Farrar Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) Specifically with a live component? The course at PAH is out for us for various reasons. There's one on Outschool... but to say I'm dubious about an AP on Outschool is a massive understatement. All the others I know of are not live courses, like UC Scout. If it's going to be a course that isn't live I feel like I may as well teach it myself. He could do dual enrollment (and may) but it's honestly prohibitively expensive after a point so we're trying to pick and choose. Secular is a must. Needs to be middle of the road or slightly liberal leaning. If my mildly combative woke debate loving kid got in a class of super conservatives, no one would enjoy that experience. Edited May 1, 2021 by Farrar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 I don’t know about these providers, but maybe you do: One Schoolhouse (~$2000 and I’m not entirely sure homeschoolers can take their classes) Univ of Nebraska HS and Mizzou Academy — do not appear to be live classes The Potters School also offers but I doubt they meet your needs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 Homeschoolers CAN take One Schoolhouse courses, for anyone reading. They're supposed to be very good. But also, not live. And at that price, I may as well just go the extra bit and pay for dual enrollment. I knew about the Nebraska one, not the Mizzou one, but again, live. Sigh. I may try the Outschool one, which is a statement I can't quite believe I'm making right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 58 minutes ago, Farrar said: I may try the Outschool one, which is a statement I can't quite believe I'm making right now. I am no help, but wanted to ask why you feel this way about Outschool. I don’t personally know anything about them but keeping seeing people mention it with love on Facebook. Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Well, I was going to suggest Online G3, but apparently they don't have comparative Govt. (They do have an excellent US government course that is not explicitly AP, but uses a textbook designed for it, so if you want to work on the FRQ's, you can quite easily-my senior really got a lot out of it, and enjoyed it, although we decided to skip the AP exam due to it being online last Spring and not needing the credit anyway). It might be worth it to contact them and see if they might be able to add one. The instructor who does the history courses is extremely good. And G3 tends to have more of the slightly woke, liberal leaning combative kids (they're based in CA). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Just now, Roadrunner said: I am no help, but wanted to ask why you feel this way about Outschool. I don’t personally know anything about them but keeping seeing people mention it with love on Facebook. Just curious. Outschool isn't an online program so much as a platform that you can sign up for to offer your online classes in exchange for a percentage of the tuition. There are some awesome classes there, but ultimately it's not much different than signing up for a random class that someone is teaching independently. I can understand being concerned about using them for a core high school level subject. I looked into offering some of my music classes through them, but ultimately, really don't like teaching music online all that much. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 1, 2021 Author Share Posted May 1, 2021 28 minutes ago, Roadrunner said: I am no help, but wanted to ask why you feel this way about Outschool. I don’t personally know anything about them but keeping seeing people mention it with love on Facebook. Just curious. Agreeing with Dmmetler's assessment on this. Outschool is really good for certain things, especially at certain ages. Like, if you need a fun, interactive elective for a K-8 student, if you want a short term book discussion group, if you're looking to "try out" a new language, a new instrument, a new subject, etc. - Outschool is the place, hands down. Like your kid wants to try Japanese and you're not sure they'll stick with or their schedule is really full already? Outschool. Your kid needs a cooking elective and you don't want to be in charge? Outschool. For sure. Your middle schooler needs to hear from someone else how to solve quadratic equations or how to structure an essay for a couple of weeks? Perfect. Some random teacher on Outschool will probably have a class isolating a particular skill and you can pay them to take your kid off your hands and stop fighting you over it. And if it turns out to be slightly meh, you didn't spend much time or money. On the other hand, you want to take a core academic for a full year for a high schooler... Um. This is not to say there aren't exceptions. But unlike taking a class on many of these platforms... the quality control level is really low. I teach on Outschool... My college consulting business does like one off classes for kids about how to plan for high school, how to plan for college, and how to make your college list. I really do think Outschool has its place. But I also am aware that a lot of families in a certain state where charters will pay for it (which I know you know!) are using it for everything and I'm not a fan of that. At all. