Over the last month, Star Girl and I have been trying out the Time4Learning online curriculum. We focused on the Math and Science portions of the site, as that was the area we most needed to supplement with her current Learning Adventures curriculum. Over the last few months we have tried a number of math and science programs and really had not been impressed. We decided to start this one from the very first lesson and although it would make us behind a little bit in the big picture, it would give us a good idea of how the program works overall.
Let me start by saying that Math is a huge challenge for Star Girl. Time4Learning was our 4th try this year and she was really getting frustrated. She needs a “hands on” approach, but I am NOT a math teacher. I have an art and history degree– so although our language arts, fine arts and history are going well– the math and science portions of our day are more challenging. Math has always been a source of tears in our house- even before homeschooling. So, on day one, we grabbed two chairs and jumped in to 7th grade math together. And… she LOVED IT!!! Absolutely enjoyed it. I wish you could see my giant smile. From day one, it was a great fit.
I asked Star Girl what she would like to say about Time4Learning and she gave me a big nod and said, “It keeps me focused. It was interesting and I enjoyed how they put it all together”. What she means is that the lessons were easy enough to follow and interesting enough to keep her attention. As a child who struggles with ADD, Star Girl often has trouble keeping her focus on a lesson long enough to complete a long string of equations. Time4Learning breaks each lesson down in small doses but keeps it challenging and interesting. They also interject encouragement and fun along the way which really helps calm the nerves. In the past, Star Girl has gotten so overwhelmed she has shouted at her screen or just turned it off and walked away. In the 30 days we’ve used Time4Learning, she only experienced one day of minor frustration but the layout of the program actually corrected the issue by giving her a perfectly timed “re-teach” of the lesson and she got through it. For the first time in 3 years Star Girl is getting A’s and B’s in Math and is motivated to keep learning more!
I will say the math alone is enough to subscribe to Time4Learning and we intend to keep subscribing as we move into our 3rd quarter. We will also continue to use the science. The Learning Adventures curriculum we’re working with does not support math at all, but they do have a little bit of science. We felt as if it wasn’t enough and looked for something more in depth. The Time4Learning is pretty good. Star Girl enjoys it and although some of the characters in the animations and videos are a little annoying, overall the lessons are timed well and cover a good amount of information to keep her focused but not overwhelm her. That seems to be the key for the whole program, I think– for my daughter, the lessons are just right. We do both Math and Science every day and she is ready to jump in and learn each day.
I can’t speak at length on the Language Arts because we only tried it for one day. We really enjoy Learning Adventures for Language Arts and Social Studies, so we just didn’t feel it necessary to add more there. I might utilize some of the worksheets from the Language Arts to supplement what we’re doing, but we won’t be going through the online lessons for those subjects.
Overall we have truly enjoyed our Time4Learning experience and have already recommended it to other families who have struggling math students. It is a great fit for us. We appreciate the opportunity to try out the site and do plan to continue our subscription into 2014.
Disclosure: My opinions are entirely my own. The content was not written by Time4Learning, but I was compensated.
