So, you're new to home schooling and trying to figure out what curriculum to use. You're doing what every good parent does before making a decision about something so important. You're doing your homework.
:-) You've come to the right place for an honest opinion, based on our experiences.
Here's our story:
We happen to live in one of the more lenient states with few regulations regarding how we home school our children. Over the years, I have come to learn that every family has their own style and method that works best for them. When we first began our home schooling journey with Jonah (our oldest son) we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I was slightly intimidated and wanted to be sure that we were doing things the right way.
I discovered the option to use a virtual school through our public school system. At the time, this seemed perfect. It provided us with the guidance of a teacher, the curriculum was included, and it was an all in one package that came with everything we needed~ it was free. The most important aspect for me, was that it forced us to be accountable to someone other than ourselves. That was important to me, because at the time, I had no idea if we could be disciplined enough to take care of business and not slack off. We did have 2 other small children at the time and we were both working. So as you can imagine, we had taken on a big challenge. That was 5 years ago.
Today, we home school 3 boys. Our oldest son is 10 years old and he is in the 4th grade. Our middle son is 7 and he is technically a 1st grader, although for the most part he works 2nd and 3rd grade level work. The little guy is a kindergartener.
We never enrolled our other 2 children in the virtual school program due to changes in legislation that said children had to have been in a "brick and mortar school" for a full yr. prior to being eligible for a virtual program through the district. Private virtual programs remain an option, but they are pricey. So we continued with one student in the virtual program and our other children were old school ~ home schooled. Which basically means, we did what we wanted, how we wanted, when we wanted.
We decided to withdraw Jonah from the virtual program this year because things had become too rigid. We didn't care for the teacher this year, and we began to feel more like a number and a statistic. The amount of work that was expected of him became too demanding and was forcing us to rush through lessons in order to meet their deadlines, which I found counter productive.
It also began to require that we be available Monday- Friday for live lessons, scheduled teacher phone calls, etc. Flexibility and having the option to teach whatever days of the week worked best for us, was always an important part of what made home schooling an option for us. We scheduled school days around our work schedules and had to make things fit so that we were accomplishing what we needed to. Losing that flexibility made that program far less appropriate for us.
So, I began to look for alternative programs online that would help me track the boys work and progress. I was looking for something affordable. After hours of researching and coming up with little more than a bunch of over priced private school options, I stumbled across a program called Time4Learning.
At first, I wasn't really sure how to use it. I just needed to sit down and take some time to understand how to get the most out of the program. It really is easy to use. It's also easy to let the program do it all for you. That said, I think it is important to make sure that students know that you are near, & that you will be checking on them. Set clear expectations for them as to how you expect the program to be used.
I plan their lessons so that they have about an hour dedicated to each subject. I try to break it up, so that not too much time is spent in front of the computer all at once. I print out a few worksheets from Math, for example, and have them work on the worksheets before they log into Time4learning.
They may spend 10 minutes on the worksheets and 50 minutes on the computer or they could spend 45 minutes on the worksheet and 15 min. on the computer. It just depends on how many worksheets I give them and how easily they can complete them.
Here are a few of the things I like about the program.
It times every lesson.
There are printables specifically tailored to the lessons they are already working online.
The other thing I really like about it is the ability to adjust the grade level of the lessons they are working on. For example, our son Joshua is in 1st grade, but T4L provides access to curriculum that is a grade level above and a grade level below the actual grade they are in. So if it is too hard, you can work on something easier.
If you find your child isn't being challenged, you can step it up to the next grade level. Joshua can't work any 1st grade level work in Social Studies, Science, or Language Arts. It's all too easy and he completed most of it in a matter of weeks.
So he is working 2nd grade Math, Lang Arts, and Social Studies and Science he is working on 3rd grade level. Mind you, he is in 1st grade. :-)
It's a fun program, entertaining and I really like the way it explains things in a way that the kids can understand, without making it boring.
It allows us to show progress is being made with the reports. So although I run reports to check their progress almost daily, I do a monthly review with the boys so that they can see how well they are progressing too. You can also have them repeat lessons so that they have mastered it. When you run the report, you can see the original score and then the new score appears as well. This is a great way to show the child’s progress and attendance when you're reporting to your school district as well.
I am a big researcher, a bargain shopper and like many women, I hunt till I find the best deal before I make a purchase.
Time4learning is by far the most affordable, quality program I have found. With the internet so full of free resources, if ever I feel I need a little something more, it is easy enough to find lots of other great quality learning material on the web.
Good Luck to you.
Mommy duty calls. :-)
Disclosure: Opinions contained within are entirely my own. The content was not written by Time4Learning, however I will be compensated for this review.
