Aug 06 2010
Free K-12 Homeschool
When I found Free K-12 Homeschool in 2009, it was just what we needed to get us through the school year. We’d had a busy schedule, and I was needing a break of sorts.
Here is an overview of what they provide. Their site quotes:
- Interactive CD-ROMs, audio, videos, workbooks, textbooks, and many more online and offline home school activities
- A team of curriculum developers constantly updating, expanding, and improving our online home school curriculum to make sure that it’s the best learning experience for your home schooled children
- All the record-keeping and grading software that you’ll need to keep updated on your home school child’s academic progress throughout the year
- A comprehensive home school curriculum covering over 140 Biblically-based courses in Elementary, Middle, and High School levels
- Flexible course content that changes according to you and your child’s needs. Our home school curriculum fits all schedules with 24/7 access. The ability to mix and match grade levels allows children of all learning styles to succeed
- Product discounts and previews of new home schooling services and offers sent directly to your e-mail inbox available only to home school parents and students of The K-12 Free Home School
- Access to home school program optional upgrades such as unlimited home school teacher assistance, portfolio creation, or exciting electives. To learn more about our optional upgrade options, visit our Program Optional Upgrades page.
- And so much more!
Free K-12 gave me a semester to breathe. I enrolled my oldest daughter in several of the classes (Grade 2 Math, Science, Social Studies, and Health). A year later I enrolled her in Grade 4 Art and Music and Grade 4 American History. I mainly used these courses as supplements to other curriculum I was already using- but these programs were meant to stand alone as well.
In this program, you have your child read (or you read outloud) the text for each class page online. Another option is to download a free text to speech software like Sayz Me. I preferred having my child read it aloud to me. Each lesson is presented in a way that is colorful and fun for children, with lots of breaks in text and pictures to make it more interesting.
At the end of each lesson is either a response question to answer online, an activity to do at home to support the lesson, or a video to watch from the video CD provided for the course.
Yes, you will receive video CD’s for each course, and many times a course e-book is provided as well. These video CD’s are a high quality compilation of education video resources that Free K12 has compiled onto the CD’s for you to use for your child’s learning reinforcement. Typcially (and depending on the class), these are free of charge along with registering for the class (with a shipping fee of about $5.00 per class material).
Overall, I would say we had a wonderful experience with Free K-12 HOmeschool. It is a very flexible program, and, again, if you prefer to use the courses as supplements to your homeschool (as opposed to a full program), you may do that as well. Additionally, if you prefer to be more hands-free of the actual teaching, you can upgrade to the instructor-led program so that your child is participating in an actual virtual course with other children as well.
This is a wonderful, online educational resource that I would recommend to families either just beginning homeschooling or those who wish to add some additional resources to your homeschooling program.
My name is Demetria and I homeschool two little girls who, because they are growing up in a digital age, find themselves tinkering with electronics. I created this site out of my interest in exploring web 2.0 and techie gadgets for homeschoolers. 
