any experiences with Veritas Press Diploma program?

[flmom79]

I have a 7th grader who will be taking a few courses through Veritas Press next school year, while considering the prospect of pursuing their diploma program in high school.  Sharing your perspective on the diploma program would be welcome.  Particularly, I am wondering whether a) the workload is excessive for the humanities (it appears that one would be taking the equivalent of 8 or 9 credits each year instead of the standard 6, since their Omnibus courses span 3 credits and the remaining class load doesn't seem to be reduced) and b) whether your student felt he was living his entire life glued to the computer given the number, length, and frequency of the the classes.  It looks like a spectacular program, but I do have these questions about any actual experience you may have had.  Please advise! 

[ByGrace3]

your concerns are exactly why we have not done Veritas. I love the idea of it and considered it many times, but for us it would cost us many of the reasons we homeschool. I also think it takes a very certain type of student to thrive. My kids are average students-- they would not thrive with that work load. We have found that 3 live classes are about the Max most of mine can handle well without it causing excess stress. I have graduated one and she is thriving in college, succeeded in taking 38 college credits before she graduated. You have to know your student. VPA is VERY rigorous. It is not a good fit for any of mine. Individual classes sure -- but not the diploma program. And not having an "accredited" diploma is not a problem at all. 

Edited February 5 by ByGrace3

[Ann.without.an.e]

Omnibus is a ridiculous amount of reading. My kids are smart. Not average. 

Unless your child wants humanities to be their life and all they breathe and they plan to get a degree in classical literature or something, please don't. Just save yourself and don't. We made this mistake twice and my kids wanted a life and to, you know, do math.

Edited February 6 by Ann.without.an.e

[Ann.without.an.e]

On 2/4/2024 at 4:33 PM, flmom79 said:

I have a 7th grader who will be taking a few courses through Veritas Press next school year, while considering the prospect of pursuing their diploma program in high school.  Sharing your perspective on the diploma program would be welcome.  Particularly, I am wondering whether a) the workload is excessive for the humanities (it appears that one would be taking the equivalent of 8 or 9 credits each year instead of the standard 6, since their Omnibus courses span 3 credits and the remaining class load doesn't seem to be reduced) and b) whether your student felt he was living his entire life glued to the computer given the number, length, and frequency of the the classes.  It looks like a spectacular program, but I do have these questions about any actual experience you may have had.  Please advise! 

 

 

Also, if you are ok with faith based education,have you looked at Schole Academy. Please check them out. Excellent, excellent. Deep reading and discussion with a goal of meaningful assignments and not busy work. ETA: We are not Catholic and most of the students in DS's classes have not been Catholic either. 

Edited February 6 by Ann.without.an.e

[flmom79]

On 2/6/2024 at 1:29 PM, Ann.without.an.e said:

Omnibus is a ridiculous amount of reading. My kids are smart. Not average. 

Unless your child wants humanities to be their life and all they breathe and they plan to get a degree in classical literature or something, please don't. Just save yourself and don't. We made this mistake twice and my kids wanted a life and to, you know, do math.

So, to be clear, your kids have tried the VP diploma program?  Because I do appreciate that the VP diploma math is on level for an accelerated student, but there is quite a bit of weight towards the humanities -- so you are saying that your students felt they were not able to give attention to their math courses bc of Omnibus?  As a 3 credit class, I can see that could be difficult.

[ByGrace3]

On 2/7/2024 at 5:33 PM, flmom79 said:

So, to be clear, your kids have tried the VP diploma program?  Because I do appreciate that the VP diploma math is on level for an accelerated student, but there is quite a bit of weight towards the humanities -- so you are saying that your students felt they were not able to give attention to their math courses bc of Omnibus?  As a 3 credit class, I can see that could be difficult.

not the poster you quoted-- but we did a couple of years of Omnibus. I love it, but we chose not to do live classes for a reason. We did the self paced with the "audit" function so we could skip a few books and not drown. It was a great option. Another vote to check out Schole. We have loved every class we have taken with them.

[flmom79]

2 hours ago, ByGrace3 said:

not the poster you quoted-- but we did a couple of years of Omnibus. I love it, but we chose not to do live classes for a reason. We did the self paced with the "audit" function so we could skip a few books and not drown. It was a great option. Another vote to check out Schole. We have loved every class we have taken with them.

Oh, you have done the self paced -- tell me about it! I had been reluctant to try that because 1) I had heard that some students find it too easy to do well on the quizzes/assignments simply through going through the modules and without fully reading the texts and 2) tying into that, the concern that screen time easily becomes overdone, and I thought that engagement would be more likely in a live class (if screens were unavoidable) than adding in more video modules that could make it easy to zone out/become distracted.  Could you allay these concerns for me (or not)?

[ByGrace3]

20 minutes ago, flmom79 said:

Oh, you have done the self paced -- tell me about it! I had been reluctant to try that because 1) I had heard that some students find it too easy to do well on the quizzes/assignments simply through going through the modules and without fully reading the texts and 2) tying into that, the concern that screen time easily becomes overdone, and I thought that engagement would be more likely in a live class (if screens were unavoidable) than adding in more video modules that could make it easy to zone out/become distracted.  Could you allay these concerns for me (or not)?

My kids did NOT find the quizzes and tests easy. Again though, more average students. I definitely think a live class would have offered a higher level of engagement and discussion but I had 2 kids in the same class so we did discussions together. It is a trade off, for us the self paced won out for flexibility and a desire not to spend our entire day doing one things. I also have competitive athletes so we had a lot of practices to work around.