Thinkwell on sale--do you like their courses?

[maize]

Thinkwell courses are on sale at HSBC; if you have tried their courses, did you like them? Which ones? I'm considering having my fourteen and sixteen year olds try a couple.

Edited March 26, 2020 by maize

[Kassia]

My daughter took Algebra 2 and we all liked it very much.  She did great on her standardized tests and also in upper level college classes.  She is naturally good at math, though. 

 

[fourisenough]

DD just finished US Government and I purchased Macro Econ during this sale. I’m considering buying Pre-Calculus, too.

[TarynB]

My son is using Thinkwell Chemistry this year. It's supposed to be college-level chemistry, "a college-level course that's accessible enough for introductory college chemistry courses, but rigorous enough for science majors." We've been kind of disappointed in it. It seems shallow, not enough depth. We started off with the intention of it being our sole (or at least main) curriculum, but we're now using DoctorTang.com's materials and just using Thinkwell as a supplement to introduce the topics, like an overview at the beginning of each chapter. (Doctor Tang doesn't have videos.) Also, strangely, the Thinkwell "exercises" focus on some insignificant, nit-picky details, with odd wording that doesn't jive with the way the concepts were taught in the lectures, and at the same time the exercises completely avoid a lot of the significant concepts. It's like whoever wrote the questions for the exercises wasn't completely up to speed with what is covered in the lectures. FWIW, DS has already had basic high school chemistry, so this is a course in "Advanced Chemistry" for him. (He intends to major in a science-heavy field.) It seems like the quality of Thinkwell courses may depend a lot on the subject.

Edited March 26, 2020 by TarynB

[maize]

8 minutes ago, TarynB said:

My son is using Thinkwell Chemistry this year. It's supposed to be college-level chemistry, "a college-level course that's accessible enough for introductory college chemistry courses, but rigorous enough for science majors." We've been kind of disappointed in it. It seems shallow, not enough depth. We started off with the intention of it being our sole (or at least main) curriculum, but we're now using DoctorTang.com's materials and just using Thinkwell as a supplement to introduce the topics, like an overview at the beginning of each chapter. (Doctor Tang doesn't have videos.) Also, strangely, the Thinkwell "exercises" focus on some insignificant, nit-picky details, with odd wording that doesn't jive with the way the concepts were taught in the lectures, and at the same time the exercises completely avoid a lot of the significant concepts. It's like whoever wrote the questions for the exercises wasn't completely up to speed with what is covered in the lectures. FWIW, DS has already had basic high school chemistry, so this is a course in "Advanced Chemistry" for him. (He intends to major in a science-heavy field.) It seems like the quality of Thinkwell courses may depend a lot on the subject.

Which chemistry course is he doing?

[TarynB]

4 minutes ago, maize said:

Which chemistry course is he doing?

The regular chemistry course. It covers a little more ground than their "Chemistry Compatible with AP" but most of the material is the same between the two. They just chopped out some material from the regular course to create the AP-compatible course, so that it matches up with only what is covered on the AP exam.

[8filltheheart]

FWIW, their chemistry courses presume a previous high school level chem course.

My kids have used govt, both econs, precal, and both cal.

[Lori D.]

We used parts of the Biology (with George Wolfe) to add to our Biology or get explanations from a different perspective. We bought the CD used/cheap, and were able to re-sell for the same used/cheap price, so it was very worthwhile as a supplement for us.

[fourisenough]

Tell me more about the Bio... Is it super challenging? My student has taken (and done very well in) Jetta’s Clover Creek Physics and Connie’s Clover Valley Reg Chem. I was planning on Blue Tent Honors Bio, but she’s asking for more asynchronous classes. I want something good and robust, but not overwhelming. She may be a nursing major, so a good foundation in bio will be critical.

[sbgrace]

We tried a sample of their honors Algebra 2. I was confused by it. 

The video instruction was very clear. But it felt like the instruction in the video didn't match the questions...you needed more information and terminology than the video showed. I don't know if we missed something, but I didn't see any supplemental instruction. 

It also felt like the questions went on and on and were extremely repetitive, if not exact repeats. 

I would love some enlightenment if I missed something. 

 

[Lori D.]

2 hours ago, fourisenough said:

Tell me more about the Bio... Is it super challenging? My student has taken (and done very well in) Jetta’s Clover Creek Physics and Connie’s Clover Valley Reg Chem. I was planning on Blue Tent Honors Bio, but she’s asking for more asynchronous classes. I want something good and robust, but not overwhelming. She may be a nursing major, so a good foundation in bio will be critical.

We only used portions to help fill in explanations for some chapters of the Biology text we were using. But as I recall, it wasn't super challenging -- I believe that version of the Biology is a college intro level (as in, Intro to Biology for non-majors). Click on the link I provided above and you can watch close to 3 dozen samples. 😄 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Lori D.

[TarynB]

4 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

FWIW, their chemistry courses presume a previous high school level chem course.

Yes, that's why I made sure to include this in my response: "DS has already had basic high school chemistry, so this is a course in "Advanced Chemistry" for him."  😉

I have heard good reviews on math.  My daughter is trying economics and says it is ok, but a bit boring.  I also purchased chemistry but we haven’t started it.  I may have her do a de class instead.

[8filltheheart]

5 hours ago, TarynB said:

Yes, that's why I made sure to include this in my response: "DS has already had basic high school chemistry, so this is a course in "Advanced Chemistry" for him."  😉

I was typing my response when the last post in the thread was maize's question was "which course?" Thinkwell's science courses are poorly labeled and someone who is unfamiliar with them may think they actually offer different courses that are taught at different levels. My post to maize was to share that it doesnt matter which course bc they dont offer a chemistry course that doesnt expect a previous chem course; they only offer advanced chem. 

Sorry if my post somehow offended you.

[Miss Tick]

12 hours ago, fourisenough said:

Tell me more about the Bio... Is it super challenging? My student has taken (and done very well in) Jetta’s Clover Creek Physics and Connie’s Clover Valley Reg Chem. I was planning on Blue Tent Honors Bio, but she’s asking for more asynchronous classes. I want something good and robust, but not overwhelming. She may be a nursing major, so a good foundation in bio will be critical.

I've been really pleased with the Fundafunda Biology classes taught by a fellow boardie. It is fairly synchronous.

[TarynB]

9 hours ago, 8FillTheHeart said:

I was typing my response when the last post in the thread was maize's question was "which course?" Thinkwell's science courses are poorly labeled and someone who is unfamiliar with them may think they actually offer different courses that are taught at different levels. My post to maize was to share that it doesnt matter which course bc they dont offer a chemistry course that doesnt expect a previous chem course; they only offer advanced chem. 

Sorry if my post somehow offended you.

LOL, I didn't choose to be offended. I thought it was slightly out of context and/or had skipped over some key points from my post, but I understand threads can move quickly sometimes. Hence the winky-smiley face. 😊

5 hours ago, SusanC said:

I've been really pleased with the Fundafunda Biology classes taught by a fellow boardie. It is fairly synchronous.

We too thought FundaFunda's biology course was great. It does not have live class meetings but there are lecture videos and also weekly deadlines to keep the students on track.

[CAJinBE]

I thought the Honors Geometry was very good. But I had the student do all the printable worksheets in addition to the online exercises. There is plenty of work and reinforcement. The practice tests are very similar to the actual tests and an appropriate level of challenge. His videos are very entertaining.