Prep for AP Eng Lang: Blue Tent, Write at Home, AIM, or other?

[mirabillis]

Rising 10th grader - thinking what to do for 10th grade English. Want to be ready for AP Eng Lang in 11th & SAT English to boot.... Thoughts?

My oldest did Write at Home 10th grade: Essay 1, Essay 2 & Literary Analysis workshops. Good quality feedback, but not a whole lot of pointed instruction...

Thinking a real English class like Blue Tent or AIM Pre-AP but don't really know... Your experiences and thoughts??

And if Blue Tent - which one would we do? Honors English 1 or English 2 for 10th grade?

 

[easypeasy]

My two youngest did Blue Tent's Honors English 2 in 10th grade to prep for AP English Lang for 11th. Blue Tent's Honors English 2 absolutely does the job! My girls are natural writers, where my son is not. The English 2 was harder for him than for dd because he never reads or writes "for fun." He learned a lot about time management that will serve him well in the future. Christine's class is a well-oiled machine and all the assignments are worthy. It is a time-consuming class for those who aren't fast readers or natural writers, but imho, well worth every minute. Her feedback is exceptional.

My first dd just went straight to AP English and it was so difficult for her to manage all the assignments and reading schedule and to learn what Brigid expected from her. DD2 just glided straight from the Honors class to the AP class and it wasn't nearly as difficult as it was for DD1. DS, I expect, will still struggle a bit, but so much less than if I'd just plunked him straight into the AP.

(We do a pretty hefty load of English at home, but my kids tend to read in spurts and I kept a really flexible schedule so they could adjust as-needed according to the rest of their life-schedules... so HAVING to have read x-number of pages or do x-number of assignments each week for a class was a struggle for them! That's my main intent for online classes, though, to help them conform to an academic schedule while still getting "other stuff" done!)

[Momto6inIN]

My DS did WttW and then a 1.5 years of EiL (all here at home with me) and then self studied for the AP Eng Lang using IEW's book and syllabus and a Cliff Notes prep book. He got really good at writing timed essays and got a 4 on the exam.

Doing well on the exam is mostly just a matter of being well read and learning how to write an essay in the specific form that they are looking for on the exam. Just in case you want to save some money 🙂