Sharp Corners

Let’s get one thing out of the way right now: I’m a perfectionist. Oh, and I’ll also cop to getting really twitchy when things are out of order or don’t line up properly (whether it’s logical arguments or cans of soup on a pantry shelf). That’s a pretty fatal combination when you think about me trying to find the perfect homeschool curriculum for my three boys.

Have you seen the amount of choices out there? A quick Google search of the term “homeschool curriculum” returns 1,880,000 results! What’s worse is I feel like I’ve tried all but about seven of them. Interestingly, the one I keep coming back to is Time4Learning. I call it my secret weapon.

Like many homeschooling parents, I used to envision putting together elaborate curriculums that addressed each child’s individual learning styles and needs, then gathering my kids around the table every day for hours of blissful learning.

Then I woke up.

I’m a smart woman, but I don’t know squat about putting together an effective school curriculum. I know kids need to master addition before tackling quantum physics, but should they know pronouns before proper nouns? Cursive F before cursive Q? Haiku before iambic pentameter?! Help!

The smarties at Time4Learning know what pieces of the curriculum jigsaw puzzle goes where and they’re good at it. This online curriculum provides enough structure that you can sleep at night knowing your kids aren’t missing crucial sections of information that will come back to haunt them later in life. In other words, my kids will be able to go on “Jeopardy!” and not be mocked by Alex Trebek.

Even though we’re pretty firmly entrenched in the Age of Technology, I don’t want my kids learning everything online. Fortunately, that’s not how this curriculum works. Sure, it’s a great computer-based way to teach concepts and get concrete comprehension data from graded quizzes. It’s not, however designed for parents who want to plunk their kids in front of a computer all day while they do laundry or watch TV. You still need to work with your kids and make sure they’re “getting it.”

I look at Time4Learning as a co-conspirator in sneaking education into my kids’ brains that’s disguised as fun. The program includes math, language arts, social studies, and science, plus there are optional writing courses available for an additional fee. Each subject comes with onscreen activities, audio and video presentations, quizzes, and supplemental worksheets. You can use any, all, or only part of the materials provided. It’s completely up to you and completely customizable.

The subjects are well-planned and topics flow nicely into one another, but its easy enough to skip sections if you need to. For instance, we are a family of space freaks who eat, sleep, and breathe astronomy and space travel, so we blew right past that section of science without even a glance. They love the rest of the science program, especially the topics that cover animals.

My kids didn’t particularly take to the math section so we use Math Mammoth instead. That, however, is indicative of how easy it is to incorporate T4L into what works for your family, not a sign that the included math module is lacking in any way. In fact, when I have trouble teaching a concept with Mammoth Math, I refer to T4L to help me figure it out.

There’s a nifty incentive program built into Time4Learning that lets kids earn time in the “Playground” after they’ve spent a parent-selected amount of time in the learning area. Kids can’t cheat either — the Playground won’t be unlocked until the student accumulates enough minutes to get in. Then it automatically boots them back into the learning area after their alloted play time is up.

T4L keeps careful records of a child’s progress in each subject, something the perfectionist in me adores. I can tell at a glance if my son needs extra help in a particular area, and if the work isn’t challenging enough for him in another subject then I can easily bump him up to the next work level. T4L’s online record keeping also lets me print out their records and activities in case their academic progress is ever called into question.

Which brings me to the final reason I love T4L. As a single mom homeschooling three children, I’d be kidding myself if I thought I could “do it all”: develop a tailored curriculum for each child, teach it effectively, monitor their progress to make sure they’re learning everything they need to know to succeed in this world, and still be an effective (and semi-concious) parent.

I know what’s best for my kids, but I also know when to rely on professionals and the experience they bring to the table. The team behind Time4Learning has the knowledge I lack to build a curriculum and they know what works for every learning style. I’d be crazy to try and reinvent the wheel when the one they’ve got is so well-manufactured. Between that and the thorough record-keeping, I know I’m in good shape if I ever need to provide subjective documentation about how and what they’re learning.

I’ve tried lots of different curriculum options but they’ve always left one or more of us in tears (usually me first). T4L makes my kids laugh and keeps them entertained, but it’s clearly giving them an education at the same time. What more could a homeschooling mom want? Well, maybe besides a day off from laundry.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Monkey boys. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.