We were able to try the online
curriculum time4learning free for 1 month in exchange for a candid review of the program on the blog- so here goes. First off, a bit about
time4Learning- It's an online
curriculum covering math, language arts, science, and history. It covers
pre-K through 8
th grade. When we decided to try
time4learning- I decided to only put Doodle (2
nd-3rd grade) on this program. Bug (6
th grade) and
Roo (K) were left out. Poor
Roo- he loved watching and listening in on the Time4Learning video clips and such, and was wishing he could do it too. We didn't use the math portion of the program at all- as we have a wonderful math thing going on- and ya know- if it ain't broke- don't fix it. :D
Pros- - Doodle LOVED it. He liked the fact that mom was taken out of the equation (I'm not so sure that I liked that part of it) But there was definitely less head-butting and frustration when it came to school time. Doodle liked the fun interactive Language Arts lessons.
- There were fun lessons on synonyms, antonyms, and homonymns, complete with cheesy movie clips, and quizzes for each one. There were reading comprehension activities that were great for Doodle to work on. *He never once complained about the Language Arts protion of the program. (If LA was offered seperately- I'd be SOOO tempted to get a subscription to the site.
- Site was easy for Doodle to navigate- it had "done" stamped on the lessons he'd completed, and arrows to show what he should do next.
- We had no problems at all with the connection to the site- I worried if the internet was down, what we'd do, but no worries there. :D
- Doodle Loved being able to play games in the Playground (many of the games are educational too ;)) and I liked that I could set a time limit for how long he could play the games- lol
Cons
- We found the science and Social studies sections very dry and boring. (sorry- but they were!) After the fun language arts, we were both disappointed in the other subjects. I realize that they are added as a "bonus" and not really part of the program- but that was the part of what I was most searching for something "more" for.
- I would like to be able to go in and pick and choose assignments and put them in a "folder" or something for him, and pick my own order. I guess I could pick my own order now, but I'd have to show him which ones I wanted him to do. I'd rather do a few reading comprehension at a time, a few grammar type lessons, a few lessons on different topics, rather than all one topic, then all another topic.
- cost- although it's only a small monthly fee- it adds up, especially since we would only use the LA portion. IF they were to offer just the language arts section for a reduced price I'd really be thinking seriously.
- Lots of time on the computer- Doodle learns well with the interactive type stuff on the computer- but I didn't like him being on the computer quite that much.
This review is entirely my opinion, I was offered a free month in exchange for this review.
Time4Learning was a nice shake-up and change of pace in our school. Will we continue- no probably not. Though I have learned that since Doodle learns so well with this type of cirriculum, I will try and add a bit more interactive things to our homeschool.
