LaurelSprings raises many of the red flags that I've learned about with online providers over the years-- namely, there can't be BOTH "real live interactions with teacher and classmates!" and "work at your own pace-- endless flexibility!"
That's true to my experience as well.
And all of these courses are presented with such hype that it's hard to imagine any of them living up to any of their claims.
You could do it a LOT better yourself by purchasing a copy of the Giancoli text, a copy (used) of Hewitt's lovely conceptual physics text, a solutions guide for Giancoli, maybe toss in an AP exam prep book, get a lab pack-- for about 400 bucks total. It will amount to pretty much the same darned thing in the end, since your involvement as a parent will be similar either way.
Thanks for the recommendations. We may end up doing something like this... depends on how negotiations turn out.
Most online courses are going to operate more or less like correspondence courses. That might be okay for some subjects, but it's hard for me to see how it works well for some others.
Yes. I teach a college course online, and to do it well is simply a boatload of work. And even then, it's serving certain needs, but definitely not all the needs these students present. It's a stopgap.
And while I trust myself to deliver quality instruction, I don't really trust anyone else automatically on that score-- it's simply too much work to do it well for me to imagine that everyone who hawks courses is going to do it well.
And for science... I want real labs.
Thanks.
