NASA Quest -- Math and Science for Kids

 A recent blog post at the KQED blog MIND/SHIFT (http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/) posed an interesting question: How do we spark a love of math in kids?  The answers: engagement, interest and parent involvement.

It seems to me (in my limited experience with Matthew) that engagement is the most important key.  If kids don't understand the applications of math, and how math helps them learn the other things they find interesting, then they don't want to learn math.  Math as a discrete subject is just another set of problems for kids to solve.  Nothing really interesting about that!

Recently I spent a few hours perusing the web to find some really good math resources that are both engaging and practical.  We use Time4Learning at home as our main curriculum, and the math modules are interesting because it's presented well.  But I was also looking for something more, something that really showed the results that math can produce when trying to learn about the world, to engage a child in learning the math itself.

Luckily, I stumbled upon NASA Quest, a website entirely devoted to lesson plans that engage children in both science and math at the same time.  The website includes lesson plans that engage, teacher resources and lesson plans, and worksheets combined with hands-on experiments that not only require the use of math skills, but incorporate those skills into practical problem-solving.

A sample lesson, Solar System Math, centers around the solar system.  Students begin by reviewing basic unit conversion, and progress to using conversions to make a scale model (in size and relative distance) of the solar system.  The lesson includes math conversion worksheets, the history of measurement, incorporating measurement into scale and distance to understand the solar system, and finally graphing the data onto bar or line graphs to solidify understanding.

In addition to the actual lesson, there are extensions that are really cool.  The SOHO website is all about the sun, and has great photos and interactives to include in the lesson.  The NASA-CalTech website, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has solar system information and photos, include an awesome simulator that allows a user to input the kind of view they want (for example, the solar system from above) and the date and time they want to see and then produces a simulation of the exact positions of the planets and various space objects at that moment in time!  (I'm going to have to play with it more...).  There is also a huge variety of interactives, videos, audiocasts and picture of earth, the solar system and the galaxies to choose from.

For more information on relative size and scale, check out this solar system calculator.  The calculator asks you to input the "size" of the sun in inches or millimeters.  It then calculates the relative sizes and distances of the planets to create a scale model solar system (good for younger children no ready to calculate those distances on their own).  Those numbers can then be used with a roll or toilet paper to visually show the distances and sizes of the planets!

Finally, the PhET website has a solar system simulator that allows a student to enter data about planets and the sun, and then watch a simulation of that data. Matthew played with it for quite a while, first making everything normal, and then inputting crazy numbers to send his solar system completely out of whack.  (The PhET website, phet.colorado.edu, has other really amazing science and physics simulators, that are educational while feeling fun.)

Enjoy!

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

"Dear Mr. Obama" (aka, Field Trip Friday)

This week, one of our writing assignments was a letter to the president.  I asked Matthew to decide upon one thing he would like to see changed, and to let the president know his ideas for change.  Of course, Matthew chose to ask the president to make school more fun, since doing math problems and reading things he doesn't choose are "boring."  His idea is to find a way to make kids more interested and excited about learning, such as more hands-on activities and allowing kids to learn, instead of "teaching."  Now why didn't we think of that?

In keeping with the spirit of "learning is fun," one of the best parts of homeschooling is the ability to take weekly field trips that are fun, and introduce Matthew to something he's never done before.  There are always opportunities to incorporate learning into these trips, whether it's history, or geography, or science, or math.  And I am always on the lookout for new field trips to take.

Some of the best sources I've found for discovering new field trips are:

Groupon, www.groupon.com: Really, I find quite a few things to do on Groupon.  We have done soapmaking, archery, Airheads (trampolines), and movies courtesy of Groupon, and I still have certificates for ice cream-making and a farm visit. When they're purchased on Groupon, they're usually deeply discounted as well.

Whoa Momma, http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/moms/: This is a great blog for Tampa parents, part of the Tampa Bay Times.  The ladies at Whoa Momma provide links to local news stories of interest to parents, and once each week have a list of free things to do with the kids that week.  I've found some interesting things to do through them.

