Friday, December 12, 2008

7 Reviews/7 Giveaways- Day 5


As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I have been given the wonderful opportunity to review many homeschool products over the next several months. I feel truly blessed to be participating in this review group and I'm looking forward to trying out the products and giving you my honest opinion. This week I will post one review and host a giveaway each day. Please read this review and make sure to leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway.


Sometimes I wake up in the morning at the time I intended to. Sometimes breakfast and breakfast clean-up go very smoothly. Sometimes we start our lessons on time. Sometimes there are minimal interruptions and lots of learning occurs around here....sometimes. On the other hand, sometimes from the moment I wake up nothing goes right and nothing gets done. And while I truly believe that as homeschoolers its okay to set aside the books for a day every once in a while to teach our children that sometimes life just happens...I can't help but feel guilty for not "getting school done". Anyone out there know what I mean?

Our kids have had the opportunity to use the online curriculum from Time 4 Learning for a little more than a month now. Time 4 Learning offers a full curriculum for Language Arts and Math. Plus, they throw in science and social studies programs for most grades at no additional costs. They even keep track of all the lessons your child has completed and the scores they made. You also have the ability to access lessons a grade higher or a grade lower so that the program is tailor made to fit your child's need.

So are you following where I'm going? Time 4 Learning does the teaching for you all through an animated, interactive and safe website. So on those days that the baby won't let you put her down, the toddler is sick, the preschooler is whiny, you can't walk from one room to another because the house hasn't been tended to in weeks, and this wonderful life has suddenly become all too overwhelming...school is taken care of with a click of the mouse.

It is $19.95 per month for your child to join Time 4 Learning and $14.95 per month for each additional child. For that price, your child will be able to log into the site and receive new lessons everyday as well as assessments and printable worksheets. Our kids enjoyed the lessons and thought they were fun, asking often when we were going to "do school online" again. They also especially liked the reward of getting to go to the "playground" once they had finished the lessons. The Playground is essentially an extensive list of direct links to safe sites with online games and activities. As the parent, you can log into the Parent area and set an amount of time you would like for your child to work on their lessons. A counter at the top of the screen counts down the amount of time. Then the child is free to go to the Playground to play (again for an allotted amount of time).

The website states that you can use Time 4 Learning for enrichment, as core curriculum for homeschooled students, or as part of an overall homeschool program. I am pretty certain that our family would not use this program as core curriculum simply because I want the majority of our curriculum to be taught by me and not by the computer screen. However, I think it is wonderful enrichment program in addition to our core lessons. There is one note that I feel is important to state...this is a secular website and there is content that includes the teaching of evolution. As the parent, you have the ability to preview all the lessons your child would be doing and I would certainly recommend doing this. Also, you have the option of completely removing the science programs from your child's access.

The cost of this program would certainly be an issue for us being a large family. However, if you were planning on using the program as your core curriculum, than twenty bucks a month really isn't all that bad. Plus, I can think of seasons in our lives when it would be quite beneficial to invest in Time 4 Learning...for us, it would be the 3 months or so that we are welcoming a new little one to the family. It is always a bit of an adjustment (and not to mention exhausting!) to have a newborn in the house. And when this blessed event occurs in our household, I take the help wherever I can get it!

Check out Time 4 Learning and see if it would be a good fit for your family. Don't miss these free lesson demos as well.

Giveaway: I contacted Jennifer at Time 4 Learning last week and she emailed me back to say that she would love to give a Free One-Month Membership to Time 4 Learning to one lucky winner!

So here's what you need to do:

Leave a comment to this post to enter. MAKE SURE TO LEAVE ME YOUR CONTACT INFO (EMAIL OR BLOG ADDRESS) IN THE COMMENT SECTION.

Seriously, its that easy. You can get two extra entries into each of the 7 Reviews/7 Giveaways by grabbing the button at the top of my sidebar and pasting it on your blog. You have until Wed., Dec. 17th at 8pm (EST) to enter. I will then randomly select a winner for all seven of the giveaways and contact the winners. The winners will have 48 hours to contact me back before I draw again. Good Luck!

We still have two more days of reviews and giveaways so make sure you come back tomorrow. For more reviews of Time 4 Learning, be sure to check out the TOS Crew blog!


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29 comments:

  1. Hmmm... I think you're right on looking at it as a tool to tuck away for those times when you NEED the help - like when a baby comes or other serious change to "normal".

    I wonder, do the science lessons build on themselves? If you chose not to do a particular assignment, could you move on? Or no?

    blessings!
    cj

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  2. Sounds like a great programme. I'm interested in that. Hope I win.
    tina
    tinasjenkins@hotmail.com

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  3. Hi.
    Your review certainly makes me want to look more closely at thsi site. It sound like something we all could use.
    Thanks for entering me,
    Heidemarie
    heidemarie.swanepoel@yahoo.com

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  4. This would be a fun curriculum to play with for a month ~ but I wouldn't want it to be what educates my children, either. The cost would be huge! With only four children it would be $65 every month ~ yikes!
    pfleiderer6@yahoo.com

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  5. I would LOVE to try this out.. Something differant to break the monotony. Hope we win.

