Time4Learning Curriculum Review

Time4Learning is a homeschooling staple.  Almost every homeschooling Mom I know has used Time4Learning at one time or another.  Because of this, I was really happy when I was given the opportunity to give a Time4Learning review of their curriculum.

In case you don’t know – Time4Learning is online homeschool curriculum (Math, Science, Language Arts, Social Studies, Foreign Language and Electives) for Prek-12th Grade students. T4L offers more than 4,000 interactive lessons that use a combination of multi-media activities, instructional videos, online and offline projects, and more.  Time4Learning also provides educational playgrounds, art, free printables and resources, etc.  In a nutshell – they offer A LOT!  And you can use Time4Learning in many ways:

Just some of the things I like about Time4Learning Curriculum:

• Time4Learning is flexible, and can be tailored to each of my children’s individual needs –  each subject for each child can be set at any grade level.
• Time4Learning allows me, the parent, to be in control of each of my children’s individual learning paths.
• T4L lessons build on existing reading, writing and math skills and parents can easily make adjustments to their child’s learning level if the work seems too challenging or not challenging enough. That’s because where available, K-8 students are given access to one grade above and one grade below their grade placement so they can review or move ahead whenever they need to.
• The lessons use exercises that stimulate the visual, auditory and motor skills of students with multisensory activities that are animated and interactive.  This is good for all types of learners – and chances are, if you have multiple children, some of them learn differently!
• The program allows students to go at their own pace and even repeat lessons if need be.  I really appreciate the repeat option.  Especially for higher Science and Math lessons.  The ability to go at their own pace, makes Time4Learning ideal for all types of learners, whether they are mainstream, gifted or special needs.  Again, great for multiple kids in the same family!
• And the lessons are fun – fun is always a plus!
• Time4Learning provides a secure, ad-free, online learning environment – I appreciate that – ads can be distracting.
• Time4Learning gives members access to an entire year’s worth of materials, so families can begin at any point in the year and use the program however they see fit.
• The automated grading and record-keeping helps parents encourage independent learning, while at the same time, it lets parents stay on top of their child’s progress.
• Detailed reporting makes student portfolios easy and convenient to maintain.
• Time4Learning provides a large number of parent resources, lesson plans, and teaching tools – plus an activity scheduler for your planning needs.
• Because it’s online, Time4Learning can be accessed anywhere, at any time. There is nothing to download (Yah-I’m not a fan of downloading programs onto our computer).  The only requirement is an internet connection.
• With Time4Learning, there are no contracts. You can start, stop, or pause your membership at any time. Plus, there is a two-week money-back guarantee available to new members.  I appreciate money-back guarantees!
• And much more (just keep reading)!

You can click on the following links to learn about T4L’s elementary curriculum, middle school curriculum, and high school curriculum.

And you can check out their interactive lesson demos as well.

To learn even more about how Time4Learning works, click here.

How do you place your child?

During the sign up process, parents select a grade level for their student(s). If you are not sure what grade to enroll your student in, that’s OK – just choose the grade that you think might be a good starting point based on your child’s academic background.  Preschool to eighth grade students are given access to three years of curriculum.  So a student who is enrolled in second grade math and language arts also has access to first and third grade lessons. This allows them to review and advance whenever they need.

High school is organized by courses rather than by grade levels. You can change or update your choices at any time if you find that your child’s learning level is too challenging or not challenging enough.

With Time4Learning, you’re ALWAYS able to make changes. Just submit a request through your parent login, and your request will be approved within 24 business hours.  I LOVE this!

So, what’s the cost?

For PreK to 8th Grade, the monthly membership cost is $19.95 for the first student and $14.95 for each additional student.

For high school, the monthly membership cost is $30 per student, and includes 4 courses. Additional courses may be purchased for an extra $5 per month, per course.  There is no discounted rate for a second student in the high school.

Now that I’ve given you all kinds of great info on the company, want to know what we did today?  Scroll down for an elementary, middle school, and high school lesson.

We logged on using Firefox.

Then we switched to Chrome.  🙂

 Elementary Lesson

We clicked on the big blue circle first

Then we saw this

We chose Math.  My daughter Maggie completed the lesson about learning standard vs. expanded forms of numbers – or in other words, she learned that 290 = 200+90.

I like the flip cards pictured below. 

And here are some of the problems Maggie completed.

At the end, there was a chapter test, with an audio portion to the test.

Yah!  Clearly, she understood the lesson.  It was presented well.

Maggie then jumped to a Multiplication and Division lesson.

She learned that you can use the following four problem solving steps to attack word problems.

I have to admit, I was really curious about this lesson – as in higher math, sometimes word problems can be tough – I want her to do well and have confidence in word problems from the get-go. 

I really, really, REALLY like this approach.

Here’s the problem – with many, but not all of the screenshots. I think there were 16 screens, which is way too many to include in one product review!

The problem is age-appropriate and presented in an appealing manner.

Again, she totally understood the lesson.  She scored 100% on the quiz.

Maggie spent enough time on her lessons that she was able to play a game.  But look – the “game” is educational too.  It’s actually a science lesson.  I LOVE this!

Middle School Lesson

 We had to update our Adobe Flash for this lesson. 

My older daughter Lyndie chose a Physical Science Lesson. You can see the different screens she clicked on to get to the Periodic Table lesson.

 For the Introduction to the Periodic Table lesson, there was a video – with lots of good info.

And an extra resource – in the Tool Kit

This was a difficult lesson.  Lyndie watched it two times.  It was nice that she had that option.  A third time, and some real studying might be in order. 

After the lesson, she was able to play a typing game.

A High School Lesson

(and the different boxes my son clicked to get there)

Below are a few screenshots of the video lesson Daniel watched.

                                                   I like that you can see a written transcript!

Here’s an example of a quiz question:

BRAVO Daniel!  🙂

 FYI – here’s great info on how another homeschooling Mom uses Time4Learning – https://www.time4learning.com/homeschool/homeschool.shtml

And Even MORE Things I like about Time4Learning Curriculum:

• Right when you log on, there is an orientation video – plus there is an extra Help video – these are screenshots from the lower level –

• There’s a foreign language option –

• There’s an art option –

• And there is a Time4Friends option.  Time4Friends is a monitored, Facebook-like community where Time4Learning high school students can connect with one another.  Parents can disable access to Time4Friends if they choose to do so.

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Did you like the Time4Learning review? You can view our other reviews here: https://howtohomeschool.com/curriculum-reviews