

No, those two are both only semester courses. We decided to do forensics in the spring. So she will have three online classes now.

 

I will be the outlier. I will say it depends. Ds, in tenth grade, dived into 4 after just a 6 week writing class online ( but he had had co-op classes). For us, two have flexible deadlines ( and one I can cancel and reschedule if necessary). But I would say two heavy work and set deadlines classes would be the limit for him.

 

So, if writing is s passion and she enjoys spending time on art--it might be doable if the rest of her classes at home can be flexible if the work piles on. ( for us, I slowed math a bit and will go into the summer)

 

This is something she and I discussed and she was asking me if she could do a history course over the summer to get that out of the way. I desperately need my summer vacation this year so we won't be doing that, but I did tell her we could be flexible with her workload for that at home and figure out ways to make it up later if she ends up with not much time for history this year.

 

Has he taken online classes before?

 

Yes, she has taken math online for the past two years.

 

Can you tind out what the homework expectation is for each class? My 9th grader will be taking 4 online classes next year, but she's already been doing online classes for a couple of years. Two of the classes she will take will have 5 hours or less of homework per week. The other two claim to take 10 hours a week. I know my dd can do this based on what she did this year, but because of the classes with a higher time commitment, we will do other classes at home that I'd rather do online. I want the flexibility of being able to adjust her workload from week to week so that she's not overloaded. Also, we are beginning chemistry this summer and she will do some math over the summer for added flexibility. Mh dd doesn't mind working hard during the week, but she doesn't want to have to do much, if any, homework on the weekends so that's what we aim for.

 

Landy Academy says 4-8 hours for each class per week at the high school level. I think she could do it, but due to her ADHD, she and I agreed that we would try three classes in the fall and see how that goes, and then she can add another in the spring if she wants.

 

Adobe Illustrator course would complement the novel writing course. It is hard to tell how time consuming the forensic anatomy course would be. I would say four is possible if you help her in time management.

 

My oldest is doing four online course right now but the schedule is light as all four courses are once a week. He is doing physics, precalc, python and writing. He has two class on Monday, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. His B&M classes are on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

 

We decided to see how three classes works out for the fall and reevaluate in the spring. I have a feeling we'll find she could have done the four, but I'd rather not waste the money on a class if it turns out she can't keep up. She is a kid who does better when busy though, and will rise to a challenge. When she doesn't have enough to do, and enough challenge, she gets bored and hard to live with.

 

I depends on the kid whether that's too much or not. Maybe you could get a copy of the syllabi for the courses and get a better idea of what will be required.

 

I'm wondering why she would need literature if she's taking an novel writing course.  You can divide up English in high school such that this year would be composition with the novel writing and the pick up literature another year. Also, you could hold off on the in-person art course until Spring if she takes Adobe Illustrator in the Fall.  It isn't clear to me if the Forensic Anatomy course is just for the Fall or if it is a full year course. Either way, since history will be taken at home, you could cover a less(or none) in the Fall and more in the Spring. So, her year could look like this:

 

Fall - Geometry, Adobe Illustrator, Novel Writing(composition), Forensic Anatomy, History

Spring - Geometry, Art,Novel Writing, Forensic Anatomy, History

 

Obviously, only you can determine if this is doable. If you feel that you need more credits, you could add something easy like PE and Health.

 

We did take a look at the syllabus for each class. I hesitated about a science course from a Christian school, we didn't see anything that made me pause, but we're not interested in Creationist science courses, so we decided to wait on that one anyway, until I can get more feedback on exactly what that particular science course covers.

 

I guess I am just calling her reading list literature. You're right that we wouldn't need deep discussion about literary devices and themes in the books she reads and such since they'll cover that in her novel writing course.

 

Thanks for the ideas on how to phase things!

[GoodGrief]

With those topics, I say "maybe, maybe not". :-)  Probably going depend on how interested she is in the subject and how connected she feels to the instructor and the assignments. If they were heavy writing classes, I would say four is too many, but in this case it's hard to know.

 

If they meet at specific times, the schedule might be a bit much though.

[Vida Winter]

Whenever we sign up for too many online courses I always regret it. One big gotcha is having different days off/break schedules. It can result in kids having to attend classes all the time if one class has spring break at a different time than another class. If you do sign up for multiple courses, try to keep one big block of time free for dr and dentist apps.

[speedmom4]

No, I do not believe four online classes is too much. My youngest, who will be 9th grade in the fall, will be in four online classes with Landry. He has been taking science online for a couple of years. My 12th grader has everything online and has done fine. My kids are pretty average academically and I have no doubt they will do well.

 

Good luck!