Online classes

[visitor]

Dear all,

Which online classes can you recommend for a gifted child ? 

This year we hope to start with AoPs classes. But I was wondering if there were other classes for science and programming. 

DS is 11 years old. 

Thanks in advance

 

[Not_a_Number]

I know AoPS also runs Python classes 🙂 . (Disclaimer: I teach math classes online at AoPS.) 

@dmmetler, did your daughter take online science classes? @daijobu, maybe? 

[Guest]

DD has taken Neuroscience, Cognitive Science and various contemporary issues in science classes online (this semester, it's a "Physics and Energy for Future Presidents" discussion class that is focused on the science that impacts current events). These were through Athena's or Online G3. We haven't done any core science classes online, because we had good options for those, although DD used Uzinggo, SD Accelerate, and IntoScience as online supplements at times (and I'm not sure any of them exist anymore!)

 

@Arcadia-your kids did Clover Creek, right? 

[SoCal_Bear]

We've been mostly happy with the classes at Online G3 and Athena's. He is currently taking physics with Jetta through Clover Creek Physics and that has been going well. If everything works out, we plan to enroll Clover Valley Chemistry next year. Just the regular one, given his age. It was important to us that he have the EF skills in place to be able to meet the work requirements of any classes without scaffolding. (in this case, science and foreign language so far).

 

 

Edited November 8, 2020 by calbear

[Arcadia]

4 hours ago, dmmetler said:

 

@Arcadia-your kids did Clover Creek, right? 

DS15 did. Slots get filled up very fast every year. 

[SeaConquest]

In addition to those mentioned, we have also liked the classes at Willow Scholars, Art of Inquiry, Davidson Academy Explore, Johns Hopkins CTY, and some select teachers at Outschool.  I have also heard good things about Learning Outside the Box. The Arbor Learning Community, EMF Math, Math and Music Studio, Chem Advantage, Alpha Star, and Physics-Prep. 

[SoCal_Bear]

I just remembered a few gifted families enjoying the asynchronous classes with Next Level Homeschool and using the higher level courses for their accelerated learners.

[SeaConquest]

For science, you could also look at Thinkwell's Honors classes. I don't think it is as good as Jetta or Connie's classes, but if you want something that is at your own pace, without any hard deadlines, it's an option that works well, as does Derek Owens's Honors Physics. Others are also starting to take classes through ASU Earned Admission. We haven't taken any from them yet, but may consider it in the future. For programming, besides the AoPS Python classes, there are also AP Computer Science classes through UC Scout and Edhesive, among many others. There are also USACO prep classes through Alpha Star, Ascende, and Star League, among many others.  

[8filltheheart]

6 minutes ago, SeaConquest said:

For science, you could also look at Thinkwell's Honors classes. I don't think it is as good as Jetta or Connie's classes, 

I'm confused by this suggestion. Thinkwell's science courses are advanced courses equivalent to AP or college freshman courses, so more advanced than both Connie and Jetta's classes.(though they don't offer physics) Jetta's class is based on Hewitt's conceptual text. Between her and DO's, DO's is based on Giancoli, a stronger alg-based course.)

[SeaConquest]

7 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

I'm confused by this suggestion. Thinkwell's science courses are advanced courses equivalent to AP or college freshman courses, so more advanced than both Connie and Jetta's classes.(though they don't offer physics) Jetta's class is based on Hewitt's conceptual text. Between her and DO's, DO's is based on Giancoli, a stronger alg-based course.)

Sacha is taking the Thinkwell Honors Chem now and it doesn't seem that difficult to me. The workload you all described in Connie's Honors Chem sounded horrendous. But, either way, I just meant that I don't think that Thinkwell can replicate a quality live course like Jetta's or Connie's. I didn't mean to compare levels, so I can understand how that would be confusing.

Edited November 11, 2020 by SeaConquest

[8filltheheart]

3 hours ago, SeaConquest said:

Sacha is taking the Thinkwell Honors Chem now and it doesn't seem that difficult to me. The workload you all described in Connie's Honors Chem sounded horrendous. But, either way, I just meant that I don't think that Thinkwell can replicate a quality live course like Jetta's or Connie's. I didn't mean to compare levels, so I can understand how that would be confusing.

I never described Connie's classes workload as horrendous.  I thought it was completely appropriate for what it is.....a high school honors chem class which means daily time commitment. I think the people who thought the class was a horrendous workload had younger kids who weren't used to the typical output demands of an honors level high school class.  I haven't had anyone use TW's chemistry class, so no comparison there, but Thinkwell's AP course covers LESS content than the honors course.  So if Sacha is doing well with the honors course, according to TW, he is completing the equivalent of a college chem class.  (One of the time commitments for Connie's class that he might be missing if all he is doing is TW is labs.  Chem labs are time consuming.)

3 hours ago, kand said:

For me, there’s a difference between a class being better and a class being harder/more advanced. Jetta’s classes are highly regarded as being excellently taught, which for my personal needs, is more important to me than if they are AP. It’s been a few years since I had a kid in it, but my recollection is she adds her own content on them to make them algebra based, rather than purely conceptual, even though she uses a conceptual text.

