Low cost ACE reviewed history courses from Shmoop.com

[hsfamfun]

I have been trying to decide what to use for US History for my son this year, which is his senior year in high school. He is doing 7 hours of Dual enrollment and a challenging Physics class through our homeschool co-op, so I was looking for something that was not book based, and had soft, not hard deadlines. This looks very engaging and exactly what I am looking for. Even better, he can get another course on his ACE transcript. I will definitely provide feedback! Thank You for the information!

[hsfamfun]

I signed my son up for the 24 hour free trial at Shmoop.com today and we took a good look at all three of the ACE approved History classes. I was under the impression from my first look that the classes would be video based. They are not. It is online reading. We did some reading and I had Josh take a couple of the quizzes to see how they were. The quizzes do not count toward your grade. I will describe how each of the courses is set up. One cool thing is that you can retake each test and the final one time each.

US History 1492-1877
There are 155 total lessons
12 Unit Tests and 1 Final
Each Test is worth 7.4% of your grade and the Final is worth 18.5%

US History 1877 - present
There are 154 total lessons
14 Unit Tests and 1 Final
Each test is worth 6.5% of your grade and the final is worth 16%

Modern European History
There are 159 total lessons
There are 11 Unit Tests and 1 Final
Each Test is 8% of your grade and the Final is 20%

I hope this information helps someone. The cost for 1 month of shmoop.com is $24.68. Or you can subscribe for 6 months for $90 or 12 Months for $150. There are many other classes offered besides the 3 ACE approved classes. They have an essay writing lab that looks awesome and a Research Paper class I am also considering for my son. Overall, this is a very cool resource.

[mednat]

I signed up for this service and just took the first quiz for US History 1492-1877. I like the format of it, and the content is very well written and funny. I read a ton of textbooks, and it's usually pretty dry, even for a guy like me who likes reading textbooks. This site does a good job of making the stories conversational, memorable and funny.

The quizzes are non-proctored, and you're only supposed to use their material (honor code). I will say the quiz is very manageable, and written clearly with no attempt to trick the test taker. Overall I like this alot, and plan to complete atleast the class I started (or more if I have time in a month). This is definitely hard to beat for the price.

[Prloko]

I will say, I wouldn't be surprised if Modern European History transcribed as HIS-102 Western Civilization II at TESU.

The title reads like an upper level course. It would be awesome if it was upper level. That's where there is limited sources at.

What is the ACE recommendation?

EDIT: Nevermind, just answered my own question.

"In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in modern european history (6/16)."

[KayV]

The reason I think it's equal to Western Civilization II is the amount of overlap in the syllabi.
I hope I'm wrong, though, because I found this in the TESU PLA database:
European History II   (HIS-221)   3.00 s.h.  
Covers major political, economic, social, and cultural developments in Europe and the West from 1715 to the present.

I would LOVE to see more Shmoop in the ACE pantheon.

[hsfamfun]

Before we cancelled our 24 hour trial last night, I had my son take the first unit test in US History 1492-1877 because we were both curious how the exams were set up. He had not had a chance to thouroughly cover the material but you can retake each test once. He was given one hour to take the exam and a clock counted down the time in the corner of the screen. There were twenty questions on the test. It was not overly easy but was manageable. He scored a 70% after only spending an hour or two on the material. He did decide that this is what he wants to use for American History. We will probably subscribe for six months for $90 and will plan for him to take both US History classes and we will use some of their other resources as well. He wants to wait to begin until he gets settled into his Dual Enrollment courses, perhaps in mid September. I look forward to hearing how other people like it as well.

[Mamasaphire]

The title reads like an upper level course. It would be awesome if it was upper level. That's where there is limited sources at.

What is the ACE recommendation?

EDIT: Nevermind, just answered my own question.

"In the lower-division baccalaureate/associate degree category, 3 semester hours in modern european history (6/16)."

The reason I think it's equal to Western Civilization II is the amount of overlap in the syllabi.
I hope I'm wrong, though, because I found this in the TESU PLA database:
European History II   (HIS-221)   3.00 s.h.  
Covers major political, economic, social, and cultural developments in Europe and the West from 1715 to the present.

My thoughts too! Definitely would be helpful to have more UL ACE approved course options!

[High_Order1]

yes.... but

Just because it is ACE approved, doesn't necessarily mean that a particular college will accept it, correct?

Some of you that enjoy this stuff need to send it into the Big 3 and see how they parse it.

I'd jump on it, but I'd be afraid to go through all that, and then no one really accept it. Maybe as free electives?

Maybe I'm paranoid... lol

[mednat]

yes.... but

Just because it is ACE approved, doesn't necessarily mean that a particular college will accept it, correct?

Some of you that enjoy this stuff need to send it into the Big 3 and see how they parse it.

I'd jump on it, but I'd be afraid to go through all that, and then no one really accept it. Maybe as free electives?

Maybe I'm paranoid... lol

That is correct, but i'd be shocked if at least the two US history courses weren't accepted at TESU. They align almost exactly with US History 1 and 2. Other schools outside the Big 3 will vary greatly as you said. I'll send mine to TESU once it's complete to see how they evaluate it.

[jsd]

Just because it is ACE approved, doesn't necessarily mean that a particular college will accept it, correct?

While this is absolutely true, it's much less of a risk for The Big 3. It's all but guaranteed that they'll at least take the credit as a free elective, but it's more likely they'll accept it as recommended by ACE (as in, as history credit), give or take it's upper/lower level designation.

We don't know how it will come in yet, but it's not like this is a high risk/high cost gamble.