Homeschool Curriculum Blog Online Learning for PreK-8th

Time4Learning presents a logical and sequential approach to teaching science.

In the first grade science curriculum, students distinguish between living and non-living things, are introduced to earth science, and learn about some of the people who have contributed to the field of science.

The Time4Learning program combines illustration, animation, real pictures, audio, text, video and embedded simulations in multimedia online lessons and activities.  It also combines math and writing skills in cross-curricular activities that are completed both on and offline.

In first grade, science themes and concepts are integrated within the language arts curriculum, giving students the opportunity to enjoy cross-curricular study. Units will use first grade science vocabulary to teach thematic units such as; biomes, weather, planets, constellations, pollution, oceans, marine animals, mammals, and plants. First graders also have the advantage of learning science through the science program itself which focuses on three major units of study: Living and NonLiving Things, Earth Science, and Contributions to Science.

Students will learn how to distinguish between living and nonliving things by exploring habitats, basic needs, features, and life cycles. Students will, through learning science vocabulary, focus on the classification of animals into scientific categories, with a feature on amphibians. First Grade Science vocabulary used in Earth Science will use graphic organizers to show weather patterns and to identify seasons. Thunderstorms and the Water Cycle will be highlighted through 1st grade vocabulary lists, vocabulary worksheets and interactive activities. As a bonus, Jane Goodall is featured as a contributor to science, allowing children to explore her experience working with chimpanzees in Africa. Try one of our science sample lessons.

Using a combination of interactive lessons, offline worksheets, and assessments, Time4Learning First Grade Science curriculum correlates to all state standards and benchmarks.

To find out more about the First Grade science program at Time4Learning, try out one of the demo lessons, ask a question in our parents forum, or even view the entire First Grade Science scope and sequence. Sign up today to let your First Grader experience the fun and learning encompassed in the Time4Learning First Grade Science Program.

Posted under elementary homeschool curriculum, first grade curriculum, grade levels, homeschool curriculum, science

A first grade reading program should be taught using a system of first grade reading lesson plans including interactive activities, learning games, printable worksheets, assessments, and positive reinforcement. Guided reading is a vital part of a first grade reading program.

First grade language arts lessons should cover all English language arts strands. The major language arts strands for a first grade reading program are vocabulary development, reading comprehension, literature, writing strategies, writing applications, English language conventions, listening and speaking. While these language arts strands might surprise you, they are all critical lessons for a first grade reading program.

A first grade reading program helps children learn the basic features of reading skill. First grade children learn to translate letter patterns into spoken language using phonics, syllabication, and word parts. They apply this knowledge to achieve fluent oral and silent reading skill.

At this reading level children identify letters, words, and sentences. They match oral words to printed words and during guided reading, the reading teacher asks children to identify the author and title of each reading selection. Children classify reading level appropriate categories of words (for example, colors, foods, animals).

Phonics are important in a first grade reading program. Reading skill develops as children learn to decode elements of words using phonics. Language arts lesson plans emphasize initial, medial, and final sounds in single-syllable words; create and state series of rhyming words, include consonant blends; add, delete, or change target sounds to change words (for example, change met to get or cat to sat); blend two to four phonemes into recognizable words (for example, /b/ i/ g/ = big; /k/ i/ t/ e/ = kite); and segment single-syllable words into their components (for example, /d/ o/ g/ = dog; /r/ i/ ch/ = rich).

At this reading level children learn to use consonant blends and long-and short-vowel patterns. They develop the reading skill of using vowel digraphs and r- controlled letter-sound associations. Language arts lesson plans help children read common, irregular sight words. The reading program explains compound words and contractions, root words, inflectional forms, and common word families.

A first grade reading program also offers children guided reading experience with children’s literature appropriate to the first grade reading level.  First grade language arts lesson plans help children develop reading skill by describing elements of plot and setting, identifying characters, and discussing each story’s beginning, middle, and end.

