Time4learning Vs. Public School at Home

All over the country, public schools are stepping into the realm of homeschooling by offering free school at home programs. This is actually very valuable to many people who want to homeschool but are afraid to take that step for fear that they don't know anything about different curricula or teaching children. Such school at home programs have downsides that can make this first attempt at homeschooling unsuccessful. There are however other options such as Time4learning that teach children without taking up all of their free time.

School at home programs are administered companies such as K12 and Connections Academy. These programs are used by both the public school systems to teach public school students at home and by existing homeschoolers who want a full curriculum for their children. Both new and existing homeschoolers gravitate toward the free public school at home programs for the security it provides by offering curriculum set to national and state standards. More than that, many new and even existing homeschoolers use the programs because they are free of charge.

Such public school programs can set back homeschooling in several ways. First, a great deal of busywork in included in these packaged curriculums in what can only be assumed to be an effort to make up for the lack of face to face interaction. This means that if public school was hard, school at home programs would be harder. Second, such programs take up so much time and are so rigid in their requirements, that the homeschooled child has no time to explore their passions and creativity.

Similar to these programs is Time4Learning, an online, interactive, subscription-based homeschool program that can be used to teach pre-k through middle school students quickly and efficiently. Time4Learning is similar to public school at home programs because it correlates to state educational standards. It is a positive departure from these programs because it is not as time consuming, allowing the student plenty of time for extracurricular programs and personal exploration of their interests.

Keep in mind that Time4Learning is not free or sanctioned by public school systems. This valuable program is available to homeschoolers at a very reasonable and easily affordable price. The curriculum is also used in many schools under the name Compass Learning Odyssey.
It is my hope that families who desire to homeschool will move away from the time consuming and stifling programs designed to fulfill seat time requirements of public schools and gravitate towards interactive online programs that teach efficiently and effectively, thereby giving children more personal time to create, develop, and grow as individuals.