Our family had the privilege to try out
Time4Learning, an online home education program, for 30 days in exchange for a candid review. When I initially heard of Time4Learning, I didn't look into it too much because I figured why pay for online educational games when there seems to be plenty of free ones out there. (The program costs $19.95 a month for one child and $14.95 a month for each additional child.) What I didn't realize, however, is that there is much more to this program than any typical computer game. It can be used as an entire curriculum for preschool, elementary, and middle school students. The student typically begins by watching an animated lesson on a particular concept. Then there are interactive activities to help him learn and review the concept, followed by a quiz to assess his understanding. What I love most about the program are the parent reports that I could print out to see how they were doing.
My oldest, Joshua, began with first grade level math and language arts, but we realized quickly that he needed to move up to second grade language arts. It was easy to move the kids up or down a grade level once we realized where they needed to be.
Ella really enjoyed her preschool lessons. Both of the kids love working on the computer and would ask me every morning if they could do their "computer school." Since we already have a curriculum for this year, I used it as a supplemental program. Instead of telling them which lessons to work on, I just gave them free reign to move through the lessons at their own pace. I knew I could check the parent reports later to see if they were really answering the questions correctly. It was a great way to make sure the kids were doing something productive with school when I couldn't give them one-on-one time, such as when I was working with another child, doing laundry, or feeding the baby. I would most likely not use it as a core curriculum for our family because I tend to lean more towards classical homeschooling. But all in all, I and my two little brainiacs were very impressed with the Time4Learning program and highly recommend that others check it out to see if it would be a good fit for them.
Disclosure: I received a free month trial of Time4Learning in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are entirely my own.
, math, reading, and writing. On August 23rd, we'll begin our new exciting venture into 
for math and 
by Leigh Bortins. This book has taught me so much about how children learn and how to focus on the things that matter most in their education.
, which is what we use to teach our kids to read. For the month of January only, they are offering a free download of their entire reading program containing 220 lessons, which retails at $249. You download it all at once, no monthly subscription or hidden fees. Just click on this 
