Alicia64 Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I've never done The Great Courses and it's a little scary because of the expense. I'm particularly interested in this one: How to Become a SuperStar Student, 2nd Edition. At $40 it's not terrible, but I don't know this company at all. Do you like them? I have two soon-to-be 9th graders. Would a video subscription be worthwhile? I'd love any feedback! Alley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) Please search the archive - there are dozens of threads with lists of favorite courses, how we use them, how to get good deals. ETA: They're a fabulous resource; lots of use use lots of courses for high school. Edited April 17, 2017 by regentrude 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 My library has/had a copy of that one so be sure to check there also. We haven't used any yet, but imagine us doing so eventually. It sounds like for most of them audio is sufficient, so don't pay more for dvds. Often the written material that comes with the course has additional information that people use for writing prompts, or suggested companion books. When I do a Google search with this: "superstar site:welltrainedmind.com" I get linked to a few (old) threads that might be useful for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emzhengjiu Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 For easier access, I just pinned a master list of Great Courses for this forum. Also, The Great Courses Plus online subscription program offers a free trial period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucy the Valiant Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 A tip for finding them at the library: Not all library systems catalog them by "Great Courses," so it might be worth your time to search by specific title. Also, in our state, they are often available as inter-library loan. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemom Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Great Courses Plus subscription is great for the annual cost compared to buying individual courses. How to be a Superstar Student is available and we really enjoyed watching the course. Instructor is funny and has good visuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) Also check to see if your library has a Hoopla subscription. If so, just download the app, create an account and link it to your library card. Ours allows us to check out 30 titles per month. There are many GC courses available via Hoopla. We just finished superstar student; It was terrific and FREE! Edited April 17, 2017 by fourisenough 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted April 17, 2017 Author Share Posted April 17, 2017 A tip for finding them at the library: Not all library systems catalog them by "Great Courses," so it might be worth your time to search by specific title. Also, in our state, they are often available as inter-library loan. Super great info -- thanks! Great Courses Plus subscription is great for the annual cost compared to buying individual courses. How to be a Superstar Student is available and we really enjoyed watching the course. Instructor is funny and has good visuals. Thank you -- that's what I was wondering. Also check to see if your library has a Hoopla subscription. If so, just download the app, create an account and link it to your library card. Ours allows us to check out 30 titles per month. There are many GC courses available via Hoopla. We just finished superstar student; It was terrific and FREE! Fantastic idea! So, I checked and, no, my library doesn't have Hoopla. The library does have OverDrive -- would that work? And thank you! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted April 17, 2017 Author Share Posted April 17, 2017 I LOVE YOU GUYS!! I searched "The Great Courses" at my library and six pages popped up! Thank you so, so much! Alley 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Being able to use the library is great. That's what we have done so far. I know some people recommend buying audio only but our family is very visual so we do video only. My oldest two and I have enjoyed several of the history and astrophysics courses as well as the How to Become a Superstar Student course that you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 This was my first year using them. For the history GCs that I bought, I matched up the subject of each lecture with the chapters in the textbook we were using and we watch the course after we've studied the subject in the book. Each lecture comes with notes and usually 2 or 3 short-answer questions. I have my son answer the questions. For the astronomy class my son is taking, we're not using a textbook. Instead we use Great Courses as the bulk of our learning materials for that class. It's worked out well for us and I'm careful to buy the courses during a 70% off sale. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted April 17, 2017 Author Share Posted April 17, 2017 This was my first year using them. For the history GCs that I bought, I matched up the subject of each lecture with the chapters in the textbook we were using and we watch the course after we've studied the subject in the book. Each lecture comes with notes and usually 2 or 3 short-answer questions. I have my son answer the questions. For the astronomy class my son is taking, we're not using a textbook. Instead we use Great Courses as the bulk of our learning materials for that class. It's worked out well for us and I'm careful to buy the courses during a 70% off sale. Thanks! Do you remember generally when the 70 % off sale happens? Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 (edited) Thanks! Do you remember generally when the 70 % off sale happens? Alley I know there's one in December (which will be too late for the next school year), where ALL of the courses are 70% off. However, there are always some courses 70% off. Which courses are on sale change every single week. Find a way to subscribe to their emails and you will get a daily email telling you about the courses that are on sale. I'm pretty sure there's another time of year when ALL the courses are on sale at the same time, but I don't remember when it is, because I buy the courses in December. Maybe someone else will know. Edited April 17, 2017 by Garga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Thanks! Do you remember generally when the 70 % off sale happens? Alley They had one about 5 weeks ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 They had some courses on last week for 90% off. They 70% is almost weekly but they rotate through courses so you may need to wait a little to get the one you want. Once you buy one they will inundate you with their catalog and emails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 If you wait, you an usually get a better deal than just 70% off. They always have something for 70% off; a good sale is 85% off. Also, you can get many courses used on Amazon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 For an example of how we used them, I pulled together a class on exploring culture through world literature for my high schooler last year. First I had her watch through the GC "Customs of the World: using cultural intelligence to adapt, wherever you are," then part of an edX course, "Anthropology of Current World Issues." We followed this up with reading and discussing some essays on Victorian colonialism and post-colonial issues for background, then a variety of literature from various parts of the world--a mix of short stories, poetry, essays, a play, and a couple of short novels. We own a number of the courses that we bought used or on very deep discount, but I did like the subscription when it came along recently (disclaimer: we were beta testers at the time, so I didn't pay for it). It made it easy to pull just a few lectures on a particular topic to add to something if I wanted to. In the above class, for instance, after watching the one full GC, I pulled one lecture on cultural commodification from another one ("Understanding Cultural and Human Geography"), something I wouldn't have done if I had needed to buy the courses. I'm a fangirl of Dr. Elizabeth Vandiver's Classical lectures and Dr. Amy-Jill Levine's lectures on the Bible. I used the Levine lectures as part of a secular Biblical literacy class I [ulled together for late middle school, along with the textbook, "The Bible and Its Influence." Overall, I haven't used them as much as I had anticipated for high school as other opportunities came along, and I overestimated how ready my kid would be for that style of instruction at the middle school level. I also only have one child to use them and don't see a robust local resale market, so, in retrospect, I might have done as well or better to use the subscription service at least initially, had it been available, for those I couldn't get from the library. The proliferation of free MOOCs cuts into their market share as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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