My family has had access to this curriculum website for about a month so far - thanks to the Schoolhouse Review Crew - and we've already used it a lot and gained so much just in that amount of time. I can't wait to see how much more we benefit from it over the coming year! It might be worth noting here that my kids are in Kindergarten and 3rd grade, so my review is largely centered around that perspective. We only used elementary grade level and parent/family courses, materials, and resources from the site. That said, the middle and high school levels seemed to have a lot of interesting courses as well, with many of them noting the credit value of completing the course, which I imagine could come in handy when creating transcripts and records.
Our Approach
Our homeschooling is really an eclectic approach, with bits and pieces of what works for us from any source or style of learning and curricula. We have done everything from teacher guided seat work to child-led projects. From my exposure thus far to SchoolhouseTeachers.com, it seems to fit nicely into our system. It can be used in a structured manner, such as following an outlined course for violin or art, or using supplemental materials like worksheets for areas in which my children need extra practice or reinforcement. Yet it can also be used to delve further into topics that my kids are interested in for a more child-led approach. We can do this by using those same courses and allowing my daughter to choose and work through them as she feels appropriate and/or by selecting videos or unit studies to delve further into subjects my kids are passionate about.
My girls seriously found the entire website to be a treasure trove of possibility and were intrigued by everything from a Spanish lesson to art to music. As I was exploring our possibilities, I kept finding them looking over my shoulder or interacting with the verbal prompts from the videos in various courses. (The art lesson we viewed also inspired my daughter to draw an array of "still life" to showcase her skills.) And really, this site could have kept my kids engaged for hours straight. It has a fairly comprehensive selection of subjects to suit nearly any interest area, including categories for Art, Bible, Computer & Technology, Drama & Speech, Electives, Foreign Languages, History, Geography, and Social Studies, Language Arts, Math, Music, Nutrition, Health, and Fitness, and Science! (As a side note: I didn't feel the math offered for elementary students would work as a complete program, but it did offer lots of resources to supplement or complement a homeschooler's core math curriculum and was, therefore, still a valuable tool in that area.)
Music/Violin
One subject we spent some time on was music! Both my girls take violin lessons in person with a wonderful instructor in our area. Nonetheless, the beginning violin course with instructor Nancy Blue, available to members of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, was still of interest to my 8-year old, so she went through some of the video lessons (that also have downloadable documents to go along with them). Nancy Blue (the well-qualified instructor) does a good job of teaching the material and my daughter quickly picked up songs being taught. I'm not sure how well someone new to violin would do if taking this course entirely independently since my kids have had prior instruction, so I would still recommend having a teacher that could help in person to help work through trouble areas and provide hands-on help. That said, it's very possible this course is sufficient to be stand-alone for some students and completion of the entire course can be worth a half credit. One thing I'd like to see in the videos would be a close up or different angle at certain times when it could be helpful to get another view, but Ms. Blue did explain things clearly, so this really is a minor issue. My daughter loved having another teacher's perspective and different ways of explaining things, found new things to learn, and adored playing "Joy to the World" in the process... which really was perfect timing considering we were doing some of this over the holiday break!
Three areas of primary interest to me were the resources for parents, the Focused Learning Centers, and the Daily Writing Prompts (as well as Daily Math, Grammar, and Puzzles)!
Focused Learning Centers Even though we have great curriculum that we love, there have been times when I felt like one of my kids struggled with a certain task of lesson and wished we had more practice options in our curriculum. So off I'd go, into the wide wonderland of the internet - usually Pinterest-ing - to find a suitable supplement. But now I can go to the Focused Learning Centers (found under the Planners & Resources link in the navigation menu at the top of the page) on SchoolhouseTeachers.com when we need supplements, extra practice, support or ideas to help with a particular skill. Yay!
Daily Writing
Writing has always been something that my daughters love to do but they both could always use more practice. The Daily Writing course, offered by Sharon Watson, is a fantastic list of writing prompts for each day of the month (and archives from previous months). We started a new daily writing notebook/journal just for this and both girls had fun with writing (and drawing) based off the prompts we tried thus far! I'd recently stumbled across Sharon Watson's curricula and website, so I was excited to see this Daily Writing series available to us, included in our Yearly Membership on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Other daily practice offerings (not by the same instructor) that we found fun and/or useful were Daily Grammar and Daily Puzzles, though we already have other workbooks for these as well.
