Online Chemistry teacher recommendations

[Homemama2]

Any particular teacher/class that you would highly recommend?  I'm familiar with what is out there for the most part, just trying to find a good teacher. Secular or Christian is fine. I already have Apologia 2nd edition from my older son, but honestly didn't like it very much, so I don't care if it uses that book.   

[Roadrunner]

Clover Valley Chemistry! 

If you want a rigorous course, go with honors option (it uses college text). Or you can take non honors course that’s more in line with typical PS high school chem courses.

Great teacher. Great course. 

[crazyforlatin]

Clover Valley, as the teacher is very responsive to questions and supportive of students. We're also in the honors class, so it's a lot of work but in line with what I would expect from an honors class. It took some time for Dd to adjust because she wasn’t used to reading a college textbook, but the teacher has videos for each chapter and will take the time to write out emails explaining homework problems should a student ask. I did want Dd to be challenged, not to expect good grades with minimum effort, so this class definitely makes her  work hard. I'm sure her regular course is great as well and probably would be best for a younger kid like DD, but when I signed up, I was trying to figure out our science progression while figuring out how to proceed with high school. 

[Roadrunner]

I think the key for you would be to decide if you want an honors or a regular option. Our so called highly regarded district is using a typical high school textbook for honors chem, so it's  nowhere compatible to Clover Valley Honors Chem course, which uses a college text. Now that is a good thing for us, but it's something to consider. 

Edited January 13, 2019 by Roadrunner

[crazyforlatin]

12 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I think the key for you would be to decide if you want an honors or a regular option. Our so called highly regarded district is using a typical high school textbook for honors chem, so it's not nowhere compatible to Clover Valley Honors Chem course, which uses a college text. Now that is a good thing for us, but it's something to consider. 

With so many other decisions to make, I'm also deciding between regular or honors biology. I loved bio in high school and college so why am I not feeling the love for it now and wanting to do something else for 9th? Yup big problems lol.

[Roadrunner]

1 minute ago, crazyforlatin said:

With so many other decisions to make, I'm also deciding between regular or honors biology. I loved bio in high school and college so why am I not feeling the love for it now and wanting to do something else for 9th? Yup big problems lol.

 

Options are a good thing. 🙂 

[Homemama2]

Thank you!  Clover Valley was actually the one I was hoping to hear about!   This was very helpful

[mom2hunangirls]

My daughter is in Honors Chem at WH and loves her teacher. Bailey. From the classes I've heard the teacher is great. Well organized, responsive, encouraging. 

[fourisenough]

40 minutes ago, mom2hunangirls said:

My daughter is in Honors Chem at WH and loves her teacher. Bailey. From the classes I've heard the teacher is great. Well organized, responsive, encouraging. 

Can you speak to the workload for this course? How many hours would you say your DD spends on it per week? Is there much religious content or do you think the class would work for a family who prefers to keep academic classes mostly secular?

[mom2hunangirls]

28 minutes ago, fourisenough said:

Can you speak to the workload for this course? How many hours would you say your DD spends on it per week? Is there much religious content or do you think the class would work for a family who prefers to keep academic classes mostly secular?

The class is 3 hours a week and I'm guessing she spends about 3-4 hours a week on homework. It's been challenging but not a burden. She does love math so she doesn't mind the work.

The teacher does open and close with prayer, but the classes themselves have been mostly secular. Nothing has stood out to me at least.

[fourisenough]

14 minutes ago, mom2hunangirls said:

The class is 3 hours a week and I'm guessing she spends about 3-4 hours a week on homework. It's been challenging but not a burden. She does love math so she doesn't mind the work.

The teacher does open and close with prayer, but the classes themselves have been mostly secular. Nothing has stood out to me at least.

Do you mind me asking what math level your daughter is in? My DD would be taking Chemistry concurrently with Algebra 2. She takes math at WHA and has gotten A or A- in both Algebra 1 & Geometry so far. Do you think that is sufficient to do well in honors chem?

[mom2hunangirls]

On 1/16/2019 at 9:27 PM, fourisenough said:

Do you mind me asking what math level your daughter is in? My DD would be taking Chemistry concurrently with Algebra 2. She takes math at WHA and has gotten A or A- in both Algebra 1 & Geometry so far. Do you think that is sufficient to do well in honors chem?

She is taking Alg 2 at WH concurrently. She had A's in Alg 1/Geo. And currently has an A in Alg 2. I think your daughter would be fine.

