DISTANCE LEARNING - THE NEW NORM....

[dfrecore]

My teens are doing DL, not thrilled with it, but we will survive. Some platforms are better than others, some are better for different types of learners.

- Physics (Khan Academy) is not going to be a lot of fun w/o labs. But, the teacher wasn't great, so this is a good time to find new ways to get the learning in, he'll probably learn more this month than he has for the whole school year.

- Math will be good (Khan Academy) because he has lots of holes due to switching curriculum/schools: switched from homeschooling traditional path (curriculum 1) to a non-common-core traditional path in 7th/8th (curriculum 2) to a common-core path that is wacky in 9th/10th (curriculum 3). This is a great chance to start from scratch and fill in holes and gaps in knowledge. Also spending time on Geometry Proofs, because he is weak there for sure.

- English 101 through ASU/Earned Admission - only opens 1 module per week, so it will be slow going, sure would be nice to have self-paced...

- AP Euro History will be done through Cracking the AP Euro History book we ordered. He will REALLY miss this excellent teacher and the great classroom discussions they had. One upside to high school classes with great teachers is that you have 2 semesters with the teacher and class and have time to get to know each other like you won't in a 1-semester college course, or an online course of any kind. It's just not the same.

So a mixed bag for sure. I think he'll be much more likely to try online courses for things he is not as interested in going forward, and want to continue with butt-in-seat courses for those where the teacher is good and the course is something he enjoys, and that lends itself to classroom discussion.