What other classes do you wish you could find online?

[southcactusrose]

Hi.  My children have loved the online courses they have taken and they have been invaluable to me as a homeschool parent.  Now that they are older and I feel like I have a little bit of breathing room (haha), I'm considering teaching some online courses myself.  The problem is, I feel like there are just so many great offerings out there I'm not sure what subjects are needed or even how to narrow down what I could teach.  I'd be interested to hear if anyone has been searching for certain subjects and just hasn't had any luck finding them.  I have several/multiple degrees and certifications that I'd love to put to use that don't fall in the realm of any of my children.

[rdj2027]

Classes at decent times for West Coast, Hawaii, Asia homeschoolers, classes that are a hybrid between asynchronous/synchronous but not AP, classes that if they are asynchronous do not have busywork posting on forums where answers can be seen (my kids are always flummoxed by a question to which the same answer has already been given ten times), rigorous classes that do not have so much work that my kids spend 15 hours a week on that one class, classes that do not come with 90 minute or more lecture times (my kids tend to tune out after 60 at the most).

 

More is not always better, we had classes that crammed so much material into them that my kiddos studied for the test and then promptly forgot because there was no time for material to settle.

 

High level topics at high school pace (i.e. organic chemistry over the course of a year rather than a semester DE)

 

Geography - there is a dearth of human geography classes, I personally was not happy with PAH Human Geography

 

Classes that have worked well/are working well for us:

 

#1 of all times is Clover Creek physics

Wilson Hill but I do wish the lectures were shorter, love their calendars which makes it easy to keep track of tasks

Lukeion Project at either a tad slower pace or less work (I find 80 to 100 lines per week even for a 3rd year student a little much particularly when there is still grammar and vocabulary to be learned)

Blue Tent with fewer moving parts or a better layout of tasks, my two younger kids are able to keep all the tasks straight, for my older son and me it is more of a struggle

 

Edited: We are secular homeschoolers so classes that are not necessarily taught from a Christian viewpoint, use secular materials would be nice but not a must.  I look at it as my kids will encounter all sorts of viewpoints and must find their own place among those.

Edited February 3, 2018 by rdj2027

[Dicentra]

Classes at decent times for West Coast, Hawaii, Asia homeschoolers, classes that are a hybrid between asynchronous/synchronous but not AP, classes that if they are asynchronous do not have busywork posting on forums where answers can be seen (my kids are always flummoxed by a question to which the same answer has already been given ten times), rigorous classes that do not have so much work that my kids spend 15 hours a week on that one class, classes that do not come with 90 minute or more lecture times (my kids tend to tune out after 60 at the most).

 

More is not always better, we had classes that crammed so much material into them that my kiddos studied for the test and then promptly forgot because there was no time for material to settle.

 

High level topics at high school pace (i.e. organic chemistry over the course of a year rather than a semester DE)

 

Geography - there is a dearth of human geography classes, I personally was not happy with PAH Human Geography

 

Classes that have worked well/are working well for us:

 

#1 of all times is Clover Creek physics

Wilson Hill but I do wish the lectures were shorter, love their calendars which makes it easy to keep track of tasks

Lukeion Project at either a tad slower pace or less work (I find 80 to 100 lines per week even for a 3rd year student a little much particularly when there is still grammar and vocabulary to be learned)

Blue Tent with fewer moving parts or a better layout of tasks, my two younger kids are able to keep all the tasks straight, for my older son and me it is more of a struggle

 

Edited: We are secular homeschoolers so classes that are not necessarily taught from a Christian viewpoint, use secular materials would be nice but not a must.  I look at it as my kids will encounter all sorts of viewpoints and must find their own place among those.

 

I'm hoping my new online chem courses check most of those boxes. :)  Well...  Not the geography box. :D  I'm offering live classes at alternate times on two different days in the week so that there should be one of the time slots that works for the West Coast and one that works for the East Coast.  Classes will have both synchronous and asynchronous aspects.  No busy work (I despise busy work!).  And I'm offering a post-AP/Honors Intro to Organic Chem & Biochem course. :)

 

[rdj2027]

I will forever be grateful to you and Jetta for offering these classes. 1 March is circled on my calendar in neon pink :-)

[crazyforlatin]

I'm hoping my new online chem courses check most of those boxes. :) Well... Not the geography box. :D I'm offering live classes at alternate times on two different days in the week so that there should be one of the time slots that works for the West Coast and one that works for the East Coast. Classes will have both synchronous and asynchronous aspects. No busy work (I despise busy work!). And I'm offering a post-AP/Honors Intro to Organic Chem & Biochem course. :)

 

Yay! That's all. Just glad that you posted and waiting for registration to open up.

[southcactusrose]

rdj2027- thank you for your detailed reply! I had never thought about the different time zone needs, but that makes complete sense to me.