Mine had Honors Physics last year and she wanted to take the summer Honors Chem prep class since her Physics wasn't at WH. I don't think she really needed it though.

[hellen]

I'll put another plug in for Clover Valley.  I feel like my son is learning a lot.  

[fourisenough]

4 hours ago, hellen said:

I'll put another plug in for Clover Valley.  I feel like my son is learning a lot.  

Is your son taking the honors course or regular? What would you estimate is his daily/weekly time investment in this course?

[hellen]

He is doing the honors. He spends about 1-2 hours every 2 weeks reading the chapter(s) and taking notes.  Homework takes around 1-2 hours every two weeks.  The videos vary.  I think they are around 4-5 hours every two weeks.  Lab times vary tremendously.  Then there is a test every other week.  The actual test doesn't take long.  Studying time for the test varies.  So if I add everything up, that's a minimum of 7 hours over a two week period, but he really ought to be doing at least another two hours.  

[JadeOrchidSong]

How is online chemistry lab done? Very curious about this. 

[Jugglin'5]

On 1/16/2019 at 7:50 PM, mom2hunangirls said:

My daughter is in Honors Chem at WH and loves her teacher. Bailey. From the classes I've heard the teacher is great. Well organized, responsive, encouraging. 

 

She is one of my daughter's all-time favorite teachers. My daughter is NOT a math/science student, but Dr. Bailey is a great teacher, and she did very well in the Hon. Chem class last year. My son will be taking her next year.

 

[TCB]

45 minutes ago, Jugglin'5 said:

 

She is one of my daughter's all-time favorite teachers. My daughter is NOT a math/science student, but Dr. Bailey is a great teacher, and she did very well in the Hon. Chem class last year. My son will be taking her next year.

 

Wow just looked at WH fees and they're pretty steep!  Do you know what the $250 enrollment fee covers?

[skimomma]

13 hours ago, hellen said:

He is doing the honors. He spends about 1-2 hours every 2 weeks reading the chapter(s) and taking notes.  Homework takes around 1-2 hours every two weeks.  The videos vary.  I think they are around 4-5 hours every two weeks.  Lab times vary tremendously.  Then there is a test every other week.  The actual test doesn't take long.  Studying time for the test varies.  So if I add everything up, that's a minimum of 7 hours over a two week period, but he really ought to be doing at least another two hours.  

 

Just for contrast, my dd is in this class as well.  It is very well done and she is learning a great deal.  I highly recommend it.  But she spends FAR more time than this.  She is at about two hours per weekday and another two hours over most weekends.  Most videos are between 30-60 minutes and it takes dd twice that time to get through them as she stops to do the exercises and occasionally has to replay sections.  Dd is bright, motivated, and so far an A student, but not academically gifted.

[hellen]

44 minutes ago, skimomma said:

 

Just for contrast, my dd is in this class as well.  It is very well done and she is learning a great deal.  I highly recommend it.  But she spends FAR more time than this.  She is at about two hours per weekday and another two hours over most weekends.  Most videos are between 30-60 minutes and it takes dd twice that time to get through them as she stops to do the exercises and occasionally has to replay sections.  Dd is bright, motivated, and so far an A student, but not academically gifted.

My child is academically gifted, but hard work is almost always more important in life. He would do much better if he spent more time both learning the material and checking his work.  His grade is well below the class average.  He's not really motivated to work harder or more carefully for a better grade.  

 

[TarynB]

Another option is chemistry with Kerrie Childress at Excelsior Classes. It meets live once a week for 90 minutes. Class opens with a prayer but is otherwise just chemistry. The textbook she uses is a standard, secular high school text. Mrs. Childress is really good at explaining concepts. (She previously taught at Landry Academy before it folded, as did many of the other teaches at Excelsior Classes.) The course also includes lab work. DS is having a great experience with her this year.

https://excelsiorclasses.com/product/chemistry/

ETA: Excelsior requires a $40 per year "family membership" to enroll, but if you get on their email newsletter list, or follow them on FB, you should see a promo code come out for a significant discount off the membership price. They did that last year, around enrollment time (February).

Edited January 21, 2019 by TarynB

[Dicentra]

14 hours ago, JadeOrchidSong said:

How is online chemistry lab done? Very curious about this. 

For my courses, the students purchase a lab kit (I use the microchem kits from Quality Science Labs) and they perform the labs at home.  The kits come with a lab manual with procedures but I come up with my own handouts for recording data and for analyzing and answering questions (loosely based on the "Results" section from the lab manual).

