Guest Question
I am in the process of trying to locate an online learning site for my first grade son, soon to be second grader. I want a site that can track my son's progress over the summer while he learns online at home. I want something that will allow him to work on his own while my husband works from home. I've found some pay sites but I'm just not sure which ones are the best for the money. I found Time 4 Learning at www.time4learning.com and www.raz-kids.com. Can you recomend some learning sites that will allow me to track my son's progress and will help to direct his learning in different subject areas? By that I mean he would be required to complete assignments each day online.
Answer
It's a great idea to have a summer home learning plan for your elementary child. The skills of the prior grade are reinforced, and he gets a head start on the skills needed in the next grade. In the early grades reading, math, language, and writing are the key skills to focus on during the summer months.
An online learning curriculum makes sense in many ways. Developed by professional educators, it provides a built-in structure that identifies your child's learning level and presents appropriate learning tasks. It tracks his progress and provides parent reports. The technology motivates regular participation and the child can work independently.
Time4Learning.com is the newest incarnation of the online Compass Learning System and Child U. It's a unique online learning system for elementary children; and if there is a comparable program out there, I can't find it. Another online elementary curriculum that is available offers more of a worksheet based system, which really can't compare to the creative learning games offered by Time4Learning. The grade range is pre-kindergarten through grade eight. At $19.95 a month, it seems well worth the money.
Raz-Kids.com offers online books levelized to correspond to your child's readers at school. Kids can follow along as the program reads the book to them, and then read it themselves. Similar to storybook computer programs, the difference is that your child progresses in a structured reading program. The Raz-Kids service does offer reports that detail your child's progress. The grade range is kindergarten through grade two. Though this program is geared to school use, it seems to allow anyone to purchase the program for the 12-month license of $79.95.
You might also check into Headsprout for Home. It is a sequenced program for learning reading for ages 4-7 and older struggling readers. Headsprouts is reasearch based and does offer parent reports for children's progress. The online reading games are very well done and the program includes many printable resources as well. Priced a bit higher than Raz-Kids ($99.95 for Reading Basics and ($179.95 for both Reading Basics and Reading Independence).
Other online learning sites include IKnowThat.com and CleverIsland. In learning game format, both have a great variety of games and drills for home learning enrichment. Both offer parent reports and are fee-based.
Free Options for a Summer Home Learning Program
You can make your own summer home learning program with great Web sources and offline games and activities. Check out the Learning Enrichment category to find ideas for Reading, Math, Writing, Spelling, Vocabulary, Social Studies, Science, Art, and Music.
Use this blank Summer Learning Plan template to design your program. Here's a sample eight-week summer learning plan for your kindergarten through second grade child.
