Reviews

I've been invited to try Time4Learning's online education program for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion is entirely my own. Find out how to write your own curriculum review.

April 22, 2012: Time4Learning Review:

Time4Learning is an online, interactive curriculum that covers the major subject areas for students in Pre-K - 8th grade. Some features that make it especially appealing: complete curriculum, easily adaptable to children's level or interest, little to no teacher preperation, interactive lessons, grades automatically and the ability to print out progress reports.


My children used Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a review on my blog. I felt this was a big blessing for us at the time because my children needed a change of pace. We have used Abeka Math for 5 years now and they needed to have a little more fun. We were also looking for something new for science and history, so this worked out perfectly. I wanted to see how they enjoyed using a computer for the major subjects when we have always used unit studies, workbooks, and an overrall more hands on approach to learning. During the month, I did not have them stop using Abeka for math and grammar, so we used Time4Learning as a supplement in those 2 areas.


My overral impression is great! My children are in 5th and 6th grade, ages 10 and 11. My children loved using the interactive lessons to learn the material. It took them approximately 1 hour a day to finish one lesson per subject and play a few games. This was a little quick in my opinion, but as a parent, you are able to check to see what they worked on, if they completed the lesson, and what grade they received. There is little to no teacher prep depending on how you are using the program. There is additional time spent on worksheets if you choose to print out and have your child work on those. Since I was using it as a supplement, I had my children work on problem areas for math and reading. For science, I had them choose whatever they wished to work on. For history, I chose a higher level because I wanted them to study WWI and WWII.


This was another plus: Children are allowed to work up one level or down one level. Or, if you really believe your child should have access to a different level from the 3 given levels, you can ask permission to use another level for a certain subject and within 24 hours, they will change the level for you. Amazing!


The interactive lessons were the most impressive to my children. They loved being actively engaged during the lessons. My son especially loved the geometry lessons where he was able to manipulate and construct angles. I do believe children retain more when they are actively involved like my children were.


The lessons are short to keep children interested. After doing most lessons, there are quizzes to take after. There are also optional worksheets for many of the lessons that you can print out. I liked having this for the history and science part. I printed out all the material for these subjects that they worked on after using the computer.  Some of the written activities included: Comparing and contrasting, writing  a letter (pretending to be a soldier during WWI), create a comic strip, and reasons for the start of each war. This would be great if you wanted to make a notebook for each subject. My children also enjoy science experiments. Time4Learning includes those as well.

Before trying out this program, I felt my children were ahead in math using Abeka. However, I saw that my daughter was personally challenged by the material. The material is presented in different ways than they have been taught, so my daughter, especially, was being challenged. We did go up a grade in math for my daughter and I realize that might have been the problem, because she is already up a grade from where she is supposed to be. She is supposed to be 4th grade this year, but does all 5th grade and higher level material. So in Time4Learning, I tried 6th grade decimals because she is already learning about decimals. I quickly learned that the way they presented it was challenging to her. She needs lessons broken down and time to review before moving on. With Time4Learning, she learned too much too quickly and not enough time to review. Because of this, I had to sit next to her and explain the material so she would understand. My son, however, did really well with this and loved it. So, it all depends on how your child learns.


Besides the one problem area of math for my daughter, they were able to work completely independent. This allowed me to spring clean my home - Wow!


I believe the math and reading areas on Time4Learning are a great preparation for children on standardized tests as well.


One negative to the program was that my children kept complaining that they would click on the correct answer to be told it was incorrect. Then, it would show the correct answer, which was the one they clicked on. I did not contact technical support for this, so I am sure the issue could have been resolved. My son complained about it quite frequently.