forum discussion for middle school students

[Pistachio mom]

Hi ,

I am looking for an online forum for middle school students to discuss literature or other school content. There is a lot of research that supports the idea that group dialogue increases student learning. I am doing searches for online options for homeschooled students in this area. Does anyone know of anything?

[Guest]

We've used online classes at Athena's and OnlineG3 for that purpose. Both have classes which are heavily discussion based, both via weekly live webinars and on forums, and both provide access to highly moderated forums for further discussion. There are many choices for literature. 

[HomeAgain]

I would try a different approach.  It's one thing for students to discuss literature, it's another for them to discuss without knowing how to discuss beyond the surface of the story.  You might want to look at Outschool or similar for guided small-group study of a book your child is interested in.

Our schools here try the unassisted approach from 3rd through 7th.  Students are to do the work alone, then get together with a partner or small group and share approaches and work through the same work together.  What ends up happening in reality is that the same small number of students do well on the individual work then tell the others how to do it and give them the answers.  It's not a position that works well for anyone in the classroom.  I wouldn't wish that on a homeschooled student.

[Pistachio mom]

I will check out Athena and Outschool!

I would love to find a forum that is divided up according to the Trivium.