Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Back in 2016, I wrote a course for SchoolhouseTeachers.com. My family has been using this online subscription to supplement our homeschool ever since. The site has definitely transformed (and improved) a lot in the past four years!
For this review, I had access to the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership. This provides access to all of the over 460 courses, plus all the other content, for your entire family for a year.
What Is SchoolhouseTeachers.com?
An online membership, SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers a full curriculum for grades PreK-12. If desired, you could use this as your entire curriculum for each of your students. The flexibility is one of my favorite features about this program, and a huge reason why we have used it for so long.
Want to supplement with a course or two like we do? Go for it! There’s a huge range of subjects for each grade level, including foreign languages and electives. I’m still surprised by the multitude of courses available.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a complete curriculum for your family, you can use this too! You’ll find all the core classes plus electives for each grade level. It really can be a one-stop curriculum for your homeschool.
Pick and choose what you want to use, and leave the rest. It’s definitely flexible!
You can move between grade levels easily, which allows you to meet the needs of each of your children, in each subject area. You can have one student working on first grade math and thrid grade language arts. It’s truly customizable, since you have access to everything.
You can browse the course offerings and see what is available before you purchase, so definitely check it out. Here’s the subjects available for Kindergarten:
Courses
You’ll find a huge variety. Some courses (like the one I wrote) are simple text based lessons. These are accessed as PDFs. There is a main page for each course, where you can access the lessons you need, like this:
Then you click on the lesson you are on, and can access the download:
Then you can do the lessons with your kids:
Video Library
And though we don’t typically use these because we live in the boonies with slow, metered internet, there are plenty of courses that incorporate videos as well.
There’s a whole library of videos you can access. Including some Drive Through History and Torchlighters . There are even accompanying lesson plans and worksheets.
There are so many videos you can stream. For some of them, you need to sign up for a free RightNow Media Library account, but that is a simple process. The videos that have that requirement are clearly marked, so you can avoid them if you prefer.
When we have access to better internet, like when we’re traveling on deputation, it’s so nice to be able to pull up this site and stream a video or two.
Lesson Plans
One way that SchoolhouseTeachers.com has really improved over the past several years is in providing support for parents. They’re creating lesson plans to accompany all of the courses on the site. The plans help you to pace the course appropriately, and ensures that you and your student get maximum benefit from it.
Lessons have a checklist for completion of the course, and a daily checklist. That way you know what needs done each day. Here is a sample checklist from one of the courses, They Lived for God:
It gives step by step directions for what needs done each day. There’s even a spot for taking notes, which is helpful.
And though there are lesson plans for your use, you don’t have to use them. Like anything when you are homeschooling, you can adapt and modify to meet the needs of your family.
The Literacy Center
Teaching a child to read? Awesome! But, it can be a stressful part of homeschooling. The Literacy Center on SchoolhouseTeachers.com is ready to help. It’s designed to help you find appropriate lessons to help your students where they are.
You can select skills that your student can do, and expand it to see suggested lessons and activities. So, if your emerging reader is ready to work on word families, there are three different activities recommended. These are easy to access with the links:
You will find loads of resources in the Literacy Center, to help your child build those important language skills.
Resources for Parents
There are plenty of resources to help parents as well. On the site, included with your membership, you’ll find:
- Monthly menu plans for a year (with links to the recipes)
- A parent eBook library
- Courses for parents
- Scope and sequence
- Report card creator
- Schedule builder
- Organizational tips
And much, much more.
How Do We Use SchoolhouseTeachers.com?
SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a fun way to supplement our other curriculum. My oldest daughter has used it the most often – they have several courses on graphic design, starting a business, and managing money. She works through them independently, asking for help when it’s needed.
We’ve also tried a couple of the recipes, watched a video or two when we were in an area with great internet, and printed off some worksheets to help a child with a specific skill. There are always fun holiday themed worksheets, which can be nice when the kids are getting antsy in anticipation of an upcoming special day.
What I Think of SchoolhouseTeachers.com
I really appreciate SchoolhouseTeachers.com. It’s a definite help to me, as it covers such a range of subjects. If I’m looking for a new course, I often check this out first since it has so much.
And, they just keep adding more and more. Which means it just keeps getting better and better.
I highly recommend a SchoolhouseTeachers.com account. For one price, you get access to everything, for all of your family, for a year. It’s a great bargain!
But don’t just take my word for it. To see how other homeschooling families used this product, please click on the banner below.
