Questions about Angelicum Academy and other online homeschool programs (including Queen of Heaven Academy)

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Paul71

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Greetings. This is my first post on the updated Catholic Answers Forum site, but I posted for many years on the old site as “PaulGH.” (Apparently my account got deleted in the switch to the new site.) Since this is my first post, I am not allowed to post links. Normally I would include links to the homeschooling programs that I mention below; I apologize for not being able to include them.

In the interests of keeping this post from getting too long, I will skip some background information, but I will include it in a follow-up post, for anyone who is interested in why I am asking these questions.

I am interested in finding an online homeschooling program for my son who will be in 9th grade next year, preferably one that takes a classical education approach. I have looked at the following programs:
  • The Angelicum Academy, specifically the Great Honors Program
  • Memoria Press Online Academy
  • Seton Online
  • Homeschool Connections
The one that looks the most promising to me is Angelicum Academy. Seton looks good too, but their online course offerings are limited. Memoria Press also looks good, however they are a bit expensive, and they are not Catholic (though their “mere Christianity” approach seems to be Catholic-friendly). I wasn’t too impressed with Homeschool Connections based on a couple of recorded online classes that I watched, but they have a very extensive catalog of online classes, and they have several instructors who have appeared on EWTN TV and/or radio programs.

My Questions:

Has anyone here homeschooled their children (particularly high schoolers), where most of the classes were taught online? If so, I have the following questions for you:
  1. What program did you use, and what was your experience with the program? What were the strengths and weaknesses of the program? Would you recommend the program to other families? Why or why not?
  2. If you have used Angelicum Academy’s Great Books Program, what was your experience with the required reading list? I think that the reading list is impressive, but I am concerned that it may be too much reading, especially since many of the works on the list are probably very challenging to read, even for adults.
  3. If you have used Angelicum Academy’s Great Honors Program, do you feel that your child learned well from the online classes?
  4. Have you found a good Catholic online homeschooling program besides the ones I listed above?
  5. In general, what did you find as the advantages and disadvantages of online classes versus other methods of homeschooling, or versus traditional schooling (public school, Catholic school, or other private school)?
  6. How much time did your child spend on school work (online lectures, class work, etc.) compared to other methods of schooling?
  7. How much time did you need to spend keeping track of your child’s progress, helping your child with class work, etc.?
If you have experience with online homeschooling programs and if you can answer even a few of my questions, I would greatly appreciate it. Any experience that you can share would be very helpful to me and my wife as we consider taking a leap of faith with our son’s education.
 
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Here is some background information that I couldn’t fit in the initial post. Feel free to skip it. It just provides some explanation of why I am looking at online homeschool options:

I am married with four boys. Next year we will have two boys in elementary school, one in middle school, and one starting high school. Up to now, they have always attended our local Catholic school. There are many good points about our local Catholic school, especially compared to the local public schools, but I never have been very happy with the curriculum that is used there. (For example, they use the same history and geography books as the public schools, and they don’t put any emphasis at all on classic literature.) I have been drawn more and more toward classical education over the past few years, so that I am finding our local Catholic school more and more out of step with what I want our boys to learn.

We have considered homeschooling for many years, but the main obstacle to homeschooling has always been our inability to devote enough time to homeschooling. I work full-time, and we rely heavily on my income, so I don’t have time to be the main homeschooler, even though I very much wish that I could be. My wife is also busy, and she simply does not have the desire or the patience to homeschool our children. So up to now we have chosen Catholic school as the best available option.

But now we are considering enrolling my oldest son (who is in 8th grade) in an online homeschooling program starting next year. I believe that he is sufficiently intelligent, mature, and motivated to keep up with an online program, without my wife or I needing to put in large amounts of time to oversee the program. (I am prepared to spend a few hours per week checking his progress, helping him with classwork, and so on. I don’t expect that he would need my help or (name removed by moderator)ut for hours each day, especially after the first few weeks.) Whether we would enroll any of our other children in a similar program remains to be seen. Our next oldest boy is less mature and responsible, so he may not be ready for this kind of program now, but perhaps that will change in a year or two.
 