Tampa Bay Times Things to Do, http://www.tampabay.com/things-to-do/:  I have this site bookmarked right next to Groupon and Whoa Momma.  The list of things to do is long and thorough, and often covers Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Manatee Counties.   It's updated daily, and includes editors' picks as well as dates, times and locations (and map links).

Entertainment Book, www.entertainmentbook.com: Entertainment Book is probably best know for its coupons and discounts for restaurants and hotels.   But it also contains coupons for activities that can be done as a family (like mini golf) as well as learning activities like sailing, the Dolphin Boat, and museum admissions (Dinosaur World, eg.).

Living Social, www.livingsocial.com: Living Social is much like Groupon, and provides many alternate resources.  I haven't used living social quite as much as Groupon.

Of course, field trips do not always have to be scripted or purchased.  I like to fill in with hikes in local parks, walks in the neighborhood with the dog, sailing with our homeschool group and visits to local art museums or county historical sites.  Next fall, we will be joining the local archaeological society, so that once each month we can go on digs around the state.

Feel free to add your own resources!

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Goodbye American Revolution, Hello Pioneers!

We've spent the last six weeks studying American history from the time of the first explorers through the American Revolution.  I hadn't wanted to spend quite so long, but Matthew loved covering the time period and seemed to want to continue, so we did, adding Revolutionary War art, music, and biographies to the geography and history of the time.

Today, however, was our last lesson on the American Revolution, as we finished covering the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the election of the first president.  It's bittersweet to end such an interesting chapter of history.  But Matthew seems ready to move on, so off we go.

So, next up...PIONEERS!  I love pioneer stories, and stories of American West.  Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone...the time period from 1790 to 1860 is chock full of interesting people who took our infant country from just some thoughts on paper to a country with a rich history all its own...good and bad, better or worse.

Some thoughts on resources that I may incorporate:

Lewis and Clark, by David McCullough (author of 1776)

"Pioneers", a series on A&E about real families who spend six or eight weeks as "pioneers"

"Dances with Wolves" (Still pondering this one...there are some sex scenes and violence I'm not sure about, and yes, I know it occurs after the Civil War, but it does a decent job of showing the hazards for pioneers and showing the Native Americans as something other than blood-thirsty wild men.  If not, something like it, highlighting the plight of the Native Americans)

"Davy Crockett, American Frontier Legend" on IMDb/Hulu

Miscellaneous resources and activities from Smithsonian's History Explorer.

Avi has a book, Night Flight (I think) which tells the story of a boy who goes looking for an escaped slave, so I may consider that for a lead-up to the Civil War.  I am still looking for good resources on slavery and the War of 1812, however.  Since we'll be visiting Fort Ticonderoga and/or Fort Niagara-Fort George in June when we head up to Stowe for a few days, I'd like some introductory material, as well as something to take with us.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Fun Stuff for Summer

Summer is just around the corner!

As most people with kids know by now, the public school system estimates that kids lose some portion of the previous year's learning over the summer break.  I can't comment on the statistic or how accurate it is, but at least for us summer is a good time to do and see many of the things we don't have time for during the school year.  And since Matthew won't be going to summer camp this year (he outgrew the YMCA's Camp Coast, which has been so good for him the last three or four years), I've been searching for ways to keep busy this summer, to try to balance having "nothing" to do with a few structured activities.  Here are some that I found.

1. Public Library:  My first thought was to start or join a book club for kids.  A search of the local library system found "Bookaneers," a book club for kids age 9-12 (perfect!).  The book for next month is Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, which should be a fun read.  The main library also has a Lego club, where kids can go to the library twice a month and build with Legos with other kids.  We have tons of Legos, but building with other kids is the interesting part.  There is a chess club, but Matthew is reluctant to join, and an arts and craft activity twice a month as well.

