Daria Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 I'd love to hear feedback both on the quality of the courses, and the logistics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 The quality is amazing. The workload is intense; my dd did the British Lit class. I never figured out how to edit the assignments online, so I just told her which ones to do. The teacher side of things is great - I never had any problem grading her work if I got behind in my reading which happened this fall because of medical emergency with my son - I really appreciated Shmoop's answers. You do need to have a certain sense of humor for Shmoop but that is fairly obvious. My younger dd is doing health on it. Super easy for me to track her progress. I wish Shmoop had more help available. The site is not intuitive to me so I always struggle to find things. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinV Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 The quality is amazing. The workload is intense; my dd did the British Lit class. I never figured out how to edit the assignments online, so I just told her which ones to do. The teacher side of things is great - I never had any problem grading her work if I got behind in my reading which happened this fall because of medical emergency with my son - I really appreciated Shmoop's answers. You do need to have a certain sense of humor for Shmoop but that is fairly obvious. My younger dd is doing health on it. Super easy for me to track her progress. I wish Shmoop had more help available. The site is not intuitive to me so I always struggle to find things. In reference to the bolded, did you have a teacher account or just the student account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daria Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 The quality is amazing. The workload is intense; my dd did the British Lit class. I never figured out how to edit the assignments online, so I just told her which ones to do. The teacher side of things is great - I never had any problem grading her work if I got behind in my reading which happened this fall because of medical emergency with my son - I really appreciated Shmoop's answers. You do need to have a certain sense of humor for Shmoop but that is fairly obvious. My younger dd is doing health on it. Super easy for me to track her progress. I wish Shmoop had more help available. The site is not intuitive to me so I always struggle to find things. Thanks! This is super helpful. In the semester long English classes, did you find there was enough writing? My son is interested in 2 of the semester classes (The Bible as Literature and Mythology), and I'm wondering if he can use those to make up a full year's credit, or if he should pick one Literature class, and a few of the short writing classes to make up a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Why wasn't her work automatically graded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daria Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Why wasn't her work automatically graded? Looking around Shmoop, one of the things I really liked is that there's very little multiple choice, and lots of short answer, and longer answer questions with room for kids to add their own thinking. Of course, that makes it impossible to automatically grade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 So was it graded by a Shmoop person, or is the parent expected to grade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Why wasn't her work automatically graded? Some assignments are automatically graded, others require parent/teacher to grade. Most history and English assignments seem to require teacher grading (rubrics provided). Most math is automatically graded with 1-3 problems on each assignment requiring teacher grading. The assignments are very creative, and IMO most can be skipped. I'm sorry, but no, my kid is not spending a couple of hours a day creating a comic strip, or writing a newspaper article. The daily assignments are a bit much. Most of those we simply substitute a paragraph narration which is attached and submitted for grading. You don't have to follow the rubric (obviously, I don't). We do the tests. Projects, not so much. (most of this is with my 7th grader). Oldest two have taken precalculus -- some of their explanations are difficult, but generally the material is solid. Oldest two are currently reviewing AP Stats with it. Oldest is also reviewing Chem. The test prep is easier than the tests (as far as SAT prep goes), Khan is probably better for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 At least we have another choice when it comes to meeting a-g requirements. I may want DD to go through algebra and geometry, just to get the credits. An a-g approved algebra course is required if I want her to skip it in our local high school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thank you for explaining? Does Shmoop issue grades? I know they don't issue transcripts so they have a disclaimer saying their courses aren't UC approved unless you get them approved by an accredited school. So I talked to our PSP for this (private satellite program at a private school) and she said she can list the course on their course list and then we can have it fullly UC approved but ONLY if the grades are from the outside source. If the grade is issued by me she can't list it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 At least we have another choice when it comes to meeting a-g requirements. I may want DD to go through algebra and geometry, just to get the credits. An a-g approved algebra course is required if I want her to skip it in our local high school. Be careful - they don't issue transcripts and have a disclaimer - UCs made it very clear that since they aren't a school the course cannot be listed as UC approved unless it's through a school. It's complicated so you'll need to look more into it on your own if what I am saying doesn't make sense 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 From what I see these are the courses A-G approved: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/details/4531/ http://www.shmoop.com/a-g-courses/ So what if you are your own private homeschool w/ affidavit, Calming Tea? How does this work? Would this not be the same for all other A-G approved courses at other 'publishers' - like SVOHS or HomeschoolSpanishAcademy? Would these courses count as A-G approval if submitting UC app? (as a non-umbrella school homeschooler, with our sample UC app, it seemed we just had to pencil in all our own courses, so there is not automated approved 'course list' filled in drop-down menus) Anyone who can weigh in... this would open up some opportunities possibly. For us, some gaps like US History or World History... Please note: because Shmoop is an online publisher and not an accredited school, courses taken directly through Shmoop will not be recognized for "a-g" purposes. Instead, the UC system will recognize Shmoop courses as "a-g" when they appear on high schools' "a-g" course lists and official transcripts from high schools that have established "a-g" course lists. <--- quoted from Shmoop. (is that ok I included that?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 I'm a little confused about the courses. Does a Teacher and Student account allow you access to all courses, guides, etc? What is the "College Plus" option I see at the bottom of the page? