Reviews of Learning Products

We are trying to get a collection of comparisons or at least candid reviews of the following products. Please be balanced in providing information on your experience with the product or service, what you had hoped to get from it, and what you actually got...

Education Products & Tutoring Service for Home Use

Clever Island?
Hooked On Phonics ?
Score?
Sylvan?
Kumon jr?
Homeschool Curriculua?
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Review of Time4Learning
HeadSprout?
Blog/Personal Website Reviews http://www.ikeepbookmarks.com/OnlineKidsEducation
www.home-schooling-resources.net has great reviews of learning products

One interesting list of elementary education articles.


Learning Styles -->

Phonics- Reading Skills -->

Old Schoolhouse Magazine Review -->

Teaching Resources - Lara Holt -->

Todays Learners - Learning in Todays World -->

Math Resources & Reviews -->

Inspire Brilliance -->

HomeSchool Blog - Nancy Wagner -->

Reading Comprehension - Improve -->

Vocabularly - To Build Reading Skills -->

Your Cross - Parenting & Education Help -->

CarolHurst - Believe in Children as Readers -->

Notes From A Homeschooling Mom - A Hermitt -->

Lets Homeschool -->

Dyslexia - Todays Learners -->

Family Media Guide - Safe Media Reviews -->

PreReading Skills - Phonemic Awareness -->

Computing Technology for Math Excellence -->

CarolHurst - Parents Reading -->

Learning Games for Kids -->

Reading Skills Pyramid -->

Articles on Learning, Parenting, & Fun -->

Parenting in an Electronic Age -->

Reading Fluency -->

Successful Child -->

Elementary learning Online -->

Developer Dispatch CleverMedia Games - pr 6 -->

Food For Hope - Learning Online -->

Elementary learning Online -->

Ed Mouse - the educational mouse -->

Florida Homeless Charity -->

TimeFourLearning - online reading writing math educational program -->

Elementary learning Online -->

TimeForLearning - Learning Language Arts -->

Daryll Cobranchi - PR 5 -->


Clever Moms -->

Carol Hurst Children Lit Site - PR7 -->

NATHHAN National Challenged Homeschoolers Associated Network - PR 4 -->

AZ Homeschool Online -->

WireSpring Mgt - PR6 -->

Homeschool Education -->

Online Homeschool education - AZ Homeschool -->

Midnight Beach Homeschooling - PR 5 -->

Midnight Beach Homeschooling - PR 5 -->

Three Hearts from Home - Review -->


Forum - Best Education Software from Home? -->


Clever Dads -->

CarolHurst - Emerging Readers -->

Help your Child Learn to Read - homeschool.uk -->

Internet Safety - Homeschool UK -->

Online preschool learning - Preschool Games Online Free Resource of Learning & Educational -->

Homeschool Curriculum Review - Christine Rissew -->

Jefferson Homeschooling -->

Homeschool Education Technology - PR5 -->


TOS review of Elementary System

A New School Year

The fall approaches and parents must think how best to help their children succeed this year. While some children breeze thru their academic programs without support, most children at some time require some help to build a strong foundation and to keep up. This note reviews the choices for the younger children (up to grades six):

Tutoring programs such as Kumon, Sylvan, SCORE, or Huntington have become very popular with parents. Kumon has extended their offering down to preschool with Jr. Kumon. These tend to be expensive (hudnreds of dollars / month) and have a relatively rigid approach to education. Kumon jr, for instance, takes the approach that systematic practice of activities that increase in difficulty in miniscule steps assures the students of mastering each skill. Most of the elarning is doen at home supervisied by their paretns with a once or twise weekly to the centers to get new flash cards and worksheets.

Many parents go beyond helping with homework to providing their own educational program for kids in school or a complete homeschool program. For most parents, schedule and multiple children and family dynamics makes this a difficult effort to maintain.

Private tutors are a very hit or miss alternative. Because it depends on the individual and their match with the student, it is hard to generalize. Usually teachers can recommend good tutors who will match up with a child.

Online learning - This alternative has moved from games and research to interactive learning exercises with individualized programs with assessments and lessons. The Online Compass Learning Odyssey is available as part of the Teaching Games from Time4Learning for use at home.