2. Hurricane Tracking: Matthew loves science more than anything else, so we are going to track hurricanes this summer, using the free tracking map offered (ad nauseum) at this time of the year in Florida.  Being able to plot longitude and latitude is a good skill to have, as is knowing where hurricanes are going (and when they are coming).


3. Sailing and Horse Riding: We are lucky that our homeschool group will continue to sail every other Friday throughout the summer, so that will be an activity to look forward to.  I am hoping that horse riding will continue as well, on Saturday mornings through the summer.

4. Supercharged Science: Although I don't want over schedule the summer, I think a weekly science and math activity would be a good idea.  We have started working with an online website, Supercharged Science, and have received a series of science lessons and experiments that we can do over the summer.  The website offers a summer science camp as well, but I was unwilling to commit to something that I wasn't sure would work for our schedule.

5. TedTalks: The Ted talks website has a series of short video lessons on a variety of subjects from science and technology to language and literature.  You can watch the video, which is usually less than 10 minutes long, and then answer questions or write ideas about the video.  It's a short, easy way to keep engaged with learning, in small enough chunks that it doesn't feel like the summer is being spent working.

6. The Journey to Wild Divine: A couple of months ago, I purchased a biofeedback system that teaches how to modulate one's emotions, through fun videos and finger-tip feedback.  The system was recommended by Matthew's doctor, and received pretty good reviews on Amazon and their own website.  We haven't done much with it yet, but it seems like a good summer activity when we don't want to be outdoors in the furnace we call Florida (like, every day between 10am and 4pm).

7. Beaches! Swimming! Outdoor fun!  Okay, this was a gimme.  We have great opportunities to head to the beach and swim in our backyard pool or the public rec center pool, and to have lots of outdoor fun.  I think swimming lessons would be a good outdoor activity to add to the fun of just being outside and swimming.  I still have to locate a place for lessons, but it's on my list.

I'm looking forward to getting other great ideas for summer activities from other people who may know about them.  Feel free to comment and let me know what I've missed!

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Robotics Lesson 4: BEAM Robotics

After this week, we will be taking a break from robotics.  As fun as it is, Matthew seems to be getting tired of the subject (surprise!) and I think a little more variety is in order.

This week, however, we finished our module on robotics by discussing the field of BEAM robotics.  Created by Mark Tilden, a University of Liverpool graduate, BEAM robotics attempts to create robots based upon their similarity to living organisms and their simplicity of design.  For these robots, form follows function, and many BEAM robots are designed as insects.

We began the lesson by defining BEAM robotics, using the definition from an Australian encyclopedia for kids on BEAM Robotics.  BEAM is an acronym for "Biology (using biological form to create the design), Electronics (circuits), Aesthetics (visually pleasing, with form following function), Mechanics (particular functions for particular purposes)."  (Solarbotics.net has some good basic info HERE.)  I drew several simple forms on the whiteboard, including an earthworm, a ladybug, and a human, and we discussed which would make good BEAM robots and which would not.

Earthworm: Simple system, but not much movement.  You could make a beam robot based upon the simplicity of its neurological function, but it wouldn't be very interesting.

Ladybug: Makes a cool, simple robot.  Simple movement, no real need for "thinking", and the availability to use sensors, legs, etc.

Human: Humans don't operate on instinct alone but "think" instead; they are more like microprocessors (have brains) than bugs.

Then, we discussed specific principles related to BEAM, including its three principles:

1. "Keep it Simple" with simple analog circuits and a even a small chip with a couple of transistors and/or capacitors and sensors (microcontollers, but no microprocessors -- for a discussion of analog circuits compared to microprocessors, this BEAM wiki has a good explanation.)

2. Recycle and reuse techno-junk (such as parts from old electronic devices)

3. Use radiant energy (such as solar energy) to operate.

I also added some general information about the history of BEAM robotics and the basics of its use from Solarbotics.net.  (Much of the information on BEAM robotics on the net is designed for older children and adults, and has to be simplified for a younger child.  For older kids or adults, Solarbotics.net has an awesome "tutorial" for step by step robot building.  For younger kids, building based upon models or using Lego Mindstorms as a base for building is preferable to teaching them to solder, in my opinion.)

