Tuesday, January 10, 2017

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

Is homeschooling too expensive?
Are you not able to afford all the required core classes, not to mention electives?
I'm talking financially afford or afford to give the time required to homeschool?
Have you ever been overwhelmed by all the "curriculum in a box" options?
Are you, perhaps, just starting your homeschool adventure and are looking to a tool to get your feet wet?
I am a HUGE advocate for home educating (whatever the reason) and I am excited to introduce you to a tool that may just be your NEW BEST FRIEND if you answered YES to any of the above questions.

INTRODUCING: SchoolhouseTeachers.com! I got the privilege of reviewing SchoolhouseTeachers.com Yearly MembershipYAY!



So here's how it works in a nutshell: you pay your dues for your membership and a whole WORLD of resources immediately become available to you! I'm talking every grade, every subject, videos, print outs, even online support! And all you need is internet, a computer, and a printer!

You simply punch in your username and password.

Then you can browse through most your resources in three simple methods:

(1) Browse by Grade
(2) Browse by subject
(3) Search bar on top

I'm going to walk you through how we (The Deputie Family) tried each of these methods and how we used what was available! 






Buckle Up!! :)

(1) Browse by Grade



As you can see above, it's very simple. Place cursor on "Browse by Grade" and Select your grade. For example, I selected 1st grade:



Then you select what class you would like. I selected "Art":


There are plenty of options for each subject. I selected "All About Art":


You are then directed to the course page where you can read about the length of the course, what it includes, and what grades or ages it is geared toward. You can also read a short (or long) description of the course and a bit about the author. 

Then you click, "Go To Class":


Download your curriculum! In this case it only two documents to download. Other classes (such as a history course) could have as many as 40 + downloadable lessons!!


We chose to go through this simple All About Art course over our 2-week Christmas Break!! Here's some photos!!


We learned about the color wheel


Here we are learning about Still Life.

We also did abstract art, landscapes, and profiles! 


I found SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a great supplemental way to use this website to "fill in the gaps" in your homeschool. You can create fun mini courses!!

(2) Browse by Subject


The second way to navigate through SchoolhouseTeachers.com is by browsing by subject:




 I browsed through the music curriculum available and selected a course called "Music Theory I & II". Since my oldest two girls just started piano lessons, I thought this would be a fun mini course to go through to come along side them.

The subjects available include more then you could even come up with! For instances, "sixth grade" includes: 
Art
Bible
Computer/Technology
Drama/Speech
Electives
Foreign Languages
Geography
Health/Fitness
History
Language Arts
Math
Music
Science
Social Studies
Unit Studies. 

*GASP FOR BREATH* It's a LOT isn't it?! Well...

EACH of these subjects includes several options. For instance, "sixth grade" Language Arts includes: 
Creating Dynamic Characters
Daily Grammar
Ditch the Desk
Into the Elements
Literature Kits
Sparking the Noggin
Creative Storytelling
Daily Puzzlers
Essay Writing 101
Lap booking
Opening the Door to Poetry
Schoolhouse Spelling
Creative Writing
Daily Writing 
Everyday Copyworb
Literature
Paint with Your Words
Writing

*LEAN OVER, REST HANDS ON KNEES IN SHEER EXHAUSTION* Okay... I'm a bit dramatic ;)

When you click on the course you want, you can see the length of the course, what it includes and what age/grade it is recommended for. You can read about How to Use This Course, the Course Introduction as well as other information. Then you simply click "Go To Class Lessons" and VOILA!

Access to full curriculum. Click. Print. Do!

This is another great way you can use SchoolhouseTeachers.com; it can be used as a FULL CURRICULUM and offers entire years worth of courses! Every course you could ever want, more then you ever would have wanted, and more then you could ever use!

(3) Browse with the search bar

The third way to navigate through SchoolhouseTeachers.com is by using the search bar. 

We just read about "George Washington" in our very regular and consistent history study of Early American History very erratic and relaxed study through Early American History. The kids wanted to learn as much as they could about George Washington. They found him so interesting! So I searched "George Washington" to see what came up on SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

The options were awesome! We could have created a whole unit study JUST from resources available with the click of a botton! 

There was an Early American History full curriculum for several different ages and grade levels, even a preschool "ABC With Me" curriculum that had a section (the letter G) for George Washington! We could switch things up for a month and study George Washington at each child's level without having to get loads of books and special curriculum.

BUT... my FAVORITE is the MEDIA LIBRARY!!!

Hundreds... DID YOU READ THAT?!? HUNDREDS of education media (maybe a thousand... I didn't exactly count...)  From preschool to pre-college students. They have "famous" (at least famous to most Christian homeschooling families) titles such as "Aardvark to Zucchini", "Carlos the Caterpillar",  "They Lived for God", "Drive Through History", "History of Christianity", "Apologetics: Creation vs. Evelution" and SO MANY MORE!






We watched some historical movies about George Washington and the kids wrote down what they learned after browsing. Alex and I even watched some of the martyr documentaries and we have future date plans to work through the Apologetics video curriculum... who said you can only use this stuff with your kids??!!?




Please ignore the unbrushed hair...

This is a third way you can use SchoolhouseTeachers.com! You can use it to supplement the current curriculum you and your family are going through! Struggling with fractions? Print some other teaching resources and try teaching it in a new way! Want to know more about plants? Watch some videos or create a unit study and work through some science courses available!



There are also a few special things this site offers including a whole section available for homeschooling special needs children (which I have a special needs sibling with Downs Syndrome so I thought this was very cool) as well as some resources to encourage parents. These titles for parents include "It Starts At Home", "Making a Marriage Work", "Parenting: The Early Years", and "Parenting: Your Teenager" as some examples. These include video and audio resources!






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So to wrap all this up, I believe SchoolhouseTeachers.com is PERFECT for getting your feet wet in the whole "homeschooling" thing. I also find it as a priceless, and unbelievable tool to "fill in the gaps" that we all face as we increase our education in any area (whether homeschooled or not).


Three ways I have explored and shared with you as options to using SchoolhouseTeachers.com include:

(1) Supplemental in "filling in the gaps" by creating mini courses for a fun and educational break from the normal day to day grind

(2) As a FULL preschool through high school curriculum with every subject you can imagine all available at your finger tips

(3) As a supplement to enhance what you are already using.


Homeschooling doesn't need to be expensive.
It dines't need to be complicated.
And you don't need to do it alone.

I think SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a great place to start (and maybe stay), a great place to enhance, or a great resource to use as a primary source of schooling. I recommended this to a family member who is getting their feet wet in homeschooling and loves the ideas of a small monthly fee that can be paid to access unlimited curriculum.

So how much does it cost??
Well they are currently doing some promotions so here is the info on that:





Hope you check it out!!!!








2 comments:

  1. With just the click of a botton do you mean button:)
    You are not dramatic at all what are you talking about
    I didn't notice their hair till you said something. IT Dines't Need To Be Complicated It Doesn't * it's ok I still love you sis.

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  2. Also that's cool that it goes all the way through high school I mean I like abeka plus I only have next year left for school but hey for the future๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜‰

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