Time4Learning
Time4Learning is an online curriculum for grades K-8 where the content is delivered over the internet and you pay a subscription fee.
It is a complete curriculum, covering not only math but language arts, science, social studies, and more. It can easily be used to supplement any existing curriculum, too.
The content includes interactive lessons (activities) and quizzes, plus printable worksheets. The scope of their math curriculum is very comprehensive with hundreds of interactive lessons. Studying the lessons is similar to watching a video but with interactive questions.
The mathematics curriculum is provided by CompassLearning Odyssey and is correlated to various state standards and to mathematics standards of National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. On all grades, the mathematics topics include number sense, operations, algebra, geometry and spatial sense, measurement, data analysis and probability topics.
For 8th grade, both prealgebra and actual algebra lessons are available. (The algebra lessons are also availalbe upon request even on the other grades).
For grades K-4, Time4learning has a timed "Playground" - a link list of games and child-safe websites where the child can go only after completing a certain amount of time in the lessons. Playground is available on the upper grades too, just without the timer.
Subscription price: $19.95 per month, $14.95 for second child. (Remember you get all school subjects for this - not just math.)
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Reviews of Time4Learning math curriculum
Special review by Maria Miller, author of HomeschoolMath.net
... The math curriculum is very comprehensive as far as the topics covered. On each grade, there are activities for each of the five mathematics strands: Number Sense and Operations , Algebra, Geometry and Spatial Sense, Measurement, and Data Analysis and Probability. (On 8th grade, one can also choose algebra lessons).
Also the number of activities (or lessons) is quite large; it seemed to vary from around 50 to as high as 100 per grade. BUT, no matter which grade you're in, you ALSO get access to neighboring grades math curriculum, so actually you have hundreds of math activities at your disposal.
In the elementary grades, the lessons feature cartoon characters that are sure to appeal to little folks. The characters act as teachers, and...
Read the rest of my review of Time4Learning mathematics curriculum.
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Your situation:
home school family of two boys age 6 and 9
Why you liked/didn't like the book:
I love the interactive lessons and the quizzes at the end. The boys are able to see right away if they did well and if they didn't it is very easy for them to go back and go through the lesson again. I love the parent reports that I can print any way I want and enjoy the fact that I am spending more one on one time with them; rather than grading papers.
Any other helpful hints:
Time4learning has helped us in several areas. Our oldest son is left handed and has had problems with writing mirror image and having a total book work curriculum was very difficult for him. Our youngest son's fine motor skills has not yet caught up to where he is educationally. Math especially has been an issue because even though both children are very good in Math, they struggle at writing the same problems over and over. In the T4L program they can go as fast or slowly as they need in order to grasp a concept or idea.
T4L is computer based and is a point and click program that covers most areas of education. We have enjoyed every aspect of the program and the boys don't gripe now when they do have to work on supplemental writing projects.
The program has helped my youngest with his math, he can repeat examples and concepts as many times as he wants to be sure he understands it. My 9 year old enjoys the science and social studies and goes to those first but then will do extra lessons in language and math. The T4L math program does not require them to do 100 math problems but has printable lesson sheets in case they need more work in one area.
We were sold quickly after trying the Lesson Demos and the boys begged to do more after they finished.
We have loved all of the programs with time4learning but I especially love the math lessons because they are interactive and enjoyable to watch. They sit still, pay attention and actually enjoy math now!
Tracy HB
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Your situation:
I am in the position of directing a homeschool coop style program as the teaching adult for students from three different families. These students come to me because they were either falling through the cracks in their previous school or were likely to do so.
Why you liked/didn't like the book:
Time4learning.com is a great supplemental tool for any individuals who are working with a variety of students at different grade levels. It can be hard to teach math or reading to a student who is at a 2nd grade level, a student who is at a 5th grade level, and a student who is at a 4th grade level all at the same time. By combining instruction using a more traditional curriculum with the great activities available at time4learning.com the teaching adult's time can be stretched to meet the needs of more students.