We also discussed Matthew's robots, and which of them fit the definition of BEAM robots.  In essence, the Hexbug Nano and Original fit the bill, although technically they don't use scrap parts or radiant energy, since they are simple circuits that are biologically-based.  The other two -- the mechanical wind-up robot and the solar bot -- also fit the general definition.  We discussed why they fit the definition by discussing their working parts.  We looked at photos of BEAM robots with different functions and talked about which ones we liked most.

Finally, Matthew designed a habitat for the Hexbug original, by taking into account its specific needs: walls at least as high as its antennae so it can feel obstacles (so it turns, rather than getting stuck); flat, smooth surfaces for its feet to walk, room to move in a straight line; "pockets" of room near obstacles so the robot can back up to turn right when it hits an obstacle.  He wrote out the requirements of design and the materials needed, and then drew a sample habitat on grid paper.

His habitat was 12' wide by 18' long, basically larger than the size of the room we were in.  LOL.  But he got the idea.

Susan www.susancalistri.com

Robotics Lesson 3: Solar Powered Robots

Disclaimer: Lessons and links on this blog are free for anyone to use.  However, I am not an teacher of school-age children, so most of my lessons are designed with Matthew in mind, and may or may not follow individual state standards.

This week we continued the lessons on robotics by discussing solar power, and then building a solar-powered robot.

Initially, we reviewed the general workings of an electrical circuit, to refresh Matthew's memory of how they work.  Then, we read some material about solar energy, specifically the chapter on solar energy in the book Alternative Energy Sources, which gives a general overview of the history and uses of solar energy.  I then read aloud most of the first four sections of "How Solar Cells Work" by Jessika Toothman and Scott Aldous, which describes how solar panels are constructed and how exactly the work.  My goal was for Matthew to understand how solar cells turn sunlight into energy, and then use that energy as the power source for electronic devices in much the same way as electricity or batteries do.

I had purchased a kit from NASA to build a solar walking robot, rather than trying to purchase parts to build my own robot.  [According to Cheap Easy Solar Powered Robot on Instructables.com, the parts to make a simple robot powered by a solar cell can be purchased online at digikey.com.  However, buying a pre-packaged bot seemed like the path of least resistance to me.]

As we built the robot, we discussed the parts, including the solar cell, the motor and the wires to make a solar circuit, to reinforce the information about circuits and solar energy in general.

The building of the robot took quite a bit of time, since it was built from scratch, including screwing on legs and putting the gears and motor together in the body of the bot.  However, after about 45 minutes we had a fully-functioning robot that is powered entirely by solar power.

Then we had some fun watching it walk around outside (and stopping every time Matthew shaded it).

Next week we'll try something a little different, including learning about different types of robots, and building Lego habitats for the robots we have built thus far.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Bits and Pieces

I am pleasantly surprised by how the day has gone.  With no access to electronic devices or TV until lessons were completed, Matthew sat down at 7:30am and began working on his lessons.  Three hours later, he was done, and learned some French, Spanish, spelling and grammar.

Go me, go me, go me.

Of course, one good day does not mean a world of progress.  But maybe, just maybe, we won't have another day any time soon where lessons take 8 1/2 hours to complete.

Yesterday's art project was Kandinsky circles, using Art Projects for Kids.  The idea was to create a Kandinsky-esque painting of circles, while viewing this original painting, "Farbstudie Quadrate" by Kandinsky:

This Matthew's rendition.  He chose pastel colors instead of bold colors, and in addition "named" each cell of the painting:

I don't remember any of the names, with the exception of the one on the upper left, "The Atom." 

Science meets art at its best.


