Friday, September 3, 2010

Time4Learning ~ A Review

time4learningpreschoolI recently had a chance to try out Time4Learning’s Preschool program with my youngest kiddo (3yo).  Time4Learning is an online educational program that can be used as a complete homeschool curriculum for preschool through eighth grade.  

Our Experience ~

As I mentioned previously, I used Time4Learning with my 3yo preschooler.  My ds3 really looked forward to his computer time on Time4Learning each morning.  I got him started by signing him in and getting him to the main Preschool page.

time4learning2Once there, he would usually ask me what the titles of the themes were on his page {although each theme was also represented with a matching icon}.  From there he would usually send me away, “I’ll do it myself, mom” and work independently {until there was something cool that he wanted me to see :)}. 

The verbal commands made it easy for him to independently navigate through each of the four to five activities within the theme…and he was usually able to complete each of the activities with little help from me or his older siblings {although they loved to hang around and watch him having fun}.  Once he completed activity, he was able to click on a check mark icon that would correct his work.

time4learningactivitiesWith a wide variety of activities offered within each theme {storybook, movie, matching, find it, write your own story, etc.}, ds3 was never bored by having to do the same activities over and over again.  And if he did seem to need a bit more challenge, I could always switch to the 2nd level of the preschool program, which contained more themes and more challenging activities.

The Time4Learning curriculum covers language arts and math, and even science and social studies for some grade levels.  The themes in the Preschool Curriculum included ABCs {language arts}, Numbers {math}, Seasons, Weather, Human Faces {science}, Pets,  Zoo, Farm {Science/Social Studies}, and many others. 

I considered Time4Learning to be a fun, independent activity that my preschooler could do while I worked with my older students for a short time.  {I usually allowed him to spend about 20-30 minutes each morning on Time4Learning, this allowed him to complete one to two themes per day.}

100_7036In our family, we tend to see the computer as a fun way to supplement some of our subjects during the school day…especially for the younger kiddos.  Because I prefer mostly hands-on learning for my younger kiddos I would not use Time4Learning as my child’s only Preschool Curriculum.  However, this online curriculum is a fun way to provide preschoolers with some independent learning time…the activities will definitely reinforce the things that they are learning at this age: colors, letters, numbers, etc.

The Time4Learning website provides a detailed overview of the lesson plans for each grade level, along with the scope and sequence for the grade level so you can preview the skills that your child would be learning at each particular grade level.  The website also provides detailed reports that you can access to review which skills your student has worked on during their Time4Learning sessions.

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The current cost of the membership to Time4Learning is $19.95/month for the first child, and $14.95/month for each additional child.  {Note: these prices are subject to change in the future.}

Click here to read about my fellow crewmates’ experiences with Time4Learning.

I did receive a free one-month membership in return for my honest review of our experience with this product.

1 comments:

Cindy said...

Great review! Looks like your son really enjoyed the program.

 

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