Review: Here To Help Learning

Teaching our children to write can be as daunting a process as teaching them to read.  I remember well how intimidated I was with teaching Super D to read.  I had no idea how to start and was scared I’d fail miserably!   Thankfully, he is now an avid reader and surprises me regularly with the words he can read AND spell!     Our next stage of language development is learning to write, and Here to Help Learning is, well, here to help!   They graciously gave us a year’s access to their online program and we started with Flight 1 Paragraph Writing.

Here to Help Learning offers a great variety of programs, to help both beginning, intermediate, and advanced writers.   They have 3 Flights (levels) of Paragraph Writing, and an additional 3 Flights of Essay Writing.    Flights 1 -3 of Paragraph Writing are designed for 1st – 3rd grade, while Flights 1-3 of Essay Writing are for grades 4-6.   The program is ideally used 2 days a week.   The first day is designated to watch the video and complete the activities.  The second day is to work on the writing projects.

You can complete Here to Help Learning entirely online, using the downloadable pdf files to print.   They also have physical sets that come complete with six dvds, a teacher guide, and a student workbook.   This is a multi-level program, so you can use it with multiple kiddos who are at slightly different levels.  It can also easily be used with a homeschool co-op, and the videos demonstrate the program in that sort of a setting.

It can be easy to get overwhelmed when you start a new curriculum, especially online.  Here to Help Learning proves once again that they are here to help (hehe)!   They have a lot of info and options on their website to help you, and the lesson set-ups are simple and easy to follow.   The worksheets that you will want to print for each lesson are on the same screen as the video.   The video is easy to skip through, to jump from section to section as needed.

Super D enjoyed the videos – he loved the connections Here to Help Learning made with actual flying – they got some giggles out of him!   He especially loved this pre-writing exercise:

He wrote a fabulous (in my completely unbiased opinion of course) mini-story about a penguin who was lonely and wanted to make friends with the sharks.

Each lesson follows a similar pattern –
1. Pre-Flight Checklist (gathering needed materials)
2. Flight Checkin –
3. Take Off (a game like Sentence-No Sentence, writing warm-up exercise, and Introduction to the Writing Process)
4. Full Throttle (focus on the writing project)
5. Flying Solo (homework time!)

By the end of Flight 1, the kids will complete 6 different writing projects!

• Project #1 All By Myself (Narrative Writing)
• Project #2 Heroes Today (Descriptive)
• Project #3 Good Books Make Me Hungry (Expository)
• Project #4 Poetry Walk in the Mountains (Poetry)
• Project #5 Once Upon a Fable (Persuasive)
• Project #6 My Own Book (Narrative Fiction)

This program is priced VERY WELL too – you get full access for $6.99/month. You can also try it for a day for free!

You can connect with Here to Help Learning via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.  They’re also hitting the road for Homeschool Convention season, so it’s likely they’ll be at a convention near you!   Check out their schedule here –>  Here to Help Learning Convention Schedule

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