Standards - Contradictory Trends in Public Education

There are two apparently contradictory educational trends dominating public education in the last half decade.

One educational trend is that schools are recognizing that children have different learning issues. The number of children being recognized as "exceptional learners" is steadily increasing. Nationwide, 38% of the children in public school are categorized as exceptional learners and the schools are required to provide them with Individualized Education Plans.

A contrasting educational trend is towards rigid standardization of expectations. The NCLB (No Child Left Behind) mandate is to rigidly define standards of performance. The increasing impact of these high-stakes standardized tests as a measure of acceptable student and school performance is focusing everyone on the baseline testable benchmarks. The dire consequences of failing grades to everyone (students not being promoted, teachers & schools & Principals being publicly watched and professionally penalized) moves this educational trend to an intensely personal immediate issue in many places..

These educational trends appear contradictory but they are not. NCLB insists that all children must learn the same basic materials. But how they learn is now being recognized as not a simple one-size-fits-all formula.

So, how to reconcile the need to have individualized instruction while driving towards high standards of performance. Obviously, everyone would like more individualized instruction from the teacher and smaller class sizes. However, this is not likely since budgets are limited and new funds are needed just to hold onto the best teachers, to shrink school size (a clear requirement to scale back the multithousand overly institutional high schools) and extending education to the PreK year. I believe that it's technology which will come to our rescue in reconciling these educational trends.

Education - Technology to the Rescue

Technology to the Rescue (Of course, technology is one of many changes. Others include better paid and trained teachers, reduce school administration expenses at the district and state level, improve school management, higher involvement of parents with some changes in lifestyles at home for kids to succeed etc etc)

The computer for education is uniquely powerful as a private and supportive way for children to practice their lessons and further their learning.

Many children, especially those wrestling with learning skills different from the mainstream, become very self-conscious about their intelligence and learning ability. A large number of these children expend a lot of time and energy hiding their needs from their peers, teachers, and even parents. It is often necessary for them to need to spend longer periods of time understanding instructions or explanations, to need more time to think about and to work on exercises, or to need more practice time to master basic skills, or to have material presented to them verbally and visually. One example of a new advanced online educational teaching games that can fulfill these needs. Take a look.

Another category of exceptional students are the gifted ones. Oddly, the statistics of success for the academically gifted in public schools are not good. Again, technology offers a way for them to advance and be challenged in a private way that avoids the public issues which become so difficult for gifted children.

This is a new area for me so I'd be interested in feedback with your thoughts and experiences. I hope that the online computer learning system can fulfil these needs. I'm working with some families of special needs children to assess the usefulness of the computer education to them.

Educational Forums, Discussions, & Blogs

We are trying to cooperate with other similiarly minded discussion groups. If you would like to be listed here, please contact us including where in your group you have a recipocal mention.

http://www.blogsearchengine.com/education_blogs.html

http://www.todays-learners.com/

http://www.edmouse.com/

Time4Learning Site Map

Main Pages
Time4Learning - Learn Reading & Math Online - Home
Homeschool Curriculum Help
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Online Learning & Games Overview
Learn to Read & Develop Reading Skills Online
Learning to Read
Phonics Curriculum
Learn Math, Math Skills, & Build a Math Foundation Online
Succeed in Early Child Education with a Solid Foundation
Kids Learning Software
About Us
Presenting: Time4Learning....
Home - All Parents Want Their Children to Succeed. But wanting is not enough. What can you do to really help?
Parents see steady and ongoing improvements in math and reading skills.>> Take the Tour
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A Letter From the Founder of Time4Learning
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Frequently Asked Questions
Reading Skills Pyramid
Reading Skills Pyramid - Overview of Skills per NCLB
Reading Skills - Phonemic Awareness
Reading Skills - Phonics
Reading Skills - Comprehension
Reading Skills - Vocabulary
Reading Skills - Fluency
Math Skills
Math Facts - Where do they fit in building a math foundation?
Learn Math, Math Skills, & Build a Math Foundation Online
PreSchool Math Curriculum
Kindergarten Math Program
Elementary Math
First Grade Math Games Worksheets
Second Grade Math Interactive Games
Third Grade Math Worksheets
Fourth Grade Math Curriculum
Fifth Grade Math Curriculum
Sixth Grade Math Curriculum
Seventh Grade Math Curriculum
Eighth Grade Math Curriculum
Fraction Lessons
Games
Math Games
Educational Games
Elementary Games
Preschool Games
Kindergarten games
First Grade Games
Second Grade Games
Third Grade Games
Helpful Information
Learning and Learning Games - The right balance
Structured Learning
Educational Advisory Panel
CompassLearning Odyssey(tm) for home school & home enrichment
CompassLearning(tm) - The Heart of the System
Learning Games Demos
The Playground - First Learn, Then Play
Reports for Parents
Academic Success - Solid Fundamentals
Old Schoolhouse Magazine Review of Time4Learning
Academic Success - Solid Fundamentals

