I've been building a number of interactive online courses (aimed at 9th grade) and would like to get your feedback on whether these subjects are the right ones and what other courses would be interesting. Here's the list right now: 1) Earth Science (the first half of Apologia's Physical Science book) 2) Evolution Exposed (based in large part on a book published by AiG) 3) A History of US (planning to cover two books in the series per semester) 4) A Citizen of the World (learning about countries, constitutions, trade, etc.) 5) Health 6) History of Georgia (obviously, there should be courses for other states) 7) Discovering Your Family History (learning and documenting for posterity's sake) 8) Everyday Communication (grammar, reports, email, good writing in general) 9) Understanding the Bible (based on material available from Bible Education Services) While it would be time-consuming, I'm thinking of a Pre-Algebra course as well, with quizzes and many hundreds of worked examples to ensure students really understand each concept. I've also been considering a course on Practical Environmentalism to uncover day-to-day things that we can do to be good stewards of the environment. Finally, I'm thinking (of all things) of a course in basic written and spoken Mandarin Chinese. What 'unusual' courses would you suggest, things that maybe the mainstream education system just doesn't cover? Each of these courses would last 17 weeks, with students interacting in the classroom, working on team projects, etc., so any other course would need to work well in this type of environment. Thanks for your thoughts.
interesting that you should bring it up. I was just over at your site the other day. One thing that I did for my daughter last year (her 8th grade year) was to split world history into 2 years. Last year, we covered the first half,, this year the second half. World history is just too massive to cover in a single year. So I put together a gigantic study guide using a common book. It incorporated articles found on the web, videos from youtube and history.com, and 2 full length research papers. I wondered if somehow I could adapt it to your site format. Along the lines of your original question... Cooking and Nutrition (people honestly have. no. clue. about what constitutes a healthy diet and how to cook from scratch. This would probably be touched on in a health class, but still I think most kids would benefit from an in depth study) Gardening Some sort of literature class. I prefer using whole books rather than the excerpt concept that most high school classes prefer. Household budgeting and economics Totally agree with you on the everyday communication. Also a course on Media and Technology with a focus on Privacy and Safety and your online reputation would absolutely be in line. Also Gender specific Bible studies would be fabulous. My daughters need to hear certain things in an all-girls group that are just inappropriate for a mixed gender group. Likewise, I am sure that young men need to hear particular things from a man.
I also love the idea about practical environmentalism. There is a middle ground between tree-huggers and earth abusers. You can farm, eat meat and hunt while still caring for animals and the environment. It is all about good stewardship.
I really like the family history you have. Some of the things I wish they would have taught me in high school are: Practical law - employment contracts, rental agreements, torts, etc. Practical ethics - business and personal - things they will run into in life. Global and US economics - how other contries economies affect each other, how and why the fed changes interest rates, etc. Compare and contrast different political systems-Democracy, Communism, socialism, etc. All of Fairfarmhands' ideas. That's all I can think of right now.
Some more great ideas - thank you! I really like the idea of business ethics, and I could base that around several real examples from my own business dealings. As they say, it takes a lifetime to build a strong reputation, but it takes only a moment to lose it. The final suggestion, to compare and contrast political systems, is part of the 'Citizen of the World' course - which also discusses constitutions, trade, natural resources, embassies and consulates, world organizations, etc.
If you do nutrition you must check out The China Study. Google it if you don't know it...it should come up. I believe there is a book by that title but I haven't read it. You should be able to get a PDF of the actual study though....
A few thoughts from a fairly uptight mom : A History of US - Do you really plan to have students spend 2.5 years on American History? Do you intend for these courses to count for high school credit? Everyday Communication - Either ensuring that this course is rigorous enough to be used for credit or relaxed enough not to interfere with the rest of their courses. Basic Mandarin - Great idea! This is something I definitely think there is a market for. Pre-algebra - I'm not sure how necessary this is - I know of several good online pre-algebra courses. However, some sort of problem solving or "real-life" math course that allows for a lot of class discussion is something I would be interested in. Business ethics, or even just a basic business course would be great!
The more candid the comments, the better. Thank you. Either that or pick just some of the books in the series. If I built courses for all of them, maybe parents could pick and choose. You're right that I haven't really decided. For now, I've built a course around just one of them. I plan to adapt a course I wrote once for business professionals. It addressed the most common errors in grammar (spelling, apostrophes, which versus that, between versus among, etc.); writing succinctly, simple rules for sending emails (meaningful titles, beware of forwarding chains, etc.); how to answer the phone, record voice mail greetings, and leave messages; how to write individual and team reports; how to write a resume and attend an interview; how to build and present slides; and so on. Personally, in business, I find the ability to communicate one of the most important and essential skills - and it's usually learned from experience because it's rarely taught. I've found some great supplemental resources for this. The challenge, as with any language, is how to practice speaking in the language. Small group sessions via Skype, for example, might be one way. There are lots of resources, but I still hear all the time how students struggle. I think it's because they need to practice and practice problems, with worked answers to help, until they master each topic. We're talking hundreds of practice problems, not just the handful found in most books. Math is one of those subjects where you really do have to learn some things by rote. Also, how do you apply math to problems in everyday life (i.e., word problems)? I find that students struggle with this in algebra courses. In business, it's becoming more and more important - and there are so many gray areas. It's important that our children can see through the clutter to the very essence of an ethics problem. It's a great idea, and I'm grateful that someone suggested it. Again, many thanks for the great feedback.
This is so sorely needed. I've casually wondered about doing something like this locally for job seekers. You would be appalled at the interviews, phone conversations, and resumes that have come through our office over the last few months that we've been looking to fill a position. One guy faxed his resume over the other day with obvious whiteout (he didn't even fully whiteout some places, so you could see pieces of text underneath the whiteout), as well as handwriting his name and contact information in the top right corner. It was just sad and shocking that someone thought that was okay to send in for a professional position. And that's just the latest professional faux pas we've seen. I've got miles of stories. It all starts with the guy who showed up for his first day wearing clothes I would wear to do yard work in...
A vote here for a secular Arabic class. There is a lot out there for Mandarin Chinese, but not so much for Arabic. Maybe because there are so many different varieties. A course in learning how to read and write Arabic is essential to kick-start learning. A lab-based science course may be good too. During high school it can be expensive to purchase all the lab materials. Having an instructor in a video demonstrate the lab while the students records and analyzes the data would be helpful. (At least for someone like me who expects to live in an isolated part of the world when my kids are in high school). But then, may there are things like that already out there. I use secular texts for science and I haven't seen any for those. I'd vote for a consumer math program over pre-algebra. There are many pre-algebra programs out there and I think most like to stick with one "brand" for math education at that level.
Hi there. I've built an online learning environment, and a couple of Christian schools have used it. What I learned rather quickly, though, is that small schools, for example, like everything done for them. I anticipated that they would like to build their own online courses based on existing class notes, but that isn't the case. Hence, I'm building a core set of courses myself to kick-start things. I'd prefer not to have to find teachers to run them, because it's my belief that parents still make the best teachers, but I'll do that if necessary. Once I'm a little further along with these plans, I'll build a new website with the relevant list of courses.
Sadly, I have nothing very useful to add. I just wanted to say......YOU ROCK STEVE!!! Seriously, I think this is so cool that you could do this. That is all.