I would love for every student to have access to a full lab with equipment but, since that isn't feasible, I think the home lab kits are the next best thing. 🙂

[Roadrunner]

I think our work on chem varies but it’s certainly a lot more than 5 hours a week. One of those weeks, I am going to count the hours. We are changing up the strategy this semester. I used to print out all the material at once and then hand it over to him small chunk at a time. What I realized is if I print slides, he won’t take notes despite lines next to the text clearly intended for notes. He just says, oh, it’s already written down. So this past few weeks I no longer print slides, but give him a plain paper instead, so he can more actively engage with videos. So it’s going to be longer hours now. 😂 But hopefully more productive hours. 

[Dicentra]

1 minute ago, Roadrunner said:

I think our work on chem varies but it’s certainly a lot more than 5 hours a week. One of those weeks, I am going to count the hours. We are changing up the strategy this semester. I used to print out all the material at once and then hand it over to him small chunk at a time. What I realized is if I print slides, he won’t take notes despite lines next to the text clearly intended for notes. He just says, oh, it’s already written down. So this past few weeks I no longer print slides, but give him a plain paper instead, so he can more actively engage with videos. So it’s going to be longer hours now. 😂 But hopefully more productive hours. 

Yeah - I would say 8 hours per week for the Honors Chem.  Does that sound about right, Roadrunner?  I think 5-6 hours per week for the Chemistry course.  I think it always depends on the student, too.

And I like your strategy.  Even if your student may not. 😉 😄

[skimomma]

16 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I think our work on chem varies but it’s certainly a lot more than 5 hours a week. One of those weeks, I am going to count the hours. We are changing up the strategy this semester. I used to print out all the material at once and then hand it over to him small chunk at a time. What I realized is if I print slides, he won’t take notes despite lines next to the text clearly intended for notes. He just says, oh, it’s already written down. So this past few weeks I no longer print slides, but give him a plain paper instead, so he can more actively engage with videos. So it’s going to be longer hours now. 😂 But hopefully more productive hours. 

 

We went to this too.  Dd really needs to write down all of the notes, even if it means stopping the lecture to keep up.  And then she re-writes the notes.  I know this adds a lot of time but she was just not retaining the information without doing these steps.

[crazyforlatin]

19 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

I think our work on chem varies but it’s certainly a lot more than 5 hours a week. One of those weeks, I am going to count the hours. We are changing up the strategy this semester. I used to print out all the material at once and then hand it over to him small chunk at a time. What I realized is if I print slides, he won’t take notes despite lines next to the text clearly intended for notes. He just says, oh, it’s already written down. So this past few weeks I no longer print slides, but give him a plain paper instead, so he can more actively engage with videos. So it’s going to be longer hours now. 😂 But hopefully more productive hours. 

 

1 minute ago, skimomma said:

 

We went to this too.  Dd really needs to write down all of the notes, even if it means stopping the lecture to keep up.  And then she re-writes the notes.  I know this adds a lot of time but she was just not retaining the information without doing these steps.

That's why it takes longer than the minutes indicated on the video. We've been listening to dicentra in various speeds depending on what we can forward; fast forward meaning that it would be the second time, not the first time preview. 

I have DD do the problems on the video before Dicentra works it out for us; otherwise DD doesn't actively solve it herself. 

 

[skimomma]

5 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

 

 

I have DD do the problems on the video before Dicentra works it out for us; otherwise DD doesn't actively solve it herself. 

 

 

Us too.  That is why it sometimes takes two days to get through one video.

[crazyforlatin]

6 minutes ago, skimomma said:

 

Us too.  That is why it sometimes takes two days to get through one video.

I think it's important that our kids know that it's not just them; longer videos take us 2 days too. 

[Roadrunner]

35 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

Yeah - I would say 8 hours per week for the Honors Chem.  Does that sound about right, Roadrunner?  I think 5-6 hours per week for the Chemistry course.  I think it always depends on the student, too.

And I like your strategy.  Even if your student may not. 😉 😄

 

I will say that 8 hours is accurate. I will not tell you how long it took for him to do the lab report. 😂

 

He spent the first semester approaching chemistry as math - basically zoning out on lectures and then learning through working problems. We are actively trying to change this now. 🙂 

[JadeOrchidSong]

Ds16 is taking chemistry with a local Homeschool class. It sounds like none of the students likes the class. The text they use is Wile's new edition chemistry. 

