Online Homeschool: Schoolhouse Teachers.com Review
I recently joined The Schoolhouse Review Crew and I’m super excited to have opportunities to review and share different options for you to use as you homeschool! We are blessed to have a wide range of curriculum options these days, and it can be overwhelming to try to pick one (or two or three!) that will be right for your family! Through the reviews I post, you will be able see some wonderful curriculum in action!
My first review is of an online education site called SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I was generously given a yearly membership! It is an IMPRESSIVE collection of curriculum, ranging in ages from toddler through high school! The program works on both PC and Mac, and I’ve noticed directions within the various curriculums for little particulars that are specific to each type of computer.
In the elementary age bracket, they offer curriculum choices for core courses, like history and writing, as well as electives like music, art, and foreign language. The courses offer a lot of content as well. The French lessons, for example, offer 2+ YEARS worth of French lessons!
I don’t have any middle school or high schooler’s (yet!!), but the section for them looks AWESOME! I get really excited about courses like Internet Entrepreneurship, Logic, and Video-making. I’m also thrilled to see options like Trigonometry! I think my kids will definitely be doing some online courses for subjects like that!! They also offer College Planning and checklists to help you keep up with coursework.
They also offer some selections just for Mom, like a free printable homeschool planner, and a morning devotional called “Joy in the Morning”.
Digging In
My 7 year old Super D has started the guitar lessons. They are a great mix of text (for me!), pictures, and videos of how to play. The first lesson covers how to hold the guitar properly, and includes pictures of different suggestions. After that, Jerry Jennings, the instructor, explains how to form the G and D chords, and offers trouble-shooting for common errors. The lesson video shows Jennings forming the chords, and then playing a simple song that alternates the chords. The song begins with a simple rhythm, and then gets faster and more complicated. My son has just started, so he’s learning how to make G and D with his little fingers. After a little practice switching back and forth between chords, he’ll be ready for the next part of the lesson!
Other components in the site include Dailies, which are fun things to do every day, like Hands On Activities, Spelling, Copywork, Grammar, and more. I LOVE the Daily Puzzlers! I gave Super D a set of letter tiles, and he had to solve the puzzle! The first day gave him the letters T L E T L and I to work with. Then, he had to decipher the following clues:
I LOVE how this is challenging him to think outside of the box about letters! He needed just a little help, and already wanted to do Day 2! There are 100 different puzzles, so this will keep us busy for a while!
More options in the Dailies include Math, Grammar, Spelling, History, Astronomy, Pre-K Activites, and even cooking lessons!! Super D watches Master Chef Junior occasionally, and wants to learn to cook. I’d love to have a helper who can take over lunch preparations, so I’m eager to help him – cooking lessons, coming right up! SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers Whole Foods cooking lessons, and since we eat as little processed foods as possible, I appreciate that! I’m sure I’m going to learn some new skills too!
SchoolhouseTeachers.com also doesn’t leave out the little guys! My 19 month old Jedi loves to spend school time creating mischief (one memorable day, he created FOUR separate floods in my house.) He is constantly in motion, so I’m glad there’s an entire section devoted to ideas for keeping him busy!
The Sensory Learning for Toddlers is full of creative ideas! The ABC program includes reading recommendations, forming letters with PlayDoh, crafts and games, and science and math applications. For the letter A, the theme is A is for Airplane! We picked out 5 different books about Airplanes (from the library), and made our own airplane! We also had a banana airplane as a snack! He loved it!
More ideas included creating your own tickets and passports, lining up chairs to make your own airplane, and having airplane races! We connected a string to furniture (and the wall!) to let the kids “fly” the paper airplanes! We set up the airplanes by attaching a straw to the airplane to hang it on the string. We also added paperclips to the nose to make them go faster and have races! The lessons have enough depth to them that even my 2nd grader enjoys them, but they are simple enough for my smaller ones.
Even with all the fun we’ve had so far at SchoolhouseTeachers.com, we have barely scratched the surface in what they have to offer! They have a LOT of course options, and they are adding new ones all the time. It’s a well organized site and easy to navigate. I love that it has core subjects as well as lots of course ideas that I wouldn’t normally think about. It really allows me to round out the kids’ education and add some fun, easy activities!
You can start your membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com right away. Normally, access to the complete program is $12.95/month, or $139/year for your entire family! You save about 10% if you choose the yearly membership! You also get a significant discount if you are a member of HSLDA or HLA.
To celebrate their site re-do, SchoolhouseTeachers.com is offering an AMAZING sale!! You can get your first month for only $1, and then it’s only $5.95/mo after that! You can get started today at SchoolhouseTeachers.com!
Enjoy!
