Basis for Rating: The teacher was outstanding. She really placed the material in a context to better understand it.Review: The lessons on condensation were extremely useful. They taught me how to condense long and extensive writing into very small and simple sentences that still conveyed the same idea or topic. 

Basis for Rating: I like learning about history and stories related to the time period. The books we used to learn European history were detailed.Review: Throughout the semester I learned several things from my European History class. I believe the most important thing I learned came from a combination of two books in the course: Christ the King and The Making of the West. Between a secular and Christian history book, I learned that a house divided against itself cannot stand. The decline of peace in Charlemagne's empire started with a civil war between his grandchildren (Hunt et al. 315-7). The Christian nations had to unite against the Turks in order to stop the Turkish advance into Europe and stop the Turks from persecuting Christian pilgrims (Hunt et al 352-6; Carroll 163-4). We many never know what would have happened if Charlemagne's empire had never been divided, but whatever challenge they would have had to face would have been easier to overcome if they were united like the crusaders during the First Crusade against the Turks.

Basis for Rating: Miss Bethany was really helpful during the live classes and I found the course as a whole really enjoyable and amazing.Review: Greek Literature 1 was one of my favorite courses.  In particular, it helped me learn the importance of working hard on an idea that mattered to me.  In week 06 of the semester, I had to create a multicolor study sheet - a paper using multiple colors to talk about certain characters in the Iliad.  I had an image in my head of a fortress and terms in and around it, but I was worried it would take too long.  Eventually I grabbed some paper and tried to do it.  It took me two sheets of paper, but I thought it looked amazing.  It was well worth the time and effort.  The course reminded me of the value of hard work again when I had to write a paper about the theme of the Iliad.  I wanted to make a shorter essay but instead I buckled down and wrote an essay I was pleased with.  The course semester in general was really fun and fascinating - I particularly loved the character of Hektor in the Iliad - but I really valued how much the course taught me how important it is to be willing to work hard on something, even if it takes a little longer than if you took an easier approach.  The course really showed me how much that little extra work pays off. 

Basis for Rating: The course was really helpful. I'd tried to learn about Greek History before but I always forgot a lot. Studying Herodotus and Thucydides really helped.Review: One thing about this course that had a lasting impact on me was the challenge it offered.  Before, I'd been pretty apt at just memorizing any important information and avoiding any note-taking I didn't think was necessary - or just writing down whatever occurred to me as something interesting I wanted to remember whether or not it was important.  Once I reached the ancient historian Herodotus, though, I found myself really having to concentrate and focus my notes.  The study guide STAA offers was really helpful then.  It had "Terms to Know" and "Study Guide Questions" that I could fill out the answers to and become a whole lot more confident in my memory.  The whole course really helped me stay on track with note taking.  The reading itself, particularly in Herodotus' The Histories, was also absolutely fascinating.  I thought the course was amazing.

Basis for Rating: I really enjoyed getting to learn more about the Old Testament. The course also had the right level of challenge without being too difficult.Review: One important lesson from this semester that I believe will have a lasting impact on my life was studying First and Second Maccabees.  The Maccabees are the last two books in the historical section of the Old Testament, and, in some editions, the last two books in the Old Testament in all.  I knew a little bit about them, but not much.  They were the book in the historical section I knew least about.  I was amazed by their alliances with other nations, amazing generals, and even references to Purgatory.  I hadn't known that the Israelites were such important powers through history, and it was amazing seeing God's work throughout the text.  The various brave people in the tale of the Maccabees were absolutely inspiring, from Judas Maccabeus himself to a martyred mother and her sons.  The course was amazing and I'm so glad I got to do it!

Basis for Rating: I learned I lot from and really enjoyed this course.Review: One life lasting lesson that I have taken from Greek Literature 1 is learning to appreciate the beauty of similes in literature. While reading the Iliad of Homer, I discovered many similes that brought both understanding and beautiful poetry, an occasional laugh or a jaw drop. One of my favorite similes was “Now when the man of both sides were set an order by their leaders, the children's came on with clamor and shouting, like wildfowl, as when the clamor of cranes goes high to the heavens, and when the crane escaped the winter time and the rains unceasing and glamorously wing their way to the streaming Ocean, bringing to the Pygmaian men bloodshed and destruction: at daybreak they bring on the baleful battle against them. But the Achaian men went silently, breathing valor, stubbornly-minded each in his heart to stand by the others” (Homer 3.1-9). I hope many fellow STAA students may experience what I have in this course, for I have learned so much and am truly grateful for it.

