non-testing options for credit

[bellbaby]

I just want to make sure I've got this correct.

Are the only non-proctored/not-in-person exam options for credit
ALEKS and PennFoster? (FEMA I suppose too?)

I'm asking because I've got 9th graders who will be attempting college level courses and I'm not sure they are ready to be proctored or take tests in-person at a testing center. I know at some point they will have to be brave but I'd like them to get some courses under their belts for confidence.

Also, ACE recommended Penn Foster courses can be used anywhere? Or is Thomas Edison the only school that has been taking them? (Maybe it's related to the courses that are available?)

Thanks.

[Synicaal]

I just want to make sure I've got this correct.

Are the only non-proctored/not-in-person exam options for credit
ALEKS and PennFoster? (FEMA I suppose too?)

I'm asking because I've got 9th graders who will be attempting college level courses and I'm not sure they are ready to be proctored or take tests in-person at a testing center. I know at some point they will have to be brave but I'd like them to get some courses under their belts for confidence.

Also, ACE recommended Penn Foster courses can be used anywhere? Or is Thomas Edison the only school that has been taking them? (Maybe it's related to the courses that are available?)

Thanks.

Shmoop has un-proctored tests. I think Penn Foster is Proctored but I would waste time with Penn Foster. There price for a Penn Foster course is 329$ and its only ACE Credit. There are BM schools that charge around the same and it will get you Regionally Accredited credits instead of ACE.

[dfrecore]

TEEX, NFA and The Institutes are unproctored as well.

Study.com is proctored, but they use a different proctoring system than SL and the rest. It might be a little less stressful.

[bjcheung77]

The majority of the info has been answered already, but I'll point it out again. ACE Credit Recommendation has about 2000 schools (colleges/universities) that accept its recommendations for college credit.
The known examples of who accept them are, the Big3 (COSC, Excelsior, TESU), the competency three (Hodges, Patten, WGU) will acept them. You can get your teens started with the FREE courses here:

Free Sources of Credit | Degree Forum Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia , have them move onto ALEKS and Shmoop for cheap/east/fast college credit. If they really need more variety, Straighterline/Study.com will do.
Have a read on the wiki - Degree Forum Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia for more details and check out the Sources for Credit as well: Sources of Credit | Degree Forum Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia

[SolarKat]

Study.com is proctored, but they use a different proctoring system than SL and the rest. It might be a little less stressful.

I totally agree - it's a different "feel" for proctoring. No appointment required, test anytime 24/7, no interaction with proctors at all. Plus, if they do well on all of the quizzes (and projects, for the classes that require a project or paper), they'll need as little as 55% on the final (100 questions, so they could get 45 wrong, potentially).

I don't recall the minimum age for Study.com accounts, but I bet someone else will...the Guardian Scholarship via Study.com would give each student up to 6 free classes in a 3 month window. Might be something you find helpful now or in the future. Good luck!

[bellbaby]

Thanks. I have been reading the wiki, which has been very helpful. I'm not sure if Schmoop was mentioned in the most recent thing I read this morning. I guess I missed that Schmoop was unproctored! ��

SL is proctored but from what I gleaned from the forums was that it was preferred because you could do well in the class and bomb the final? But with study.com there was a lot more work and you had to get a 70% to pass the course?

I'm going to have the kids do dual credit as soon as they are able. In my state they can dual enroll as young as 6th grade but have to pass a competency test first; which has Algebra on it. My kids are finishing up pre-algebra and starting Algebra soon.

[homeschoolmom1]

There is no minimum age for study.com.

[rlw74]

Having a middle-schooler myself, I wouldn't have a problem trying out study.com with her. Their proctoring is pretty stress free and I feel like the material is repetitive enough and there are lots of quizzes and chapter exams to help them get ready for the final. I think you can go on the $24/month plan and have access to everything except the exams. This might help if they want to take more than 2 weeks to complete a course (as it could get pretty expensive at $200/month if you aren't using both exams). Maybe go through all the material as slowly as you need to and then pay for the accelerator plus membership when you are ready to start testing, if you feel it is a good fit).

I personally hated shmoop. The course content is fine but the exams are not well put together. It wouldn't hurt to have them go through it but just keep in mind, if they don't do well on the exams it probably isn't their fault. I struggled to pass on a couple of their courses. I'm tempted to try it again after I get my degree and see if I can do better when I'm not so rushed. I was trying to do that plus study.com at the same time and in the end, study.com was by far the easier of the two.

[a2jc4life]

Yeah, based on what others have said here about Shmoop, if you're looking for low-stress, I'd go with Study.com, not Shmoop.

[cookderosa]

Straighterline's English 1 and 2 are not proctored, but took both my teens forever- just heads up on that.

My 10th-grade son accumulated 30 credits via Straighterline this semester. While there were proctored exams for all of his courses except English, the first 5 courses I chose for him were ones that could be passed with a score of zero on the final- in other words, no pressure. The remaining courses were all right up to the pass line, where he only need 2-5% on hisfinal to pass. Again, no pressure.