PA Homeschoolers Online
Test Preparation Classes
PA Homeschoolers
Online will again offer a wide range of
Advanced Placement (AP) test preparation classes for homeschooled
high school students from all across the country for the 2010-2011 school year. We plan to have the same classes available and add
non-calculus physics and Latin.
These classes, as in the past, will only be
available to homeschooled students. (School students,
including cyber-charter school students, are not eligible to participate.) Our
classes have been given an excellent
review by Mary Pride's Practical Homeschooling
magazine..
We also encourage you right now to check out our Pennsylvania Homeschoolers
website (see link on top left), as our new fully online magazine there will
regularly feature articles about our AP online classes. You’ll hear from
parents whose teens have taken part in a wide range of AP classes, and see what
benefits these families have found. Our teachers will share ideas on how to
tell if your teen is ready for this level of work—and what to do at home to
bring them up to speed. Some of our teachers will also share about their own
work related to their field—such as Dr.
Perhaps one of the best aspects of our classes is
that in the many years that we have offered AP Online, we have developed a
community of homeschool student scholars who bring to
each class the positive ways of interacting that they have learned in previous
classes. It’s not unusual for students to take one AP Online class in 10th
grade (and we’ve had some very bright 9th graders also), and then take more in
11th and more in 12th grade— first checking with their new PA Homeschoolers AP Online friends so that they can plan to be
in class together once more.
Beginning in May, our 2010-2011 school year
classes will be open for registration. This will be our 15th year of offering
AP test preparation classes online to homeschoolers
all over the country (and even homeschoolers living
abroad). Since the spring of 2005, we have also been offering classes to
prepare students for the SAT exam essay.
To get a better idea on what the Advanced
Placement program is all about, do check out the excellent College Board website,
as this will give you full background on each exam and what is expected in an
AP preparation class. The basic idea is that this exam program enables students
to bypass ‘intro’ college classes and earn college credit by passing
standardized exams-- all while still in high school…or in high school at home!
All of our AP test preparation classes are
authorized through the College Board Audit process—for full info on this, see Susan Richman’s
article on the AP Audit Process from Pennsylvania Homeschoolers
Issue #98. PA Homeschoolers AP Online now also
sends out official transcripts on AP course completion for all students who
both complete the course and take the actual AP exam.
When students pass College Board Advanced
Placement exams, given each May in public and private high schools, they can
earn college credit or advanced standing at many colleges, and opt out of intro
classes. Many homeschool students seeking academic
scholarships also find the AP program a real help, as AP exam scores give a
concrete way for others to gauge strong academic preparation. AP classes are
all designed to be much tougher than typical high school classes- more reading,
more study time, and more dedication will be required. Colleges recognize this.
And in our classes, there is often the added bonus
of more interaction with fellow students and with your online teacher.
As families vary on how much interactivity they are seeking in an online
course, our teachers have rated their classes on a 1-3 scale of
student-to-student and teacher-to-student interactivity, with 3 being the
highest level of interactivity—this will help you choose the class that will
best meet your goals.
To learn about a particular class, click on the
class name on the sidebar—and be sure to check out the ‘CLASS REVIEWS’, linked
at the bottom of each course description. This will let you know what past
students have felt about their experience in the class, and you’ll also gain a
stronger sense of what the class will involve. To register for a specific
class, you need to email a message to the teacher directly, requesting any
further info for students and an application form. A number of classes have a
direct link to their application form right with their course description—and a
few simply will ask you to pay your tuition fee without the need for an
application or selection process, if you have the listed pre-requisites. Some
classes may have suggested or required summer readings or activities to
complete to help students be well-prepared and ready to go- so it will be wise
to sign up early.
Once the teacher accepts your student in an AP
test preparation class, you can pay tuition and purchase selected
test-preparation class materials using the sidebar link to ‘ENTER STORE’. AP
test preparation classes do cost more than many traditional high school
distance classes- this is because much more is involved, for both the teachers
and the students. Our tuition fees are still much lower than most AP Online
courses—and for many of our AP Online test-prep classes,
we are one of the very few sources available for homeschoolers.
Also when you compare the tuition for one of our classes to taking the related
college course, you’ll see what a good investment PA Homeschoolers
AP Online is for you. Many of our teachers are again offering discounted ‘early
bird’ tuition fees through the end of June 2010.
If a student signs up for too many AP classes at a
time, especially if this is a first experience with AP level work, you could be
asking for trouble. Students with especially busy work or extracurricular
schedules are also urged to think carefully about taking on more than one
class, unless they’ve already had good experiences with handling online
classes.
Also, we have several completely new classes this
year: AP Latin, AP Physics, and AP Studio Art – 2D Design, and we’ll also be
welcoming some new teachers leading second sections of more courses. More info
on these details coming soon—and again, keep checking
our Pennsylvania Homeschoolers website for regular
feature articles from our teachers.
Many of the AP teachers will be presenting in a
session about their classes at the July 16, 2010 High School at Home Conference
sponsored by PHAA (PA Homeschoolers Accreditation
Agency)
Note: These
classes are open only to homeschooled students. Students enrolled fulltime in a public or private ‘brick-and-mortar’
school, or a public cyber charter school, are not eligible.
Got some questions, comments, or ideas?
Susan Richman, PA Homeschoolers
AP Online Coordinator
105 Richman LN
Kittanning PA 16201-5737
:richmans@pahomeschoolers.com.
724-783-6512