Online classes for 8/9th grader

[Drama Llama]

I am trying to figure out plans for DS13 for next year.  Our first choice is for him to go to our local public school for high school, but I want to be prepared in case we don't think it's safe covid-wise, or we don't think he's ready for high school.  

If we do homeschool, it's likely that he'll either be home with an adult who can't really help academically, or an adult who is working full time, so we'd want online classes. We'd like to keep the possibility of transferring into 10th grade open, and make that decision later.  However, our district has a track record for being picky, so it's possible he'd need to transfer into 9th.  It's also possible that we'd decide he needs another year anyway.  To that end, we're looking for classes that are online, secular, and likely to be accepted for transfer.  I'm thinking that we would do the following:

Algebra 1

Spanish 1

English 9

Environmental Science

US History (I'd like to do this with him when I'm off this summer, so I don't know if I need an online course)

Music theory?  

P.E.? 

 

What providers should we be looking at?  

[SoCal_Bear]

I would definitely say that since you plan to possibly transfer as a sophmore, then you should use an accredited provider. Otherwise, you run the risk of having credits denied. Even if you transfer as a freshmen, it will go better as well to get your math and language credit to transfer. 

There are so many providers out there, but as soon as you start looking at accreditation, it narrows it down a lot. Since you are looking at the full slate of classes, it might be better for you to look at single provider. 

Cathy Duffy has pretty good lists going of online providers now on her website. You can find it here. It's sorted between religious and secular and individual course providers and complete schools. 
https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-extras/online-schools-and-courses

[Lori D.]

Definitely first check with the future high school about what they will/won't accept--some schools do not accept courses even if done with an accredited provider.

A number of public high schools are very sticky about not accepting homeschool credits (whether done at home or through an online provider). Some accept no credits, which can make high school an "all or nothing" decision. Some schools will accept credits, but only if the student passes the end-of-year exam for each credit you want to try and transfer to the school. And some schools may have only minor -- or no -- hoops for homeschoolers to jump through for the student to join the school with credits accepted intact at the later-than-9th-grade stage.

If the future high school will accept homeschool credits, or will accept credits from an accredited online provider, you might find it easier for you to go through an accredited "umbrella" or "cover" organization, such as Kolbe. It is a long-running program, and has a high reputation. It is Catholic, and offers several different options, including online courses, self-paced courses, or flexibility by fulfilling different subjects with different providers or materials other than Kolbe.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Lori D.

[Drama Llama]

Our high school leaves the decision up to the registrar, and the decision is apparently made after.  So, I want to choose the classes they are most likely to accept, but there's no guarantee.  

I would really like secular providers.  

[8filltheheart]

Oak Meadow is accredited and secular.

[Lori D.]

12 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I would really like secular providers.  

Check out @calbear's link to Cathy Duffy, although I don't believe that shows accredited/not accredited.

The only ones off the top of my head that I see on Cathy Duffy's secular all-in-one provider that are accredited are:
- Oak Meadow
- Clonlara
- Forest Trail Academy
- Connections Academy

Many individual course providers that might be a good match for your DS are often not accredited.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Lori D.

[Lori D.]

15 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Our high school leaves the decision up to the registrar, and the decision is apparently made after...

 Is there no printed policy for the school district that the specific high school is in that you can request to view?

Otherwise, that seems very arbitrary and open to prejudice or abuse if it just up to the personal whim of the registrar of the high school...

[Drama Llama]

Just now, Lori D. said:

 Is there no printed policy for the school district that the specific high school is in that you can request to view?

Otherwise, that seems very arbitrary and open to prejudice or abuse if it just up to the personal whim of the registrar of the high school...

The printed policy says that it's up to the registrar.

I agree with you 100%.

[Drama Llama]

35 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

Oak Meadow is accredited and secular.

Do they have online classes?  My impression is that it's more like a correspondence course.

We've done some of their middle school courses, and they've been great, but we had a parent available to help.  

[8filltheheart]

Does your state have a virtual academy? A Connections Academy? Maybe something like FLVA? http://www.flvs.net/high-school

[Drama Llama]

11 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

Does your state have a virtual academy? A Connections Academy? Maybe something like FLVA? http://www.flvs.net/high-school

No, there isn't one.   One option would be online public school, assuming the school system still offers it, but I think they're moving to a concurrent option that would be a really bad fit for him.  Academically, homeschooling has been good for him. 

[Lori D.]

12 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

The printed policy says that it's up to the registrar...