We are looking to move our son from our Archdiocese high school (he is a freshman). We looked at Kolbe Academy and Queen of Heaven Academy so far. I would prefer online versus homeschool, as he did well in a cyberschool environment. We also liked the classical education. However, the curriculums seem to suffer in the upper science levels. So, we are still looking. My son has placed out of several science classes already, and it is his favorite subject. So, I think this option may not work for us.
 
Domer, thanks for sharing your experience. I had not looked at the online offerings from Kolbe Academy or Queen of Heaven, but now I see that they both offer online homeschool programs, and both programs look like they are worth considering. So now I have even more options to look at, which is good, but which also makes the decision harder. 🙂 I very much appreciate the information.

And I see what you mean about the lack of upper level science classes. It seems that most of the Catholic online homeschool curricula don’t offer much beyond one year each of Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Those offerings are probably sufficient for many students, but not for everyone. However, you might look at the course catalog for Homeschool Connections, to see if there is anything of interest there. They have an AP Chemistry course, as well as a few specialized (but not necessarily advanced) courses: Anatomy, Botany, Geology, and Zoology. It’s also possible that your son could take some advanced science courses at a local college (or maybe an online college course), while completing his high school classes in other subjects.

Update: The Angelicum Academy “Great Honors Program” also lists two courses each in Physics and Chemistry, so they may have some of the advanced science options you are looking for.
 
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I’m in college now, but I was homeschooled. And in highschool I used the Angelicum Academy’s Great Books Program. And I loved. So did my mom.

You mention the amount of reading. There is a bit of reading but I don’t think an overwhelming amount. You also mention how it can get above one’s head. The good thing is that you start with the Greek tragedies. So you start easy and work your way up. You get used to reading ancient texts. Also, the teachers and moderators are awesome, and they walk the students through everything.

I would definitely recommend it. Any questions about it just ask.
 
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I will look into that. Hard part is that my child is somewhat of a prodigy in chemistry and particle physics. He’s bored in his Honors Chemistry class, so I need to find something to challenge him. He’s cute. He’s discerning a teaching vocation to prove you can be a great scientist and an orthodox Catholic.
 
I think the online Catholic programs will fall short for my STEM-centered son. He has mild Aspergers, and he is very gifted in science as my DH was in math (and we suspect the same diagnosis).

He needs to catch up in math, but he has mastered many of the difficult theoretical physics concept taught in college and grad school. So, if he ends up in a Mennonite school, we will augment his education with one of these programs for sure!

Thank you!
 
Entwhistler,

Thanks very much for sharing your experience. I have some follow-up questions, if you don’t mind answering:
  1. About how much time per day or per week did you spend reading for the Great Books class? I was told that the readings are around 150 pages per week on average. But looking at the reading schedule myself, I would have estimated closer to 250 or 300 pages per week.
  2. Did you take any high school courses through Angelicum Academy’s “Great Honors Program” – such as courses in math, science, history, philosophy, etc.? If so, what did you think of these courses? Was it more difficult to learn from pre-recorded courses than from live class sessions?
  3. If you had friends who went to traditional schools or who used other homeschool curricula, do you have a sense that the Angelicum Academy program was harder, easier, or about the same effort as those other schools or programs?
  4. Did you take the Great Books classes for college credit? If so, are you glad that you did? (Or if not, do you wish that you had?)
  5. Did most of the students do the required reading for the Great Books program, or was it common for students to fall behind on reading?
  6. Do you feel like the Great Books program prepared you well for college, for your vocation, and for life in general?
  7. Did taking online classes make you feel isolated, since you couldn’t interact with the teachers or other students face to face?
I probably could think of several more questions, but I am probably already imposing too much on your time. I will understand if you only have time to answer some of these questions (or if you don’t have time to answer any). But any answers you can give would be much appreciated.
 