    Angela
    mommix32003@yahoo.com

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  6. Sounds like a great program!

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  7. time 4 learning
    I wish I could afford it for my kids. But even 20 dollars a month is sometimes out of budget. Let alone I have 3 kids!

    I could always using winning a month to let my oldest get some different help since he needs it the most.

    Fawn

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  8. This sounds fun for enrichment...I agree with this not being the primary "teacher".

    Thank you for introducing so many new things this week!

    Blessings,
    Denise

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  9. Hi! This is so awesome! I'd love to be entered to win! :) Thank you to all! Blessings!
    Karilyn
    gkputt@srt.com

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  10. Seems to me I have stumbled upon or heard about Time4Learning before but couldn't quite figure out what it was all about. Thank you for the review.

    I agree with you that it wouldn't make a good core curriculum for those of us with a similar mindset. I love your idea, though, that it is a wonderful resource to continue the learning at times of extended illness or welcoming a new baby into the home, etc. I will definitely remember this, especially for my twin 6 year olds, should the LORD ever bless us with another baby.

    Jill
    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jillconnelly/
    connelly_jill@yahoo.com

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  11. This sounds wonderful for those times when it's needed. I agree that the price is a bit high for a supplement but if someone was looking to use it as core it is well within range. I would love to win it, do you think I could claim it after the baby is born? lol
    Thanks for another great review, I'll have to tell more friends where to find you.
    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yabby/

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  12. I am wondering how it compares to SOS. That is something we use.

    BTW your blog is beautiful!

    Michellel
    www.homeschoolblogger.com/michellel

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  13. Again, thanks for a concise review. I have wondered about Time4Learning, but have not taken the time to check it out. After this review, I am bookmarking it to look more closely (after this weekend, which is CRAZY). Your reviews have blessed me this week (both in reminding me of things I had forgotten and introducing me to new ones).

    Melanie McBride
    melanie@jmxservices.com

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  14. I would love to try this!

    http://unafamiliaalaskena.blogspot.com/

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  15. Thanks for the great review! I have wondered about this program. My 6 yr old DD is more right brained and the traditional teaching methods are not working as well. This might be the ticket for us, Thanks!! Love your site!
    Marylou
    Shepherdsviewfarm@yahoo.com

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  16. thanks for the giveaway, that will be so awesome to try it out, maybe that will convience my hubby about homeschooling :)

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  17. What a great opportunity and giveaway, thanks
    freecycling2@gmail.com

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  18. Thank you for the link and the opportunity to win...I have been looking for something to help my ds read...something that does not include Mom.
    You can reach me at cvdmvega@yahoo.com

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  19. I would LOVE to try this program. Thanks!
    Heather

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  20. I'd love to try this. My daughter loves everything to do with the computer. Do you know how the curriculum compares to ABeka?

    Just curious.

    laura_hickerson@yahoo.com

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  21. We came across this a few months back, and I decided to tkae the plunge and subscribe my eldest two (11 and 9). To be honest it has been a god send for my son as he has never felt confident enough to complete anything on his own. Time 4 learning has gave him the confidence! My daughter still argues with me when it is school time but she is more willing to do Time 4 learning than anything else! So it is a thumbs up from us too!

    Now the children have settled into a good routine where they know what I expect of them to complete on a daily basis and because I can print out what they have done (including the length of time they spend on an activity!) they know there is no where to hide and work is now being completed quicker and quieter!

    So from us this is something we do hope to continue to use!

    Cherie

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  22. I have heard about this and wanted to try, it just seemed like a lot of $$$ to TRY it. I'd love to win this one!

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  23. What a wonderful contest! I've been eying Time4Learning for my youngest.

    myhandsare2full@yahoo.com

    Heather

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  24. Thanks for the opportunity to win. I really wish I could afford the monthly price, but thats pretty steep for our budget. I really would love to have a trial time period.

    smittyangie@yahoo.com

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  25. this sounds really interesting.
    silverhartgirl@gmail.com

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  26. This looks like a great hands on learning tool!

    We would be blessed if chosen!

    Valerie
    Creekermom@gmail.com

    http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/CreekerMom/626622/

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  27. I was thinking of subscribing to this. I just started homeschooling my 3rd grader and he loves computer learning.

    http://enjoybirth.wordpress.com

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  28. This sounds very cool!

    Rhonda
    homeschoolblogger.com/Preparation

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  29. I think this might be a great asset to my family. We're going through a tough time right now..and with this tool...I could feel more confident and comfortable that my daughter is actually learning and also having fun. She is very computer minded and the reward system would help motivate her. Thank you for this review!
    Cindy
    cinphil40@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

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