My strong recommendation for those homeschooling and using the web is to check out the following.

 Time4Learning’s web-based online curriculum.  They have great interactive lessons for middle school, elementary school, and even preschool.  It’s highly interactive and full of animation and multimedia. Whereas some curriculum are just lots of text with an occassional video or animation, Time4Learning is an interactive experience.  All those tough math concepts seem simple when they’re explained in such alight-hearted manner.  Who says fractions has to be hard? Their great multimedia lays it out so simply.  Give it a try.  Time4Learning is a great homeschool partner. They let you sign up month to month and start and quit at any time. Start by looking at their lesson demos.
 

 Number 2 choice - Time4Writing.  If you are like me, you find some subjects hard to teach.  One of the hardest is writing skills, especially when the kids get into middle and high school.  Expectations are so high. And my kids just don’t react well to my correcting their writing. Want help?  This isn’t a “how to”, it’s an online tutoring course where they work directly with your student teaching writing skills every week and giving one-on-one feedback.  You get the same tutor for the whole eight week course which the kids really like. It’s definitely worth taking Time4Writing’s writing classes. They have sentence writing, paragraph writing, essay writing (these are for writing tests and college essays), and research paper writing.
 
 
Number 3 choice - Fun Building Vocabulary. This is not really a curriculum choice but a fun collection of vocabulary games. Vocabulary is Fun is a leading vocabulary website worldwide with the best flash online word games.  The vocabulary games include an online word search, an online crossword puzzle, and hangman online (their version is called HangMouse).  Users choose the vocabulary list that the online word game will use in the word game. So have some Fun Building Vocabulary.  
 
 
Number 4 Choice - Spelling City. This spelling program should be used by everyone. I would have put it first but I’m not a huge believer in the importance of spelling skills.  Despite that, now that I’m using this site, I’ve returned to having spelling as part of our weekly routine.  You know what’s really cool, check out how the vocabulary site’s science songs have put their vocabulary/spellinglist on SpellingCity.
 
 
Number 5 choice - This learning games website is really what it sounds like.  But they have the best collections.  For instance, they have keyboarding games, memory games,  science songs (also integrated with vocabulary lists), and math learning games.

I haven’t posted anything for awhile! We’ve been doing a lot of hands-on activities and little field trips here and there, so I haven’t been on the computer too much. It was really nice, because Tim hadn’t been on T4L for about two weeks, and we hadn’t really done a lot of ’school’ work, which includes reading. He went on today, and one of the sections he did on language arts was where he had to read a story. I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to, usually is memory doesn’t hold anything unless we hammer it EVERY day. But he was able to read along and only needed a little help! It feels so good to see his accomplishments, the little ways in which he’s progressed, and see him really enjoy learning!

I honestly could not ever see sending him to school, and missing out on all of this! I’m very selfish in that area, I want to watch every step of his development and have a part in his reaching his milestones. It would really be depressing for me for him to bring something home that he did, and know that someone else taught him to do it and not me! The day will come soon enough where he will go out into the world and I won’t be as big a part of his life, but I’m not going to allow that to come any sooner by sending him to school now. Somedays, it is VERY tempting, but when I wake up the next morning I’m ready to do it all over again.

I just realized today that it’s been quite awhile since any of the activities have frozen up on us, warranting going back through them. Has anyone else noticed this? I’m wondering if whatever was causing it, has been fixed.  Oh! I came up with an idea for using the social studies that is too advanced for Tim! I couldn’t stand the idea of just using T4L for the language arts and math, it seemed like such a waste of what is offered. So, I go on the social studies, read it myself, and make a lesson on it breaking it down where he can understand it. Then, it gives me a point of reference to look up other sites that gears it down a little more to his level.

What do you all do when a child has gone beyond what T4L has for their level? Tim is almost done with 2nd grade science, and he finished 2nd grade social studies a few months ago. Third grade social studies was just out of league, it wasn’t interactive enough to hold his attention, and I’m pretty sure science would probably be the same way. The LA extensions aren’t really helpful, either. They need a science extensions!
The LA extensions is good for the first section of it, but after that it loses his attention too much. We use other sites as well, so I’m not worried about his not getting the material he needs, but after today he’s only going to be on T4L for language arts and math. Now, Josh is just getting started with T4L, so I’ll still be using it for him. But, only the math and language arts, again, because the science is too hard for a preschooler.

Or Native Americans, whichever you prefer, is what we’ll be learning about this month. My mom was part Cherokee, so I’m going to tie it in with our roots just like I did with Irish and Italian heritage. Each month we’re picking something to focus on, I think I said this already! I post on so many things I can’t ever remember where I said what! But, I’m so excited! This Saturday we’re going to a powwow!! I’m reading a chapter book to him, a small chapter book in a series called Three Cousins Detectives  Club, called The Mystery of the Eagle Feather. It’s about a boy who makes friends with a child who lives on a reservation, and he learns all about their culture, while at the same time trying to solve a mystery with his cousins. It sparked Tim’s curiosity, and he wanted to go to a powwow. I got online, and there just happened to be one near us on Saturday, so we’re going! I’ve always wanted to go to one! I’ll take pictures and post them on here if they turn out.

Short post today, I have a lot to get done!

I decided to interview Mr. Tim about his use of a program called Time4Learning, to find out what makes it so special. Tim is a kindergartner in CA, but he uses this program to help him with 1st grade language arts and math, and 2nd grade social studies and science. His little brother uses it, too, but was unavailable for comment. Here’s the interview we conducted on April 15, 2008. Read for yourself, and decide if this program is all it’s cracked up to be!

AL- Mr. Lindsay, what would you say is your favorite thing about this Time4Learning?

MT- I like the funny people and animals on there.

AL- Is there anything that you don’t like about, anything that bothers you?

MT- I don’t like waiting for them to shut up when they tell me how to do something and I already know how to do it. They don’t let me go forward and do it, they just keep talking and talking.

AL- Do you have a favorite funny person or animal on there?

MT- I like that ruler guy, the one on the math.

AL- What is your favorite thing to learn about on T4L?

MT- I like science best, it’s fun!

That concludes this portion of our interview, Mr. Tim had a favorite program to watch and he wasn’t happy about the interruption.