An Eclectic Approach to Homeschooling

Abeka remains extremely popular but is often now used in conjunction with other materials and curricula.

Most families discover that their children's educational needs cannot be met by a single curriculum, and that blending several homeschool programs and approaches can increase effectiveness. This electic homeschool approach provides an optimal outcome. Time4Learning's experience shows that there is no single, best homeschool material. Rather than feeling torn between homeschool resources, parents should create diversity through different materials and activities. 

Time4Learning Works Well with A Beka®'s Online Learning Curriculum

All children learn differently and most respond very well to online delivery of homeschool materials. In addition, some children need to see a topic or concept presented in more than one way before what's being taught "clicks" for them. Time4Learning's engaging, interactive style complements the Abeka online workbook-based program and vice versa.

Time4Learning offers interactive, self-paced instruction in math, language arts, reading, social studies and science. Many families report that using Time4Learning in conjunction with A Beka has enhanced their child's academic success. Time4Learning's online educational software can be used as either a core or supplemental curriculum.

Teaching Writing

• Teaching Writing 

 is an ongoing process, which Time4Learning facilitates in a number of ways.

Most people agree that writing skills are increasingly important and often not adequately taught.

When writing is taught in schools, writing instruction often takes a backseat to phonics, handwriting skills, and reading comprehension.

Many homeschool parents find that teaching writing may be more challenging than other subjects where there is an answer key. Children can challenge their parent's feedback.

Effective writing is a vital life-skill that is important in almost every subject in school as well in the work world.  Additionally, standardized tests increasingly contain a writing component - - in some cases this includes a requirement to write an essay on a timed test. 

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• • The T4L  Writing Software 

Helps Teach Writing starting with carefully constructed assignments to stimulate students' desire to communicate, to integrated prereading graphic organizers, easy-to-use word processor with simple revising tools to the grading guides (writing rubriques) provided to parents and teachers in the teaching guides and answer keys,

Building 

• Vocabulary 

 words is key to reading, to writing, to verbal expression, and in many ways, vocabulary is key to building analytical and critical thinking. A person's vocabulary skills can be measured in terms of building receptive vocabulary (ie understanding) words and their expressive vocabulary words. People can build their expressive vocabulary in two ways that can get measured: the written vocabulary words or their spoken vocabulary words. Building vocabulary skills improves reading comprehension and reading fluency. Without building a large vocabulary, students cannot read successful. 

Learning English Language

Learning English can feel overwhelming to anyone. Children start out learning English at a very young age by first imitating adults and later in school. Starting to build a strong vocabulary is one way children develop their English skills as they grow. Vocabulary can be developed through books, reading, andwriting. When children read literature, those books help children to develop strong vocabulary skills and, in turn, their English skills also grow. Here is a fabulous list of pages which are great resources for learning English: 

Analogy Games  Antonym Games  Compound Word Games  Context Games Contraction Games  English Language Games  Foreign Language Games  Hig Pig Rhyming Games - These are a paticular favorite of mine for learning about words and vocabulary since I grew up playing them! Homophone Games  Idioms Games Oxymoron Games  Parts of Speech Games  Prefix Games _ I played these and would like to see them redone! Root Word Games Spelling Games  Suffix Games Syllable Games  Synonym Games  Word Play Games

  Games can be a wonderful resource for building vocabulary for English language learners. Using vocabulary games can strengthen skills already in place or develop new skills yet to be learned. ESL students can use vocabulary games to help strengthen their English skills as well. By playing fun online games to help with word association, students who use English as a second language can more easily remember difficult language rules. Many teachers find games to be a strong classroom tool for foreign language students. Students can often get bored with books and worksheets. Using online games and interactive tools can keep students focused and learning for extended periods.

Homeschool Curriculum

Curriculum needs to be easy to use and provide guidance for both instructor and instructee. If not, why not just start with a list of learning goals and create your own lesson plans.  In many ways, this is the way to do curriculum especially if you can get the student to take responsibility for the creation of the curriculum.

But, for normal kids, look no further than T4L's homeschooling curriculum.

Homeschool Curriculum - Many Choices...Many Challenges

One of the challenges of homeschool education is selecting curriculum that meets the needs of each child. Many families find that what fits one child, may not fit another, or that what worked well one semester, may feel stale and stop working the next. Or in some cases, what works for one child in one subject, does not work for the same child in another subject. Well, nobody said it was going to be easy.

What most families discover is that their family's educational needs cannot be met by a single curriculum... and that blending several homeschool programs and approaches can increase effectiveness. This eclectic homeschool approach allows the optimal education for children being homeschooled.

Great Educational Curriculum for Homeschooling - Time4Learning

Time4Learning is a great homeschool education partner because it offers each child their own learning path, with animated lessons, interactive activities, unit assessments, and integrated printable worksheets for reinforcement.

Time4Learning is a great homeschool curriculum choice. Some parents use Time4Learning as supplementary, others use Time4Learning as the primary homeschooling curriculum. Time4Learning has curriculum for homeschooled children in Preschool, Grade School, and Junior High. The Time4Learning home school website provides a comprehensive language arts and math curriculum and includes science and social studies.