Susan
www.susancalistri.com

"Independence Day"

Apparently the lessons of the last day are going to remain unheeded by my little colonial.  Today was more of the same: unwillingness and refusal to complete the work we decided together would be done over a typical homeschool day.

After banging my head against the wall a few times, I decided that the best lesson is the self-learned lesson.  Rather than lecturing, discussing or soliciting input from the rebel, I simply passed a series of my own "tax acts" that set in place general rules of behavior.  Once those rules are in place, he will either comply, or suffer the consequences of more taxes.

Enough silly metaphors.

The new rules are:

1. Matthew is a self-learner, who is capable of learning on his own with direction from an adult.
2. As a result, Mom will create (within our agreed-upon guidelines) a set of lessons for him to accomplish each day.
3. Matthew will be responsible for completing those lessons correctly and completely before he will earn any TV/Wii/DS/computer/Kindle time.
4. Any lessons not completed correctly must be completed or redone.
5. Any lessons not completed correctly by the end of the day will roll over to the next day.
6. If any lessons remain to be completed correctly on Friday, they must be completed correctly before the field trip, or the filed trip will be lost.
7. Any lessons not completed by the last day of school, June 8, will be completed over the summer.
8. Some lessons require mom to teach.  If Matthew yells or becomes disrespectful while mom is teaching, worksheets and quizzes will be substituted.

Okay, so I'm an optimist.  I'm really wondering how long it will take for him to realize that the lessons are not going to go away, and that his smartest move is to sit down and get them done first thing in the morning.  Right now it is 1:15 in the afternoon, and he's not even half done with today's assignments, that could have been done completely by now.  The only bright spot is that he is sitting down to do some of the work sporadically, perhaps realizing that it's not going away.

One thing is for certain: it may be a really long summer.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

"Taxation Without Representation" -- Homeschool Style!

 

This is one of those days that I almost wish Matthew wasn't as quick to learn as he is.  We have been studying the American Revolution, which he loves, and of course the phrase "no taxation without representation" was one of the slogans of the war.

Unfortunately, today's lessons (which didn't include the Revolutionary War) were more of a battle of wills than a learning opportunity.  Matthew walked into our "classroom" telling me from the get-go that he was not working today, and as a result I laid out a schedule that I wouldn't budge from.  (Well, actually I did, but I didn't tell him that.)

Finally, I realized that the situation was not improving, and some changes needed to be made.  I did some research while he was out swinging in the yard, and decided to talk to talk to him about how he would like to learn.

We started off discussing his job (to learn and be respectful) and my job (to love him and take care of him and teach him).  Then I asked him why he didn't like learning at home.

"Mom," he responded, "that's because it's like taxation without representation!  I feel like you're King George and you're trying to tell me what to do, and I want to be independent!"

Okay.

After thinking about that (and realizing that it kind of was like taxation without representation, since I plan all the lessons without his input) I asked him to sit down with me to talk about how we could make homeschool better.  As I've discussed before, unschooling really isn't an option for us; I don't feel like Matthew would learn the things he needs to know to be successful.  But it doesn't matter too much how he learns (within reason), so long as he learns.

So now, I think we have a system of homeschool government that's fair.  Matthew gets free time every day to explore his own interests (again, within reason), and was able to decide what subjects he wants to cover each day of the week.  I decided what sources he can choose from, and the few items where there is not compromise such as learning math from khanacademy or time4learning, and not from mathblaster.

Tomorrow, is a new day.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

American History Lesson Plan: Settlement and Colonial Times

Disclaimer: Lessons and links on this blog are free for anyone to use.  However, I am not an teacher of school-age children, so most of my lessons are designed with Matthew in mind, and may or may not follow individual state standards.

I decided to cover early American History this year, from the first explorers and settlements through the Civil War.  This period seems to be great for teaching younger children and older children alike, since the information can really be as simple or as complicated as you choose to make it.  Matthew had already covered some of the early settlement information during our Florida unit study, since we learned about Ponce de Leon and the Spanish settlement and fort at St. Augustine.