Time4Learning teaches a comprehensive first grade reading curriculum using fun, first grade reading activities to build a solid reading foundation. To find out more about the First Grade language arts program at Time4Learning, try out one of the demo lessons, ask a question in our parents forum, or even view the entire First Grade Language Arts scope and sequence. Sign up today to let your First Grader experience the fun and learning encompassed in the Time4Learning First Grade Language Arts Program.

Posted under Homeschool, elementary homeschool curriculum, first grade curriculum, grade levels, homeschool curriculum, language arts, learning to read, reading curriculum

A First Grade math curriculum should be taught using a combination of interactive activities, learning games, printable worksheets, assessments, and reinforcement. Manipulatives are very important for First Grade math lessons. And a First Grade math curriculum should cover all the math strands, not just arithmetic. The major math strands for First Grade curriculum are number sense and operations, algebra, geometry and spatial sense, measurement, and data analysis and probability. While these math strands might surprise you, they are all critical lessons for a First Grade math curriculum.

Time4Learning teaches a comprehensive First Grade math curriculum using fun, interactive math activities to build a solid math foundation. 

During First Grade, math students will be expected to read and write numerals to 100, to count objects to 100 or more, to compare and order whole numbers to 100 or more using a variety of methods including usage of the symbols <, =, and >, and the vocabulary of less than, equal to, and more than. They will learn to apply these lessons to real-life scenarios. First grade math students will learn ordinal numbers from 1st to 10th or higher.

Counting is an important skill for a First Grade math student. The children will learn to count orally to 100 by 2s, 5s, and 10s with or without a hundred chart. They will learn to count forward or backward by 1s beginning with any number less than 100. Using a hundred chart they will learn to count forward by 10s starting at any number less than 10.

First Grade math students will be learning about place value. They will know the place value of any digit in a whole number less than 100. They will learn about place value patterns and about how zero is a place holder for expressing place value.

During this year, First Grade math students will be learning addition and subtraction. The children will demonstrate that they know addition means putting together, and subtraction means taking away. They will solve basic addition facts using concrete objects and thinking strategies such as ‘count on’, ‘count back’, ‘doubles’, ‘doubles plus one’, and ‘make ten’. They will learn about the commutative and associative properties of addition and learn fact families up to 18. Using concrete materials such as coins, diagrams, and number expressions, first grade math students will show equivalent forms of the same number.

In First Grade math studies, children will show a basic understanding of measuring lengths, weights, and capacity by selecting appropriate units to use for measurement. They will use standard and non-standard units to measure, compare, and order objects according to their lengths and weights.

First Grade math students will also study time, temperature, and money. They will show they understand these concepts by use of digital and analog clocks, calendars, and thermometers. Children studying first grade math will learn and compare money values including the quarter (25 cents), half-dollar (50 cents), and dollar (100 cents).

There are 100 math activities in the First Grade curriculum, and children can either move through them sequentially, or pick and choose from the lessons, using the Activity Finder. Parents can easily follow their child’s progress by logging into the child’s portfolio and viewing day by day lessons or a customizable and printable report than can be sorted by subject, lesson type, or date range.

To find out more about the First Grade math program at Time4Learning, try out one of the demo lessons, ask a question in our parents forum, or even view the entire First Grade Math scope and sequence. Sign up today to let your First Grader experience the fun and learning encompassed in the Time4Learning First Grade Math Program.

Posted under elementary homeschool curriculum, grade levels, homeschool curriculum, math, online math curriculum

A good kindergarten reading program curriculum relies on many learning tools - kindergarten reading worksheets, reading activities, reading games, reinforcement exercises, and assessments. And kindergarten language arts lessons should cover all English language arts strands. The major language arts strands for a kindergarten reading program are vocabulary development, reading comprehension, literature, writing strategies, writing applications, English language conventions, listening and speaking. While these language arts strands might surprise you, they are all critical lessons for a kindergarten reading program.

Kindergarten reading lesson plans, reading worksheets, and reading activities teach reading skills covering all the language arts strands. Kindergarten reading activities provide an opportunity for children to get a basic understanding of reading skill, decoding, and phonics. These very young children learn through guided reading, reading worksheets, language arts games, and many creative methods that make the kindergarten reading program fun for them.