:-) You've come to the right place for an honest opinion, based on our experiences.
Here's our story:
We happen to live in one of the more lenient states with few regulations regarding how we home school our children. Over the years, I have come to learn that every family has their own style and method that works best for them. When we first began our home schooling journey with Jonah (our oldest son) we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. I was slightly intimidated and wanted to be sure that we were doing things the right way.
I discovered the option to use a virtual school through our public school system. At the time, this seemed perfect. It provided us with the guidance of a teacher, the curriculum was included, and it was an all in one package that came with everything we needed~ it was free. The most important aspect for me, was that it forced us to be accountable to someone other than ourselves. That was important to me, because at the time, I had no idea if we could be disciplined enough to take care of business and not slack off. We did have 2 other small children at the time and we were both working. So as you can imagine, we had taken on a big challenge. That was 5 years ago.
Today, we home school 3 boys. Our oldest son is 10 years old and he is in the 4th grade. Our middle son is 7 and he is technically a 1st grader, although for the most part he works 2nd and 3rd grade level work. The little guy is a kindergartener.
We never enrolled our other 2 children in the virtual school program due to changes in legislation that said children had to have been in a "brick and mortar school" for a full yr. prior to being eligible for a virtual program through the district. Private virtual programs remain an option, but they are pricey. So we continued with one student in the virtual program and our other children were old school ~ home schooled. Which basically means, we did what we wanted, how we wanted, when we wanted.
We decided to withdraw Jonah from the virtual program this year because things had become too rigid. We didn't care for the teacher this year, and we began to feel more like a number and a statistic. The amount of work that was expected of him became too demanding and was forcing us to rush through lessons in order to meet their deadlines, which I found counter productive.
It also began to require that we be available Monday- Friday for live lessons, scheduled teacher phone calls, etc. Flexibility and having the option to teach whatever days of the week worked best for us, was always an important part of what made home schooling an option for us. We scheduled school days around our work schedules and had to make things fit so that we were accomplishing what we needed to. Losing that flexibility made that program far less appropriate for us.
So, I began to look for alternative programs online that would help me track the boys work and progress. I was looking for something affordable. After hours of researching and coming up with little more than a bunch of over priced private school options, I stumbled across a program called Time4Learning.
At first, I wasn't really sure how to use it. I just needed to sit down and take some time to understand how to get the most out of the program. It really is easy to use. It's also easy to let the program do it all for you. That said, I think it is important to make sure that students know that you are near, & that you will be checking on them. Set clear expectations for them as to how you expect the program to be used.
I plan their lessons so that they have about an hour dedicated to each subject. I try to break it up, so that not too much time is spent in front of the computer all at once. I print out a few worksheets from Math, for example, and have them work on the worksheets before they log into Time4learning.
They may spend 10 minutes on the worksheets and 50 minutes on the computer or they could spend 45 minutes on the worksheet and 15 min. on the computer. It just depends on how many worksheets I give them and how easily they can complete them.
Here are a few of the things I like about the program.
It times every lesson.
There are printables specifically tailored to the lessons they are already working online.
The other thing I really like about it is the ability to adjust the grade level of the lessons they are working on. For example, our son Joshua is in 1st grade, but T4L provides access to curriculum that is a grade level above and a grade level below the actual grade they are in. So if it is too hard, you can work on something easier.
If you find your child isn't being challenged, you can step it up to the next grade level. Joshua can't work any 1st grade level work in Social Studies, Science, or Language Arts. It's all too easy and he completed most of it in a matter of weeks.
So he is working 2nd grade Math, Lang Arts, and Social Studies and Science he is working on 3rd grade level. Mind you, he is in 1st grade. :-)
It's a fun program, entertaining and I really like the way it explains things in a way that the kids can understand, without making it boring.
It allows us to show progress is being made with the reports. So although I run reports to check their progress almost daily, I do a monthly review with the boys so that they can see how well they are progressing too. You can also have them repeat lessons so that they have mastered it. When you run the report, you can see the original score and then the new score appears as well. This is a great way to show the child’s progress and attendance when you're reporting to your school district as well.
I am a big researcher, a bargain shopper and like many women, I hunt till I find the best deal before I make a purchase.
Time4learning is by far the most affordable, quality program I have found. With the internet so full of free resources, if ever I feel I need a little something more, it is easy enough to find lots of other great quality learning material on the web.
Good Luck to you.
Mommy duty calls. :-)
Disclosure: Opinions contained within are entirely my own. The content was not written by Time4Learning, however I will be compensated for this review.
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