Mumsnet Talk

DD, Year 7, has been asked to participate in an online master-class and I've been googling but not found much info on it really.

Anyone?

Same here. My year 7 DD enrolled on one of their courses for the first time. Have you looked at the demo course to get an idea of the format of the course?

Didn't see your reply Jenny, thanks. I have since enrolled and had a look at it all, DD not terribly keen to be honest but I think she should give it a go.

My DD not keen either (understatement of the year). Is your DD starting the course next Tues? I'm glad they have changed the timings to make it more flexible. DD did the into activities today, so all ready to go.

This looks really interesting- has anyone done this course and have any feedback on the quality of the resources etc?

DDs course is 6-8 pm, starting Tuesday for five nights. Will get her to do the intro today.

Sandy which one is she doing?

What are the activities like?

Sandy, that's the same one that my DD is doing. Ohfunny she has only completed the intro activities so far which comprise reading the course guidelines and completing a questionnaire about their goals/aims for the course and another questionnaire about their thoughts on studying.

Sandy, did you get the email that says that the 2 hours can be done anytime from 8am each day? They don't have to wait until 6pm. That email also said which group your DC is in.

Are these the English ones? I really like the choice of texts and think this is a great idea.

Please let me know if you think they're worthwhile, I'm going to pitch an idea to my head that we should pay for students to do these to stretch our most able.

The one DD is doing is called "Is this the right room for an argument?" It's a critical thinking master-class.

I hope she enjoys it! Please let me know what you think of the whole process and if you think it's worth spending money on it.

That's the one! However, DD is even less keen now, she hasn't even done the intro. We haven't paid for it, school asked her to do it. They obviously think she's bright enough to give it a go and I'm very frustrated that she won't even try!

Haven't had an email about change of times but perhaps that is sent after doing the intro, that sounds like a better idea rather than having to stick to 6-8pm.

Such a shame, Sandy- obviously it's an expensive course and the school must think she's worth it if they have invested the money into her doing it.

I'm thinking of suggesting that students are invited to apply to do the course, in an attempt to weed out less keen students?

I must be a real geek, as I read it and it looks fascinating!

Well I'm pleased to say DD has completed day one! Reluctantly to start with, but I think she actually enjoyed it! Although she would obviously never admit that to me.

It was fascinating funnyFranken, I sat with her to see how it worked.

Has your DD done it Jenny?

They've just added a new English one!

I think they look great- sandy how old is your daughter? Yr 7? Did the school put many kids in for it?

She's 11. I think she said about 15 kids were asked to do it.

Well good luck, and I hope she starts to enjoy it!

I'm putting together a compelling proposal now!

DD did the first unit this morning which I think she found interesting (although she did say that she'd rather be watching the TV ).

She is also in year 7. We had a letter home saying that the school had been allocated 10 places for this course and to contact school asap if we wanted to apply. Another letter followed a few days later to say that more people had applied than places available, but the organisers allocated enough places for everyone.

How long did it take your DD Sandy? I didn't keep track of the time, but definitely no where near the 2 hours estimated, but I noticed that the website now says that people had feed back that it was taking longer than 2 hours .

Also a bit confused that it's a four unit course, there seems to be one unit a day, but it's for five days. I'm sure it will all become clear soon!

It didn't take two hours, prob an hour and that's including the yawning, stretching and staring into space .

I wondered that about the four units.

DD done today's unit. She has a friend round today and was eager to get it done and out of the way. Again took about an hour. Most of the time trying to get each argument down to 50 words.

This is interesting...I looked at these individually (I've never heard of it except through the net) but at £90 for one short online course on one particular English book it looked too expensive for what it was (and it is not exactly clear what is involved) so I decided not to sign up for it ...looks like some schools use it for a quasi G&T type extension activity perhaps (and therefore you get it for free).

My daughter completed a unit last night. It was a nightmare to get logged on as the website was down!! Finally when she did log on she completed the tests in less than an hour.

Im unsure of its purpose etc, can anyone help answer this

It is expensive really at £90 if it isn't through school.

I think the purpose is to get the kids thinking and improve their study skills. Basically stretch them a bit further out of school and get them into that mindset of doing a bit more.

DD has just done her second unit and seemed keener today. I think it helped that we suddenly realised we could see yesterdays score and she was keen to beat it.

I agree Jenny that it's hard for them to stick to 50 words. Particularly if they are including the for and against, which they have been asked to do.