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 It doesn’t seem a well-represented AP. My sister self-studied for it in high school and was the only one who took it. UCs tend to have something similar in the summer, eg UCLA’s world politics class (also asynchronous!), but it’s pricey, especially if you’re out of state. I wasted money on Outschool. Never found a single thing worth a dime. I agree with Farrar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 (edited) DS didn't end up taking the AP exam because he was busy with other things. But we used https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Comparative-Politics-Sixth-Patrick/dp/0393624587/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=oneill+comparative+government&qid=1619898646&sr=8-2 plus its companion book on different case studies and it was an amazing course! Basically I had him read a section and/or a country case study and then he prepared a lecture to teach me the highlights of the material. It was easy (for me!) and cheap and I have no doubt that if he'd decided to take the AP exam he'd have had no problem acing it. Just in case you decide to teach it yourself instead of a less than optimal online option 🙂 Edited May 1, 2021 by Momto6inIN trying to fix the link 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 The link to the book didn’t work — just loops back to this page, so I am just copying it below so it will work Essentials of Comparative Politics Sixth Edition by Patrick H. O'Neil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 Here’s someone who is creating lectures based on the seventh edition of the O’Neil book https://comparativegovernment.com 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted May 1, 2021 Share Posted May 1, 2021 2 hours ago, stripe said: The link to the book didn’t work — just loops back to this page, so I am just copying it below so it will work Essentials of Comparative Politics Sixth Edition by Patrick H. O'Neil Thank you! I fixed the link 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 I absolutely refuse to be in charge of... well, honestly, anything at this point. I really have to get him a class. And he doesn't like to read and doesn't do well with lectures (he has a language processing issue) so it's got to be a live class. It just... does. Sigh. He's a rising senior, I have kept social sciences primarily in house... he needs not me and a discussion. He took US Government at the CC, but his class was cut short by Covid. Professor ghosted them all. At least he still got an A. Sigh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) Does it have to be this class? ETA: What about this? Through Virtual Virginia? They claim all their classes are synchronous and meet daily, and they don’t seem expensive. https://www.virtualvirginia.org/courses/04158-ap-comparative-government/ Edited May 2, 2021 by stripe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 This is a rare AP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 13 hours ago, stripe said: Does it have to be this class? ETA: What about this? Through Virtual Virginia? They claim all their classes are synchronous and meet daily, and they don’t seem expensive. https://www.virtualvirginia.org/courses/04158-ap-comparative-government/ No, but it's something he has an actual interest in. Like I said, we might do it DE. We can't do the Virtual Virginia courses. If we were in Fairfax Co, I'd consider doing it at a school, I guess. But... ugh to the scheduling on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, Farrar said: No, but it's something he has an actual interest in. Like I said, we might do it DE. We can't do the Virtual Virginia courses. If we were in Fairfax Co, I'd consider doing it at a school, I guess. But... ugh to the scheduling on that. Yeah, I meant might there be a similar class that would appeal to him. There are Canadian schools that offer the provincially approved international relations classes online (e.g. CGW4U, Grade 12 Canadian and World Issues, or BBB4M, Grade 12 International Business Fundamentals for Ontario) but I am not sure any of them are live/synchronous. I was excited about that Virginia one, so I am pretty crushed that it won’t work. 🧟♀️ Edited May 2, 2021 by stripe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 3, 2021 Author Share Posted May 3, 2021 (edited) We may really use the Outschool class. Someone else I know had some knowledge of the teacher as being pretty good. We don't need this course to be amazing or perfect. We just need it to be half decent and most importantly have some discussion and interaction. The goal isn't to ace the test or to focus on test prep. It's just genuinely a topic that interests the kid. He'll already have AP Lang and AP Calc going for senior year, plus his dual enrollment courses, so we don't actually want to overload. Which is just to say, if anyone want to join us... that's probably our plan... https://outschool.com/classes/ap-comparative-government-part-one-sQUUXImL#usDUidZLHF Edited May 3, 2021 by Farrar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted May 3, 2021 Share Posted May 3, 2021 @Farrar It looks like this isn't a new offering? Is there anyway that teacher has a sample class recording for you to preview? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 3, 2021 Author Share Posted May 3, 2021 2 minutes ago, calbear said: @Farrar It looks like this isn't a new offering? Is there anyway that teacher has a sample class recording for you to preview? I contacted her. I’m less concerned with a sample class... but I wanted to ask what class is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Is the class actually College Board approved? Just wondering about calling it “AP.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted May 5, 2021 Author Share Posted May 5, 2021 16 hours ago, stripe said: Is the class actually College Board approved? Just wondering about calling it “AP.” She said yes it is. I'm on the fence but leaning toward using it. Apparently she's taught it at private schools as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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