I, too, agree about the "busy" work and overload of work that becomes just too much that the students aren't able to get all their other subjects adequately done. My children have experienced this with a couple of their classes, where they've fallen behind due to focusing so much time on the work required with their online courses PLUS the hour and a half of live class. I think the 60 minute time limit would be a great thing to try.

I had a difficult time locating a variety of Geography courses as well. This includes simply a high quality US Geography and some state Geography for younger students.

I'm wondering if the needs are more core based still or would there be any need for more unique electives that haven't been tapped into?

[SanDiegoMom]

It's funny, my husband and I were just talking about what high school classes are missing from the standard options. He voted for general Philosophy course,  and a specific course on Ethics and Moral dilemmas.  :-) My oldest daughter LOVED her human geography course in her PS.  She learned so much. 

[rdj2027]

Other things I have done or am doing: Integrated science/math - my son has done algebra based physics, wants more but is only taking geometry right now.  We have cracked open my old calc based physics books, look at the physics, then study the necessary math.  Works for my whole to parts kids because once he is interested, he will follow a rabbit trail to the very end.  Taking a math class because he needs to take a math class is difficult.  He will still only end up with pre-calc on his transcript but he will have some knowledge of calc that might help him in college.

 

Still working on putting together an Ancient Egyptian language course for my daughter.  She has been studying Egyptian culture and mythology since 2nd grade, needs more but is not ready for DE or AP (plus there is nothing out there).  I will file this under electives.  Maybe other kids would be interested in other non-standard languages.

 

Great Books light.  I have done a Literature of War course with my son in 9th grade.  He did not write a single paper but it turned into a deeply profound class for him because he had time to really think.  We connected the books with documentaries, talking to war veterans, visiting historic or other meaningful places, family documents and resources.  It changed his outlook on many issues, ranging from politics to health care to history.  The usual Great Books classes do not work for us because the lectures are too long, from a Christian world view and by and large require too many books to thoroughly ponder them and allow us to branch out from a particular book into its context.

 

We will do US History in a world history context.  They had US history in public elementary and middle school and are tired of it yet colleges require it on the transcript.  In general, we prefer history taught in a "how did we get here" manner so from end to the beginning.

 

That said, we are not looking at highly selective schools for a Bachelors.  USNA is about as prestigious as it gets.

 

I can probably think of more later.

 

[RootAnn]

Still working on putting together an Ancient Egyptian language course for my daughter. She has been studying Egyptian culture and mythology since 2nd grade,

I have a 2nd grader who currently wants to do hieroglyphics as his foreign language. In six years, I might be looking you up. . .

[brehon]

Philosophy

Statistics (non-AP)

 

I agree with Texasmom33. More courses than aren’t AP or DE, but would be great electives (classics, anthropology/archaeology, etc).

[housemouse]

My kids would love a course on Exoplanets. Not just an general astronomy course but exoplanets specifically.

 

Also, Natural Disasters. And Linux- I find tons for Windows, but not so much for Linux

[Dicentra]

I would love to see more (or really any) unique science course offerings- things outside of Biology, Chem and Physics. Not all kids fit into that sequence, or have any interest in those subjects, but still love science. People worry about excitement and love of learning for young kids and all through junior high, then suddenly we hit high school and its, "I'm sorry you hate this. We have a box to check though so DO IT." I think that's an interest killer for a lot of kids, whereas if you build the interest through high school, they'll be riding on momentum to get through the required pre-reqs at a later point. 

 

Maybe I'm a minority, but I can feel myself turning into this out of the box Mom and it's hard, although not impossible, to find things that fit. But I know my dd likes the interactions of online courses with other teens and the downside to doing different science so far has been that they're all asynchronous so she misses out on that. 

 

I'd also like to see some courses that are traditionally DE offerings,  like Anthropology or Sociology type classes offered as high school electives. We aren't interested in DE right now, but that's no reason to not take that sort of course in high school. It doesn't have to be AP or DE to be a unique or higher level course. I feel like it's very much all or nothing when it comes to that. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right places or something........

 

 

AP Music Theory aimed at students who perform at NYSSMA 4 or higher

 

Honors Physics 

 

Electronics

 

 

It's funny, my husband and I were just talking about what high school classes are missing from the standard options. He voted for general Philosophy course,  and a specific course on Ethics and Moral dilemmas.  :-) My oldest daughter LOVED her human geography course in her PS.  She learned so much. 

