Note: this post has affiliate links.
Homeschooling is not an easy task once you first decide to take the lead in your child's education. I started homeschooling many years ago to curtail germs as my youngest was prone to severe asthmatic episodes when sick with a cold. Throughout the years, I have tried many curriculums, both in book form and online classes, to no avail. I truly believe the best system is one made of different mediums which is why I gravitated towards SchoolhouseTeachers.com. When I read that the Homeschool Review Crew was seeking new reviewers, I jumped on the chance to apply. As a member of the Homeschool Review Crew, I received the Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com in order to write this review.
The ability to access online classes and video components as well as access to downloadable and printables with over 360 courses for all ages and levels in every subject, drew me into having to be a member of the Crew! The online electives are vast and full of great topics to those that are already interested in those subjects or to some that may not even realize they might love that direction such as drama. The best part for me is the ability to plan my children's schedules as to how I feel meets their individual needs. The fact that it's self-paced was critical as having one child with learning disabilities, I found online schools were too rigid with timelines and due dates. I have another child that is advanced, so she's not bored with waiting for these due dates to pass. This is perfect and I'm very happy to find non-common core resources.
- Navigation: As I first became aware of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, I found the ability to navigate between subjects and class levels effortless which cut down on the learning curve and allowed me more time to dive into what was being offered and how I wanted to plan the new school year.
- Course Information: Upon selecting a course(s), information is readily available that discusses the course introduction, length of course, age and grade recommendations, an outline of the course, introductory video, certificate of completion as what child doesn't like to see progress achieved on paper? There are other features to each course when a student first begins but those are just a few.
- Video Library: Hundreds of videos are available to stream including from such providers as Creation.com, Vision Video, Discovery House and more. Most videos are available worldwide and are accessible immediately from the site. My pre-k grandson was drawn to the videos immediately as I was navigating through different options. My middle one, an avid art fan, was drawn to the Art videos. To be honest, there were courses that I'm even going to partake in not only to increase my own knowledge but to further encourage my children into learning more.
- Planning Resources: There are an array of resources ranging from weekly schedules to even sample 9-week schedules to aid in helping you build a custom schedule. There are schoolhouse homeschool planners, ready-made calendars, printable information charts such as sign language, branches of the government, types of clouds and so much more. The Applecore Recordkeeping feature helps parents in course tracking, grade reporting, report cards, portfolios, attendance keeping and transcripts.
- Resources: This is another great feature full of many options to choose from whether it's topics such as High School Help, Special Needs, Literacy Center, Just for Parents and much much more.
- World Book Resource Library: This resource is separated by Library, Grade and Subjects for a total of 10 libraries that holds an amazing amount of resources to aid in educating children. It's really a marvel!
Whether you are new to homeschooling or not, the resources, the set-up of SchoolhouseTeachers.com is nothing like I've used before. I would recommend this particularly to the new homeschooling parent in breaking through the nervous barrier on the decision to homeschool. I would also recommend it to the experienced homeschooling parent as it truly is a one stop website for educating all your children.
I wanted to get started as soon as possible in planning one of the courses for my children, so I chose Elementary Spanish. The course 'How To' and 'Introductory' provides the starting information to get started.
To the right of the website, is a 'Course Outline' that details every other week video lessons and the weekly worksheets. To the left, the student clicks on 'Go to Class Lessons' button.
Once the student clicks on one of the video images (lesson number), the window opens with the video lesson and each week's lesson for that particular video. For the first lesson, there was the video, a downloadable worksheet for week one and an on-your-own review handout, the next downloadable worksheet and a review of last's weeks. I also like there is a Bible memorization exercise with each lesson.
It's short, concise and not too complicated. I'm even going to take this course with my girls so I can finally learn another language.
I did glance at the Drive Thru History course and really enjoyed how the first lesson was broken down to the beginning of American history with Christopher Columbus and incorporated religious aspects into the teaching. The video lesson was captivating and very educational starting out in Spain and moving along the path towards America.
I'm hoping by reading my review, you will be able to learn about the many resources available for homeschooling your child or children. After trying too many different curriculum's and spending a lot of money, I only regretting now learning more about SchoolhouseTeachers.com before now. I am a bit overwhelmed by all the resources and am glad that there is a 'where to start' resource page as well. I initially felt I would need to really spend a solid month getting absorbed with everything that is offered but after jumping in, I realized that it's all very intuitive and easy to use. Since one of my children has difficulty with reading, I sought the information available at the Literacy Center. Again, I was extremely pleased with all the resources:
- Downloadable books for K-4th grade.
- Trek's Travels series of 12 early readers for PK/K which will be a great asset to my pre-K grandson.
- Welcome to Reading collection of four series of early readers for K-2nd grade. This will work perfect for my granddaughter in kindergarten.
- The Classics is a collection of nursery rhymes, songs and stories for Pre-K-2nd grade.
- Strategies in working with your child(ren).
- A Getting Started section.
- Comprehensive Skills to include a link to fun comprehensive games in World Book Early World of Learning Library.
I wanted to share what I liked the most after just getting started with SchoolhouseTeachers.com. It's a great opportunity if you are already homeschooling or if you are on the fence and are thinking about starting. It covers Elementary Homeschool Courses, Middle School Homeschool Courses and High School Homeschool Courses. For myself, it has every resource I could possibly use and I am beyond excited to get started with many of the fascinating online electives!
Now through January 31, 2018, there is a sale going on! The Ultimate Annual Membership is only $90 (normally $179) or $9.95 a month for the Ultimate Monthly Membership (regularly $19.95). If you renew, you are locked into that pricing! Use code NEWYEAR18 for the annual membership discount or MONTHNEWYEAR18 for the monthly discount. New members only.