The Time4Learning Reading and Language Arts curriculum for kindergarten level introduces young learners to age-appropriate literature.  The online activities support the students learning of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and text comprehension.  The Writer’s Corner introduces the students to the process of story-building by selecting backgrounds, objects, and characters from the stories they are reading to create their own stories.  These are then able to be printed out and shared.

Detailed teacher’s guides provide multiple suggestions for offline activities, including handwriting practice, additional worksheets, and activity plans to supplement the online instruction.

There are almost 200 language arts activities in the kindergarten curriculum, and children can either move through them sequentially, or pick and choose from the lessons, using the Activity Finder. Parents can easily follow their child’s progress by logging into the child’s portfolio and viewing day by day lessons or a customizable and printable report than can be sorted by subject, lesson type, or date range.

To find out more about the Kindergarten reading program at Time4Learning, try out one of the demo lessons, ask a question in our parents forum, or even view the entire kindergarten scope and sequence. Sign up today to let your kindergartener experience the fun and learning encompassed in the Time4Learning Kindergarten Reading Program.

Posted under grade levels, homeschool curriculum, kindergarten curriculum, learning to read, reading curriculum

I think summer is a great opportunity to focus in a little bit on individual courses and grade levels with the Time4Learning program.  If you have been considering using the Time4Learning homeschool curriculum for your child, you may be curious how the program works, what is included, and how much is, or isn’t required of you and your child.  This summer series will hopefully answer those questions in detail, and make you feel better able to make decisions about whether the Time4Learning curriculum is right for you and your child.

We’ll start off the series with a look at Kindergarten Math.  This is an incredibly important place to begin, because early elementary math is the foundation that all other math instruction is built on.  Clear and comprehensive coverage of the basics of arithmetic are vital to long term math success.

The Time4Learning Kindergarten Math curriculum is a fun, interactive way to build the necessary collection of skills needed for early math mastery. Kindergarten math students will be learning basic math concepts. In case they haven’t picked it up during their preschool years, kindergarten math students will be learning to count to 100, and to read and write numbers to ten. Kindergarten children will learn about cardinal numbers, which indicate quantity, and ordinal numbers, which indicate position.

While learning to count to 100, kindergarten math students will be counting by   1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s. They will learn the concept of odd and even numbers and be able to identify them. Kindergarten math students will also be introduced to sets, addition, and subtraction. They will use numbers and pictures to count objects in a set. They will compare two sets and tell which is equal to, more than, or less than the other.

Kindergarten math will teach them to create number stories using objects so they’ll learn strategies for solving number problems. This will develop an awareness of how addition and subtraction are used in everyday activities. The children will be able to use addition and subtraction concepts to move forward or backwards along a number line.

Just like all of the math levels, the T4L Kindergarten program uses a combination of learning games, lessons, and printable worksheets.  There are over 100 math activities in the kindergarten curriculum, and children can either move through them sequentially, or pick and choose from the lessons, using the Activity Finder. Parents can easily follow their child’s progress by logging into the child’s portfolio and viewing day by day lessons or a customizable and printable report than can be sorted by subject, lesson type, or date range. 

To find out more about the Kindergarten math program at Time4Learning, try out one of the demo lessons, ask a question in our parents forum, or even view the entire kindergarten scope and sequence. Sign up today to let your kindergartener experience the fun and learning encompassed in the Time4Learning Kindergarten Math Program.

Posted under grade levels, kindergarten curriculum, online math curriculum

If you have been homeschooling long, you have probably had an experience where a subject you thought your children would be excited about was the very subject they were bored stiff by.  This is often the case with American History.

If presented as simply a series of chronological events, or as an unconnected grouping of historical literature, American History can be underwhelming, to say the least.  But if you are a homeschooler with Time4Learning, you have an opportunity to learn American History in a whole new way.