(In fifth grade we will cover American Government -- to coincide with the election in November -- and World History, then come back to the Industrial Age and World Wars later -- I think recent war history is too much for a ten year old.)

I started by looking over Exploring Colonial America through Art and Literature by Kristin Corolla on the Yale-New Haven Teacher's Institute website.  I liked the idea of looking at the colonial period and the revolutionary war through the use of multiple disciplines such as art, music and literature.  I found that the information was a little "dry" for Matthew, however, so I changed it around and spiced it up a little.

To learn about the colonial period, Matthew first viewed this video, The History of Colonial America 1497-1763, on the free website neok12.  The short video tells the story of the early explorers and settlements, and the French and Indian War, through the use of a map showing the effect of each on the geography of America.  We then watched the Schoolhouse Rock video "No More Kings" for something fun.

Once we had a general overview of the early colonial period, we completed the first three lessons of Exploring Colonial America, using one "class session" per lesson (with the first lesson on the same day as the first two videos).  I provided historical information in a lecture format from the background information in that lesson plan as appropriate, and I was able to find the paintings referenced in these lessons online.  I could not get the book Pilgrims of Plimoth, however, and had to substitute other information about the Pilgrims.

[The Magic School House book, Thanksgiving on Thursday, could be part of the curriculum as well for kids in grades 1-5.  Matthew had already read the story, so I did not have him re-read it.  However, it's an engaging story that brings the Pilgrims to life for kids.]

We deviated from Corolla's lesson plan at this point.  In the next lesson, we specifically discussed the the settlements at St. Augustine, Roanoke and Jamestown, the colonists' relationship with the Native Americans, and the original 13 colonies, using Social Studies for Kids on the web.  I had already printed out a large, blank map of the US with Alaska and Hawaii in 2page x 2page format to use for the Florida Unit Study, so we mapped the 13 colonies by coloring them on our large map using this map as a guide. A printable map of the 13 colonies is available on the same website as the map of the US.

Finally, we spent a lesson reading text and discussing the French and Indian War using Social Studies for Kids (in four parts including lessons learned and the Treaty of Paris).  We also reviewed the video on neok12 from the first lesson plan to cement the geography and occurrences of the war on a map.  We discussed the fact that wars cost money to wage, and that the French and Indian War has lasted seven years, a very expensive time frame.  This will lead up to the next set of lessons on the American Revolution.

Settlement and Colonial Times:
Age range 8-14
Time 5-10 hours (5 individual lessons)

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Robotics Lesson, Part 2: Brush Bots

Disclaimer: Lessons and links on this blog are free for anyone to use.  However, I am not an teacher of school-age children, so most of my lessons are designed with Matthew in mind, and may or may not follow individual state standards.

This week we completed our second lesson in robotics.

To start with, I reviewed with Matthew the basics of an electrical circuit and how batteries work (www.brainpop.com).  He labeled the anode, cathode, electrolyte, insulator and conductor from exercises related to the BrainPOP videos.  (Similar information can be found at Scilitlinks, Hyperstaffs, and ScienceKids.  It's extremely important that the child understands simple electric circuits before starting robotics!)

Once I was sure he understood that information, we moved on to creating a "brush robot" using a kit from NASA's robotics unit.  [Similar kits are sold at various online sources including Amazon and Fatbraintoys.com.  You can also make the brush bot without a kit using the instructions in this youTube video.]  While he was building, we discussed the names of each part of the robot, and what role each part plays in the functioning of the completed robot.  For the brush bot, the parts are:

Toothbrush head = body
Button battery/AAA battery set inside a straw = power source
Black and Red Wires = insulated positive and negative conductors
Motor with rotor
Rubber Bands to hold everything together.