My 11th grade son and only child is homeschooled using Seton. Seton’s online offerings are sparse yet growing. My son prefers using textbooks versus online. I wouldn’t describe Seton as a classical curriculum but rather what a Catholic brick-and-mortar school looked like pre Vatican II. If you use Seton year after year (which describes us) then your child really gets used to the Seton drill. It can be good but also create burnout, which we’re both experiencing this year.

I personally know some of the Queen of Academy instructors and they are exceptional teachers.
 
Hey no problem.

1 From what I remember, it was rare if you exceeded two hours worth of reading each week. Two hours would probably be the maximum reading time you would have. Obviously sometimes it would be less and maybe once or twice it might exceed that. Maybe one example: You read a Shakespeare play in a week.

2 I did not take the Great Books Honors Program so I can’t speak to that.

3 Most of my friends were either homeschooled using a mish-mash of programs (like me) or they used Mother of Divine Grace. Now Mother of Divine Grace can be intense. So I would put the Great Books program in between those two. Of course, it all depends on if you are doing it for college credit or not. If not, all you have to do is read and show up for the “class”. I did that one year and it was pretty easy.

4 I took the first and last years for college credit. Personally, it didn’t pay off because I went to a Catholic college freshman year and then transferred to a secular college. So my credits were a little wonky due to that. But I will say any Catholic college will most likely accept all of them. Most secular colleges will accept some to most. If you can, I would say go for it. Taking it for college credit does make it harder (questions each week and a paper each semester) but it is much easier to take college credit while highschooling than in college. Also, writing that paper helped me so much when I got to college. Practice, practice.

5 I don’t know on this one. From what I remember, I only fell behind one week the entire four years.

6 It definitely prepared me for a Catholic college. Ten points on that. A slightly less “yes” for secular college but still a “yes”. Secular colleges don’t have you reading the Great Books (unless you take a Liberal Arts degree). But the paper writing skills for the college credit were invaluable. One thing reading the Great Books does is it makes you think. It also introduces you to the ideas that you will find out in the world (especially secular colleges). I’ve found professors in my secular school who talk about the Great Books and the ideas put forth in them and many times I say in my head, “Wow, you haven’t actually read the book have you? Because I did and Plato didn’t actually say that.” So you get a real heads up because you will find these ideas in any college, secular or Catholic.
  1. I never even thought about this while taking the Great Books Program. In fact, I became rather close with some of my fellow students. In fact, I met one of them when I went to Catholic College.
Hope that helps. I would definitely recommend this program. It helped me out tremendously. If you have any other questions just holler!
 
Entwhistler,

Thank you very much for your detailed replies to my questions! It’s very helpful for me to hear the perspective of a student who has gone through the program. I wish you the best in your ongoing college education.
 
Thank you also to those who have mentioned Queen of Heaven Academy here. I have been taking a closer look at their offerings, and I am impressed with their curriculum. Has anyone else here had experiences with Queen of Heaven Academy, that you would like to share?
 
Before this topic closes, I would like to ask one more time if anyone has experiences to share with Queen of Heaven Academy, Angelicum Academy, or any other Catholic homeschool online classes.

Also I have a small update: We found out that our local Catholic school is open to the idea of our son taking some high school classes there, and some classes online through one of these homeschool providers. The principal and guidance counselor were very nice and very willing to work with us. Therefore, we may go that route. But we have some important decisions to make over the next few months, about whether my son will take online classes, and if so which classes and from which providers. Any prayers for our decisions would be appreciated.
 
My prayers are with you. This really is a tough decision. However, I believe Queen of Heaven Academy has virtual open houses that you can attend. You can get a feel for them perhaps through that route.

Best of luck with your decision.
 
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Domer90 said:
I believe Queen of Heaven Academy has virtual open houses that you can attend. You can get a feel for them perhaps through that route.
Click to expand...
Yes, in fact we are signed up to attend one of their webinars next week. Thanks for the tip and for your prayers.
 
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