Is there a way of speaking with the registrar at this time to get a feel for what exactly the registrar would be looking for to be acceptable?
Or to find out what kinds of homeschool/online courses the registrar has accepted in the past?
Or even IF the registrar has accepted any homeschoolers at all?

If the registrar has accepted specific kinds of homeschool courses or courses done with specific kinds of materials, or if the registrar has accepted specific online course providers in the past, that would give you guidance in what to choose and use next year.

Otherwise, if the registrar hasn't accepted any homeschoolers in the past, then that frees you up to take whatever online provider works best for YOU and your DS.

 

Back to answering your original question:

Clonlara (secular) holds accreditation from 3 different agencies, and offers 2 options that might work for you:

- Full Time Online Program ($4,000 + $200 registration fee)
Self-paced. You choose 5 credits from the extensive course catalog, plus complete at least 1 self-designed course that you create with the advisor. There is also an individual course option.Can start the program at any point in the year and receive guidance from Clonlara advisors who help set educational goals, support and monitor progress, and assist in development of a self-designed course. All of Clonlara's online courses include a teacher to answer questions and grade assignments. Clonlara provides documentation and official records to smooth transfer to other schools. 

Possible "con": no idea about the quality/amount of the teacher help; it looks like the classes are largely self-paced, so the student would need to be able to learn mostly solo, and a parent may need to be regularly available to help as questions or problems arise.

Possible "pro": might most easily transition you into the public high school, as your DS would have an accredited private school transcript, which would not appear to be any different to the registrar than if you had just moved there after completing 9th grade at a different high school in a different city or state.

Possible "pro": they offer a wide variety of classes, so it is possible this could work for you all through high school, if the registrar refuses to accept the credits, and would only allow DS to enter as a 9th grader (which could mean repeating several credits he had just finished).

From Clonlara's course catalog, they offer most of the courses that you're looking for:
- Algebra 1 = 1 credit regular or Honors
- Spanish 1 = 1 credit
- English 9 = 1 credit regular or Honors
- Environmental Science = 1 credit
- US History = 1 credit regular or Honors
- Music Theory -- but they do have a 1.0 credit Music Appreciation course
- P.E. -- they have a 0.5 credit course of Physical Fitness, about "body functions, safety, diet, goals, and strategies for longevity"


- Off Campus Program ($1,250/year + $200 registration fee)
You choose how to accomplish each credit (via at home/your choice of materials and/or variety of online course providers, and at the end of each semester, you submit a credit request form for each course completed. The Clonlara advisors use that fee to then issue high school credit, create your transcript, and upon meeting Clonlara's graduation requirements, issue an accredited private school diploma. 

Possible "pro": can tailor every course to exactly what is the best fit for the student. There is also the option of taking a few courses from Clonlara and then outsourcing to another provider for a course that would be ideal for the student, or that isn't offered by Clonlara. Another possible "pro": someone else juggles all the record keeping and provides you with a completed transcript. And related to that: if this option is working well and you prefer to finish high school this way, you receive an accredited diploma at the end.

Possible "con": the high school registrar may be less likely to accept courses earned from various sources and stamped with approval by a "cover" school. Another possible "con" -- definitely more expensive, as the Clonlara fee only covers your record keeping and getting accreditation status for your credits -- you still need to line up and pay for all your individual course providers. Which leads to another possible "con": it can be tricky juggling the schedules and tech needs of multiple course providers.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Lori D.

[8filltheheart]

10 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

No, there isn't one.   One option would be online public school, assuming the school system still offers it, but I think they're moving to a concurrent option that would be a really bad fit for him.  Academically, homeschooling has been good for him. 

https://www.connectionsacademy.com/reach-cyber-school

https://www.flvsglobal.net/students-families/

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, Lori D. said:

Is there a way of speaking with the registrar at this time to get a feel for what exactly the registrar would be looking for to be acceptable?
Or to find out what kinds of homeschool/online courses the registrar has accepted in the past?
Or even IF the registrar has accepted any homeschoolers at all?

If the registrar has accepted specific kinds of homeschool courses or courses done with specific kinds of materials, or if the registrar has accepted specific online course providers in the past, that would give you guidance in what to choose and use next year.

Otherwise, if the registrar hasn't accepted any homeschoolers in the past, then that frees you up to take whatever online provider works best for YOU and your DS.

 

We live in an area served by multiple public high schools.  We'll go through a process of ranking the high schools, and entering a lottery. 

For this fall, I'm going to rank the school nearest my house the highest, partially due to covid because I don't want him on a school bus, but also because I think it might be the best fit.  I have spoken to the principal and registrar there.  They don't have a lot of experience either accepting or rejecting homeschool credits, but they expect that they'll get that experience this fall because of families who chose homeschooling rather than virtual. The district I live in has not had any students on campus this school year.  

