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Online/outsourced 9th grade (Honors?) English class as Prep for AP English


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Good afternoon,

I'm almost finished with my ds 9th grade schedule.  I'm just looking at his English class.  I'm debating keeping his curriculum as we have it now, with us continuing the work from home or outsourcing it with an online provider.  When he is older I would like him to take AP with PAH.  So would it be best for him to take an Honors English now?  I do see some benefits in having an online provider/teacher and having it all rolled into one and graded by someone else with outside feedback.  Anyone have a great experience and recommendation?

 

Here is his current plan also, as I don't want to overwhelm him right out of the box, since he has not taken a lot of online classes in the past - and we do participate in stockshows and travel frequently for other events:

 

English??

Math U See - concurrent Alg 2 and Geometry (homebased)

Human Geography w AP test

Honors Biology w Dr Wile

Spanish II w Texas Tech UIS

PE - Adventure/Outdoor Education

Elective -- 1 or 2??

 

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Kand- thanks for that insight. That's one of his concerns.  Keeping up with the workload during the Spring (mostly) when our schedule gets a little hectic for awhile.  I need him to learn to meet deadlines and put that first, as I've read that Hschoolers sometimes lack that skill when they enter college.  However, he is a conscientious student and I don't want to push him to the point of being extremely stressed out and miserable.  I want him to succeed and have a good experience and great skills but I'm trying to help him become a well-rounded man not a rocket scholar (if you know what I mean).  

 

Anyway -- why does it have to be so complicated?  Aaack?!  And stressful to choose something?!  haha! :confused1:  :lol:

 

Time to think and pray and maybe it will just come to me.  :closedeyes:

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Yes, that's actually been on my list of possibilities.  What has been your experience with them?

 

I have a dd in the honors class this year and it's been awesome. Definitely time consuming sometimes. The biggest hurdle for both my girls when they first took online English classes was getting into the routine. There are so many online message-board discussions that take for.ever in the beginning. DD1 leapt into the AP class and had to figure it all out. DD2 did the honors class first and I feel that her AP class next year will be a LOT easier to navigate than it was for DD1 due to this year's practice.

 

While time consuming, I can't say there've been any "frivolous" or "time-wasting" activities. Everything serves a purpose and both dds have learned a TON in each of their classes.

 

Blue Tent's classes have been the very best online classes we've taken. Both English teachers are awesome.

Edited by hopskipjump
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Wanted to jump in here. I have a daughter that plays tennis competitively. She travels generally twice a month for tournaments (usually we leave on a Friday and come home on a Monday or Tuesday). She has done both Blue Tent Honors English classes. At times she has felt a little overwhelmed with the workload, but it has taught her to prioritize and use her time effectively. 

 

One thing that helped was the ability to lighten or stop work on home based classes to give her the needed time to complete the online class work. She also would bring the work with her and do what she could in the car and online stuff when we had a wi-fi connection (hotel or restaurant).

 

The classes worked great for us. It was better than anything I would have done with her and they were her favorite classes.

 

 

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I emailed Maya Inspector directly planning ahead for us PAH AP Eng Lang in 2 years' time (11th). This is what she told me. I thought it was immensely helpful.

 

In my opinion, the best preparation for AP English is a great deal of high-level reading. This is the true strength of homeschooling-- I did my master's thesis on homeschooling English programs, and I found that the families I studied did not use many formal courses yet did extremely well on English standardized tests. I'd encourage you to consider taking time off from formal classes and instead encourage your son to read a great deal of high-level literature-- for example, at least 20 "classics" or works of literary fiction each year. Here's a great list of options: http://mseffie.com/AP/APtitles.html I suggest you let him choose his own books. Encourage him to discover authors he likes and read everything those authors work, yet also encourage him to branch out to works from new time periods and genres. I really do find that the students with the least formal instruction often do the best in my class. It's easy for me to teach essay format; it's very difficult to teach voice or perceptive reading, and these things are best honed through wide informal reading. 
 
I'd also recommend writing for real purposes, such as a local writing club, a blog, or writing competitions. Students learn to think about audience and revision when their writing has a purpose beyond mere assignments. 
 
You know your son best, so if he's thriving in formal classes and seems to enjoy what he's studying, you might want to disregard my advice altogether! I would encourage you to take full advantage of the freedom you have before the daily workload of AP English, though. 
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