Any other helpful hints:
Time4learning.com has a relatively comprehensive curriculum in the core areas of math and language arts. They also have a science and history curriculum, but I would not suggest using time4learning.com as a complete science and history curriculum. With the amount of content that they currently have available in these subject areas it makes a much better supplemental resource. However, it is still well worth the cost of the subscription.
Eric Schroeder
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Your situation:
I have a 7 then now 8 year old son. Who loves math. He has always been right at his level or above. We just had a baby and we needed something to do keep schooling going that would not need so much time from me.
Why you liked/didn't like the book:
I love this program because it is so easy to use. My son can sign in on his own and go right to work. The directions are easy to follow. The graphics are very kid friendly. There are quizes and test that they take that you can check his work. If he does not score high enough on a quiz or test then he can do that section again. Until it clicks and he make a high enough score. Some sections even have print outs. My son is really doing great w/ this program. We use this as a supplement and it has been wonderful.
Any other helpful hints:
If you want a curriculum that is bright, colorful and easy to navigate. Time4Learning.com is the way to go. Time4Learning has a great way to keep track w/ the portfolio section that can be printed out for your potfolio that you might have to keep for homeschool records.
Brandy Strouse
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We pulled my son out of public school because he was terribly bored. After several weeks of doing a ton of lesson prep myself I finally decided to try and fork out the money for Time4Learning. At $25/month, it took a big chunk out of my homeschooling budget, but it was/is well worth it.
Why you liked/didn't like the book:
My son naturally likes computers, is a kinesthetic learner and is gifted. The gifted part is important because, for him, like for many gifted children, if his brain is moving, so is his body. You can imagine how well this went over in public school. He took right to the lessons. They are short, imaginative and captivating. I can put headphones on him to help block out the other distractions and he goes to town. The program lets him progress at his own rate, and can jump around a bit if he wants to say, focus on fractions. It also uses visual and auditory means to communicate the information. This helps for comprehension and retention. The only downside is that for some of the problems that really require a pencil and paper, the "instructor"/narrator does not tell them to do so. I found him one day struggling with double digit addition problems with regrouping---trying to do it in his head.
Any other helpful hints:
If you have a gifted child, this is a perfect program for them to really demonstrate their knowledge of the fundamentals. If your child has ADD/ADHD, you might want to preview it first, and let your child use headphones to make sure the activity on the screen captures their attention instead of distracting them.
Dawn-Elise Snipes
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My son Jeremiah was having extreme difficulty learning. Shortly after his entering school in Arizona. My husband and I were devastated when we got a call from his teacher. It seemed his doing assignments and his behavior were a big problem. His teacher actually said that in her opinion, Jeremiah was functioning at a three year old level. We knew this couldn't be true.
They placed Jeremiah in a smaller class, but there were still too many distractions. However, the new teacher made this discovery; our son was very
capable of learning and doing his work, especially during computer hour and while he was taught one-on-one. We held a meeting but the school was
not staffed for one-on-one learning, so they placed him in the k-6 online program using CompassLearning. This is what he uses now in Michigan with Time4Learning.
After his assessment test, Jeremiah's teachers were amazed. He had scored above the requirements!
This is after being diagnosed with developmental delays, ADHD and oppositional behavior. He went from being classified as "functioning as a 3
yr. old" to scoring 80, 90, and 100% on all his assignments. We were thrilled!
Not only was our son able to focus on his work, he was able to retain the things learned. As parents, we could adjust the level of learning to suit his needs. My son is delighted to be using the program. With Time4Learning, the CompassLearning program is so easy to use, fun, affordable, and even better than the previous version. Jeremiah actually has to be reminded that his class time is over for the day, because he wants to stay on past his school time!
We plan on using the program for our next child
as well. It is truly a joy to see our child go from 'struggling' to 'excelling', and to hear him say "Is it Time for Learning yet, Mommy?"
Like many other children, our son LOVES the animations, music and visiting the playground after his assignemnts are completed. My husband and I have used the timer as a reward feature, offering extra playground minutes. As parents you are able to cater the learning level to your child's needs, and view upcoming lessons.
