6th grade online/live science classes - feedback?

[UKim]

I would appreciate recommendations and feedback for online science classes with live sessions for a gifted rising 6th grade girl.  Any experiences with WTM's science classes for the Logic stage would be welcome.  G3 and Athena have been recommended by many, but I am concerned about the depth/rigor of the classes.  At the same time, I am wondering if WTM's classes are not a bit dry and boring - especially if the student is the child is already taking rigorous English and math courses.  Thank you!

[Guest]

Athena's and G3 both tend to be high input classes, with scaled input. My daughter is the JI for Herpetology, and her classes include mutliple levels of materials, from Wild Kratts episode segments up to journal articles if she can find an open access one. But the actual assignments would be light for many students, by intent. The youngest child she has had, in a class designed to be at about A middle school level, was 6. A 6 yr old, even a really, really smart one who reads on a middle school level isn't going to necessarily write like a 12 yr old. Most classes are not graded except by completion. 

She has taken many of the Athena's classes, and in general that holds true, although few science ones (most of them came after she was past the level). The input can be very, very heavy if the student wants it to be and does all the optional resources, but the output is light. High School classes have higher levels of output than middle school ones. (AP classes are an exception here-they are fully as intense as any other AP, and pass rates last year were really good). 

G3 is similarly structured, although many of their classes have an additional writing supplement that ups the output requirements and provides more feedback. DD hasn't taken any science classes at G3 (although she has taken a lor of literature and history there) although she is taking one this fall. The teen focus classes, especially with writing supplement, are true high school level classes and are engaging and enjoyable. 

 

I love Athena's and G3-they have been DD's true learning community for years, and she loves that she is now able to give back, and is likely to continue to do so even as an adult.  But I often added output or extra requirements to make the class at the level I wanted it to be. Having said that, until DD started college classes, I never considered any outside class more than one resource used for the subject.Even with college classes, we often supplement, but I'm not giving the grade.  For lower level Athena's and G3 courses, usually they provided the discussion and interactive part of the curriculum, adults other than me, and truly passionate, awesome people who have been a big part of her life. They were, and are, an invaluable part of my homeschooling. But they are part of my homeschooling a given subject,not outsourcing. 

[kiwik]

My kids found the young kids making long winded not very relevant comments (normal for 5 to 7 year olds) to be too irritating with Athena's even though the course was good.