EdX is a site that hosts a university’s public courses for free. This fall, HarvardX (Harvard University on EdX) is hosting a series of 3 Shakespeare courses your teen can take!  These are open to anyone, and carry no cost – but also carry no direct credit.  In other words, these are curriculum you can use, and you’ll award the high school credit.   The courses have a start date but no ending date, so they are entirely self-paced.  Recommended completion for all 3:  9-12 weeks.

High school credit?  Yes, these three back to back would work well as a 1-semester high school literature course (1/2 credit).

College Credit?  If your teen is preparing for a literature exam, this course will be wonderful for helping them do that. I recommend looking at the CLEP English Literature exam as a possible companion exam for these courses.  For the ambitious, consider AP English Literature and Composition.

Certificates?  HarvardX does sell certificates for many of their courses, however, keep in mind that these certificates do not award college credit, so think of them as a memento instead of a credential.  If you think your teen would like the memento, there’s no harm in getting it- but it doesn’t boost the value of the class and it doesn’t provide anything extra.

Shakespeare Courses

Read more about ways you can turn free courses like these into college credit with a little bit of creativity: Using MOOCs for College Credit