<p>I’ve had mixed experiences. </p>
<p>I took Spanish 2 and Music Theory online through my district during the summer before my junior year. It’s all a big blur, but I know we had orientation the week after school ended and then took finals maybe a week before school started. So yes, it was the full summer. Honestly…they were easy. Some more details: </p>
<p>Music Theory: There was one other girl in the class, but I never met her (even though I had to appear in person to take the midterm). I basically did all of the work very quickly and would email him a few assignments every few days. The class was designed for someone who had no musical knowledge whatsoever, and I’ve played the piano for over 10 years. So none of it was truly new to me. For someone who knew next to nothing, it’d probably be extremely hard just because of the pace. </p>
<p>Spanish 2: I took this because I hate learning languages in a classroom environment. We had a textbook issued to us, but I never used it. We only focused on grammar, which I love. I had to appear in person for each unit test (there were 3 plus a final (each were 20% of our grade; the final 20% was our assignments)), but there was still no speaking or listening. It wasn’t cumulative either. </p>
<p>I think I was expected to spend 10 hours per week per class. I can’t say how many hours I spent, but it certainly wasn’t that. In terms of teacher communication, I’d say that it was about the same. Obviously it was all through email, and sometimes he’d answer, sometimes not. </p>
<p>I also took French 1A through Primavera this past winter. Primavera is a 100% online school. The class was six weeks, and we basically did half of a textbook. I did one unit a week, and then the final week was just a review of the previous five. Honestly, that was the hardest class I’ve ever taken, and far more time consuming (although it’d be SO EASY to cheat). It was much harder than the Spanish class, because I had to call my teacher every week and do speaking activities. The result is that I can’t speak French at all…I might be able to read very basic French though. As a concurrent student, I think I was expected to do 12.5 hours a week. There were five lessons a week, and I did most of it all during the weekend. In the beginning it was all very overwhelming, but then got easier. I got half of a credit, but I’m thoroughly convinced that I covered more than the French 1 class at my school (an 18 week class, block scheduling here), especially since I took Spanish 1 at my school and can sort of compare it to that. I am of course not saying that I know more than people taking the actual class though!</p>
<p>The people at Primavera were great, especially their tech support. The teacher was an actual high school French teacher, and I believe she was required to log in and comment every day. I would take a class through them again, although I most likely never will. </p>
<p>I hope that somewhat helped you. Feel free to ask more specific questions. I took all of these classes voluntarily, and expected them all to be easy. Sorry that I can’t tell you more about the honors classes that my district offers online. But you will be fine!</p>