Basis for Rating: We enjoyed how clear Miss Bethany was for expectations for homework, behavior, assignments and class time. We loved how easy it was to see what was due when. We are so grateful for her thorough feedback on each and every assignment. Miss Bethany was kind, amiable and knowledgeable. Everything was well organized. The sheer amount of information that was packed into this course was incredible.Review: The lesson that I benefited from most, and continue to benefit from, was lesson five. This lesson contained the Story Sequence Chart. The Story Sequence Chart is a simple structure that uses simple questions to help break down telling a three-paragraph story. “Each paragraph has a distinct purpose. The first paragraph tells about the people or animals in the story and when and where they live. The second paragraph tells about the conflict or problem that occurs within the story. The third paragraph begins with the climax, the turning point in the story, and ends with the resolution, the events that occur after the climax.” (U.S. History Based Writing Lessons lesson 5 pg. 43) I felt that with this structure I gained new freedom. Everything came a lot easier when I asked myself the questions, "who is in the story? What are they like? What do they need/want? What do they say and do?" Writing became less overwhelming and more enjoyable. I feel confident that I will take this skill of breaking things down and accomplishing them step by step throughout my entire life.

Basis for Rating: This course was explained well and helped me further understand the history of our country and our faith.Review: One important lesson of this course is that nothing comes easy. The history of our world is built on battles and disagreements. However, these negative experiences built a better world that we stand in today. The book Christ and the Americas, written by Anne Carroll, shows that the founding of America was caused by many battles and many hardships, For example, "Washington wrote the Continental Congress that if they did not receive provisions soon, the army had only three choices: 'starve, dissolve, disperse.'" shows that the Continental Army, which was the army of the colonies at the time, almost starved during the battles with the Britians. However, these difficult things all built our world today, and I wouldn't change a thing about America.

Basis for Rating: I loved the amount of writing, the help from the staff, and the challenge the course offered. I learned a lot from it and really enjoyed it.Review: The course was a lot of fun and a lot of learning.  The one lesson that really influenced me, though, was  Jensen's Format Writing's lesson on thesis statements (Jensen 59-62).  I had a vague idea of what thesis statements were, but I did not know how helpful and essential they were in essays.  I also did not know (which I quickly learned) that I was supposed to put it in neutral terms and not immediately show my position, which was referred to as bias.  Studying that one lesson really, really helped my essay writing, and what I learned from the rest of the course improved my writing and grammar skills a lot.

Basis for Rating: It was really fun learning everything, and all the lessons were very clear and helpful. Miss Bethany is also a great teacher.Review: I really enjoyed reading The Screwtape Letters so much because of how interesting and fun they were to read. I thought it was a great book, and a great choice for reading because I never got bored of it.

Basis for Rating: The course organization was excellent. The STAA staff was wonderful. The lasting value was priceless. The personal enjoyment was overflowing, and the difficulty was well-moderated.Review: To begin with, this semester of American Literature has been a fantastic experience. Using the Teaching the Classics course with Mr. Andrews was very helpful and enlightening. Miss Bethany's advice was wonderful and the work was rewarding. Week 15's live discussion was a lasting reflection. The talk about conflict in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn opened my mind the complexity of human nature and the genius of Mark Twain. Overall, the course has deepened my love of quality American literature and laid the foundations for me to expand even more in new books.

Basis for Rating: This course was very interesting and I liked it. Miss Bethany made it enjoyable and is a great teacher.Review: I Liked reading about the Aztects with Hernan Cortez because it just interested me a lot.

Basis for Rating: I enjoyed this course immensely, while learning a lot but still having fun! I loved the online classes with Miss Bethany, and even though sometimes things were a bit tricky, they really helped me think deeply about literature.Review: One of the many lessons I learned during this course was how to think deeply about literature using the Socratic List (Teaching the Classics 79-92). It was interesting using these lists to think about books and stories completely differently than I ever had before. I look forward to use these questions from the Socratic List in the following years of my life.

Basis for Rating: This was an awesome course! It taught me so much about Roman history in a very concrete way.Review: RH1 taught me how to critically think about Roman history in a completely new way. I had previously known very little about the Romans, so, in addition to the new information that I was internalizing, I learned how to think about the Romans in terms of modern times and the rest of history. In the last few weeks, we read about Julius Caesar from Plutarch's Lives; after reading it, we were required to write an essay about the causes and effects of his power in Rome. This essay made me think about the ultimate effects that Julius Caesar had on the world. It reminded me how large the world and her history is and how much I have and get to learn from it. 

Basis for Rating: I learned a lot from this course.Review: One important life lasting lesson that I learned from this course is how writing is so vastly different in each historian's account of history. When reading Herodotus and then Thucydides I came to realize how different each Historian wrote, even if it was the same information. I learned this especially through writing about each of them in GH1 Reflection Paper 11. In working on this assignment, I realized how much historians wrote from their personal point of view, especially in including or not including details. In the introduction to Thucydides, Hanson explains “Rather, the differences between the two stories lie more in approach, method, and the generation in which they lived” (Thucydides xii). I learned a lot in taking Greek History 1 and I hope many other STAA students can experience what I have.