anyone have any input about WTMA Biology with Monica Bennett?

[Alte Veste Academy]

Either here or by PM? I would love to know how this class has gone for others. I was hoping Amy Upperman would be back because she had fabulous reviews and I can't find anything on the current teacher. I'd love to know about participation, organization, homework load (here more frequent is actually better, because this learner needs practice with ideas before tests), etc. 

Thanks to anyone who can help!

[Caraway]

Yes - she’s fabulous. My son has her for biology and bio lab. I’ll type out a longer response from my laptop. 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Caraway

[Alte Veste Academy]

Oh, I am very exited to hear this! Looking forward to details! I did like her sample video.

[Caraway]

She is a great teacher. Clearly knows and likes the subject and really wants the kids to succeed. 

There is a prefecture video and question, main lectures, discussion board posts and responses, quizzes, and exams.  There are also two papers - one on a book they’ve selected and one on a science topic. The work is rigorous but she gives a lot of guidance and there are some extra credit opportunities. 

She communicates well via email and is very responsive.  The class is well organized and well run.  Biology was a favorite class this year  

Feel free to ask anything I missed. 😊

[Alte Veste Academy]

Thanks! I'm so glad your son liked the class so well. I'm very happy to hear it is well organized. Especially for assignments/deadlines, this kid needs very clear expectations and consistency.

[SanDiegoMom]

8 minutes ago, Alte Veste Academy said:

Thanks! I'm so glad your son liked the class so well. I'm very happy to hear it is well organized. Especially for assignments/deadlines, this kid needs very clear expectations and consistency.

 What section will your student be in? My daughter is signed up now for the M/W at 11 am.  This is my much more relaxed student who kind of breezes through school, so I'm hoping a well structured class with higher expectations will be a good motivation for her:) .   

[Alte Veste Academy]

It’s a Tuesday/Thursday class with the Thursday lab. This kid is a math and science lover and does great in school but struggles significantly with time management and needs scaffolding. If the class format/schedule doesn’t scaffold, then it’s up to me, and I am “patience challenged” with it all right now. LOL Of course, it is also the end of the year...

[Susity]

I'm brand new to this community, and am considering Monica Bennett's biology lecture and lab for my math-loving son.  It sounds like MB is well liked.  Is it ok for me to jump in and ask about her class more generally?  If so, here's what I'm wondering.  (If not, forgive me, I don't yet know this site's etiquette but welcome advice on how to use it too.)

1. How much time do kids spend on the class (lecture and lab)?   Of this time, how much
of this is spent on writing/doing labs versus reading?  My son reads, digests, and retains complex material fairly easily but writing well is much more difficult for him.   I'm wondering if these classes might be too writing intensive? 

2. How did your kids feel about the two required papers?

3 . My son has not yet taken a WTMA course.  How social are these classes?  Do kids get to interact with each other much? 

4.   Has anyone's kids gone on to take one of the bio SAT subject tests?  If so, how prepared were they?

Thanks!

[mirabillis]

This is my 2nd kid taking WTMA Bio (first took it with the much-beloved Mrs. Up). Despite having Mrs. Upperman pull out after signing up, we have been pleasantly surprised with Mrs. Bennett. My dd (10th grade) really likes the class and is learning a lot. There are no labs (labs are separate classes) and very little writing. Weekly or bi-weekly discussion board posts, but those are minimal words (maybe 200 or so). There are 2 writing papers, and we're in the middle of the 2nd one. First is a Book report style on a Biology book - 2nd is a research paper. Both have been good experiences for my kids, and definitely not graded in an English-style way, more from a Biology perspective.

My ds took the SAT Bio after Mrs. Up's class and scored a 730, he felt fairly well prepared. My dd may/may not take it this year - she has straight A's in the class, but we'll see once taking some SAT II practice tests if that translates to the SAT II test.

Interaction is fairly minimal - there is group work each class, and they discuss together but it's by chat-box. So limited. I wouldn't say social really at all.

With that said, we're debating whether to try FundaFunda's BIO class with Dr. Underwood for my next kid in line... much more cost-effective (WTMA is getting a little pricey with the annual technology/registration fees) plus it doesn't include labs anymore. 

So all in all a good class and Mrs. Bennett is a good teacher.

[Susity]

On 4/10/2019 at 11:32 PM, mirabillis said:

This is my 2nd kid taking WTMA Bio (first took it with the much-beloved Mrs. Up). Despite having Mrs. Upperman pull out after signing up, we have been pleasantly surprised with Mrs. Bennett. My dd (10th grade) really likes the class and is learning a lot. There are no labs (labs are separate classes) and very little writing. Weekly or bi-weekly discussion board posts, but those are minimal words (maybe 200 or so). There are 2 writing papers, and we're in the middle of the 2nd one. First is a Book report style on a Biology book - 2nd is a research paper. Both have been good experiences for my kids, and definitely not graded in an English-style way, more from a Biology perspective.

My ds took the SAT Bio after Mrs. Up's class and scored a 730, he felt fairly well prepared. My dd may/may not take it this year - she has straight A's in the class, but we'll see once taking some SAT II practice tests if that translates to the SAT II test.

Interaction is fairly minimal - there is group work each class, and they discuss together but it's by chat-box. So limited. I wouldn't say social really at all.

With that said, we're debating whether to try FundaFunda's BIO class with Dr. Underwood for my next kid in line... much more cost-effective (WTMA is getting a little pricey with the annual technology/registration fees) plus it doesn't include labs anymore. 

So all in all a good class and Mrs. Bennett is a good teacher.

 

Thank you for this review.    I've heard back from Dr. Bennett as well.  We want our son to have the 1/2 year lab, so it does sound like a lot of writing but it appears the papers and labs are evaluated as scientific writing--not for elegant grammar and lithe sentence structure.   I suspect this will be a stretch for our son but doable.   I'm definitely considering it.   Re FundaFunda, I heard from someone whose kid is taking FundaFunda. She has a biology background and she's pleased with the course.  Another option is Blue Tent.  A friend raved about that class but again it's asynchronous, which we're not interested in.   The two others with live classes (and secular textbooks) that we were considering are Debra Bell/Aim Academy and Athena's.  I cannot find any reviews for either though.  And Debra Bell never replied to my inquiry.