The registrar and principal I did speak to told me that they plan to make decisions based on looking at how closely the course descriptions match the descriptions of the courses in our county, and the quality of the work samples submitted.  They didn't mention accreditation. Of course our district also moves people around a lot, so there's also the possibility that we'll have someone else making the decision.

There is another school that is an option for us, depending on the lottery process, that has accepted kids in the past and given them a lot of credit, so we could rank that one highest.  I haven't spoken to them. 

I think I need to look for programs that fit his needs first, and then choose classes that I think are most likely to transfer. For example, I think I am more likely to get credit for Environmental science because our district has an Environmental Science class with no math prereq.  

For History and Math. we have people who can keep him on track, but for other subjects I think I need live classes and due dates, and a teacher he can reach out to with questions.  For everything, I think we need external grading.  

[8filltheheart]

Connections Academy is a PA public school. I think they'd have zero choice but to accept public school credits.

[Drama Llama]

1 minute ago, 8filltheheart said:

Connections Academy is a PA public school. I think they'd have zero choice but to accept public school credits.

I know people who have gotten turned down for Florida Virtual as not rigorous enough, albeit not at the school I think he's most likely to attend.

I'll check out Connections Academy. 

[Lori D.]

4 hours ago, BaseballandHockey said:

...The registrar and principal I did speak to told me that they plan to make decisions based on looking at how closely the course descriptions match the descriptions of the courses in our county, and the quality of the work samples submitted.  They didn't mention accreditation...

... There is another school that is an option for us, depending on the lottery process...

I think I need to look for programs that fit his needs first, and then choose classes that I think are most likely to transfer... 

... For History and Math. we have people who can keep him on track, but for other subjects I think I need live classes and due dates, and a teacher he can reach out to with questions.  For everything, I think we need external grading.  

Okay, so with your additional research info (quoted above), it sounds like accreditation is NOT the priority, since that doesn't seem to necessarily aid in getting courses accepted at these 2 public high schools you are looking at.

So that would open up individual course providers to you who will best fit with your student.

Also, it sounds like you are no longer looking for an online class for Algebra 1 (in your list in your original post).

So it sounds like you are looking for outsourced, secular, live classes, with content that matches that of the 2 high schools (for best chance at acceptance for transfer), for the following classes:
- Spanish 1
- English 9
- Environmental Science
- Music theory?  
- P.E.? 

If that is the case, then perhaps the Clonlara off-campus option, which would allow you to take their:
- Spanish 1
- English 9
- Environmental Science
and possibly: Music Appreciation, OR, some other provider for Music Theory and PE, PLUS you would get their accreditation stamp of approval on those courses as well as your Math and U.S. History. And while you don't need the accreditation, that might make your classes look for standardized and thus more acceptable for transfer by the registrar of the 2 public high schools you are looking at.

That would also streamline your outsourcing, so less of a headache of trying to juggle multiple online providers with different schedules, different holidays, different policies, and different tech requirements... The one downside is that it is not live classes. It is self-paced with teacher support and teacher grading. 


LIVE class options:

Spanish 1
- High School Spanish Academy (secular) - can't tell if this is live or not
- Funda Funda (secular) - has a live component
- Well-Trained Mind Forum - live 
- Big River Academy - live (faith statement=belief that all are part of God's creation/don't know how much that is in classes)
- Debra Bell: AIM Academy - live (Debra Bell is strongly Christian/don't know how much that is in the academy/classes)

English 9
- Outschool: Christina Broadway**, or, Mark Tyson (secular) -- need to sign up for each semester for 1 credit
- Open Tent: Intro to Lit. & Comp (secular) -- it says it's 1 credit -- looks like 0.5 credit of time & work to me
- Bridgeway Academy (Christian and secular options) - live
- another option is to do separate Literature & Writing courses and combine for 1 credit of English 9

** NOTE = she will be covering Night by Elie Wiesel -- a BRUTAL 1st person account of the Jewish author seeing his father killed in front of him and being herded off to a death camp

Essentials in Writing 9 + Essentials in Literature 9 + Scoring Service Option (opens in March)
This might be a possible all-at-home option for English 9; daily video lessons and the scoring service would outsource a bit of this; but no live component. (here's the literature list)

Environmental Science
- Outschool (secular) -- need to take both part 1 and part 2 to equal 1 credit of high school science 
- Open Tent Academy (secular)
- Debra Bell: AIM Academy Online - live (Debra Bell is strongly Christian/don't know how much that is in the academy/classes)

Edited January 25, 2021 by Lori D.

