For families who homeschool through high school, online schools provide an excellent option to obtain high quality instruction in a wide variety of subject areas. Most parents feel comfortable instructing students through early education and middle school; but when it comes to, for example, calculus, chemistry, geometry, logic, or British literature, many would prefer to have an instructor who is a seasoned expert in teaching these subjects. In addition, live classes offered by online schools provide students with experience in study skills, assessments, class discussions, and teacher feedback. The level of instruction in the schools listed below is excellent and our children have grown in self- confidence and independence while working at very high academic standards.
The online schools listed are certainly not the only available options, however, they count among the ones of the highest standard. All of these online schools as based in the U.S. There are currently no online schools of comparable quality in Canada.
In our experience this online school has very high academic standards, excellent teachers, and would definitely be my top recommendation. They offer a very wide variety of core courses, complete array of AP courses, as well as excellent electives (including courses such as business entrepreneurship, introduction to technical theatre, CADD 3D modeling etc.). TPS is a candidate for accreditation under the Middle States Association – Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools – this means they are not yet fully accredited. “TPS’s original and continuing purpose is to bring academic excellence to online schooling, particularly the home education community. TPS provides live online core academic courses for grades 4 through early college.”
CLRC – Classical Learning Resource Centre
CLRC provides a great variety of classically-oriented courses (Logic, Rhetoric, Great Books, Mythology etc.) as well as classical languages. They have highly qualified instructors and we have had great experience with their ‘Introduction to Literature’ and Norse/ Greek mythology courses. “The Classical Learning Resource Center empowers parents and other educators to provide a quality education for their children in a home-based environment by offering a wide variety of live interactive classes taught by well-qualified and passionate teachers.”
Logos has been “at the forefront of the resurgence of Classical Christian Education”, providing a complete diploma-track program including the “Omnibus” humanities classes, but also offers individual courses. Logos also has their own publishing house with superior materials in Literature, Latin, History, Logic etc. The school is accredited by National Association of Private Schools as well as the NCAA Clearinghouse.
Another excellent classical online school offering courses for students from grade 3 to 12. They too have highly qualified instructors as “all of its 60+ teachers hold a bachelor’s degree in the area of instruction or relevant area and possess teaching experience in a physical classroom. Many teachers hold advanced master’s and doctoral degrees, or they are currently pursuing these qualifications.” MPOA has provided high-quality instruction in Latin, logic, classical studies, and literature, as well as history and mathematics since 2006. It goal is to “educate students to the highest standards of the classical tradition, so that they may grow in knowledge and wisdom”. It is accredited by the Classical Latin School Association (CSLA).
Veritas offers both live online courses as well as self-paced courses that allow students to progress at their own pace. Veritas Scholars Academy is the largest classical Christian school in the world. It is also the oldest online school in the classical tradition. Veritas Scholars Academy is accredited by the Middle States Association.
The WTA was started by Susan Wise Bauer as an extension to her very popular guide to classical education “The Well-Trained Mind”. The online academy offers both live classes as well as a ‘delayed’ class option where recording can be viewed. Instructors have a background in teaching, tutoring, and homeschooling. At this point, WTA is a Candidate for Accreditation by the Middle States Association.
New starting January 2022:
The academy, based in Saskatchewan, was just started in November 2021 in response to a perceived need for excellent high school education rooted in Christian faith. Students in the Socratic Academy HomeschoolTM will be taught using the University of Oxford’s Tutorial model – at the start of each week, there will be a new lecture and assignment for the week. But in addition, throughout the rest of the week, students will be taught in Tutorial groups of 3-4 students in each Tutorial. The Tutorial will consist of discussing the previous week’s lecture and assessments of the previous week’s assignment. Courses offered include: AP English Literature, AP Biology, AP American History, AP Microeconomics, AP Music Theory.