Monica_B Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Hi, I am a homeschooling mom of four children. Our eldest is in 8th grade this year and we are beginning to explore different high school options for him. He has expressed an interest in attending a traditional high school, so we are looking at the two local Catholic high schools. (We are Catholic.) However, I am also very interested in Kolbe Academy online. His father and I would like a Catholic, academically rigorous program that will prepare our kid for a quality four year university. We also want a school that uses secular science texts (albeit taught alongside our faith, of course). Has anyone used Kolbe online? We like the idea of online classes because of the student interaction (not as much as traditional school, of course, but a bit more), and the idea of our son having different teachers with varied knowledge bases. I also like that they will grade his work. It is expensive, though way cheaper than the brick-and-mortar Catholic high schools we are considering. We can afford Kolbe online if it is really worth it - in other words, if our son receives a quality education that thoroughly prepares him for the rigors of a good university, with some peer social interaction in a "virtual" class setting. I would love to hear from others who have used this program. Did you feel it was rigorous enough? Did your child enjoy the peer interactions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 Welcome @Monica_B! I looked into Kolbe (and Mother of Divine Grace and Homeschool Connections and ... well, you get the idea) when my oldest was about the age of your oldest. Kolbe had a spring event where the kids could sit in on classes during certain weeks so my daughter attended a couple. She had attended online classes with a couple other providers before that so she knew what she liked & what she was looking for. Kolbe was not a fit for us, but I believe it is a rigorous academic program. That daughter is now a freshman in college. She did most of her classes at home early in high school under my direction but transitioned to almost all online or dual-enrolled classes during her last two years. She and I chose the online provider and class on a case-by-case basis depending on her needs. I kept her records and issued her transcript and diploma. It was the best decision for her and our family. My next kid is a junior in high school and has taken basically all her classes at home so far. My third child is an 8th grader and is taking a couple classes online already so each kid is different depending on their needs. I hope you find someone who has taken Kolbe classes. When I was searching, I did not find very many... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 My 19 yo son took some Kolbe classes in 9th and 10th grade so it has been a few years. Kolbe is fine. It is good, actually, and I would feel comfortable using them academically. I have providers I prefer to Kolbe but if I couldn’t get classes for my kids from the preferred providers, Kolbe is in the next tier of providers I would look at. As far as downside to Kolbe, for some reason the whole experience just felt “clunkier” technically. No huge tech issues but more than we have had in later years with other providers.This absolutely might have changed as it has been four years or so and I think we were in on the early years of the online academy. I can’t speak to how it is currently. I think the thing that turned us off from continuing with Kolbe was that they increased their prices quite a bit. It might have been a newly added registration or student services fee or something. I can’t remember exactly but it went from being in the ballpark of the others we used to taking a jump and being significantly more expensive. I hope you get someone with more recent experience to chime in. I would assume it is still solid academically. For what it is worth the others we moved to almost exclusively are Well Trained Mind Academy and Memoria Press Online Academy. Those are not Catholic but I find them Catholic friendly. We are Catholic and many providers wouldn’t work at all for us but these two have been good. My kids have had Catholic teachers from both (though certainly not all are Catholic and your mileage will vary). I think both strive to be inclusive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas_mom Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Have you looked at Homeschool Connection? They are Catholic, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 Another possible option--and maybe you have looked already--is a Catholic homeschool co-op. There are some here that allow drop-off students and they have some great courses. They are really "academic" co-ops so you can get Latin, Literature, history, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 (edited) Also, CAP now has a partnership with a Catholic School (St. Raphael School). However, their courses (on the CAP site) are not cheap. https://raphaelschool.org/ Edited September 23, 2019 by cintinative 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 @cintinativeI think CAP's classes (listed as Scholé if the OP is looking for them) are cheaper than Kolbe.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 I just went back and looked at the costs. Wow they are high. They have not always been that way. Now I know why we didn’t continue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookwormTo2 Posted September 23, 2019 Share Posted September 23, 2019 @Monica_B My youngest is in 8th grade, and he is taking a couple online classes this year. One of his online classes (a writing class) is with Kolbe Online Academy. His teacher is excellent. My oldest, who is now a senior in high school, also took an online class with Kolbe Academy last year and the teacher was amazing. I know people do sometimes have their kids take all their classes online, but I allow a maximum of three online classes/year for my kids. Online classes are going to include more or a different kind of work (sometimes busy work), than I give in homegrown classes, and they will have hard deadlines. Kolbe is pricey, but I feel like it's worth it for some subjects for my kids; they aren't doing all their online classes with Kolbe. Also, Kolbe is one of the few providers I know of that offers online clubs for free if you enroll in an online class with them (coding, newsletter, Spanish club etc.). I do know that Kolbe is in the process of getting regionally accredited (they've had national accreditation for years). One of the downsides to Kolbe is their virtual orientation, which students must complete by passing various quizzes at the start of every year regardless of whether they are new or a returning student. Part of why they have virtual orientation videos and quizzes is that they have 4 different sites for students and parents (some are for students only). But, new students can attend the weekly "Homeroom" class for free, where they interact with their peers, and study skills are taught. So far Kolbe has been worth the cost, but don't feel like you have to do all Kolbe classes for high school. There are a variety of good providers, as others have mentioned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_B Posted September 23, 2019 Author Share Posted September 23, 2019 Thanks so much for the warm welcome and all the replies and help! We are fairly new homeschoolers, having pulled our eldest out of public school halfway through his 7th grade year. Now we have the other three at home. There is a lot I don't know about, so thanks so much for the recs for WTM Academy, Homeschool Connections, and Schole. I will look into them! Also, thanks so much to BookwormTo2 - I'm glad that that Kolbe has online clubs and other ways for students to interact online. And good to know that we wouldn't need to do all his classes online (which would certainly add up). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted September 24, 2019 Share Posted September 24, 2019 Although not Catholic, another provider that would be Catholic friendly is CLRC Online. They are Orthodox Christian, but their courses are basically secular. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monica_B Posted September 24, 2019 Author Share Posted September 24, 2019 Thank you, Roadrunner! I have not heard of CLRC and will look into them. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 (edited) This is my oldest dd's second year taking classes online with Kolbe Academy. Last year as a 9th grader she took Spanish 1, Honors Algebra 2 and Trigonometry, and Biology. This year she has Spanish 2, Honors Pre-Calculus, and AP Chemistry. The honors and AP classes are a lot of work. The regular classes require less work. I could not imagine dd taking all of her classes online with Kolbe Academy because the workload would be so high (but some families do that). The classes have been rigorous, especially the honors and AP classes. DD does enjoy the classroom interaction, especially in her smaller classes. Edited October 3, 2019 by Lisa in the UP of MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Since you are new to homeschooling, I wanted to assure you that 4 yr Us are very open to homeschool transcripts. If taking some classes online or through DE and some at home is something that would appeal to your family vs full-time enrollment, it will not impact college acceptances. Just make sure you comply with your state's laws. Fwiw, I have had kids that have done some at home with some DE or an odd class online or fully at home. My kids have had zero problems with college acceptances either way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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