zoo_keeper Posted February 6, 2020 Share Posted February 6, 2020 Quick background: I've homeschooled all 3 girls exclusively. However, I also WOHM and over the years promotions have caused me to need to turn to online classes. So while they're home with my husband (who WAH with his own side-business), the older two take all WTMA classes (we messed around with different providers but settled on them the last few years). They work mostly independently (I still help on mornings/evenings and Sunday) and thrive in live classes. The issue is my youngest (3rd grade). Not as many providers cater towards the elementary crowd. For two years, she has been taking mostly Athena's classes (supplemented by HSA, FundaFunda, MCT online, BA online, etc.), However, despite loving the MCT books (which I used several levels of before we had to switch to online classes), I am not fond of their online system. Also, FundaFunda is fine but not live and Athena's has been great but I think she's ready for more rigor. So here's my plan (below) and I'd love feedback that anybody has with these classes (Schole, Potter's, and onlineg3 are new for us). I'm especially hesitant about the religious content/slant (we are secular, and while I'm much more tolerant, if my husband walks through the kitchen and hears too many prayers being pushed at his children his head might explode - sorry). Thanks in advance! The Potter's School - Math Accelerated 4 (Math - I have all of the SM books from the older 2 and it's a solid program, although I adore AOPS) Schole Academy - Well Ordered Language I (Grammar) Schole Academy - Writing & Rhetoric I (Writing - I still have 5 levels of these books from the older 2) Schole Academy - Latin for Children A (Foreign Languages - have the books from the older 2) OnlineG3 - Horrible Histories Romans/Egyptians & Middle Ages (History - I have every Horrible series out there, the older girls loved them) OnlineG3 - Introduction to Computational Thinking with Scratch (Programming) Homeschool Spanish Academy - 3A & 3B (Foreign Languages - she'll continue taking combined classes with one older sister) Athena's Academy - Advanced Think Books, 2 semesters (Literature - she's taken many of Dr. Kirsten's classes, and both older girls took these so we have the books) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) I think that Schole is not going to fit your requirements on the religious front. Schole emphasizes that they are distinctly Christian and classical. They follow a liturgical learning model. I copied what that is from the student handbook for you below. and this link is what their position is on faith and culture which informs their approach. https://scholeacademy.com/faith-and-culture/ 2. Liturgical Learning “Liturgical learning” is a phrase that describes the use of the embodied patterns from church worship and tradition for shaping the way we order time, space, and language in our schools and homeschools. We believe that using elements of a liturgical pattern within our classes is an effective way to recover reflection and contemplation as part of learning. We think that it is a faithful application of the classical tradition, and it differentiates us from other online schools. For example, one could use the following “order of worship” as a pattern for ordering a lesson. This pattern or template is intended as a guide that is not “followed to the letter” but nonetheless shapes the “learning liturgy” of Scholé Academy classes to distinguish them as scholé courses. Our faculty embraces and loves incorporating this approach, and we believe our students will too. Please note that the pattern of a class is determined by the course instructor. Many of our teachers incorporate elements of the following pattern, but the embodiment of “liturgical learning” will vary from teacher to teacher and class to class. Welcome/Greeting: Students are greeted by beautiful image(s) and music, perhaps with an inspirational quotation or key question, which they are asked to contemplate for several minutes. Grateful Acknowledgment: The students and the teacher express gratefulness for the art, one another, the opportunity to study some aspect of God’s creation, mind, nature, humanity, etc. Confess What We Need: The students and the teacher confess a need for a disposition, a frame of mind, a virtue, a heart that seeks and calls out for wisdom, etc. A written confession may be read and/or prayer offered. (Key Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-7). Teach/Present/Discuss: The teacher leads a traditional lesson, ensuring that students are engaged and participating. Confess What We Know/Have Learned: The teacher leads a summary and review, sometimes taking the form of “creedal” confession that edifies. Expression of Thanksgiving: The teacher (or a mature student) leads the class in expressing gratitude to God, the teacher, and/or other students. Benediction/Dismissal: The teacher gives a prepared benediction written by the teacher or from traditional sources. Processional: The students return to beautiful music and images. Students are free to leave immediately or remain for quiet contemplation. As we seek to recover and renew the scholé tradition of education, we know that we will misstep and veer from this path—after all we don’t know the path nearly as well as we would like. Still, we believe that finding and walking that path will be enriching to students, parents, and teachers. As we seek to recover the classical tradition of scholé, we welcome parental feedback and ideas about how we can better embody scholé in our online classes. Edited February 7, 2020 by calbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) On a separate note, my son likes Sir Galahad/Ben Oliver's classes. That's who teaches Horrible Histories and Scratch. He also enjoys Mistress Guinevere/Jamie's literature classes as well. He did not take Horrible Histories though because he doesn't enjoy those books. He is doing the US History sequence which has been a favorite this year. ETA: Might I suggest looking at Home2Teach, CLRC (while orthodox, the classes are secular), possibly Outschool (though it's just a platform with tons of teachers & classes, IEW online writing classes, Open Tent Academy? Edited February 7, 2020 by calbear 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Potter's school is definitely going to bring in the Christian content on a regular basis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 Ack! I don't know where my reply went! Thank you both. I most definitely didn't realize how pervasive the religious content was at Schole, I appreciate the detailed outline. For writing/grammar, I'm now considering onlineg3's MCT Town level or CLRC's Upper Elementary Arts I, either should be fine I think. It's math that's trickier. I'm actually a math professor so I'm pretty picky (I'm just also really busy). Do you think the Potter's School is going to math even math religious? Again, I appreciate both the feedback and the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 (edited) 48 minutes ago, zoo_keeper said: It's math that's trickier. I'm actually a math professor so I'm pretty picky (I'm just also really busy). Do you think the Potter's School is going to math even math religious? My sons are both in English classes and they open with prayer for every class. On my oldest's self-evaluation for his writing he is asked, "What has God taught you from the process of editing?" It's so hard to say what a math class would be like. I would assume that they would open with prayer, and that there might be little side bar conversations about what God is doing in people's lives. If that is okay with you, it might be fine. In general, I have found the teachers to be pretty responsive when I email questions. Lately I have been trying to figure out next year, so I have been emailing teachers about classes for the future, and for the most part I have received quick responses. It is always an option to contact the teacher that way and ask how his/her faith is incorporated in the classes. Edited February 7, 2020 by cintinative 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 Do you need a LIVE math class? If not, there is this https://www.singaporemathlive.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoo_keeper Posted February 8, 2020 Author Share Posted February 8, 2020 48 minutes ago, calbear said: Do you need a LIVE math class? If not, there is this https://www.singaporemathlive.com/ Thanks, but I just don't understand this site at all. I registered earlier this week and from what I can tell it's a total misnomer as there are only recording! Unless I'm missing something crucial... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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