Calvert Homeschool Online: A TOS Crew Review

Calvert Homeschool Online from Calvert Homeschool

Do you wish you could find the perfect curriculum for you?  We've been exploring online learning with our six months of access to Calvert Homeschool Online.

This program offers access to over 45 courses in four subjects of history and geography, language arts, math, and science for grades 3-12 on either an Individual Plan or a Family Plan, all you need to provide is internet access and the device and all the planning and curriculum is taken care of.

The program is well-designed and easy to use. Calvert Homeschool is a well-established and award winning supplier of homeschool curriculum that has been around for a long time.  You will have access to great support and customer service with a simple phone call.

To begin, you need to set up your Parent Account, which allows you to create student accounts, assignments, monitor your student's progress and more.

One aspect we really like about Calvert Homeschool Online is the ability for us to customize grade levels we are working on for each course.  This is a great way to reinforce a subject that you may be struggling to complete, or allow your child to work ahead where they are gifted. A student can even work in multiple courses all at different levels.

A handy, downloadable PDF Student Guide will help them navigate through the program and how it works...I highly recommend starting here!

My testers are working in American History and Science.  I love that with my family plan - everyone can work in a different place.  You choose the course and level in your parent dashboard.

Once your student logs in with their personal login, they are taken to the Assignment screen.  It's so easy - the program automatically takes them to where they left off, no need to remember.  If you prefer, you can create specific dates in your parent dashboard for assignments.

From their log in - they can work on assignments in their course or several other options (determined by the parent in the setup)like working with flashcards for Times tables or State Capitals or learning the Periodic Table.  There are also some games that they can access for review and fun.

The assignments my testers were working on - for grades 5,6, and 8 contained text to read along with embedded video and audio components.  The reading is followed by multiple choice questions or matching exercises to test comprehension.  The family plan includes access for 3 students.

For science courses, hands-on lab work is included.  Students are encouraged to conduct the experiments and complete written lab reports.  Frankly, we had a hard time with experiments because we didn't have all the supplies needed... test tubes, bunsen burners and Benedict's solution are not things I have lying around the house.  But, we simply clicked our way through them and kept going (it will skew the online grading system if you choose to do this).

My testers favorite part was the Vocabulary Arcade - where they could play games with the vocabulary words from the lessons.  Incorrect words are shown after the student misses.

If you have a very independent learner and are a fan of traditional learning, or if you are looking for high level learning for upper grades, or you prefer a solid, well-designed curriculum that has been put together for you - Calvert Online may be a great option.  The courses are interesting and the information has all been planned out for the student to work independently.

Overall, we enjoyed this program.  I'm impressed with the scope of courses and will definitely be continuing to use it as a supplement.

You can try it yourself with their FREE TRIAL and see if it's a good fit for your family.


Find  Calvert Homeschool on Social Media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CalvertHomeschool
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CalvertEdu
Instagram: www.instagram.com/calverthomeschool
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/CalvertHomeschool/


Hashtags:  #hsreviews #Calvertlegacy #CalvertHomeschool #HomeschoolwithCalvert

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Smartick: A TOS Crew Review

Smartick

We have been improving our math, reading comprehension, logic and reasoning skills in just 15 minutes a day with a 6 month subscription to Smartick.

Smartick is an online, subscription based program designed to reinforce skills and provide vital math enrichment exercises by using it just 15 minutes a day, at least 4-5 times per week.  For students ages 4-14.  By using advanced technology, the program actually adapts to your child's skill and and pace (instead of standard grade levels).  My testers completed a placement exercise during their first session - and the program has decided the rest.  So easy to use! 

The program has both a parent login - where we can see progress, speed, a calendar of completion, and more, and a student login. In addition, daily emails are sent directly to my inbox detailing their progress, or letting me know if they missed or stopped their session.  Very handy!

Both of my students could login and create their personal avatar and password.  The program is very intuitive to use, so all I had to do was to introduce it.

Let me show you some of the features:

The goal is to earn "ticks" by answering questions correctly.  The student simply begins, and the program has determined the level.  I love that my students are getting valuable practice in math skills while improving their speed too.  Immediate feedback is given after they answer...either a satisfying (but sometimes annoying to siblings) ding!  Or, a red x with the correct answer shown.

Once they have earned enough ticks - they have options of how to use them.  This is what my testers loved most about this program...the rewards.  Surprising how hard they will work for these...  The ticks can be use to purchase items for their virtual rooms, or even send items to friends.  My girls love this feature.

