Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Recently the kids and I have really been putting forth the effort to streamline some of their subjects. I have to admit that we tend to jump around sometimes and not just stick with what we started. The Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership that is offered has so many options and we have been enjoying just trying out any program that seems interesting. That's one of the great benefits of this program is that you can try anything you like all for one price.
Our oldest is a senior this year and the way I had planned her English out for the year didn't quite work out. I really needed something to finish up the year and when I was browsing the options for 12th grade English I immediately saw something I knew would be a great fit for my daughter.
When I saw the African American Literature course that was offered I knew instantly that would be a great fit for her and would carry her through the end of her senior year. I love the way these programs are set up because they are set up to make things easy for us moms as well as our students! There are sections for Getting Started, Course Outline, Course Sample, More About This Course, Transcript Information and Affiliate Banner. Pretty much anything you need to help get you started is in one of those sections. There is also a great Quick Start Area that gives you the following:
Quick Start
1. Bookmark the course for easy access during instruction.
2. Click “View Lesson Plan” as available and organize as desired (on computer desktop or in a printed format). Lesson Plans for all courses coming soon.
3. Gather necessary resources, found on page 2 of the lesson plan.
4. Click “Go to Class Lessons” and get started.
5. Enjoy the course!
6. Utilize Applecore or your own record keeping system throughout the course.
7. Print a certificate of completion.
Need help? Check out our tutorials or click the live chat box in the corner of your screen.
Here is an idea of the lessons that my daughter is working through.
Lesson 1: Introduction
Lesson 2: Unit 1 - Oral Traditions and Spirituals
Lesson 17: Readings and Reflections
Lesson 3: Interpreting Spirituals
Lesson 4: Unit 2 - North American Slave Narratives
Lesson 5: William W. Brown
Lesson 6: Perspectives of William W. Brown
Lesson 7: David Walker and John Day
Lesson 8: Writings of Walker and Day
Lesson 9: Frederick Douglass
Lesson 10: Francis Ellen Watkins Harper
Lesson 11: Phillis Wheatley
Lesson 12: Unit 3 - Reconstruction to New Negro Renaissance
Lesson 13: Unit 4 - Harlem Renaissance
Lesson 14: Elements of Poetry
Lesson 15: Unit 5 - Modernism and the Civil Rights Era
Lesson 16: Unit 6 - The Black Arts Movement
Lesson 18: Unit 7 - Contemporary
We both really like the clickable links in the lesson, so that everything she needs to work on is at her fingertips. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has also come up with the ability to bookmark each class for the individual students. That way they have easy access and know all the classes they are suppose to work through. The World Book Resources that are included are amazing as well.
Our youngest is in 7th grade, but has some special needs that often make picking and choosing his classes difficult. One of the first things I did was check out the Scope and Sequence section. You can view by subject or grade to get a better idea of what your child could be working through. My son has developed a love for history and seems to do well memorizing things related to history, but when it comes to math and history things are more difficult. He's currently reading a book in our homeschool co-op that he wanted to continue studying that time frame at home. SchoolhouseTeachers.com had a great variety of areas to study, but ultimately American History for Beginners fit in so well that it was the winner for us. Here you can see some of what he is working through:
He has really been enjoying working on the computer. We've had a little more of a learning curve to work through than his sister because he seems to move a little too quickly and not follow the lesson plan. I've had to spend a little more time with him showing him how to find the bookmark session, but he understood after a little time. This might be one of my favorites parts of the program because he knows which classes are his and they are all together.
I love how the lesson plans are written because it's very easy to follow and the kids can do it on their own once they understand how to maneuver around.
Another thing that is great about SchoolhouseTeachers.com is that you can plan an entire program for your child and base it on their individual needs. I could stay strictly in seventh grade for my son or I can pick and choose based on his needs. Writing has been a struggle for us and through the Scope and Sequence I found Sparking the Noggin: Creative Writing with Pictures and thought that might be exactly what my son needed. He's not very attentive to details and I thought slowing down and working on the pictures and describing them might just be what he currently needed. I really like this program even though he's still trying to rush through the lessons. Once again it's at our pace, so I can let him do it on his own and then go back and point out some details that maybe he didn't notice. It's an easy gong program that I think will greatly benefit him.
There are so many options at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that I could never tell you all of them. There are classes for parents, the literacy center to help with reading, lots and lots of planners and printables to help you organize your life, there is a video library that I enjoyed quite a bit. You can go back and watch the Schoolhouse Expos, check out the monthly menus and even read The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. There are also Focused Learning Centers that help you if you and/your child need to focus in a specific area. All the information you need for all the grades are right there at your fingertips. I want to give a shout out to customer service because they are amazing! I had to message them the other day and through the chat link that is always at the bottom right hand section of the page I instantly had a representative that helped me. It was as simple as I needed to log out and log back in to my account, but she was great about it.
I think as our kids get older we are always looking to help them be more independent in their schoolwork. Using the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a great way to allow them that independence. It's also a money saver for the family because you are paying the one price for the option of over 400 classes and we all know that if we purchased those classes individually it would be an insane about of money. Also there is the option of paying once a year or monthly which makes it work for however your family needs it to work. I know that each family is different, so that's what is so great about the Homeschool Review Crew. We all have different family structures and opinions, so I recommend checking out the other reviewers and see what classes they chose for their family and what their favorites were from SchoolhouseTeachers.com
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