<p>i am in Keystone high school and i am in American Government and would like to find a study partner or someone who has finished this course and can help me.</p>
<p>Good luck-
In the last couple months I tried to find people with any experience with Keystone on CC and there were VERY FEW and I don't believe any with current experience.
Perhaps you could start a thread titled something like "American Government Online - Study Buddy wanted"</p>
<p>I'm taking Florida Virtual School, which is free. I'll be taking quite a few AP courses next year so maybe we can be study buddies for something next year. What APs are you planning to take?</p>
<p>I've taken Keystone classes (unfortunately, I might add), but never Government. What you could do, however, is go to the mail center on Blackboard (Keystone), and send out a message to all of your classmates (or some, you can pick from the list) asking if they would like to be study partners with you.</p>
<p>Lol I feel the same way Topoftheworld.</p>
<p>You could also post on the class message board or on the community board.</p>
<p>TOTW & Christi-
Would you elaborate on your Keystone feelings? Reasons?
I am considering it for my son in the future and would like feedback.
Thanks!</p>
<p>Mostly, I felt like I could get higher quality for the price we were paying. I didn't find the classes challenging, and the materials were somewhat sub par. One of the books seemed to be a bunch of photocopies in a cheap hardcover, and some of the virtual classes had very little information, just a few simple words or tables. It looked like it was rushed together, not much time spent on it at all.</p>
<p>I would do a little more research, because I think there are better options. I think some colleges offer a virtual high school which would be worth looking at.</p>
<p>I like Keystone. The sciences seem to be somewhat weak, but my overall experience has been good. The basic (non-honors or AP) courses are quite easy and, unsurprisingly, basic (with the exception of Chemistry, due to a bad choice of textbook). It is hard to learn a language without a real instructor. But I have been happy with my honors and AP courses.</p>
<p>I recommend Pennsylvania Homeschooler's online AP classes - they are top notch! Also, I have heard very good things about Potter's School.</p>
<p>huguenot-</p>
<p>I would love to hear more about the PA Homeschooler's classes. Which do you have experience with? Did you (or your children?) find them fun? Or just useful in preparing for the AP exam? Were any teachers too good to miss? Any information you could provide would be appreciated, as we are trying to make plans for the fall.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>My ds did AP English Literature with Debra Bell. She was great, very encouraging and helpful in their writing. The extremely active forums and forum assignments where kids give each other feedback are a real plus for pahomeschoolers. We did AP English Language with Maya Inspecktor this year. DS really enjoyed it and enjoyed the interaction with other homeschoolers all over the world. It is especially useful to do an online class if this is your first experience with AP!!</p>
<p>I think their courses are great! They are pricey - and our resources are extremely limited - so we have only done those two, then we did one online in a co-op we cooked up with other homeschoolers (one mom taught). The others we did at home like any other homeschool class. We've done everything from AP Biology to AP US History at home with no problem whatever.</p>
<p>I would like to second huguenot's recommendation of Pennsylvania Homeschoolers classes. My kids have taken AP English Lit, AP English Language, AP US Govt, AP Comp Gov, AP Chemistry, and AP Economics with PAH. All of the classes were great -- helpful feedback, interesting and relevant assignments, and strong preparation for the AP exam.</p>
<p>My ds took chemistry through Keystone and was VERY disappointed. Even though he did the honors version, he could do the basic work in about 45 minutes per week! The honors assignments were just mini-research papers that required an extra hour or two per week but contributed almost nothing to his actual learning of the material.</p>
<p>Other online schools where we have found strong academics -- Scholars Online and Regina Coeli Academy. We have only done one class (a computer programming one) through the Potters School, but it was a very good class.</p>
<p>I think why I was disappointed is because I took both honors classes and a science class. They weren't challenging. In fact...I read a lot of the stories for the sophomore honors English in 8th grade. Also, like cockatiel said, the honors classes didn't challenge more either...just extra work that didn't seem necessary.</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend paying for out of state students for Florida Virtual School. The AP classes are very challenging.</p>
<p>Well, I didn't like Keystone for a couple of different reasons. By no means was it horrible, but I wouldn't say it was exactly good or enjoyable. It is very flexible though, which is good if you have a lot going on outside of school, because other AP classes (PA Homeschoolers, for example) have deadlines, while Keystone doesn't. However, if you're not disciplined it's so easy to get behind.</p>
<p>Anyway, I didn't like Keystone because I felt like I could have learned so much more. I took two AP courses from there (just finishing up), and they were okay...just okay. There is a lot of busywork that is just not needed and takes up a lot of time. And the sciences are definitely too easy - they're just not covered in enough depth. I kind of hate to say this, but the teachers weren't very helpful either. I asked my science teacher some questions, and she didn't seem to know the material at all...not good for someone who's teaching an AP course. The discussion boards were more or less dead, you're required to post but once most people got the maximum points they stopped coming. And since there are no deadlines, you could end up having to enter a discussion that died nine months ago because that is where you are in the material. I don't know, it was okay, but if there are other options, it couldn't hurt to check them out.</p>
<p>I've also heard great things about PA homeschoolers and will likely take their classes over Keystone's next year.</p>
<p>I think that would be a good choice, Topoftheworld. Most of the things you are complaining about the opposite with pahomeschoolers.</p>
<p>Regarding flexibility, we travel a lot and we've found the teachers at pahomeschoolers to be pretty flexible. You'll have to either work ahead or make the work up, but you are not tied inflexibly into the schedule in the classes we've taken.</p>