Once the brush bot was completed, he played around with it a little:

(Photo courtesy of evilmadscientist.com)

It's adorable, but tends to spin in circles, which can be fun too.  He wrote down his observations in his science notebook about how it moved, where it went, and how it was controlled.  We discussed how it was similar to the hexbug nano, the little commercial bot that moves by vibration on its little rubber legs.

We then read part of a pamphlet for a 4M brush bot that explains how the brush bot works, and some interesting facts about vibrating movement and brush bots.

To complete the lesson, we then discussed the similarities and differences between the brush bot and the Hexbug that we studied last week.  We used a list, but a Venn diagram is just as good if not better visually.  Among the answers that I was looking for:

Similarities:
both are robots
both move
use battery energy
use motor
use circuit
have antennas (we added pipecleaner antennae to the brush bot)

Differences:
brush bot moves due to vibrations/hexbug moves when motor moves legs (mechanical movement)
brush bot is on or off by physically removing wire to open circuit/hexbug has a switch to open and
    close the circuit
brush bot moves in random direction/hexbug can move forward, back up and turn right
brush bot antenna is "show"/hexbug antenna has electrodes that make antennae responsive
hexbug has a chip with transistors that make it responsive to sound and touch and control movement

He wrote these in his science notebook as well.

Finally, I asked him to draw a conclusion about which robot had the bigger "brain" (the hexbug).

Next lesson: Solar Robots.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com

Online Curriculum

I finally did it -- I gave in and purchased an online curriculum.  Time4Learning is an online curriculum that uses grade-level videos, quizzes and other information to provide students with basic curriculum knowledge.  The curriculum is relatively inexpensive, and I don't have to argue too much with Matthew over doing it.

Pros:
1. Basic curriculum for each grade is easy to locate.
2. Separate parent login allows a parent to monitor what the child is doing, for how long, and how well.
3. With some effort, parents can set up an activity schedule for the child to follow independently.
4. Child-friendly format (videos, etc.)
5. Access to one grade level above and one grade level below the chosen grade level, for a child who needs a more customized learning approach.
6. "Playground" has videos and games that kids can use to take a break from learning (with an available "timer" so that they can't play for more than a specified period of time, and have to work for a specified period of time.)

Cons:
1. The curriculum is very basic.  An intelligent child will zip through the curriculum and need a higher grade level fairly quickly.  Matthew missed almost a half-year of schooling, and I signed him up for fifth grade instead of fourth, based upon what he had already learned and was capable of.
2. No science for 7th or 8th grade.
3. Activity schedule for an entire year is easy to set up, but for a shorter period of time it's more difficult. I ended up going through the curriculum that I want Matthew to learn, and writing down the activity numbers for each assignment for each day.  WASTED TIME.
4. Art curriculum doesn't kick in for a full month after the other curriculum.
5. Writing curriculum has to be purchased separately.
6. For some of the activities, the directions are not very clear or are confusing.  I had to help Matthew with understanding what to do with some of the activities -- and even I was confused at times.

Overall, I feel comfortable having the basic curriculum to fall back on, and then supplementing with hands-on, more challenging and engaging work.  I'm not an unschool type of parent (really, Matthew would learn science, pokemon and nothing else if I just let him explore his interests) and the fourth/fifth grade free online curriculum for our state is full time only.  (Children can choose individual classes once they are in sixth grade).

But this curriculum is VERY basic.  It gives the child the specific skills he or she needs, and very little more.  In my opinion the curriculum must be supplemented with hands-on activities like science projects, additional math problems and problem-solving, foreign language, art lessons and music.

Still, it takes some of the basics off my plate, and leaves time for more creative lesson-planning (instead of having to find spelling lists!) and perhaps an occasional work project.

I wrote this review prior to becoming aware of the ability to be compensated for a review, and I did not change my review as a result of receiving compensation for it.  However, please note the following disclaimer as required by Time4Learning.

As a member of Time4Learning, I have been given the opportunity to review their program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. For more information, check out their standards-based curriculum or learn how to write your own curriculum review.

Susan
www.susancalistri.com