Time4Learning offers multimedia American History lessons for grades seven or eight that combine animation, text, and audio to enhance the learning process.  If your child enjoys learning on the computer, and would benefit from an interactive approach to studying history, then American History with Time4Learning may be the program for him or her.  (To try out one of the American History lessons, choose one of the demo lessons from the 6th to 8th grade category on the demo lessons page.)

The course is quite comprehensive, covering twenty-three units, from the Age of Exploration through the modern era.  Each unit includes multimedia lessons, resource pages, lesson quizzes, and unit tests.   The American History Lessons include such titles as: British Taxes, Issues Facing the Nation, Quest for the West, The Effects of Reconstruction, Post War Challenges, and Civil Rights Era.  And students enjoy the variety of both online and offline activities designed to help them master the material.

In addition, each unit includes a teaching guide that parents can use to help extend the lessons through intercurricular activities, discussion questions, and literature suggestions.  All in all, you probably won’t find a more in-depth - - and fun - - American History program for homeschool available anywhere.  Why wait?  Sign up for Time4Learning’s multimedia American History course today!

Posted under Homeschool, history, homeschool curriculum, middle school curriculum, social studies

I’m a work-at-home homeschooling mom, which used to make me stand out in a crowd, but nowadays, I fit right in.  More and more homeschooling moms are having to figure out creative ways to bring in a little extra income while family finances are so tight.  On one of the homeschooling forums I frequent, this has  been a popular topic of discussion, with some moms and dads working different shifts in outside jobs, other moms making and selling things on Etsy or Ebay, or taking in preschoolers to watch in their homes.

Making the choice to homeschool almost always means making the choice to sacrifice financially.  But there are things all homeschoolers can do to make their pennies go further, and their purse strings not quite so loose.

One strategy to save money is to watch local classifieds.  Because shipping has gone up and up, even Ebay purchases can be a strain these days, but finding local options for homeschool-related purchases can make a great deal of difference.  Sign up for your local Freecycle email loop, keep a lookout on the Craigslist listings for your area, and make sure to attend any local homeschool book sales or curriculum fairs. 

Another way to watch your wallet is to make use of all the wonderful free homeschooling resources online.  Blogs like FreelyEducate.com and Free Technology for Teachers are terrific sources for locating quality programs and websites that can help you in your day to day studies.  Even subscription-based educational search engines like Nettrekker, can pay for themselves quickly with the amount of free educational information they can point you toward.

You can also team up with other homeschoolers to save on materials by using bulk-buying strategies.  Programs such as Homeschool Buyers Coop allow homeschool families to compete with the discount prices of large educational buying groups and receive incredible savings on educational subscriptions and supplies.

Homeschool curriculum can be especially tough on the budget, so choose carefully.  Make sure that you match the curriculum to your child’s primary learning style so that you don’t waste time and money on curriculum that just isn’t going to work for your son or daughter.  Take advantage of curriculum demos and samples to “try before you buy.” 

One of the most affordable choices for homeschoolers on the market today is the Time4Learning online homeschool curriculum.  For less than $20 per month (even less for additional subscriptions) homeschoolers receive full access to an interactive K-8 multimedia core program including math, language arts, science, and social studies.  In addition, the program offers state of the art lessons (no lesson planning involved), online quizzes and tests, and full record-keeping.  No other homeschool program available offers so much for such reasonable fees.

Feel free to try out the demo lessons.  For more information, sign up for our T4L newsletter.  Why not get on board with the quality, affordable curriculum offered by the folks at Time4Learning?

Posted under Homeschool, homeschool curriculum, working and homeschooling, working moms

If you have ever had a problem or question about an online website, program, or subscription, you have likely had to contact the company’s customer support personnel.  This process varies widely in website to website, and can sometimes be incredibly frustrating.  Often, we have no problem clicking through the customer service links, and notifying them of our issue, but we might not receive a response for up to a week (if ever).  Other times, we can spend countless minutes hunting through pages and pages of text searching for any sign of contact information.

Time4Learning.com understands that just because you are dealing with an online business does not mean that you don’t need personal service.  We recognize that you are an individual, and have individual needs.  If you are a T4L subscriber, or are inquiring about the Time4Learning online curriculum, it is our goal to make sure that every one of your questions and concerns is addressed in a timely way, and to your full satisfaction.

