Athena's fall enrollment is open.

[Dmmetler]

There are a lot of new classes this coming year, including L's new class about dinosaurs (Intended for a younger age group than the dragons one-I've had a lot of fun helping in the planning).  I'm especially seeing some nice math and science enrichment that I rather wish had been around a few years earlier. 

 

https://athenasacademy.com/courses/

[Not_a_Number]

I'm curious -- how do these classes work? 🙂 

[Dmmetler]

18 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

I'm curious -- how do these classes work? 🙂 

Athena's classes are a combination of Moodle with weekly activities at three levels (required, suggested, optional) that give the background for the class session, and then a weekly Blackboard session where information is shared and discussion happens via chat or microphone.  All classes are grouped by level, not age, and since there is no video, there is no social barrier.  Classes tend to be input heavy and output light, and are designed for asynchronous development. There are moderated forums for social discussion on almost every topic, and if you go to GT summer programs, like the Davidson Summit, PGR, or some of the math camps, there willoften be an immediate connection between Athena's kids. I didn't realize just how strong it was until the first time we went to Summit. 

 

Most classes have at least two assessments a week (although only some classes have grades and grades are optional) and get feedback, both from the instructor and peers. Instructors tend to be professionals who either are former Athena's kids and gifted students (there are quite a few coming in who are now working on their doctorates 🙂 ) or are professionals, usually with terminal degrees in the area who are also parents of gifted kids.  (Athena's is accredited, and that forced assessments to become more formal). 

 

Junior instructor classes are taught by teens who are at least college level in a specific area and have a focused interest, and are moderated by an adult, usually a parent. Kids usually spend several semesters assisting in other classes before they are asked to become a JI.  The teens spend usually about a full semester developing their class and getting regular mentoring and support (easily equivalent to the college level curriculum development classes I've taught-I was very impressed when L did it). They move to being Novice instructors once they have an undergraduate degree in their field. 

 

I considered Athena's classes to be enrichment or part of a class, not the full subject because they were output light, and only met once a week. There are some likely exceptions to that rule now, based on what I hear from parents and instructors ,particularly the AP classes and the English classes leading to AP that meet multiple times a week, but they started after my kid was past that point and already doing college classes. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Dmmetler

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

How solid of a keyboarder do kids need to be in order to be successful with an Athena’s class? DS hasn’t begun to learn to type at all yet (it’s on the schedule for fall). Are the discussions primarily verbal, or would I be able to type his responses for him? 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax

[Dmmetler]

It depends on the class. Some are more chat focused, some are more verbal. Usually students can “raise their hand” or just type. Generally the older the class skews, the more discussion happens in chat. One thing that I am trying to make sure L is aware of is that younger kids usually like to talk :). 
 

Assignment lengths will depend, again, on level of class. Usually the class description will state the typical requirements. 

 

Parent involvement is always fine, and, in fact, is generally expected for younger kids. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Dmmetler

[Jackie]

1 hour ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

How solid of a keyboarder do kids need to be in order to be successful with an Athena’s class? DS hasn’t begun to learn to type at all yet (it’s on the schedule for fall). Are the discussions primarily verbal, or would I be able to type his responses for him? 

DD started taking Athena’s classes when she was 6. She didn’t really want me involved at all, so I didn’t type for her during class, but I did sometimes type up her dictated responses for the homework. I remember her complaining a bit that the chat sometimes moved too fast for her to participate, but her first few classes were almost entirely discussion-based and she was comfortable “raising her hand” and answering questions verbally. The literature classes usually start with every student being asked to type their own question for discussion at the beginning of class; due to typing speed at the time, I had her type her question in Word before class so she could c/p it into the class since she didn’t want me to do it.

At ages 9-10, she’s been able to keep up dual threads of conversation - one she is participating in verbally and another she is actively participating in chat.

[Dmmetler]

9 hours ago, Jackie said:

DD started taking Athena’s classes when she was 6. She didn’t really want me involved at all, so I didn’t type for her during class, but I did sometimes type up her dictated responses for the homework. I remember her complaining a bit that the chat sometimes moved too fast for her to participate, but her first few classes were almost entirely discussion-based and she was comfortable “raising her hand” and answering questions verbally. The literature classes usually start with every student being asked to type their own question for discussion at the beginning of class; due to typing speed at the time, I had her type her question in Word before class so she could c/p it into the class since she didn’t want me to do it.

At ages 9-10, she’s been able to keep up dual threads of conversation - one she is participating in verbally and another she is actively participating in chat.

This has been our experience as well. I will say that the youngest kids in the classes L teaches are the most likely to struggle, because the age range in those tends to be everywhere from 6-7 yr olds to high school kids with an interest in the subject and a hole in their schedule that needs an elective. The assignments tend to be flexible-while the requirement might be 3-4 sentences, it's not odd to have some kids who do 3-4 paragraphs or even 3-4 pages. And I know I'm not the only parent who has been known to supplement the output requirements at home to make the class into something I considered credit worthy. 

 

I am operating on the assumption that the dinosaur class will be almost all live discussion because I suspect it will be a lot of kids "first ever online class" due to the subject matter. There have been a lot of requests for more classes for younger students, so the demand is there. 

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Sounds good. I think we might dip our toes in with Mathematical Poetry; both are subjects that DS8 enjoys & the class is only a half-semester. ☺️

[Dmmetler]

17 minutes ago, Shoes+Ships+SealingWax said:

Sounds good. I think we might dip our toes in with Mathematical Poetry; both are subjects that DS8 enjoys & the class is only a half-semester. ☺️

JI classes are often a good way to dip in-the teen instructors are kids who are super enthusiastic about the subject, and they're very inexpensive, so if it doesn't work well, you're not out much. There are a LOT of new JI's coming on because so many of the kids who grew up with Athena's are now old enough and experienced enough to do it. 

[Dmmetler]

I wanted to bump this because the Fall semester starts Monday, which is earlier than school starts in many areas, so if you've registered for an Athena's class, make sure your child checks their e-mail-the introductory assignments should be up!!!