[Dicentra]

55 minutes ago, skimomma said:

We went to this too.  Dd really needs to write down all of the notes, even if it means stopping the lecture to keep up.  And then she re-writes the notes.  I know this adds a lot of time but she was just not retaining the information without doing these steps.

 

49 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

That's why it takes longer than the minutes indicated on the video. We've been listening to dicentra in various speeds depending on what we can forward; fast forward meaning that it would be the second time, not the first time preview. 

I have DD do the problems on the video before Dicentra works it out for us; otherwise DD doesn't actively solve it herself.

 

43 minutes ago, skimomma said:

Us too.  That is why it sometimes takes two days to get through one video.

 

33 minutes ago, crazyforlatin said:

I think it's important that our kids know that it's not just them; longer videos take us 2 days too. 

 

31 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

He spent the first semester approaching chemistry as math - basically zoning out on lectures and then learning through working problems. We are actively trying to change this now. 🙂 

I think all of this is important.  In the first few videos, I suggest to the students that they pause the video before an example, work it themselves, and then unpause the video and watch me work it to see if they did it correctly.  I may need to remind students of that again. 🙂

I also hope it's not weird that I pop in here to answer questions.  I want folks to feel comfortable discussing my courses honestly - the good, the bad, and the ugly 🙂 - and I also want to help folks with any queries they might have.

[southcactusrose]

We went with Kerrie Childress with Excelsior Classes and couldn’t be happier!

[8filltheheart]

My Dd is also taking CV honors chemistry. I'd guess she spends more like 10-12 hrs per week. (I'm guessing it is closer to 2hrs per day and she tends to take her tests on the weekend, so she might study for a while and then take the exam.) I'd have to ask her to get exact amts of time bc she is on autopilot with the class. It just seems like that is how long she is sitting there working on chem. I know she asked Connie if she could post the time lengths on the videos so that she could better gauge how to break up her week bc there have been a few times where the videos have eaten into more of her day than she had allotted.

She reads the text, stops the videos to take notes, and works all the problems. No idea what slides people are talking about bc she doesn't print anything like that up.

I also have no idea how she is doing compared to the other students. She has an A based on her numerical avg and she  is really learning chemistry. Those are the only 2 things I care about.  I think she is probably the oldest student in the class. (She is 17 and taking pre-cal concurrently.)

It is an excellent course and one I would highly recommend. (And I rarely feel that way about any outsourced course. ChemAdvantage AP is probably the only other course any of my kids have taken that I would rank equal in quality.)

[RootAnn]

On 1/21/2019 at 12:48 PM, TarynB said:

Another option is chemistry with Kerrie Childress at Excelsior Classes. ... The course also includes lab work. DS is having a great experience with her this year.

https://excelsiorclasses.com/product/chemistry/

 

6 hours ago, southcactusrose said:

We went with Kerrie Childress with Excelsior Classes and couldn’t be happier!

If anyone is looking for a live, non-honors, regular Chem class, I agree with the above. It wasn't super time-consuming when dd#1 took it & she really liked Mrs. Childress. DD went on this year to take college Chemistry and did well (although part of that might have been that her math skills are good).

[Dicentra]

On 1/26/2019 at 2:41 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

She reads the text, stops the videos to take notes, and works all the problems. No idea what slides people are talking about bc she doesn't print anything like that up.

I post handouts for each lecture, 8, that are simply the slides shrunk down to 3 per page with lines to take notes.  Students can use them as they watch the lectures or they can take notes on plain lined paper.  Which ever method works best for a student works for me. 🙂

[Roadrunner]

On 1/26/2019 at 12:41 AM, 8FillTheHeart said:

My Dd is also taking CV honors chemistry. I'd guess she spends more like 10-12 hrs per week. (I'm guessing it is closer to 2hrs per day and she tends to take her tests on the weekend, so she might study for a while and then take the exam.) I'd have to ask her to get exact amts of time bc she is on autopilot with the class. It just seems like that is how long she is sitting there working on chem. I know she asked Connie if she could post the time lengths on the videos so that she could better gauge how to break up her week bc there have been a few times where the videos have eaten into more of her day than she had allotted.

She reads the text, stops the videos to take notes, and works all the problems. No idea what slides people are talking about bc she doesn't print anything like that up.

I also have no idea how she is doing compared to the other students. She has an A based on her numerical avg and she  is really learning chemistry. Those are the only 2 things I care about.  I think she is probably the oldest student in the class. (She is 17 and taking pre-cal concurrently.)

