I thought I would update you all as to what we are currently using and how it is going.

A few months ago I told you about Time4Learning. We are sticking with that this year and it is still going very well. The math seems to be boring my oldest though because once we got to the 7th grade level, he can’t test out of lessons that he knows. This means he still has to click through each screen or else the assignment is incomplete. That is my only complaint with it.

We have been watching the Planet Earth DVD’s. I LOVE these amazing documentaries. Very worthwhile. Each segment is about an hour and is so well done that the kids are pretty attentive. They look a lot like an IMAX film.

Been reading through the History of Us. This came highly recommended. For a History series it is well done but it is dry still. I much prefer the History channel or fieldtrips. We have been studying a lot about the 2008 Election as well.

It has been so beautiful here that we are taking things pretty easy with just the above. I am waiting for the snow to fall to really knuckle down. Anyone have any suggestions?

When I first started looking into homeschooling the first question was, of course, “What will I teach?”. My son is 9 years old and has high functioning autism. I knew that he has always learned well from TV shows and computer games. I needed to find a curriculum that was disguised as a game. He was at the point where he hated school and anything ‘educational’. Time4Learning absolutely was the answer for us. The lessons were short and to the point. The characters did a very good explaining the concept and then demonstrating how to complete the problem without losing his interest. The math curriculum was so effective for him that he completed an entire grade level in three months. I had purchased MathUSee to supplement Time4Learning for Math but right now we don’t need it. Time4Learning is our complete curriculum for math. The success and confidence in Math that he has gained from Time4Learning has been remarkable.

He has a lot more difficulty following the Language Arts program because the characters talk very fast and it times out with a message that says “Need more time?” within a few seconds during the reading portions. He always needs more time to process the information. He is more successful with the Language Arts Enrichments than the core Language Arts program and I have simply made the decision for now to use something else for comprehension and story elements. The ILA (Integrated Language Arts) sections of the Language Arts section is interesting and he likes to complete those.

The Science and Social Studies sections are too small to be used as a core curriculum but he likes to do them. We are participating in the Cornell bird study right now and we use Brainpop.com as well to supplement. Not mention, real life!

He loves being able to check his online portfolio and goes to check his progress after every lesson. I love being able to print these reports once a month. Even though I am in a state that does not require homeschool reporting on testing, I still keep a portfolio for him. Every month I print off a report of his lessons and stick it there.

So, as a homeschooling mom and a former public school teacher I would have to say that Time4Learning is well worth the time, money and effort we spend on it. My 6th grader who is still enrolled in public school has a membership as well and uses it to supplement lessons that he needs extra practice on. The fact that he enjoys Time4Learning in addition to a full day in public school speaks volumes in my mind. There is a free trial available so I would suggest taking advantage of it and see if it works as well for you!