For me, Time4Learning is an oasis
Little Miss is 10yo. If she was in a traditional school setting, she would be in 4th grade, but her work is on a 5th grade level. That was not a problem for me except for Reading/Writing. My approach to homeschooling is to really individualize the experience for each student. So, I understand that what works for Miss may not work for Buster, may work for Taters, and not for Nana. In any case, whatever I was doing with Miss in the Reading/Writing area was NOT working. It happens to be her love, but we both ended in tears almost daily. In comes Time4Learning. Now, she looks forward to these subjects. The program is cartoony, but kitchy and fun. She is being challenged just enough. For the parts that are graded, I can have her redo them if if the percent isn’t as high as I’d like to know that she understands. I also know she is picking things up because she uses what she learned in daily life. She is also using their Odyssey Writer to write her first book. Her one criticism is that when they are explaining something or giving directions, they speak slowly. Most of the time, she feels she got the message, and tries to move to the next page, but the program doesn’t allow that until they are finished speaking. I wouldn’t call this a criticism at all. I actually appreciate this very much!
Buster is 9yo. If he were in school, he would be in the 3rd grade. However, his Reading/Writing is on a 2nd grade level, his Math is on a 5th grade level, and the rest of his subjects fall somewhere in-between. One of the bazillion reasons we home school is for this specific reason – so our children can be where they are academically. I don’t try to “catch him up” in Reading/Writing, nor do I “hold him back” in Math. This is where I would like a bit of tweaking with Time4Learning. There is a Lower Level Login (prek – 3rd grades) and an Upper Level Login (4th – 8th grades). When they asked for my childrens’ grade levels, I explained about Christian. What they gave me was a Lower Level Login for him. I think this is because you get access to every subject offered for a specific grade level. So, he is using the program for 2nd grade Reading/Writing. This he loves! It is just the right amount of a challenge for him.
Taters turns 5yo in May and would begin Kindergarten this coming fall. But, like many children his age, he is a sponge (much as I wish he’d just play all day and not want to do school)! He understands abstract concepts (2+3=), and is reading the beginning Bob books, but his fine motor skills frustrate him to no end. So, he stays away from workbooks which hurts his heart because he desperately wants to be like his older brother and sister doing “real schoolwork”. Time4Learning is perfect for this little guy! He is challenged at the kindergarten level, having fun, and able to use what he understands without having to write anything down.
For me, Time4Learning is an oasis. I wish I was being overly dramatic. I didn’t realize how much stress and tension I carried around with me until this free trial offer fell into my lap. After three days, I looked up and said, “We’re done with school already??” There had been no deep breathing on my part; there were no tears from any little people. Nobody is frustrated, the rest of our subjects go smoothly.
What I’d really like is access to specific subjects. While the monthly charge for all subjects of a grade is far less than I expected, I think an a la carte option would be best for our family. Miss doesn’t do any of the other subjects because we’ve got them covered either at home, or with a co-op. Buster doesn’t even look at the other subjects – why would he look at 2nd grade Math when he’s doing 5th grade Saxon? Taters is the only one, so far I would like the entire grade level for.
Having said that, I have every intention of continuing our use of Time4Learning.