It is an excellent course and one I would highly recommend. (And I rarely feel that way about any outsourced course. ChemAdvantage AP is probably the only other course any of my kids have taken that I would rank equal in quality.)

 

This has been our exact experience, including doing the tests on weekends (as we speak :)). 

What I do is print the summary page and then I look at the length of each video before we start the unit and pencil in the time on that summary page. Then we sit together to determine the goals - what needs to be accomplished by what date. He is 13. I can’t be hands off yet. 

[crazyforlatin]

19 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

This has been our exact experience, including doing the tests on weekends (as we speak :)). 

What I do is print the summary page and then I look at the length of each video before we start the unit and pencil in the time on that summary page. Then we sit together to determine the goals - what needs to be accomplished by what date. He is 13. I can’t be hands off yet. 

And guess what DD is doing right now? I'm not hands off yet and probably won't be even next year.

[Roadrunner]

1 hour ago, crazyforlatin said:

And guess what DD is doing right now? I'm not hands off yet and probably won't be even next year.

Test! So is mine. Or at least I hope he is. 😂And for those reading, weekend test taking is not tied to procrastination. 

 

. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Roadrunner

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, Roadrunner said:

. 😂And for those reading, weekend test taking is not tied to procrastination. 

I agree.

we have had some heavy duty emotional stuff going on, so I don't know if it is tied to our crisis or not, but Dd took the exam yesterday and said she did poorly. Hard exam or hard life....not sure which.

[Roadrunner]

16 minutes ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I agree.

we have had some heavy duty emotional stuff going on, so I don't know if it is tied to our crisis or not, but Dd took the exam yesterday and said she did poorly. Hard exam or hard life....not sure which.

 

Mine just finished not long ago and said he was feeling unsure about short answer section. He said he felt something was off with his calculations. We will see.

[crazyforlatin]

22 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

Mine just finished not long ago and said he was feeling unsure about short answer section. He said he felt something was off with his calculations. We will see.

Hey DD wanted to let your ds know, welcome to her world - unsure feeling on every exam. She'll take Latin over Chemistry any day. 

ETA: Clarifying that Chemistry is basically a new subject (McHenry intro is not quite the preparation for honors chem, lol) for Dd whereas Latin is as old as math where the progression has been steady. New subject plus honors plus college textbook means learning to work harder and manage her time better. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by crazyforlatin

[Dicentra]

@Roadrunner, @crazyforlatin, @8FillTheHeart - your stories are cracking me up. 🙂  Your kiddos are all fantastic students.  And @8FillTheHeart - tell your dd she did fine on the test.  Hers is marked and her grade is posted if she wants to check. 🙂

So here's my question...  Do I make the course easier?  My philosophy has always been to set the bar high, make sure the students get a GOOD grounding while the stakes are still low (my course isn't "official" or accredited in any sense), and then when they take either AP Chem or DE Chem or chem at uni they will be well prepared and will ace it.  When the stakes are high and money is on the line. 🙂  So - easier or no?  Are those who are looking for an Honors course in future being scared off 😄 or is this level of challenge something folks are looking for?

[Roadrunner]

30 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

@Roadrunner, @crazyforlatin, @8FillTheHeart - your stories are cracking me up. 🙂  Your kiddos are all fantastic students.  And @8FillTheHeart - tell your dd she did fine on the test.  Hers is marked and her grade is posted if she wants to check. 🙂

So here's my question...  Do I make the course easier?  My philosophy has always been to set the bar high, make sure the students get a GOOD grounding while the stakes are still low (my course isn't "official" or accredited in any sense), and then when they take either AP Chem or DE Chem or chem at uni they will be well prepared and will ace it.  When the stakes are high and money is on the line. 🙂  So - easier or no?  Are those who are looking for an Honors course in future being scared off 😄 or is this level of challenge something folks are looking for?

 

No, please don’t make the honors course easier. My kid is so proud of the work he is doing and dismayed at the local honors chem offering. And he is really enjoying the course and now finds Chemistry fascinating. It’s a great course!

 

[8filltheheart]

38 minutes ago, Dicentra said:

@Roadrunner, @crazyforlatin, @8FillTheHeart - your stories are cracking me up. 🙂  Your kiddos are all fantastic students.  And @8FillTheHeart - tell your dd she did fine on the test.  Hers is marked and her grade is posted if she wants to check. 🙂

So here's my question...  Do I make the course easier?  My philosophy has always been to set the bar high, make sure the students get a GOOD grounding while the stakes are still low (my course isn't "official" or accredited in any sense), and then when they take either AP Chem or DE Chem or chem at uni they will be well prepared and will ace it.  When the stakes are high and money is on the line. 🙂  So - easier or no?  Are those who are looking for an Honors course in future being scared off 😄 or is this level of challenge something folks are looking for?

