9th grade US history

[Terabith]

So....poking around out of curiosity.  Anybody have recommendations for a secular US history course for early high school from a provider?  Like my ideal is something like WTMA, but geared for younger high school ages.  Either all of US history in a year or the first half would be fine.  Thanks!

[Farrar]

There's one at Aim, though I don't know much about the teacher. It definitely seems geared toward either younger students or toward students who won't ever take AP:
https://debrabell.com/onlineclasses/u-s-history-online/

Online G3 has it. It'll be high level reading and material, not too much output. G3's student population tends to run all over the place, so I'm guessing it'll have both gifted middle schoolers and upper end high schoolers who are trying to just satisfy the requirement:
https://www.onlineg3.com/product/advanced-u-s-history-a/

The Kathryn Wall courses I posted about seem pretty amazing. When I corresponded with her, it seemed like they could work for a variety of different high school levels:
http://kathryn-wall.com/

 

[alisoncooks]

I've been picking through the courses on TGC+ and there are several that could be stuck together to create a full course. I was thinking of tacking on a lighter reading to go with.  

[Roadrunner]

nm

Edited May 1, 2021 by Roadrunner

[Drama Llama]

On 5/1/2021 at 11:43 AM, Farrar said:

There's one at Aim, though I don't know much about the teacher. It definitely seems geared toward either younger students or toward students who won't ever take AP:
https://debrabell.com/onlineclasses/u-s-history-online/

Online G3 has it. It'll be high level reading and material, not too much output. G3's student population tends to run all over the place, so I'm guessing it'll have both gifted middle schoolers and upper end high schoolers who are trying to just satisfy the requirement:
https://www.onlineg3.com/product/advanced-u-s-history-a/

The Kathryn Wall courses I posted about seem pretty amazing. When I corresponded with her, it seemed like they could work for a variety of different high school levels:
http://kathryn-wall.com/

Can you tell me more about AIM?  The sample lesson from the class seemed good, but it's not a provider I've heard of before.  

[Farrar]

52 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

Can you tell me more about AIM?  The sample lesson from the class seemed good, but it's not a provider I've heard of before.  

I'm teaching my African and Asian history course at Aim next year, so I'm not a totally impartial commenter on it.

It's Debra Bell, who used to teach at PA Homeschoolers and used to be sort of well known in Christian homeschool circles. Other than the courses that are explicitly Christian, all courses are secular. It was originally a lot of teachers who also teach at or used to teach at PAH. She started it with the idea in mind that it would be courses that would prepare kids for AP work. Not exactly how it's worked out - there's that element, but also they do their own AP courses and there are some more remedial and what I might call "check the box" courses that clearly aren't all kids getting ready for AP work, at least in that particular subject. She's very rah rah on growth mindset - which I like. That's the one thing that's pushed across the board, I think. It'll be accredited maybe with a diploma track - sort of the way TPS or WHA are, I think - in the near future - process seems to be getting close to completed. 

They do checks about teachers providing timely feedback, having organized Canvas classrooms, etc. but not about the syllabus per se. So I think you'll see a good bit of variation in style from teacher to teacher.

I've honestly heard good and bad things about different courses there. I know Nathanial Gilbert's various US government courses get good feedback. I've known of a couple of kids taking AP Lang there and my own rising senior will take it there - in part because, honestly, it seems like a really strong but much less intensive course more focused on the essay writing element that is the core of AP Lang than some of the teachers at PAH or the course at Blue Tent, which was the right call for my own kid. But I've also seen the feedback she provides and was pleased by it. My course is a lot of reading and discussion without too much extra work. The teacher who does middle school English is new but I like what I've heard from her. The US history course I linked, I honestly haven't heard much about.

[Drama Llama]

21 hours ago, Farrar said:

I'm teaching my African and Asian history course at Aim next year, so I'm not a totally impartial commenter on it.

It's Debra Bell, who used to teach at PA Homeschoolers and used to be sort of well known in Christian homeschool circles. Other than the courses that are explicitly Christian, all courses are secular. It was originally a lot of teachers who also teach at or used to teach at PAH. She started it with the idea in mind that it would be courses that would prepare kids for AP work. Not exactly how it's worked out - there's that element, but also they do their own AP courses and there are some more remedial and what I might call "check the box" courses that clearly aren't all kids getting ready for AP work, at least in that particular subject. She's very rah rah on growth mindset - which I like. That's the one thing that's pushed across the board, I think. It'll be accredited maybe with a diploma track - sort of the way TPS or WHA are, I think - in the near future - process seems to be getting close to completed. 

They do checks about teachers providing timely feedback, having organized Canvas classrooms, etc. but not about the syllabus per se. So I think you'll see a good bit of variation in style from teacher to teacher.

I've honestly heard good and bad things about different courses there. I know Nathanial Gilbert's various US government courses get good feedback. I've known of a couple of kids taking AP Lang there and my own rising senior will take it there - in part because, honestly, it seems like a really strong but much less intensive course more focused on the essay writing element that is the core of AP Lang than some of the teachers at PAH or the course at Blue Tent, which was the right call for my own kid. But I've also seen the feedback she provides and was pleased by it. My course is a lot of reading and discussion without too much extra work. The teacher who does middle school English is new but I like what I've heard from her. The US history course I linked, I honestly haven't heard much about.

I wish my kids could take your course!

[Farrar]

9 minutes ago, BaseballandHockey said:

I wish my kids could take your course!

Um, sign em up! 😉

[Drama Llama]

.

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by BaseballandHockey