Homeschooling is the new norm for many kids across the US due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For parents who are new to remote learning, choosing the right K-12 homeschool curriculum can get confusing. There are plenty of high-quality, interactive homeschool programs that you can easily use on your tablet, smartphone, or laptop.
These programs are great for those parents who are wondering how to start homeschooling as well as for veteran homeschoolers. These days, parents can access comprehensive, quality homeschool curriculum with just the click of a button. This can include online lectures, online textbooks, regular assessment of student learning, and access to counselors. The Internet is full of material that can be used to supplement homeschooling programs, including animated lessons, interactive learning activities, and printable guides and worksheets.
One of the bigger expenses of homeschooling is the homeschool curriculum. In this article, we will look at the best online homeschooling programs to help you compare them and decide which one will suit your situation the best.
1. Time4Learning
Time4Learning is one of the best online homeschool program serving all grades, from preschool through high school. Time4Learning is a new approach to homeschool. Their online learning materials take advantage of today’s technology. It’s a convenient, interactive homeschool resource that helps children from preschool through high school.
Time4Learning is a convenient, interactive homeschool resource that provides a welcome change from textbook-based lessons, and it helps children learn computer skills that are so important today. Time4Learning’s self-paced, modularized lesson plans allow you to move forward and back through the materials whenever you want.
Time4Learning offers interactive, self-paced instruction in math, language arts, social studies, science, and foreign language. Time4Learning has been refined through years of feedback from educators, parents, and students. Subjects are organized into chapters composed of interactive lessons, printable worksheets, quizzes and tests. Students are guided through the activities at their own pace by an automated system.
2. K12.com
K12’s online homeschool options include tuition-free, virtual public schools for students in grades K-12 taught by state-certified teachers. There are options for three different tuition-based private schools, and a variety of summer school, intensive, and standalone course offerings for kids with special interests or subjects they’d like to brush up on.
K12 provides a unique multimedia approach to home education that also includes a great deal of old-fashioned books, workbooks, and instructional materials with automatic grading and record keeping. K12 offers independent and teacher-led courses for homeschoolers, plus supplemental learning programs in addition to offering public and private online schooling options.
If there are subject areas in which you don’t feel comfortable homeschooling your child, K12's state-certified teachers offer live, online tutoring sessions in math, world languages, English, science, or social studies.
3. IXL Learning
IXL offers online homeschool instruction for students in preschool – 12th grade. IXL offers the spectrum of core subjects: math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. These are available individually, in combination packages, or as a complete curriculum; and families pay by the month to gain access to their content.
4. Khan Academy
Khan Academy, an award-winning nonprofit that offers free educational resources for homeschoolers. It can be used as a homeschool supplement or as a complete course. It is most famous for its quality math lessons, but there is actually quite a wide variety of classes available! All school subjects are available, including math, science, computing, history, art history, and economics.
While it’s not a complete homeschooling program, Khan Academy makes for a great addition to your child’s homeschooling education with video lessons. Khan Academy also offers a lot of unique and high-level classes that aren’t always traditionally offered in schools like web development, computer programming, entrepreneurship, and artificial intelligence.
Khan Academy’s materials include many niche topics for adult learners and high school students that aren’t offered by many other online learning programs. Keep in mind that Khan Academy is not a school as such and your children can’t graduate from Khan Academy or receive transcripts from Khan Academy.
5. Easy Peasy
Easy Peasy is a completely free homeschooling curriculum. It provides 180 days of homeschool lessons and assignments, which covers math, reading, writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, history, social studies, geography, science, Spanish, Bible studies, computer studies, and logic, as well as music and art. The curriculum is compiled using free online materials.
Catering to Pre-K through high school, it allows parents complete freedom to direct their children’s use of the program. Easy Peasy arranges its curriculum into levels which correspond to grades, but from subject to subject, parents can vary each child’s specific level. The program also provides daily lesson plans and direction, enabling independent work.
The Christian-based Easy Peasy program is divided into two sites, one for Pre-K through 8th grade and one for high school. It offers the full spectrum of subjects for elementary school and middle school and a wide variety of college-oriented high school courses.