No. Don't change a thing. Like I said above, it is one of only 2 courses I would recommend. I think it is exactly what it should be. My Dd has never done any chemistry prior to this yr and your teaching is perfect. She is learning a lot and she is completely on autopilot. For a high school honors course, it is exactly what I would expect.

This week has been a nightmare for us. Completely surreal and no way I could have fictionalized our current reality. That was really the only reason I posted that comment. She was in tears after the test and I wasn't sure if the test was overly hard or if it was just the week catching up with her. It sounds like the week,which actually makes me relieved bc she has clammed up completely. Crying is a good thing. Believe me. 

4 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

No, please don’t make the honors course easier. My kid is so proud of the work he is doing and dismayed at the local honors chem offering. And he is really enjoying the course and now finds Chemistry fascinating. It’s a great course!

 

Agreed.

[crazyforlatin]

4 minutes ago, Roadrunner said:

 

No, please don’t make the honors course easier. My kid is so proud of the work he is doing and dismayed at the local honors chem offering. And he is really enjoying the course and now finds Chemistry fascinating. It’s a great course!

 

Agree, DD is learning a lot and proud that she can use a college textbook. She loves to ask her high school friends what topic they are on in chemistry and knowing that she is ahead despite their honors program. I think it's important for my particular kid to know that it's ok to struggle through a challenging course. Afterall it's why she's not at the local school where she can be coasting along. 

 

 

[crazyforlatin]

I want to emphasize that though this course is challenging, Dicentra is very accessible via email and has live classes. She will write a long paragraph explaining something to Dd. The feedback is very quick, maybe too quick as if she never leaves the computer lol. A student will not be left to flounder about; it's not a sink or swim class. 

[Dicentra]

Thanks for the feedback, @Roadrunner, @8FillTheHeart, and @crazyforlatin!  And @crazyforlatin - I have been spending a LOT of time at my computer this year creating content and monitoring things to make sure everything is going smoothly for everyone.  Probably too much time.  I'm a reader and my stack of "To Be Read" books is calling to me. 😉 🙂

[rdj2027]

Nooo, please do not make the course easier.  I wish I had received a solid grounding in chemistry given my later inclinations.  My daughter is finally accepting that something less than a perfect score does not mean abject failure and while she may not be on top of the class, she is rather proud that she is not only doing something that exceeds anything her brothers have done (ll her brothers had Honors Chem) but that she is able to hold a decent grade.  Just like with Blue Tent, I feel a B or "Good" really means that and it is an accomplishment (that was my only bone of contention with Lukeion, that a B was rather considered a failure).  A "B" in Clover Valley means she has far more and more solid knowledge than an "A" at the local high school.

I have come across the attitude though that participating in an Honors class should mean that only an A is a valid grade because otherwise the student apparently isn't able to follow the material.  I have a different opinion, but there it is.

[Dicentra]

Thanks for the feedback, @rdj2027!  I'm glad that folks are agreeing with keeping the bar high.  Sounds like we're all on the same page. 🙂

[Dicentra]

18 hours ago, Danae said:

I have a placement question re: Clover Valley Honors Chem. Should a student who will have completed a public school Algebra 1 class with a near perfect score but will be switching to AOPS for math and starting with their Intro to Algebra book wait until the following year (when he will have finished AOPS Intro to Algebra A & B), or would he be okay to take honors chemistry concurrent with AOPS Algebra? 

It probably depends a lot on what the public school Alg 1 class was like.  Was the class rigorous?  Was there a big focus on word problems and problem-solving in general?  It's the ability to solve complex word problems that's needed for Honors Chem.  There also needs to be a certain maturity in thinking, if you know what I mean. 🙂  Students need to be able to visualize some pretty abstract concepts and then work with those abstract concepts, both mathematically and non-mathematically.  Basically, the student needs to have moved into Piaget's formal operational stage of thought.  The usual age for that transition is around 13 or 14 but can be later for lots of students.  Or it can be earlier.

So all that to say - it depends. 🙂  If you want to send me a PM with more detail, I'd be happy to give as many answers as I can.