The program also has an arcade that allows them to play a wide variety of games -shhh...don't tell them they are actually working on memory, reasoning, flexibility and attention skills, it just seems like fun!  One of their favorites was Rush Hour - a puzzle game moving cars on a grid (just like the physical game).

They can also play games, or challenges with a friend. They get to choose the topic to compete in, and then the challenge appears on their login.  This was super fun for the sisters to get to compete against each other.

The students get plenty of feedback on their progress from their login as well. 

They really enjoy this program, in fact - it's the first thing they do daily.  The program has a nice parental feature, it that it only allows them to complete one session per day (otherwise, we'd never get anything else done!).

I'm thoroughly impressed with this program.  It's well designed, and easy to use.  I've already seen massive improvement in their math skills. 

Don't miss it!

Find Smartick on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Smartick
Twitter: https://twitter.com/smartickmethod?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartick/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD_f6FMb0X1QDp5j7puQh1Q


Hashtags:  #hsreviews #Smartick #SmartickFamily #Education #Edchat #Edtech #Mathematics #Math #Homeschooling #Homeschool #Homeschoolmom #Teaching #Edapp



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IXL Learning: A TOS Crew Review

IXL Learning


We are so excited to tell you about IXL Learning!  We have been enjoying the Full Annual Membership in all subjects - Math, Language Arts, Science (grades 2-8), Social Studies (grades 2-8) and Spanish.  We have been long time fans of this online, comprehensive learning program (read our past review) and are impressed with how the program has developed!

Let me tell you how this amazing program works.  It's entirely online, with lessons for grades Prek-12 in core subjects, including Spanish learning.  IXL isn't core curriculum, but a very valuable supplement to your studies for review and mastery. This is truly unique to find a program that can work with all my children.  My three testers love it - grades 4,5 and 7.

It's very easy to use, simply set up your family profile and create a unique avatar and secret word for each student.  I love that it is one easy login for all of us!  Here is a quick peek at ours -

Here is where the program gets truly amazing.  IXL has 2 main sections - Analytics and Learning.  Inside Analytics - you can use the diagnostic tools to determine exactly where your student should start, or you can pick and choose what skills and topics you want to work on, even across the grade levels!  This is the perfect tool for pinpointing and developing the skills your student needs most.

Inside the Analytics section,  you can see your student's usage at a glance.

Monitor their progress and improvement.

Even get detailed information on the types of questions your student needs help with.

As a parent, the Analytic section is my favorite.  I can keep up with what each of them is learning, and I'm just a geek for graphs ;-)  In addition, I get weekly progress emails delivered in my inbox.

The main section of IXL is the Learning. When your student logs into their account, they immediately see program recommendations, base on their past use.  But, your student can also choose what skills they want to work on.

For my testers, we set up a weekly schedule with Math and Language arts practice each day, and Social Studies, Science and Spanish three days a week.  My testers were so excited -they did all this with ZERO complaining!  They even asked to do more than I had scheduled...win for mom!

Here is a quick peek at what the lessons are included.  Your child can work in any grade level or by topic.  The program allows you to sort the skills either way, so you can jump around to skills they need most.  The amount of lessons included is mind-boggling. 

I like to give my testers the opportunity to select the skills they want to practice.  Of course, they go right away to things they have mastered...shhh, don't tell them we call it "review".  But, frequently, I will assign a particular lesson that needs more attention.

So let's look at a lesson.  Each lesson pinpoints a particular skill.  Your students answers the questions, and the program keeps track of progress. The adaptive technology adjusts questions to your student's progress.  Meaning, when they get a question wrong, it will be reintroduced until they master it.  Immediate feedback is given for correct and incorrect answers.  Incorrect answers include an explanation for the student.

All the lessons are aligned to your state standards too.

As each skill is mastered, your student earns rewards.  This is hands-down the favorite part of the program for my testers!  Who knew online stickers, and collections could be such positive rewards?

Math rewards look like this -

A checkerboard with stickers that are uncovered as your student masters skills.  So simple, but so effective. My testers will work extra time just to see them.  Rewards are given for mastery, number of questions answered, and time spent.  I like that all my testers can earn rewards, even if they are struggling for mastery.

Language Arts rewards are collections.  What child doesn't like collecting?  Here's ours -

You can also print out certificates for you student, either as a record of what they have accomplished, or as a reward.

We are huge fans of IX.  It is so easy to use, and my testers give it a hearty six thumbs up!





Find IXL Learning on Social Media:

Facebook: facebook.com/IXL
Twitter: twitter.com/IXLLearning
Pinterest: pinterest.com/IXL
YouTube: youtube.com/IXL

Hashtags: #hsreviews #ixl #iloveixl

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