 

 

Once I get the chem courses up and running, I'm hoping to offer a "Science for Everyday Life" course based on James Trefil's text.  My aim is that it provides a solid high school level course in the sciences for kids who don't want the traditional sciences and who would rather look at science from a "Big Picture" standpoint with little to no math.  I taught a similar course back when I taught at the local high school called "Science in Society".  It was a Grade 13 (yes - we had that in Ontario :) ) university prep level course.  That's my goal for a few years down the road. :)

 

Heigh Ho - have you looked at any of the theory courses through the Royal Conservatory of Music?

https://www.rcmusic.com/about-us/rcm-publishing/celebrate-theory

The RCM itself is starting to offer online classes but they only currently have up to Level 8.  I'm thinking you're probably looking at Level 9 and up.  My dd has done all of their theory up to Level 10 and is now working on the ARCT level theory co-requisites.  If you ever want to ask any questions about RCM, just shoot me a PM and I'd be glad to chat. :)  There are also a couple of places here in Canada that you can take the theory classes as online classes (the only one of these that I have experience with is the first one - he's the author of theory textbooks and his Intermediate Harmony course was good):

http://elementarymusictheory.com/?page_id=17

http://www.musictheoryonline.ca/our-program.html

http://tanmusic.com/rcm-theory/

 

I don't know how folks feel about Canadian online courses :) , but we have a few virtual schools here in Ontario that offer some interesting courses.  Disclaimer - these are government accredited schools and so the courses being offered are based on the Ontario high school curriculum documents.  I don't know that that makes them necessarily bad :) but I thought I should throw that out there.

Dd has taken Introduction to Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology from the ILC (Independent Learning Centre):

https://www.ilc.org/en-ca/courses/introduction-anthropology-psychology-and-sociology

She also took Earth and Space Science from the ILC:

https://www.ilc.org/en-ca/courses/earth-and-space-science

The ILC courses were... Meh.  They weren't the worst courses I've ever seen but they weren't the best.  Very traditional correspondence-type courses.

 

She's currently taking Philosophy: Questions and Theories from VHS (Virtual High School):

https://www.virtualhighschool.com/courses/outlines/hzt4u.asp

The VHS is better than the ILC, in my opinion, but doesn't offer all of the courses that the ILC does.

 

Both of these places are absolutely willing to work with homeschoolers and to give prerequisite waivers if you can show them that your student is ready for a particular course.  The VHS is actually an online private school whereas the ILC is an online public school.  Both will take non-Canadian students.  Courses for each run about $500 CDN ($400 USD?) apiece.

[housemouse]

I'm hoping my new online chem courses check most of those boxes. :)  Well...  Not the geography box. :D  I'm offering live classes at alternate times on two different days in the week so that there should be one of the time slots that works for the West Coast and one that works for the East Coast.  Classes will have both synchronous and asynchronous aspects.  No busy work (I despise busy work!).  And I'm offering a post-AP/Honors Intro to Organic Chem & Biochem course. :)

 

 

Would you happen to have Inorganic Chemistry Class in the works? My chemistry loving child would love that. We are already looking at your chemistry and organic chemistry classes. He's excited about those and asking about inorganic chemistry.

 

[Dicentra]

Would you happen to have Inorganic Chemistry Class in the works? My chemistry loving child would love that. We are already looking at your chemistry and organic chemistry classes. He's excited about those and asking about inorganic chemistry.

 

 

Both the Reg Chem and Honors Chem will be mostly inorganic chem. :)  I don't think I had a course in university that specialized in inorganic chem until probably second year - the math involved in upper level inorganic courses can be pretty advanced and chemistry at that level would require a really solid foundation in intro chem.  If your son wants to, let him take a look at this to see what he thinks: :)

http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/chem_107_inorganic_chemistry.html

 

I probably won't be offering an intro inorganic chem class like the one above anytime in the near future but, as I mentioned above, any intro chem course (and even the AP Chem course) are almost all inorganic chem. :)

 

[housemouse]

Both the Reg Chem and Honors Chem will be mostly inorganic chem. :)  I don't think I had a course in university that specialized in inorganic chem until probably second year - the math involved in upper level inorganic courses can be pretty advanced and chemistry at that level would require a really solid foundation in intro chem.  If your son wants to, let him take a look at this to see what he thinks: :)

http://ocw.uci.edu/courses/chem_107_inorganic_chemistry.html

 

I probably won't be offering an intro inorganic chem class like the one above anytime in the near future but, as I mentioned above, any intro chem course (and even the AP Chem course) are almost all inorganic chem. :)

 

Thank you. I will have him check it out.

[daijobu]

We need more options for AP classes.  PAH dominates the market, and there are a few other sources, but no one else really competes at the same level with PAH.  

[SeaConquest]

I would love to see more World Lit classes. Something like what By the Onion Sea offers for Russian Lit, but for other regions of the world. Particularly, literature by people of color.

Edited February 6, 2018 by SeaConquest

[crazyforlatin]

It's funny, my husband and I were just talking about what high school classes are missing from the standard options. He voted for general Philosophy course, and a specific course on Ethics and Moral dilemmas. :-) My oldest daughter LOVED her human geography course in her PS. She learned so much.

Lukeion will have Philosophy classes in the fall.

[eternalsummer]

We'd like to find a Shakespeare class that focuses maybe somewhat less on the literary analysis and more on the production aspects (although of course you have to do some analysis to understand and produce good work!), interactive, definitely live, relatively rigorous, and focused on the less depressing plays if possible.

 

 

[eternalsummer]

CLRC has philosophy classes too, I think.