I know nothing about Jetta's class, but there is absolutely no comparison between the Hewitt and the Giancoli textbooks.  Hewitt incorporates math; it isn't purely conceptual.  But, the level of difficulty and the depth of coverage between the 2 texts would be similar to say something like MUS/TT alg and Foersters alg.  Very different levels of content.  DO's is an excellent teacher, so someone wanting a Giancoli equivalent course might want to consider looking into his course. 

[SeaConquest]

10 hours ago, 8filltheheart said:

I never described Connie's classes workload as horrendous.  I thought it was completely appropriate for what it is.....a high school honors chem class which means daily time commitment. I think the people who thought the class was a horrendous workload had younger kids who weren't used to the typical output demands of an honors level high school class.  I haven't had anyone use TW's chemistry class, so no comparison there, but Thinkwell's AP course covers LESS content than the honors course.  So if Sacha is doing well with the honors course, according to TW, he is completing the equivalent of a college chem class.  (One of the time commitments for Connie's class that he might be missing if all he is doing is TW is labs.  Chem labs are time consuming.)

I know nothing about Jetta's class, but there is absolutely no comparison between the Hewitt and the Giancoli textbooks.  Hewitt incorporates math; it isn't purely conceptual.  But, the level of difficulty and the depth of coverage between the 2 texts would be similar to say something like MUS/TT alg and Foersters alg.  Very different levels of content.  DO's is an excellent teacher, so someone wanting a Giancoli equivalent course might want to consider looking into his course. 

Again, I said, "The workload you all described in Connie's Honors Chem sounded horrendous." I didn't mean that you specifically said XYZ; this was my general impression from reading numerous reviews. And, Sacha has already had a year of middle school chem with Athena's and a high school chem sequence through Outschool. He is using Thinkwell to give him a refresher of high school chemistry concepts before beginning a year of Gen Chem at our local community college where he will be able to do in-person labs. But, given his workload this year, I decided to scrap him taking the Intro to Gen Chem pre-req course at the CC this Spring and sub in Thinkwell.  

[daijobu]

On 11/8/2020 at 7:59 AM, Not_a_Number said:

I know AoPS also runs Python classes 🙂 . (Disclaimer: I teach math classes online at AoPS.) 

@dmmetler, did your daughter take online science classes? @daijobu, maybe? 

We avoided online anything in elementary and middle school.  

[kiwik]

Derek Owens?

 

 

[Roadrunner]

On 11/11/2020 at 7:24 AM, SeaConquest said:

Again, I said, "The workload you all described in Connie's Honors Chem sounded horrendous." I didn't mean that you specifically said XYZ; this was my general impression from reading numerous reviews. And, Sacha has already had a year of middle school chem with Athena's and a high school chem sequence through Outschool. He is using Thinkwell to give him a refresher of high school chemistry concepts before beginning a year of Gen Chem at our local community college where he will be able to do in-person labs. But, given his workload this year, I decided to scrap him taking the Intro to Gen Chem pre-req course at the CC this Spring and sub in Thinkwell.  

Aggggg. I feel responsible for a lot of this. So I have now two kids through Honors Clover Valley Chem (second one in the process). Both taken in 8th grade. Yes, workload is significant since it takes time to take notes off the lectures and read  textbook and do homework.....  But my younger student is not finding it difficult at all. It’s really mind boggling because his older sibling is so much more capable but it just looks like chemistry wasn’t his thing. He refuses to even consider anything related to chem. Not so with my younger one. He loves chemistry and is doing really well.

CC course in general chemistry (the one designed for majors) is gong to be a lot more time consuming that Clover Valley. They tend to have daily lectures here plus 3 hour lab. Once you factor in driving time in and out and all the in class time, it all adds up. And the stress of exams and grades... here it’s often 3-4 exams that determine the entire grade. 

[SeaConquest]

13 hours ago, Roadrunner said:

Aggggg. I feel responsible for a lot of this. So I have now two kids through Honors Clover Valley Chem (second one in the process). Both taken in 8th grade. Yes, workload is significant since it takes time to take notes off the lectures and read  textbook and do homework.....  But my younger student is not finding it difficult at all. It’s really mind boggling because his older sibling is so much more capable but it just looks like chemistry wasn’t his thing. He refuses to even consider anything related to chem. Not so with my younger one. He loves chemistry and is doing really well.

CC course in general chemistry (the one designed for majors) is gong to be a lot more time consuming that Clover Valley. They tend to have daily lectures here plus 3 hour lab. Once you factor in driving time in and out and all the in class time, it all adds up. And the stress of exams and grades... here it’s often 3-4 exams that determine the entire grade. 

Don't feel responsible. Thinkwell has been perfect for what we needed right now. The Davidson writing class has sucked up so much time from our homeschool, we really needed a get-er-done Chemistry refresher for him that didn't have a massive amount of output, but was still going to give him a high enough level of input to prepare him for gen chem or ap or whatever we decide to do next. 

Edited December 8, 2020 by SeaConquest