I was searching online classes again today and came across the Texas Tech University College of Outreach and Distance Education. I was wondering if anyone is familiar with them or had any experience with their classes? They have K-12 distance learning options that I was looking at. They seem reasonably priced, self paced, within a certain time frame of course. Just wondering...
I would love to know there is a program out there that's reasonably priced!! I'll keep watching....
I heard about Texas Tech but haven't looked into it. Do you have a link?
I'm trying to find a summer foreign language, computer science, and math course (HS AP level)
I contacted them today to enquire about some science classes. My DD9 really wants to move to high school science. She has vowed she wants to finish "simple science" this summer so she can move up to the "real" stuff.
Sadly, they were very caught up on her age. I guess it gets a little confusing because they have a distance public school and then the same classes offered to others not enrolled. I think they wanted me to enroll her in the public school. I plan to try again next week. The only other consideration is that they said that the classes are very reading and writing intensive. Reading intensive isn't a problem but writing intensive may be a problem from their point of view based on her age and writing ability. The classes and grading are very set and there is no variance from that. There are packets for a set number of lessons that are completed and returned for grading, a project, and testing through an approved proctor.
http://www.depts.ttu.edu/ode/k-12/
I assume that by "reasonably priced" you don't mean the $400 a class that the Northwestern U program offers (gifted learning links). We tried a class and liked it, didn't love it, but liked it. Yes, the price tag is a whopper. Our state has a virtual high school that I think will accept underage kids in their classes if recommended by teachers, but the child has to at least be in middle school.
I just cannot afford $400 a class with five children to consider. We are looking at the possibility of one this summer but aren't sure if that is even possible right now. I would like for her to have some experience where mom isn't the one assigning and grading the material.
The Northwestern program does accept financial aid applications, but I don't know what is involved. You might want to look. If anyone else finds anything, let us know! I took on an extra class (I teach online) to pay for it!
I checked into TXTech and the courses are to be completed in six months - which is great. They can begin at any time.
Latin is what is seriously lacking in our curriculum here. In really great schools, there are Latin and Greek courses for students like ours since it combines nicely with math/science/social studies. This course looks wonderful and teaches them Latin, with relevance to science and other applications of English/high-use Latin words and also teaches them Roman History in the process.
I am trying to keep her up, just in case we move to a city with a good school.
Sadly, they were very caught up on her age. I guess it gets a little confusing because they have a distance public school and then the same classes offered to others not enrolled. I think they wanted me to enroll her in the public school. I plan to try again next week.
Have you considered using her mental age in the future?
university of missouri high school also has inexpensive classes and some specifically listed for "gifted". I haven't tried it but I know it's well-regarded. Also Brigham Young. Some other providers are APEX learning and Aventa. I think the APEX was expensive (maybe $600 for algebra 1 or 2 course) when I looked into it, but it's still cheaper than JHU or EPGY (both of which we've tried & liked but are definitely expensive)
Ellipses,
Northstar Academy has Latin. You can use their Homeschool and Independent Study Program (HIS) where you purchase the ability to access all their materials with you as the teacher for around $125 plus the yearly access fee that would apply to any classes for a year. Their academy is signigicantly more. I have been looking into some of their classes, some have religious interweaving, some do not appear to. I was looking through the catalog they sent and it's pretty obvious which courses do, based on the textbook used, mostly science and some of the history classes.
JustaMom,
They also have computer and AP math.
Thanks mel,
I did sign up for Latin 1A at Tech. I like the curriculum. My daughter will already be in a Middle School. It is just not very high performing. Our concession to moving here is for me to be able to add to the curriculum to keep up with what she would have had (although it is not even close).
I am really interested in the extra Roman history that goes with it. I do not like religious interweaving and want the "straight" stuff.
However, I do want her to learn about other religions, such as the Roman gods. I hope this does not have any religious leanings. That is one problem with teen gifties. My daughter will spot it in a minute and cry foul. She can easily tell when something is fact or opinion.
Anyway, I will let you know how this goes. Thanks for your input.
Definately let me know please. I am having a terrible time finding good secular curriculum.
We have started this course - Latin 1A correspeondence. Background - my daughter dislikes summer and wishes she could go to school in the summer. She will be a seventh grader, but her scores are at least four years ahead.
The course is for 6th - 12th. It teaches quite a bit of Roman history. History is very shortchanged here so I am glad for this. The book is about the life of Horace and will tell the stories of the Iliad and other classics. There is also sociological aspects such as "women in Rome" and other interesting bits.
For my daughter, the "unlocking" of grammar is really fun. It teaches the further parts of speech such as Dative and the genders (has three). This answers a lot of questions she has about words. She is a word collector at this age and wants to break each down into its true meaning. This seems to be a logical step once the vocabulary gets larger.
We are learning together and it is really fun for me also. She is at the right level for it and it satisfies her curiousity.
It was over $100. But, I paid 1200 to take Calc. This is a nice challenge and she will learn the story of the Iliad and other interesting stories. Learning about sentence construction is very new to her and it is nice to have her learn something completely different.