Time4Learning Homeschool Curriculum Review

Homeschool!

It can be wonderful and it can be difficult.

So much curriculum to choose from. How do you know what is right for you and your child? Your family?

When I first began my homeschooling journey one year ago I wanted someone to tell me exactly what my child needs and what I should get. But that’s not how it works!

From my experience, it’s really just trial and error. Every child is different and every autistic child is different and every family’s needs are different. 

How do you decide what curriculum to choose?

Are you homeschooling through a charter school? Ask your teacher for advice.

Ask other parents.

Read reviews.

That’s what I did and I want to share my experience with you.

Last year, the year my son was in 4th grade was our first year homeschooling. 

Some of the curriculums we chose worked for my son while others not so much. 

The next few months, once a month I will share with you what we chose, why we chose it and my complete and honest review. How it worked or didn’t work for my son and why.

Today will be the first review.

Keep in mind my child is different from yours. Every child learns differently and what worked for my child may not work for yours and vice versa.

And so, my review of Time 4 Learning.

time4learning.com is the website.

It’s an online curriculum for PreK-12 grade. It has all the main subjects plus some extra like languages and after school activities. When you sign up you choose a grade level and have access to the grade level below and above the one you chose. For example, you can sign up for 4th grade and get access to 3rd and 5th as well.

You can sign up and be billed monthly. You’ll have access to 3 grade levels on all the subjects and can alter what grade your child works best in. My son was below grade level in Language Arts when he was in the 4th grade so we worked on 3rd grade Language Arts with him.

Your child has a login and you have a login. In the parent portal, you can plan the lessons. The program creates a calendar of how many lessons you need to complete each day/week including breaks for holidays, breaks and family vacations.

Everything is online. Your child can log in, click on the lesson plan and watch the lesson videos. Once the lesson or quiz or test is complete there is a checkmark in the lesson plan.

Pros

Everything is online.

Your child can work independently for the most part.

Fairly inexpensive for the amount of things offered in the curriculum.

Access to 3 grade levels to adapt to your Childs learning.

User friendly.

Separate log ins for parents and children.

Extracurricular curriculum.

Cons

Everything is online.

Can sometimes be glitchy and lessons do not work or freeze.

Very long lessons not great for someone with short attention span.

While learning independently child can zone out during the lessons.

*I have to say that different subjects also had their own pros and cons. 

We tried Language Arts and History through time4learning.com. Language Arts work well for us for 3rd grade over two school semesters (full school year) and 4th grade over the summer. However, it was too slow and I wanted something faster paced and more hands–on so we are trying something different for 5th grade Language Arts.

We also tried History and it was completely different from the Language Arts. It was mostly reading. So much reading. My son has a hard time reading and comprehending and remembering what he read. It was so difficult for both of us so we switch to a different program. I will be writing a review on that later.

Want to learn more about homeschooling? Check out my other posts on the subject:

Lessons Learned the First Week of Homeschooling my Autistic Son

10 Reasons You Should Homeschool Your Autistic Child

10 Tips on Homeschooling Your Autistic Child

Everyday Practical Advice on Homeschooling Your Child

Why it worked

My son is not an independent worker. Every subject I am right there with him every step of the way. This was one subject that he was able to do mostly on his own with just a little bit of help from me. By the end of the school year, he was doing mostly independent work.

Why it didn’t work

It’s all online and my son figured out he can just forward and not read things and started just guessing on the quizzes and tests. There was so much writing, which is great, but not for my son who severely struggles with writing. 

Also, I realize I live in the country and our internet barely works but oh it was so glitchy and would get stuck and freeze. It was very irritating.

Final Thoughts

Overall I liked it. Both my son and I liked it. Even though we only used the Language Arts and History curriculums I like that I have access to all the subjects. There is so much this online curriculum offers. I love the flexibility to be able to choose a grade level that fits your child’s learning. There are many resources and extra options. Plus it‘s great for independent learners.

I would recommend it.

If you’re interested you can use my code to sign up.

–Time4Learning Sign up code–

Once you sign up you can send your own code to your friends to join you.

This was our experience with time4learning.com Language Arts. 

Have you tried it? What was your experience?

Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. – Proverbs 9:9