We have been homeschooling our kids for the past eight years.
We started when my son was ten, and my daughter was seven. I have spent many of those years searching for the best online homeschool programs. Anything to make homeschooling as stress-free as possible.
Homeschooling little kids is easy.
You create a homeschooling schedule that covers the basics and indulge in interesting projects on any subject you like, making learning all about fun.
But homeschooling teenagers? Hmm. That’s a different story.
****March 2020 Update***
I just learned that due to recent school closures Study.com is offering free resources to students and teachers. Click here to find out more.
Homeschooling Teenagers
Once your kids get to high school age you can’t help but start to panic.
Words like Algebra and trigonometry are thrown around, and you are supposed to know the difference between a compound adjective and a noun.
Not to mention that you still have to do the laundry, make dinner and sometimes juggle homeschooling and working full time.
It can suddenly all seem very overwhelming.
It’s about this time that homeschooling parents start scouring the internet for some help.
While there are many, many courses out there with endless resources, you want to know that the programme you sign up for will benefit your kids and, more importantly, they will enjoy it.
As you can imagine, with two teenagers who study at home we have tried our fair share of online resources.
We have paid hundreds of dollars to study aids, all of which have promised to teach my kids everything they need to know in order to say that they are successful homeschoolers.
Only to find that two months down the line the lessons were boring and my kids dreaded turning on the computer.
And then last year we found that perfect course.
One of The Best Online Homeschool Programs Out There.
Study.com
Study.com is one of the answers to any high school homeschooled students dreams (well, certainly their parents dream anyway!)
It is an online education hub that teaches you everything you would learn in school, and much, much more. Your kids can even earn college credits which they can transfer to over 1500 colleges throughout the US.
But here’s the best part for us homeschooling families. Study.com have their own dedicated online homeschool program.
This tailored homeschool resource page is aimed exclusively at homeschool families and contains a curriculum package that fulfils every homeschool families needs.
Here Are A Few Reasons Why Homeschoolers Will Love The Programme!
Homeschooling with Study.com:
- Is flexible and practical – the new Family Plan offers connected parent and child accounts
- Allows students to achieve dual credit
- Gives students the opportunity to learn non-traditional subjects like marketing or criminology
- Offers useful supplementary information such as state-specific homeschooling laws
There is also a useful FAQ for families new to homeschooling, based upon the experiences of the many people who have had to pick their way carefully through this confusing and often daunting process.
What do you think? Have I convinced you?!
With over 25,000 video lessons (yes, you read that right!) and other resources, you are guaranteed to find what you need to study.
To put the icing on the cake, Study.com includes comprehensive study guides and practice tests to help students prepare for CLEP and DSST exams, earn credits, and save money on their college education.
I was so excited when I discovered this online gem a few months ago and really, I have never looked back and know you won’t either.
Are You Cut Out To Be A Homeschooling Parent? Take Our 3 Min Quiz To Find Out NOW!
Why Do You Love Study.com So Much?
All kids learn very differently.
My daughter is a visual learner. Give her a page of information to read and her eyes glaze over but put her in front of a video and she will get it instantly.
Study.com lets you choose by either your education level or your subject, and there are thousands of videos for each lesson making learning heaps more interesting.
Anyone with a fourteen-year-old will understand when I say that this age group do not want to be treated like kids. According to them, they are almost ready to collect their pensions.
The trouble with most homeschool resources online is that they are either: too babyish (which is a shame because they often get straight to the point without complicating things) or, they drown kids with far too much information and bore them with too many in-depth explanations – leaving kids uninterested and desperate to switch off.
Study.com obviously knows their audience and have somehow come up with an ingenious way of teaching kids without neither boring or patronizing them.
That is why I love study.com. Whoever did their course needs a pat on the back. To get my fourteen-year-old to learn and enjoy is no mean feat.
The College Years. Preparing For CLEP and DSST Exams.
It is one of the most commonly asked questions that we get asked as high school home educators: “what about college?”
By using the Study.com programme students are able to prepare for CLEP and DSST exams, earn the credits that they need, and, even better, save money on their college education.
The beauty of online learning is that students get to learn at their own pace in their own time, meaning that, if you have a job you can continue to work while studying. Not only do you get to keep earning money at your job, but you also save money on college fees! What is there NOT to love?!
Next, why not read…
10 Things that successful homeschool parents do before 10 am
What Age Can My Kids Start To Use Study.com?
Study.com starts at middle school and goes right through to college.
Even if you don’t homeschool, (perhaps you are an adult looking for a way to further your education through college) it’s easy!
Prepare for your CLEP and DSST exams with study.com, and earn credits.
And conveniently, everything is in one place.
Anyone who homeschools will tell you that a big chunk of time is always spent researching topics. Getting the answers to something you may not understand. With study.com it is all there for you. Every subject that you wish to learn is right there for you.
If your teenagers are asking to homeschool and you are having heart palpitations at the very thought of it, fear not. Study.com is the programme that you need.
Price
Plans start at $36 a month which, believe me, is an absolute bargain. If you want to spend an extra few dollars a month you will also get personalised coaching and access to instructors.
Remember, study.com is all there under one roof.
No more inconsistency.
No more searching Youtube for a better explanation. Try it; you will never leave, I promise.
Related Homeschooling Posts That You Will Enjoy!
Homeschooling with wine (and sometimes) the F word
7 (Mind changing) Benefits To Homeschooling
A Homeschooling Schedule. Why you do (and don’t) Need One
Homeschooling and working full time (why it nearly killed me)
Homeschooling V’s Public School. You decide
A homeschool mother’s life. The one she doesn’t tell you about
****March 2020 Update***
I just learned that due to recent school closures Study.com is offering free resources to students and teachers. Click here to find out more.