We make every effort to respond to all email inquiries within 24 hours.  For issues  that need more immediate attention, we have customer service representatives available by phone Mondays thru Thursdays from 8:30am – 7:00pm and 8:30am – 6:00pm. 

If you have a question, or technical issue that cannot be resolved via our FAQ’s or Hints section, then we hope you will not hesitate to contact us.  We are experienced at handling all kinds of issues including:

• login problems
• registration difficulties
• questions about our risk-free trial
• general questions about the Time4Learning program, including how it works, how to use lesson plans, how to use progress reports
• Activating or Deactivating Accounts

In addition to answering questions, though, it isn’t unusual for our customer support team to go above and beyond to help individual customers work through specific problems.  If you are experiencing technical difficulties, we will exhaust every possible angle to find a solution to your issue.  If you are struggling with some particular aspect of homeschooling, we are there with a listening ear and a supportive shoulder to offer the best advice we can.  And if you are dealing with financial hardship, we will often work with you to figure out a way to continue your child’s Time4Learning subscription.

Just because you are dealing with an online company doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to the best customer care available. Time4Learning aims to set the standard for online customer service and customer satisfaction.

Posted under customer service

Algebra can be one of the most difficult subjects to comprehend - - especially for visual learners.  Most of the time it is taught both sequentially and two dimensionally, which can make it especially difficult for anyone with a visual or spatial learning style.

But for those who struggle with algebraic concepts, often all it takes to create success is to add an interactive element to the instruction.  This can be in the form of manipulatives, videos, or animations.  However, purchasing materials like these can quickly add up to a lot of money.  So what is the answer?

Time4Learning offers an online algebra course that is fully interactive, with all manipulatives, lessons, guided explorations, and tools are all included in the multimedia curriculum.  The following are just a few of the tools and features of  the Time4Learning interactive algebra course: 

• Real-time assessment, with pre and post testing
• Voiced screen reading capabilities
• Online math tools including an algebra balance, algebra tiles, equation writer, and graphing tool
• Printable worksheets for offline practice
• Animated and interactive lessons

If your child is struggling to learn algebra the traditional way, or you know that your son or daughter learns best via multimedia paths, then click here to find out more about Time4Learning’s online algebra course.  This course can be used as a standalone curriculum, or as a supplement to a traditional school course.  It can also be used as a summer brush-up or remediation program.  Sign up today!

Posted under Online Learning, algebra course, homeschool curriculum, learning disability, online math curriculum

A quality middle school homeschool curriculum needs to cover a wide spectrum of subjects in order to prepare students for the rigors and requirements of high school. Time4Learning provides grade appropriate lessons and activities that meet state and national standards for learning.

The curriculum is varied, and includes lessons, activities, quizzes, animations,  audio, and video instruction.  It was developed over more than a decade by CompassLearning, and offers language arts, math, science, and social studies.

The following is a sampling of topics covered in the middle school grades using the Time4Learning curriculum:

6th Grade – pi, inverse operations, adding and subtracting fractions, percents, parts of speech, reading styles, genres of literature, paraphrasing, commonly misspelled words, early civilizations, American immigration, plants, energy, force, and motion, electricity, and magnetism

7th Grade – rational operations, number theory, probability, polygons, graphs, permutations, vocabulary skills, summarizing, comprehension, literature, writing, US History from the explorers to the 1970’s

8th Grade – rational and irrational numbers, pre-algebra, plane geometry, 3D geometry, graphing, ratio, rate, and proportion, vocabulary skills, summarizing, predicting, comprehension, informational articles, sentence types

These are just a few of the core areas covered in the Time4Learning middle school homeschool curriculum.  If you would like to see samples of some of these lessons, head over to our demo page.  To find out how other members are using the Time4Learning homeschool curriculum with their middle school students, check out our Parents Forum, where you can read about their experiences and ask your own questions. 

Posted under grade levels, homeschool curriculum, middle school curriculum