Planners & Resources
Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I love organization. I adore having everything planned out and organized, looking pretty! But then there is reality: a bit (or a lot!) of chaos, interrupted routines, and changes of plans happen often... pretty much just part and parcel of this wonderful life! Nonetheless, a handy dandy written planner and good recordkeeping can help get us back on track and stay focused. Not to mention help my scattered mommy-brain to remember important tidbits I'd otherwise forget. So you can imagine my happiness in seeing that access to not just one, but six Schoolhouse Planners (a $125 value) were included at no extra charge for members! These aren't just a few tossed together spreadsheets either. They are a wealth of options to make a custom planner to suit your individual needs, including all kinds of lists and sections for homeschool, household, and calendars. You can make your planner as simple or comprehensive as you wish! There is a general Schoolhouse planner, as well as planners for special needs, primary, intermediate, and high schoolers, and one just for mama. You do have to print them yourself, but considering that I don't use a large portion of most preprinted planners, this is actually a benefit to me - allowing me to pick and choose exactly what is useful for my particular needs and wants.
RightNow Media Library
To top it all off, it is really cool to have access to over 10,000 videos to stream on demand as a SchoolhouseTeacher.com member. This was not initially a primary feature of interest to my family because we have so much already available via Netflix, Amazon Prime, and our own home library of videos. However, these are mostly Christian videos and a lot of them aren't available through our other sources. Some of the videos fit perfectly into our other studies, while others were just plain interesting. Plus, SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers more than a dozen classes based on these streaming videos to provide even greater value!
Any Downsides?
So I've mostly raved about it so far, but there were some things that didn't make it absolutely perfect, in my opinion. Though the courses are good quality, we do have favorite curricula that outshines the material available on the website in some subject areas. But our favorites do add up cost-wise, so SchoolhouseTeacher.com could be a great low-budget alternative to most subjects. As I mentioned earlier, I do think another math program for the elementary level might still be preferred though (but that may change as they add more courses). The site didn't have a super modern feel, seemed to have a lot of words, and sometimes things just felt as though they blended together at first. This got better though, after several times of using the site. I couldn't find a way to get the videos to full screen mode, which I would have liked to do. Additionally, I did feel hugely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of courses and content offered, despite the fact that they have a number of different ways to find what one might be looking for, such as courses listed by subject or by grade level, quick links, focused areas, and a site directory. It just seemed like too much to process at first, which made it difficult to dig in and get started. I would certainly recommend taking advantage of their New Members Hub (found under the Getting Started link on the navigation bar) to give you a foothold and get things rolling. However, it would have been nice if there were more direct links on the new member page - instead of just telling me about something like the My Profile or Quick Links pages, it'd be nice if they linked directly as well - although that does force you to learn how to navigate the site for yourself, which is a benefit in the long run! For me, it was also very helpful to ask other parents I knew who had used the site previously for tips and guidance. I suppose it is also a major benefit to having the Yearly Membership... plenty of time to ease into things and explore every nook and cranny! Regardless, the website seems to be growing, updating, and adding new content, and any complaints I might have are really minor and pale in comparison to the benefit that we received overall.
Final Thoughts
I valued our time using SchoolhouseTeachers.com so far and do plan to continue to use it in the months ahead. I think it could be a valuable addition to lots of homeschool households. If you're interested in finding out more, you could check out their intro video on their website. They also have a Pinterest page that shows the variety of courses they offer and a public Facebook group where you can read more from people who are using the website. If you decide you'd like a membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com of your very own, all my lucky readers can use the following coupon code for an amazing half price offer on a one year subscription to SchoolhouseTeachers.com! Use coupon code: CREWFOLLOWER (valid through 1/31/2016).