I love doing reviews like this because (and don’t tell study.com this) I would have told you about this fabulous find anyway – for free!
I have worked hard at homeschooling for eight years and if I can save you a few years of groundwork then I am happy to do so. To finally find an online course that ticks every single box that my kids need, makes me want to shout from the rooftops about it!
If you have any questions that you would like to ask me about study.com feel free. Drop a comment below and I’ll try to answer anything you are unsure of. Until then, happy learning!
Hi there! I’m thinking of using Study.com for my kids. I have a couple of questions.
First, does one fee cover all children or is there a fee per child?
Second, are there proctored final exams for basic high school classes, like history? If that is the case, how is a proctored exam handled? Where are they taken?
Hi Carrie, the fee is per child. You could share I suppose but each lesson is structured to the child’s individual needs. The courses that we did each had a test at the end of each module to see if the child had learned what they were supposed to. I’m not sure how that would work if you were sharing a course!
In answer to your second question, I’m not sure. We didn’t do any exams as we are in NZ. We just did the lessons. Best to contact them (they are super helpful) and they will answer all of your questions! Hope this helps!
The proctored exams are only if you are earning ACE college credit. If you are earning high school credit then there will be a course test at the end with 50 questions that we use as a final for the course!
Thank you very much!
Thank you for this helpful review! I’ve been looking for feedback on Study.com as we’re considering using it for my child’s high school homeschool curriculum.
Is there a parent dashboard (so I can see my child’s progress) if we sign up for the homeschool plan? Thanks again!
Hi Lea,
glad you enjoyed the post; yes absolutely! There is a link in the dashboard where you can check the progress. I have included a link to the FAQ page talking about this specific question. Good luck!
https://study.com/articles/how_can_i_use_education_portal_courses_to_homeschool.html
Sadly the promo code when used states “invalid” 😢
Ohh…hang on, I’ll email the company and ask why that is. I’ll get back to you – Sorry Jenn!
Have you figured out if this code works now? I am going to apply today. Thanks!
Thanks for your patience Ryan, the company only just got back to me today…I have applied the new code, it has to be used before January and is ready to go!
Hi Liz, thank you for this posting this. We have been doing homeschool for five years now, and always looking for alternative resources. It never been easy ;). I agree that it was easier to do when the kids are much younger. I’m now have a preteen boy who is quite active in learning, but often he gets frustrated. Thank you for sharing!
So glad it was helpful Ann – Hmmm preteen boy…I remember the frustrations (and the joy) well!! Be patient and remember that they turn out well in the end. And if in doubt, leave the room and count to a million. By that time you should be ready to face things again?!! Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
Thanks for your post! Is Study.com a full curriculum for middle school and high school or just a supplement? I guess i’m asking if it’s all i need or would i need textbooks as well?
Hi Kelly, speaking from experience, my daughter used it for English (but we did do a little bit of extra creative work on the side) maths, and social studies. She did music (which were private exams) history and art elsewhere. Remember, we are in New Zealand so I didn’t use the credit system, we merely used study.com to ‘teach’ her alongside bits of the NZ curriculum. If I was in America then I would have used this and only this programme!
I’ve been trying to find out if the homeschool curriculum for say 8th grade is adjustable, in the sense that my daughter has a good handle on American History, is bored of it and wants to learn about WW1 instead. I’ve been trying to figure out if I can manipulate the curriculum to suit our needs and if we would have access to all of their content with the homeschool plan. Thanks for any help in advance.
Hmm. Good question Adrienne. I’m not sure but I can’t see why not? I am going to forward your question to the company and see what they say. I will let you know. Other than that, why don’t you just take a WW1 curriculum from somewhere else and let her run with it separately? Your kids your rules 🙂
Spoke to the company and they said this:
Hi Liz,
Thanks for reaching out! I hope you are well. To answer your reader’s question, one of the best things about our homeschool curriculum is that families can choose not just when and how they learn, but what they learn. Depending on their daughter’s specific interests and learning levels, she might want to explore the World War I chapter in our 8th Grade U.S. History course if she hasn’t already. That’s a brief chapter, so she might also want to look into our High School World History or High School World History for a deeper dive into WWI and its historical context, causes, and impacts.
Hope this helps! Liz x
Hi Liz,
I’m teaching a rather advanced 6th grader, and I see that 6th grade Physical Science, for example, offers 92 lessons, each approximately 8 minutes in duration. Even if we only did one lesson per day (and less than 10 minutes per day just doesn’t seem adequate), that really only takes us through about half of the school year. Are there suggestions to enhance each lesson, or would a really motivated and curious student just do multiple lessons in a day? Could he simply move on to grade 7 science if he finishes grade 6 quickly? I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews for study.com, but I’m struggling to see how it offers a complete school year’s worth of assignments. Any insight you can offer will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Hi Stephanie,
As I see it you have two options:
1: Supplement your child’s physical science learning with something else (such as watching videos and documentaries or even creating a small project that your child can go to after he or she finishes the lesson).
2: Go through the year and move on to Grade 7 as and when you finish. Nothing says you have to stay within the perimeter of the schedule (that’s the beauty of homeschooling!). If your child wants more then go for it!
Hope this helps Stephanie!
Liz
PS: Don’t forget that study.com have a great support system and will answer any queries that you may have 🙂
What if your kids are at different grade levels for different subjects?