The Dajos Family
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Your situation:
We started using the Time4Learning.com website this past year. My children HATE math but now they look forward to getting on the Time4Learning website and trying different math games and learning new facts.
Why you liked/didn't like the book:
I have noticed a marked improvement in their scores on the tests I give them and amazingly enough I too am getting better at math just from helping them with their lessons.
Any other helpful hints:
Time4Learning is a comprehensive curriculum (Try the demo lessons) that covers math and language arts. Most of the grades also have a bonus of social studies and science. They do have some printable worksheets, so your child does not have to do all their work online. Although we do not use this as our main curriculum, a parent could easily do so and cover the main facts their child needs to know for grade level.
Because my oldest has struggled with math so much, one thing that really impressed me was that they were willing to set her grade level where I wanted on each subject. She is ahead in Language Arts and behind in math and Time4Learning was able to accommodate those needs.
Their customer service is stellar. Anytime I've had a question or problem, they respond quickly and in a professional, the customer is always right, manner. Visit the parent forum.
My youngest enjoys the playground area at the site, which offers a variety of online educational games. She earns time at the playground by completing her lessons. I used to spend half my day arguing with the girls to do their work. Now, when we get into one of those moods where they want to argue, I just say, "Why don't we do Time4Learning?" They never argue about working on these lessons, so it has helped us accomplish more this year than we normally would. Let's face it, we want our children to do well but as homeschooling parents, it is sometimes a struggle to fit everything in by the end of the year. That doesn't mean they aren't learning valuable life lessons along the way, but at times they really do just need to learn math.
My oldest recently took a test so we could see where we were placement wise on math and she had gone up two grade levels this year. She is nearly caught up now and I'm sure with Time4Learning's help, she will continue to excel. I can't recommend this website highly enough. In addition to the benefits of learning, they track your child's progress so you have a record of his work. I print this off every few months and place it into their files I keep. While we don't have to keep these records in the state of Indiana, it is a nice reference to see what we've covered and how she's doing on a given subject.
It is not a Christian curriculum, but I have yet to find anything in it that disagrees with our family's beliefs. However, should we come across something, I would bring it to their attention and we would simply skip that section. The parent has the ability to review all lessons before the child completes them as well so that should prevent any surprises.
You can visit Time4Learning at Time4Learning.com to learn more about this wonderful curriculum or to sign up. Check out their free trial.
Lori Soard
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| Grades: Pre, 2nd, 5th |
Time: 2 years |
Time4Learning is an online curriculum. Actually, its more than that since it has a system for playing games but only after you do your work. Focusing on the math, I have experience with my kids at the preschool, 2nd, and 5th grade levels. The preschool is a systematic set of learning exercises which does patterns, quantity, numerals, features, greater/less than, shapes, etc etc. There are animated exercises and printable worksheets.
The second grade curriculum is more formal with each unit organized around a skill with lessons, interactive exercises, worksheets, and an assessment. Its a broad curriculum whose strength is covering the entire curriculum (arithmetic, measurement, data analysis, algebra, probability etc). In some places, I would like more repetition and depth as in the math facts.
The fifth grade still has elements of the fun and playful but not all of the lessons are truly animated, many are text-based with interactive exercises at this level. Again, the programs strength is that it is a self-running system which takes the kids from lesson to exercise to reinforcement to quiz. And it is a broad thorough curriculum.
Lisa Kinter
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| Grades: K-1st |
Time: 1 month |
My kindergartner has tremendously enjoyed the math activities at Time4Learning.com. We've explored both kindergarten and 1st grade topics, such as hundred chart, time, your 1/2 and 1/4 fractions, addition, number line jumps. One of her favorites was a pattern explorer where she could make colorful patterns on the hundred chart.
She just loves the idea of going to the playground afterwards (often with Daddy). She enjoys the lessons, too. The cartoonish animated characters and environment appeals to her well, plus the encouragement the program gives when she gets the thing right.
Sometimes she is also encouraged to "guess" instead of thinking, because there is no penalty for wrong answer. She actually likes the silly sound the program makes for wrong answer so she's purposefully answered wrong just to hear the sound.
Maria Miller
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