[Farrar]

In terms of quality courses, I'd point to providers like Blue Tent and AIM (Debra Bell) and Online G3... places like that.

In terms of getting it accepted, I'd do FLVS or ASU Digital. Neither are all that great, but I'll bet they're more likely to be accepted.

Oak Meadow does have online classes, but they're expensive. It's a full school, with full school priced tuition, like Laurel Springs.

[BusyMom5]

Have you asked both schools what their math snd history sequence is?  Many schools have a specific order that kids follow.  I would want to make sure the Env Science is acceptable and that he's not missing a 9th grade course that is a prerequisite 

It doesn't sound like you need all accredited, online classes -  I would narrow down what things you can facilitate,  what you want a real teacher for.  Oak Meadows coursework is easy to follow and assign- you might get a few of those to teach yourself.   The Health course is Health and PE.  (And Health is a Freshman course thats required here) 

 

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

In terms of quality courses, I'd point to providers like Blue Tent and AIM (Debra Bell) and Online G3... places like that.

In terms of getting it accepted, I'd do FLVS or ASU Digital. Neither are all that great, but I'll bet they're more likely to be accepted.

Oak Meadow does have online classes, but they're expensive. It's a full school, with full school priced tuition, like Laurel Springs.

I think that if I have to choose between what would serve him the best, and what is most likely to get credit, then I'd go with the former.  If I pick classes that work well for him, and they don't accept them, then he can enroll in 9th.  On the flip side, if I pick classes that don't prepare him for high school level work, then I'm not going to want him to go to 10th anyway.  

I really think he'd do better with a synchronous face to face class, with due dates, and a teacher who he sees and to whom can ask questions.  I want to plan for the worst case scenario, which would be that he's out of school, due to covid, and DH and I are working away from home, and I think in that situation he'd need more interaction than correspondence style courses, or asynchronous courses, which is what Oak Meadow and FLVS seem to be. 

I thought Online G3 was for gifted kids?  If so, that's not him. 

[Drama Llama]

2 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

Have you asked both schools what their math snd history sequence is?  Many schools have a specific order that kids follow.  I would want to make sure the Env Science is acceptable and that he's not missing a 9th grade course that is a prerequisite 

I have.  I think Environmental Science is what's most likely to be accepted.  

For history, our schools do 1/2 of US history in 8th, and 1/2 in 9th.  There's also the option to take APUSH in 9th.  I figure if he takes US at home, and gets the credit, then he can go to Government which is the next step.  If they don't take the credit, then he can take APUSH, which will be a step up.  

For math, he'll be in Algebra.  My understanding is that even if they don't grant credit for Algebra, they'll let him take the end of course exam, and place in to Geometry.  We'll keep our math tutor to support whatever algebra we choose. 

[Farrar]

1 hour ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I think that if I have to choose between what would serve him the best, and what is most likely to get credit, then I'd go with the former.  If I pick classes that work well for him, and they don't accept them, then he can enroll in 9th.  On the flip side, if I pick classes that don't prepare him for high school level work, then I'm not going to want him to go to 10th anyway.  

I really think he'd do better with a synchronous face to face class, with due dates, and a teacher who he sees and to whom can ask questions.  I want to plan for the worst case scenario, which would be that he's out of school, due to covid, and DH and I are working away from home, and I think in that situation he'd need more interaction than correspondence style courses, or asynchronous courses, which is what Oak Meadow and FLVS seem to be. 

I thought Online G3 was for gifted kids?  If so, that's not him. 

G3 is for gifted kids, but in reality, the work is not significantly more challenging than any other provider. The set up is one that is beneficial to gifted kids - high input, low output. They offer their high school level courses with college materials, but that's like an AP course, so that's not weird. They allow 12 and up to take them.

If you really want to get environmental sci counted, you could look at the course at AIM or PAH. AIM is the only one I know that has it secular, live, synchronous that's NOT AP level.

[SoCal_Bear]

For the math sequence, it is important to find out if they follow Integrated Math or traditional math sequence. You don't want to start down the one when you need the other.

This is also an secular accredited provider https://www.williamsburglearning.com/

 

[Drama Llama]

Just now, calbear said:

For the math sequence, it is important to find out if they follow Integrated Math or traditional math sequence. You don't want to start down the one when you need the other.

This is also an secular accredited provider https://www.williamsburglearning.com/

 

Yes, they follow traditional.  I am 100% sure that Algebra 1 is the math he needs.  Some things there are choices, but on that it's obvious.