Home Schooling & Online Learning

Homeschooling parents share a determination to provide a quality education for their children. While homeschooling parents have many different reasons behind their decision, most of these parents share a few traits:

- Determination. You have a fierce resolution to provide a quality education.

- Skepticism. You’ve heard too much to accept claims at face value.

- Frugality. A focus on value and usefulness. You insist on tangible benefits and true value.

Homeschooling parents are eager to adopt learning tools that are effective, reasonably priced, and that help organize and enrich the days. They refuse, however, to subscribe to systems that just recreate the institutional inflexibility of the school systems that they just left.

Many of Time4Learning.com's new members include homeschooling families. When asked why they select Time4Learning, homeschooling parents answer:

“My child can either work independently or with my involvement.”

“Their lessons provide a welcome change of rhythm to the day.”

“Time4Learning provides a core curriculum in a fun interactive format.”

“Unlike other vendors, Time4Learning returns my calls.”

“Time4Learning has the flexibility to support the approach that I’m taking with my children. I wanted control over the curriculum and they gave it to me.”

Time4Learning is learning a lot about homeschoolers and how to work with them.

Time4Learning has learned that homeschooling parents, like most parents, have very tight time budgets and are looking for solutions to real day-to-day problems. As one mother put it: “My kids love me and they love their books, but they certainly aren’t ready to spend their day split between just their books and me. Time4Learning provides another rotation spot in the day which is educationally valid, reasonably priced, and consistent with our approach and values.”

Time4Learning is eager to learn more and is trying to do some research on what works best for children ages 3-10 in terms of a daily and weekly schedule. We get many requests for advice in this area and so would like some input. Thanks. Just post it here or send it to john@Time4Learning.com

Homeschool Online - Time4Learning

Phonics - A Step in the Reading Skills Pyramid

"Mastering phonics is a key to reading." - Everyone would agree.

"Mastering phonics is the key to reading." - Oddly, that statement is controversial.

Lined up on one side are a group who at the extreme, are a phonics-loving-let's-get-back-to-basics-types and on the other extreme are the whole-word-free-spirit-types. It is true that this phonics debate is somewhat ridiculous in that anyone who teaches reading knows that different children learn differently and that almost all children benefit from a balance. All children must master phonics: it's just a question of whether phonics should be the focus.

The NCLB (No Child Left Behind) mandate organized reading skills into five areas: phonemic (& phonological) awareness, phonics, comprehension, vocabulary, and fluency. They recognized that without the prereading skills of understanding how sounds are like reusable building blocks to construct words (t + at = hat, f + at = fat, etc.) and a trained ear to discriminate between assonant sounds (listen closely and you'll hear that "three" is a different word than "free" or "tree"), a child will not succeed at phonics. ( Put another way, phonemic & phonological awareness are key pre-reading or pre-phonics skills.)

Incidentally, I just read a great homeschooling-phonics blog and a blog on the politicalization of the phonics vs whole-word discussion.

Time4Learning takes the approach highlighted by the Reading Skills Pyramid and believes that successfully learning to read requires mastery of several skills (mastery of phonics & vocabulary, among others), not to mention having dedicated motivation.

