Do you have vacation plans this summer? Let an online curriculum come along for the ride!
Web-Based Curriculum Combines Fun and Learning During the Summer
With the school year nearing the end, it’s a great time to start thinking about ways to keep your children sharp and prevent summer learning loss. Summertime provides you and your children with the perfect opportunity to review last year’s work, get a jumpstart on the next school year, maintain their enthusiasm for learning, and explore different curriculum options — while still having fun!
Kate, a mother of a sixth-grader, recently discovered web-based learning. She says, “My child loves online learning. He not only gets to use the computer, something he would be doing anyway, he’s skill building at the same time. Many of the lessons are like video games. They’re interactive and exciting. He has no problem jumping on the computer and logging in. Then he picks and chooses the lessons we agreed upon, reviews past work, and investigates work he’ll being doing during the upcoming year.”
Traveling this Summer? Bring Your Lessons With You
For many families, summer means hitting the road – or taking to the skies – to enjoy a relaxing vacation. You can make the most of that travel time by taking the opportunity to try out an online curriculum. If you have a tablet or laptop and an internet connection, your child can learn while on the go. It’s as easy as logging in and finding the activities and lessons they’re focusing on. You’ll love the flexibility that learning online brings to your vacation.
The best online learning tools let your child set the grade levels independently for each subject, learn at their own pace, and repeat lessons if they don’t understand a concept. Here are a few more things to look for when choosing the right curriculum for your family:
- Detailed printable lesson plans and teaching tools
- Complete reporting for portfolio usage
- Parental support through online forums
- An automated system that grades lessons and tracks your child’s progress
- Affordable membership backed by a money-back guarantee
- The ability to start, stop, or pause your membership at any time without penalty
- 24-hour access from anywhere, using most internet-connected smart phones and tablets
It’s the best of both worlds: you can enjoy your summer travel plans and your child can build additional skills in math, language arts, science, social studies, and more!
Online Learning: The Summer School Alternative
If your children were dreading attending summer school at a local campus in order to build additional skills, review past work, or learn new subjects during the summer months, then an online curriculum could be the perfect alternative. They can learn in the comfort of their own home, on their own schedule. Some parents even take their children to the local park where they use their laptops and enjoy the summer weather as they learn, or include field trips to interesting local areas. Melissa, a relatively new homeschool mom, uses online learning tools for her fourth grader and ninth grader.
“I appreciate the fact that my children can stay at home and learn. My ninth grader struggled in math last year, so she is reviewing the work over the summer and becoming more confident in her math skills. I expect her math grades to improve. My fourth grader tends to get lazy over the summer, but he really enjoys the video game-like activities the online lessons provide. He says it’s not like normal school work at all. That’s a win/win for me!”
Looking for a New Curriculum?
Summer provides a well-timed opportunity for parents who are looking for a either a new or supplementary curriculum. If you’re not happy with your current curriculum you can experiment with different ideas over the summer.
There’s probably no single perfect curriculum, but summer gives you the chance to find one or a combination that works best for your child. Look for a curriculum provider that offers a free trial or a money-back guarantee, and give the curriculum a test to see if it works for your family. If you’re not satisfied with the curriculum you’re working with now, try something new for a month or so. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box and combine a few types of curricula either. It’s all about how your child learns best. Keep in mind that an online curriculum can work for many different learning styles, especially if it includes:
- Entertaining multimedia activities to teach standards-based curricula
- Different grade levels in different subjects for each child for an individualized learning path
- Access to a grade above and below in each subject
- Alternative explanations, so if your child answers a question incorrectly, the activity explains it in a different way
By combining a fun experience with learning, you’ll keep your children sharp over the summer. And with online options, you can still travel or enjoy the outdoors. The flexibility opens up new avenues for exploring educational experiences that aren’t confined to a classroom setting. So go ahead, take the time to enjoy the summer and keep the learning momentum going too!
Is Time4Learning the Solution for You?
Does online learning sound like a good fit for you? Follow the links below to see what Time4Learning has to offer!
