5 New Skills You Can Learn In The New Year -

realmomswingingit
Jan 10, 2017
6 min read

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Online Classes Online Electives Elementary Homeschool Courses Middle School Homeschool Courses High School Homeschool Courses Homeschool Parent Support Rightnow Media Homeschool Planners

Winter Break is the time we reassess skills, curricula and schedules around here.

Sounds more complicated than it actually is, I know.

Basically, it's the time I put on my big girl pants and 'fess up to what's not working, what could be better, and what is glaringly missing from our lives.

Ok, maybe not so glaringly.

We are all life-long learners in our family.

And despite our best efforts, there are just times my kids, my hubby and I need to look for new sources of educational and leisure activities, so we start the shiny new year fresh and full of enthusiasm.

[Read: No one has lost their minds, so let's keep this up, shall we?]

A-hem.

We are honored to be invited to review SchoolhouseTeachers.com , the online educational site of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, specifically their Yearly Membership.

I am SO excited about the impressive plethora of courses, materials and resources for children ages pre-k through high school!

There are NO additional textbooks needed to purchase. These are full courses, in-depth, which at the higher levels can be used for high school credit (and transcript help is included!). A subscription to ColdWater Media where you can stream Drive Thru History Courses among others, and RightNow Media streaming channel is included with your membership (more on that later)!

Several courses are offered as video-based which is fabulous for the visual learners!

Take a look at the extensive list of categories offered:

Isn't that AWESOME????

We immediately logged in and started choosing some courses to explore, not just for the kids, but do you see the Learning Center option on the bottom right?

Well, that includes a huge section of Parent Courses yours truly is just giddy about!

I'll tell you more as you keep reading and find my recommendation for 5 NEW SKILLS YOU CAN LEARN (or improve on) IN THE NEW YEAR!

Here we go:

1. high school social studies

My oldest son is thrilled about the Constitution & Bill of Rights Course.

This is a 16 lesson course that can be done weekly or bi-monthly.

It is taught by the Honorable Kevin Mark Smith, 18th District Court Judge, who developed this course before taking the bench, while an attorney in private practice.

In the first class he was guided through case research in the database and the end of each unit includes a section titled Independent Exploration, which I'm pleased to see is both challenging and rewarding!

Needless to say, there are a few online classes listed below he will be exploring also, and this is not even showing the huge list of History offerings he can't wait to tackle.

2. geography

This course caught my eye immediately and I was pleased to see that it is taught by the amazing Terri Johnson, author and owner of Knowledge Quest!

We love their products and it was a bonus to find out that with your membership of SchoolhouseTeachers.com you have access to her Geography courses for multiple grade levels:

Level A: Grades 1-4. Level B: Grades 5-8 and Level C: Grades 9-12

We are excited that this will be a whole family activity!

3. hands on architecture

This course is listed in the Elementary Electives category and if you've seen how my hands-on younger son loves our Straws & Connectors Set you'll agree he will have a blast following the step-by-step instructions with photos in the 3 units offered.

Unit 1 introduces students to exciting, easy-to-use materials they will use to make fun architectural structures.

Unit 2 leads students through the design of their own home.

In Unit 3 students get to design a Zoo!

[I'm not convinced Units 2 and 3 will be much different in our case, you know what I'm sayin'?]

This is such a FUN adventure for my son, even as weekend projects he can take on. And from looking at the samples, it is definitely adaptable for a wide age range from lower elementary to middle school ages.

4. Music theory and guitar lessons

Although my oldest is taking guitar lessons locally, none of us has ever formally taken Music Theory lessons.

We are looking forward to lessons on notes, tempo, rests, dynamics and more.

The goal is not just to teach the elements of Music Theory, but to introduce a variety of classical music which illustrates the weekly concept.

Music Theory I and II are available on the site.

The Guitar Lessons offer instruction through video lessons, diagrams, and downloadable pages from the instructor's own music book.

This is an ideal course if you just don't have the extra time to add another extra curricular class outside of the house and want to learn at your own pace.

Here is the youngest getting some tips from his big brother as they make up a G-Chord Silly Song during Mr. Jennings' Guitar Video course. We are pairing this with the Music Theory course!

5. Science smorgasbord

We are SO impressed with the Science category!

The Pre-K / K Level and the Elementary Science Level are what we've explored so far, and I am pleased to report that, unlike other online Science programs I have paid for and not used, this is a JOY to teach!

My kids went directly to the Science Experiments section (see below) and we were excited to see Hooked on Science, the award-winning company offering over 120 Science experiments by Jason Lindsey. Jason shows the kids fun and engaging experiments and how they work in short videos. The step-by-step instructions are printable in an easy-to-use format for you to duplicate and discuss as a family! Most can be completed with basic household items.

Again, this is just ONE of experiments categories offered in Elementary Science, shown below. We haven't even begun to explore the other levels!

ELEMENTARY SCIENCE:

BONUS: parent classes & resources

If the 300+ courses which include printable, focused learning centers, streaming video, and more weren't enough to convince me, I was swooned by the Parent Classes & Resources included in the site.

Unlimited choices from Planners, Charts, AppleCore Record Tracking System, Daily Menu Planning, and so much more parent support!

But they had me at the shiny menu below, which lists the "Courses Just For Parents".

And you guys, really, when a Mom has her own dedicated space, which includes a Women: Heart to Heart series, where you can hear from other women who have struggled with appearances, self-worth, prayer, relationships, isolation, fear, doubt and much more...

It's a game-changer.

This series includes a FREE subscription for you to access RightNow Media streaming video courses and lectures. SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers additional study guide resources to go with the series content.

I truly hope you consider looking into this incredible site to add to your family and school learning next year.

I have only scratched the surface on the myriad of great courses and help available, whether it be core subjects (Language Arts, Science, Math, History, etc) after school enrichment, or personal interest materials, which we will definitely be exploring more throughout the year.

My final note on this is about the people behind the scenes of this site.

I suddenly encountered some technical glitches while logging into my account, and no matter what I tried on my own I was not able to fix it.

I immediately clicked on the Customer Support Online Chat window on the bottom right of my screen and within seconds, a very professional, kind and patient staff member named Julie was able to fix my issue and we were back in business (see my real life chat box below)!

Thanks Julie!

So far, I am loving the well-organized, detailed, professional and efficient treasure trove of a site.

And believe it or not, it is affordable!

The Cost: There are over 300 classes and video tutorials available for a monthly or yearly membership fee. Yes, your access is to ALL grades, ALL subjects for your entire family, no per-child fee, no per-parent fee, no limit!

No kidding!