About 3 years ago and 2 months into our school year, I had to have major surgery. I had just discovered a new web-based curriculum and was grateful to find it. Time 4 Learning saved our school year that year and Ben really grew in his independence. He was thrilled when we were afforded the opportunity to review it recently. He had really missed it!
Time 4 Learning is an award-winning, web-based core curriculum for math and language arts for grades PreK-8, with the bonus of social studies for grades 2-7 and science for grades 1-6. It can be used as supplement for after-schooling, summer-schooling, or as a core curriculum or supplement for homeschooling. For review purposes, we used it as supplement, having used it for core learning previously, I can tell you it is comprehensive!
The curriculum includes interactive, animated lessons, supplemented by printable worksheets. Not every subject is heavy with worksheets. We used them mostly for extra math practice. For science, they give you a nice supply list for science lessons and experiments. I found that extremely helpful and most of the supplies were normal household items.
Time 4 Learning provides for much parental control. Parents have the ability to lesson plan, schedule a minimum lesson time, and view how much time students have spent on each lesson, as well as quiz scores. They do all of the record-keeping for you! We used Time 4 Learning for 2 days when Ben stayed with my mom. It was nice being able to log in from across town and see what lessons he had completed and how much time he took completing them. Nana is easier fooled than Momma 🙂 They even offer a Parent Forum!
You can see lesson demos on their website, as well as the curriculum overview for each grade. One thing I really love about Time 4 Learning is that you have access to 3 grades worth of lessons. So if your 5th grader is doing math at a 4rd grade level, but language arts at a 6th grade level, you have lessons appropriate for them. You can adjust your chosen grade levels at any time. And your student can move at her own pace, whether that’s more slowly than some or at a speedy pace.
As an incentive for working hard, Time 4 Learning provides the Playground. Here you’ll find age-appropriate games to play, both fun and educational. And again, parents have the ability to set time limits for that as well.
This curriculum is completely web-based. There is no software to download and there are no CDs. As long as you have a computer with internet access, you can access it from anywhere, at anytime. This is a huge plus for families, like mine, who travel a lot or for moms, like me, who homeschool with a chronic illness that sometimes leaves them bed-ridden. Even over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had some bad days and Ben was able to just climb up in bed with me and work from my laptop on his Time 4 Learning lessons.
Time 4 Learning costs $19.95 per month for the first child, and $14.95 per month for each additional child. When used as a core program, I found the price reasonable. They do offer a 14-day, full-refund guarantee and there are no contracts, you can cancel at any time. For a cost of $4 per month, you can put your account on hold without losing any information. This is a great option for families who do not school during the summer months.
If you are looking for a web-based curriculum for your homeschool, I don’t believe you can go wrong with Time 4 Learning. Ben thoroughly enjoys the interactive format, and I enjoy the ease of use and the opportunity for Ben to work more independently.
The only warning I will give is that this is a secular curriculum. Like any other curricula, you’ll want to preview your student’s lessons to make sure there is no questionable content for your family. For example, science is not creation-based. If you are looking for a purely Bible-based curriculum Time 4 Learning is probably not for you.