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 From what I see these are the courses A-G approved: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/details/4531/ http://www.shmoop.com/a-g-courses/ So what if you are your own private homeschool w/ affidavit, Calming Tea? How does this work? Would this not be the same for all other A-G approved courses at other 'publishers' - like SVOHS or HomeschoolSpanishAcademy? Would these courses count as A-G approval if submitting UC app? (as a non-umbrella school homeschooler, with our sample UC app, it seemed we just had to pencil in all our own courses, so there is not automated approved 'course list' filled in drop-down menus) Anyone who can weigh in... this would open up some opportunities possibly. For us, some gaps like US History or World History... Please note: because Shmoop is an online publisher and not an accredited school, courses taken directly through Shmoop will not be recognized for "a-g" purposes. Instead, the UC system will recognize Shmoop courses as "a-g" when they appear on high schools' "a-g" course lists and official transcripts from high schools that have established "a-g" course lists. <--- quoted from Shmoop. (is that ok I included that?) In my email exchange with shmoop they were very clear that their courses, even though on the UC course list, aren't really fully approved without a school. I am through a PSP and as I said they gave it some thought and felt that **if** the grades were issued from shmoop not me, that if we were asked to verify we would include the objective grade printout along with the UC course list from tHe UC website. So I really don't know what that means about private homeschoolers. I can't figure out why they would approve something but then say it's not really approved ... My PSP said the issue is really the transcript. The transcript is the official seal from an outside source saying you did something verifiable. .... I would call the UCs if I were you; this is an important topic. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 From what I see these are the courses A-G approved: https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist#/list/details/4531/ http://www.shmoop.com/a-g-courses/ So what if you are your own private homeschool w/ affidavit, Calming Tea? How does this work? Would this not be the same for all other A-G approved courses at other 'publishers' - like SVOHS or HomeschoolSpanishAcademy? Would these courses count as A-G approval if submitting UC app? (as a non-umbrella school homeschooler, with our sample UC app, it seemed we just had to pencil in all our own courses, so there is not automated approved 'course list' filled in drop-down menus) Anyone who can weigh in... this would open up some opportunities possibly. For us, some gaps like US History or World History... Please note: because Shmoop is an online publisher and not an accredited school, courses taken directly through Shmoop will not be recognized for "a-g" purposes. Instead, the UC system will recognize Shmoop courses as "a-g" when they appear on high schools' "a-g" course lists and official transcripts from high schools that have established "a-g" course lists. <--- quoted from Shmoop. (is that ok I included that?) PS : SVOHS is a school and they do issue transcripts. So does PA homeschoolers, BYU, and many others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirabillis Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thanks Calming Tea! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I'm a little confused about the courses. Does a Teacher and Student account allow you access to all courses, guides, etc? What is the "College Plus" option I see at the bottom of the page? A teacher account allows you access to all high school (or below) level courses, guides, etc. You can set up courses and invite students to attend. The College Plus is a self-paced (mostly) course that you would take an exam for credit. Teachers cannot access the CP courses 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 A teacher account allows you access to all high school (or below) level courses, guides, etc. You can set up courses and invite students to attend. Do the students need an account too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Do the students need an account too? Yes, but the free one. You can't invite students to a classroom unless they have their own account. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daria Posted January 22, 2017 Author Share Posted January 22, 2017 Yes, but the free one. You can't invite students to a classroom unless they have their own account. I don't think the student accounts are free. When I invited my kid to my classroom the amount it charged me each month doubled to take into account that I now had 2 accounts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Can I sign up my child for just a student account or do I also need a teacher account? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) I don't think the student accounts are free. When I invited my kid to my classroom the amount it charged me each month doubled to take into account that I now had 2 accounts. As a teacher, my account includes up to 10 students. I paid all at one time, and haven't been charged anything extra. I have 5 kids currently in classes. Here is a copy of the options: Student College Plus (month-to-month) $87.68/month Student (month-to-month) $24.68/month Student (12-month) discount $150.00 SAVE $146* Teacher (month-to-month) $24.68/month Teacher (12-month) discount $150.00 SAVE $146* Teacher Package (12-months plus 10 Students) **If you want the College Plus, the monthly account is the only way to get those courses. Student Accounts will not have access to everything (courses, etc.) Study Guides, Test Prep is included. If you sign up for a plain Teacher's account, you would be charged if you also sign up a student. If you sign up for the Teacher Package -- which includes 10 students -- there are no extra fees. It's $300 a year for the Teacher Package which is $25/month. So, even if a homeschool parent is only teaching ONE child, the Teacher Package is the way to go in order to have access to the teacher resources/classrooms, and all courses. If you set up the wrong account, you have to delete your account, contact CS and they will fix things so you can set up the correct account. $300.00 SAVE $2,958* Edited January 23, 2017 by LisaK in VA is in IT 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Can I sign up my child for just a student account or do I also need a teacher account? You can sign your student up for just a student account. But if you choose the Teacher Package, it's actually nearly the same price per month (you just have to fork over $300 at once vs. a monthly charge). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaSprout Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Here's another option for "check the box" UC approved courses. http://www.svhs.co/courses.aspx. An IRL friend is using these (not for UC, just because it works for them). It seems solid, if a bit light. She's adding in a few extras- a little hands on and some outside reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Are the Shmoop AP classes considered high school classes or College Plus classes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Are the Shmoop AP classes considered high school classes or College Plus classes? AP are considered high school, and included in the Teacher Package/Student. Only College Plus classes are excluded/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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