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yAs the word "homespun" in the name implies, this book contains plenty of ideas to create a warm atmosphere for the holidays, filled with homemade, hand-crafted goodies. Mingling among the recipes and craft projects were poems, book suggestions, insider's tips, and stories from the authors lives. The whole thing had a relaxed and casual feel, giving me a sense of family and genuineness. It was as though some neighborhood moms got together over coffee to chat and share their favorite holiday ideas and traditions, with one of them compiling it all in a nice collective presentation afterward. I have a family cookbook from my grandparents generation, which includes cooking tips, quotes, and memories interspersed throughout. This ebook reminded me of that. Since my girls absolutely adore cooking, crafts, and poetry, they nearly thought it was an early Christmas present to go through the book and choose their favorites! They wanted to give something from each area a try - choosing from the recipes, book suggestions, games, traditions, and crafts. However, a few things don't apply or work for us right now, either because we live in Hawaii (and seasonal experiences like raking leaves aren't the norm for us here) or because I have Celiac (making many of the recipes less appealing since it would require adapting them to be gluten free). Luckily, there was enough substance in the ebook to give us plenty to try out, despite our minor limitations. Aside from saying that the recipes in the ebook all sound yummy, I won't comment on them further in this review. This is because the changes I would have to make would alter the result, making the taste or texture slightly different, resulting in an unfair judgement of the original recipe. (I am, however, happy to elaborate on our experience with the recipes for any of my readers who also eat gluten free and might be curious about this - simply feel free to email me or comment below if you have any questions!) I enjoyed reading the stories of seasonal traditions in other families (especially the shepherd's dinner - which we haven't done but I'm sure my kids would love), which sparked thoughts on new traditions that I'm considering implementing in our house. I love traditions! Our kids could sit all day listening to books, so we always like to hear about other people's favorites. There weren't many books mentioned in Homespun Holidays: Fall & Winter, but you will find a few treasured story suggestions in there. The poetry was cute, but not awe inspiring or extremely memorable. Additionally, I think it would have been a nice addition if audio book and family-friendly movie recommendations had been included as well... something to listen to or watch while enjoying the other cooking, baking, or crafting projects! "The crafts were the most fun aspect, in my family's opinion. The ideas in Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter could appeal to a variety of skill levels and interests, from the quick and easy to the slightly more time consuming and complex (albeit not too much so). This is nice for those hoping to get a spectrum of inspiration from the book, but maybe a tad disappointing for those that only want simple projects or only things that young kids can do on their own. Nonetheless, I didn't find any of the included ideas to be too difficult or beyond the realm of possibility (given enough preparation and effort). I am not the most crafty mama - though I would certainly like to be (you should see all my lofty Pinterest-y goals!) - so things like the "scarecrow welcome sign" weren't in my realm of readiness and skill level at this point. (I did, however, just get a sewing machine as a gift for my birthday, so I hope to improve in this area soon!) But not to worry! There were also simple crafts that we were able to do with things normally found around the house. "Normally" being the key word here... since finding a good old-fashioned wire clothes hanger took us DAYS. Ha!
The girls had so much fun brainstorming other craft possibilities while we were there! We ended up leaving with a bag full of goodies for homemade gifts - both from ideas in the ebook and of our own design. We plan to include some of these gifts in the "treat bags" mentioned above (which we will use as homemade gift bags).
As soon as we had the chance, we started working on the crafts from the book. About 10 minutes into the wreath project (which is made using plastic trash bags), my 8-year old commented that she "didn't think this would be a fun craft, but it really is!" She loved it. While she handled the majority of the design and execution, we each contributed (even Little Sister was able to help a lot) and we all felt proud of the result. It was a good family project and we bonded during our time spent together working on it. Overall, we liked Homespun Holidays: Fall and Winter. You can find it at The Old Schoolhouse's Store. Normally it costs $12.45 but at the time of this writing, it is currently available for free! (That could change at any moment, of course!) Being free, I would definitely recommend it to others! At the full price, I'd say that it depends on the person and what they are looking for. It does have a lot of value and heart put into it! I think that a lot of fall and winter ideas similar to those in this ebook can be found on Pinterest or elsewhere on the internet, but this format brought things together by season, makes it easy and quick to have a fun selection to choose from, and I think it would be a good starting point - especially for those that would be overwhelmed by the vast number of options (and trying to find them) online. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, there was that special "family feel" to this ebook, making it feel like a friend offering their beloved ideas for enjoying the season. |
AuthorI'm a homeschooling mom of three, enjoying our time in Hawaii and hoping to share some of that experience with you, including ideas, reviews, resources, and information. Archives
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