Offered as a free program, Easy Peasy seeks to accommodate all families who wish to homeschool. With no fees, the risk in trying it is non-existent, making it an accessible option for those who wish to make a first attempt at homeschooling or who wish to test whether the curriculum suits them.
6. ABCmouse.com
ABCmouse is an online homeschool program and app-based learning program designed for kids aged 2-8. It is an award-winning learning program that helps young kids with pre-K, kindergarten, and early elementary school programs.
Spanning 850 lessons across 10 levels, this award-winning curriculum includes a comprehensive reading system (from letter recognition and phonics to reading full-length books), as well as math, science, social studies, and even art (including both drawing and painting). Music, read-aloud stories, puzzles, and educational games round out the ABCmouse.com library, making it a solid choice as a supplement to an existing homeschool curriculum and for a comprehensive educational system.
Children learn step by step. As soon as they complete a lesson, they are guided to do the next one. Throughout the process, ABCmouse.com’s Tickets and Rewards System prompts them to keep going to the next lesson.
You can keep an eye on your child’s progress with the ABCmouse.com Progress Tracker.
7. Connections Academy
If you’re looking for a more comprehensive online learning experience for your kids, you might want to consider Connections Academy. It’s a no-tuition full time online school that offers courses for elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, and high schoolers.
Connections Academy is all about helping students connect with each other even when online. This program features virtual clubs for students with similar interests to join, and it allows kids to communicate outside of the classroom for activities like field trips. Your child will be able to take courses in every subject ranging from math, science, reading, writing, etc. The classes are all taught by certified teachers with a focus on preparing your child for college.
Connections Academy is completely free, and the only thing you have to worry about paying for is the typical school supplies like notebooks and pencils. Each student is assigned a teacher that is in charge of keeping them on the right track. They will do a monthly call that goes over what the student is learning and how they’re doing on their homework. Your responsibilities are to ensure that your child is learning what they need to.
8. BJU Press
Originating with a publishing company established by the faculty of Bob Jones University, BJU Homeschooling offers a thoughtful, well-organized education to its students. With a Bible-based point of view, it attempts to remove drudgery and complexity from homeschooling while still providing a quality Christian education.
BJU Homeschooling prides itself on its organizational features. Parents have access to a detailed online dashboard which allows them to track and control their children’s grades and assignments. Tests and quizzes receive automatic grades, and for the rest of a child’s work, parents can easily utilize the answer keys found in the same online location as the pertinent assignments. The program lays out these assignments in clear daily lesson plans which make independent work simple for students.
The program is flexible, allowing movement among three different grades for remedial or advanced work. It also uses online video classes and physical textbooks, but enrollment includes eBook editions of these texts for those who prefer a non-physical medium. What is more, families can purchase kits to teach an entire grade or a single subject, making BJU Homeschooling a good option even for those who are looking only to supplement their current curricula.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Homeschooling?
Homeschooling involves parents educating their children at home instead of sending them to a traditional public or private school.
How long does homeschooling last?
Homeschooling can continue until a student graduates and enters college. Families may choose to homeschool throughout their children's education, or they may do so for only a few years before transferring their kids back into a mainstream school system. Most colleges are beginning to take note of homeschooling's popularity. Even Ivy League universities have recruited and accepted homeschooled graduates.
How do homeschooled children receive objective grades?
Although grades in certain subjects are not always needed, many families choose to administer graded tests, some through computer programs. The homeschooling environment allows children to progress at their own pace until they have mastered the necessary materials.
All the different approaches to online homeschooling mean that every family should be able to find a program suited to its ideals and preferences. Whether traditional or progressive, Christian or secular, there are options available for any family. What these programs have in common, however, is that they simplify homeschooling and make it readily accessible to everyone.
Online schooling may be the solution to the concerns which prevent many people from pursuing the education they want for their children, whether it’s safety, environment, worldview, bullying, or other reasons. If you are considering changing the way you teach your children, perhaps an online program will work for you.
For families on a budget, there are free homeschooling curricula available. If you choose one of the free options, it’s easy to change to another free option if what you have chosen doesn’t work for you.
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