Summer Skills Sharpener

Your child works hard during the school year and needs a summer
break to come back refreshed. Yet you know that it would be foolish to waste those summer months since academic progress is hard to make and a long summer layoff can result in backsliding.

Have you noticed how much your child enjoys using the computer? Maybe the answer this summer is to use the computer for a summer skills sharpener. This article reviews your choices for software programs for younger (under ten) children for use in the summer or doing the school year.

Learning Games on CDs - These programs can be bought in most stores. These games are a lot of fun with some educational components included. The downside is that most "learning games" tend to be more game than lesson. An upside is that CDs work even when there's no internet access.

Free Educational Game Web Sites - There are a lot of websites with "learning and games" services. But, these sites can be very commercial. Some even invite children to download games which contain spyware and viruses. These sites are similar to CDs in that they tilt towards games with limited educational substance.

Free Learning Sites - There are some free learning sites ranging from those that provide worksheets such as freeworksheets.com and aplusmath.com to those with interactive exercises such as Funbrain, Internet4classrooms.com, and UpToTen.com. However, it is left to the parent to provide continuity, determine progress, and to assemble a cohesive over-all program.

Time4Learning's Subscription Online Service - A good educator teaches skills systematically. Uniquely, Time4Learning both provides children with a personalized, effectuve sequence of lessons and tracks the children's activities. Time4Learning also has reports for parents and safe games for kids included in the $19.95 monthly fee. Learning & Games - Time4Learning is a great summer skills sharpener and a welcome change from more-of-the-same workbooks. Learn More

Math Facts & a Math Foundation

Math Facts - Where do they fit in building a math foundation?

While math facts get alot of attention from parents who seems to like drilling their children on the math facts, the focus on memorizing math facts is often ill-timed in the educational sequence. While it's true that (as many parents say): "There are parts of education, like math facts, that you just need to memorize", it is not true that memorization of math facts are a key to success. In fact, the impatience of parents drilling on math facts (math facts at breakfast, math facts at lunch, math facts before TV, math facts before bed etc etc) can do some real harm, particularly when they are trying to teach the materials before the children are ready. In these cases, the children get frustrated, can start disliking math, and worse of all, can start to feel that they are bad at math. How sad is it when children develop math anxiety due to poor teaching!

Note, for those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, there are the addition math facts (3+5=8), subtraction math facts (8-1=7), multiplication math facts (3x7=21), and division math facts (25 / 5 = 5).

Math facts appear to many parents to be the heart of math education but in fact, math facts are the epitome of the less-important rote learning aspect in a subject (math) which can only be mastered by acquiring basic understandings, not by memorizing the math facts or anything else.

A solid math foundation is build on deep fundamental understandings. The math facts are like the windows of a structure; important but math facts are not as important as the real foundation. As an example of the elements of a math foundation, look at Time4Learning's explanation of the proper sequence for acquiring skills to develop a deep enough foundation for success prior to spending time on the math facts.

Learning to Read. Nothing makes us prouder...

Learning to Read. Nothing makes us prouder as parents than watching our children learning to read. Yet successfully learning to read is not something to take for granted, learning to read effectively is the culmination of a lot of small steps that children take, some long before they are ready to read, others in the years after learning to read.

It's a common thought, although it's not true, that learning to read is a natural or trouble-free process. In reality many children, from all backgrounds, need supplementary help in mastering the reading skills.

Learning to read successfully means not only being able to decode words but being able to comprehend, to read fluently, and to enjoy reading. Too often today, there is a conflict between fun technology (electronic games, TV etc) and learning to read. I've created Time4Learning since I think technology needs to be harnassed to help us learning to read, to make learning to read more fun, and to make education as efficient and as enjoyable as possible.

Time4Learning

Online learning for older students (college) has become common but online learning is just becoming useful for kids. Parents all want to help their children succeed and know that online learning is part of their . Online advice & resources have become incredibly useful to parents.

Many people are trying to learn the ABCs of online marketing...Heres a record of my efforts to learn it...
http://learn-to-market-online116.blogspot.com/2005/08/seo-what-links-matter.html

Shopping.com steals my traffic!!!! Strange but true.