Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Time4Learning Review

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Time4Learning provides an interactive, online, and educational experience for children in preschool up to 8th grade.  It uses a combination of animated lessons, interactive activities, and reinforcing worksheets to teach Math, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science. 

Time4Learning includes the following:
  • Online curriculum for grades Pre-K through 8th
  • More than 1,000 interactive animated lessons
  • Self paced lessons that kids will enjoy working on
  • Math & algebra tutorials & printable worksheets
  • Language arts, phonics & grammar lessons
  • Interactive, project-based reading activities
  • Science (grades 1st - 6th) & social studies (grades 2nd - 7th)
  • Detailed reporting for easy record keeping
  • Extensive lesson plans & teaching tools for parents
  • and much more...
It is web based, so there is no software to download, no CDs and nothing additional to purchase. Members can access the program 24/7 from anywhere with a computer and an Internet connection.

Here's how it works:

Once a member, both you and your child(ren) will have a login.  You determine the grade level for your child and they will be given access to three years of curriculum (one grade above and one below their level). 

Once logged in, your child can choose between Language Arts, Math, Science, or Social Studies.  Lesson plans are by grade and subject, which you can see below.

You can click here to see the interactive Scope and Sequence Chart.

Once a subject is selected, your child will complete the lessons in order (by following the arrow).  Here is Language Arts for 3rd grade. 

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You can see the arrow is pointing to the first picture, which is Vocabulary Skills.  Once clicked, your child would be directed to choose a lesson.  Also notice the three grade levels at the top.

Below, you can see my daughter has already completed the first four lessons so the arrow is pointing to the fifth. 

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When the parents log in to their account, they can track their child's progress.


My Thoughts:  I think this site is great, and for us, it would be a helpful tool to supplement our current curriculum.  I don't, however, see this as something our family could use for our complete curriculum.  This is not to say that other families could not, it's just not a complete curriculum for us.

We both really enjoyed the Language Arts lessons.  There is wonderful interaction between the computer and the child and the characters are lively, colorful, and funny.  After completing Language Arts, however, we were a bit disappointed with the other subjects we looked at for 3rd grade.  We were both expecting the same quirky characters and silliness that made it fun to watch, but we could not find them.  I did however, search the lessons further and found some colorful activities and games, but it was after several attempts and it was several lesson into the subjects.  I wish they would have introduced them earlier in the lessons so my daughter would have been more captivated.  After going through the first few Science and Math lessons, she was not interested.

I also personally think the price is a little high, especially for families with several children.  I also think there should be a larger discount for multiple children, and possibly an option for families to choose to purchase only one subject, for a smaller monthly fee.  So, for instance, since we liked the Language Arts section, if there was an option to purchase a membership for Language Arts only, we may be interested.

Thoughts of an 8-Year Old:   I like Language Arts best because it has funny characters and silly shows. I like learning about homophones and doing the Old Time Word Show best. The other part I like is Word Herd and it is a test to see what you learned from the Old Time Word Show. I didn't like science or math very much because there was no fun stuff about it.

Find Out More:  You can find out more by visiting Time4Learning.  The monthly membership is currently $19.95 for the first child and $14.95 for each additional child, with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  To learn more you can read the Getting Started Guide and Hints and Helps.

My Crewmates are also reviewing Time4Learning, so you can check out what they think HERE.

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Disclosure:  This product was given to Our Homeschool Reviews for free for review purposes, and I do not have to return the products to the vendor.  I have received no compensation from it and all opinions and experiences within this review are my own. 

 

8 comments:

Unknown

I agree looks wonderful however the price for 3 children has pushed me a way for a "filler in" subject! xoxo

Diane Stringam Tolley

Wahhh! Why didn't they have these wonderful teaching aids when I was trying to educate my children!!!?

Rodna Allman

Unfortunately, Time 4 Learning was not for us.

Our Homeschool Reviews

Yes, it's not for everyone, even we loved some of it but not all of it.

Kelly

Thanks for sharing your daughter's thoughts. I'm hoping to get mine to start "adding" in her 2 cents, but usually I get "I liked it." and no details. I have to pull for info.

FairyLover

I always say that not every program will work for every family. It sounds like it is a good supplement for your family. We are in our fourth year with time4learning. I supplement with lots of field trips and handwriting without tears. That may change as my son gets older but for now it works for us. I enjoyed reading your review. I always like to hear what others think of this program.

Kathi

Pokey Bug

I don't get these comments about the price being too high. I started homeschooling with Abeka Academy, for $795 per year for each child. $1,590 for my two kids. If you pay one year in advance on T4L, that's $170 per year per child, for a total of $340. Perhaps the difference for me is that we pay annually instead of monthly, but we'd still save a ton over Abeka, even if we paid monthly.

I don't use T4L for my complete curriculum, because there are some subjects that they don't cover or they don't cover as thoroughly as I'd like. Even when I add in the Bible studies, Spelling and Writing curricula, etc, I end up paying around $500 per year for both kids. That's one tenth of the tuition we were paying at private school for just one child and about one third of what we were paying Abeka for both.

I like it that not every lesson is a game. Games are good for teaching math and language concepts, but a calmer approach, with a focus on facts for some subjects is actually superior, IMO.

Our Homeschool Reviews

Pokey Bug, I am so glad you left a comment and are loving Time4Learning! If you don't think the price is high for your family, that is great. My job is to review and communicate my honest opinions about products to my readers. I am a pretty thrifty person, so I felt it important to talk about the price, in addition to the features. Some families may not think $50 a month for 3 children is too much for homeschool curriculum, but it may be out of the budget for others.

I said that I also think there should be a larger discount for multiple children, and possibly an option for families to choose to purchase only one subject, for a smaller monthly fee. So, for instance, since we liked the Language Arts section, if there was an option to purchase a membership for Language Arts only, we may be interested.

Everyone is different! If someone reads my review and thinks the price is right and purchases it, then great. On the other hand, someone can read it and agree with me and make the same suggestions to the company. Who knows, maybe they will take the suggestions into consideration and make changes.

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