Online History for High Schoolers (A Timberdoodle Review)

 

The Nomadic Professor: US History 1 & 2 is a high school level option for homeschoolers. The program is set up for a classroom-style approach so if a homeschooling parent has several high schoolers, she can log into her dashboard and keep track of one or multiple students. A separate login is available for parents and students. I appreciate this feature with homeschooling programs. It helps me to keep track of what my child is doing without messing up the progress on their end of the program. I can essentially see what my child is doing "behind the scenes" while she is trudging along, doing her work, at her pace. 

As the parent/teacher, the first thing you are going to want to do is decide if you want this to be strictly online or if you would like your child to practice their handwriting offline. I tend to approach each subject differently in my homeschool for my teens. Yes, I want them to know how to physically take notes and write papers with pen and paper, but I also want them to be comfortable with writing papers on the computer. It is important that they are comfortable with different online programs and tools and most importantly the keyboard. For this class, I let my daughter choose if she wanted me to print out the 300+ page notebook to take notes in or if she wanted to answer the questions in a document online. She chose online. My printer was happy with that decision.

As was I. Having already walked her older brothers through college-level Canvas-based courses, I am familiar with how the modern-day college process works. Yes, even back when I was in college many-a-year-ago, typed papers were a must, but technology has changed and so has college. With the use of Canvas discussions, submissions, and grading, it is essential that students are able to complete online-based courses with little to no parental involvement. As a traditional educator that loves a quality handwritten paper, this has been hard for me, but nevertheless, programs like The Nomadic Professor can help with the transition if your child has been screen-free for a majority of their schooling.  

What Does a Class Look Like?

When your student logs in, she will see two tabs. 

1. Session

2. Materials

Ensure your student has all of her materials ready before she begins her session. This may include guided notes, guided notes rubric, and flashcards. Then your child is ready to begin and it is pretty self-explanatory. On the left-hand side of the page your child will complete each task until the lesson is complete before moving on to the next lesson. Easy as that. 

The only aspect of the course that is not self-graded would be the notes. That is what I love about this course. It encourages notetaking, flashcard practice, and paying attention during the videos and reading sessions. 

Included in the lessons are portions of reading. If your child struggles with reading or prefers audio, there is an audio option as well. I appreciate that feature although my daughter is an avid reader and prefers reading the content on her own.

What makes the Nomadic Professor the Nomadic Professor are the videos. The instructor, goes on location and shares historic and important information in a way that is engaging and enticing to the learner. This aspect brings depth and value to these courses like no other. 

The history courses in particular are an excellent overview of what your child may have learned in elementary school just expanded on a deeper level. The content is detailed and rich. College-level content. This means, in taking these history courses in full, your child will earn what is needed to pass a CLEP test at the end of the year, giving her college credit while in high school. 

Across 40 units, your teen will learn U.S. history from the pre-Columbian era to the end of Reconstruction. In addition to the videos, notes, and recordings, your child will decode political cartoons, evaluate social media bias, dissect advertisements, and critique historical artwork (NOTE: some of it includes partial nudity). A great feature is that new resources and updates roll out regularly to keep things fresh.

 US1 and US2 together count for:

• 1 credit in U.S. History
• 0.5 credits in Historical Methods
• 0.5 credits in College Writing
• 
  

The quality of content is there. Everything you need to cover two full credits for your high school transcript this year, plus potential college credit—it's a win-win!

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Timberdoodle for providing the above product in exchange for this review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.