Has anyone used either of these online curriculums? We are pulling our oldest DS (Kindergarten) out of public school, and I'm looking at an online program for him. He loves the pc, so I think this will be an easy transition for him. I haven't found many reviews on The Head of the Class, but everyone raves for T4L. I really like the features of T4L, but I like the price (free) of THOTC better since we are struggling financially. DS has done the sample lessons on T4L and the first couple of kindergarten lessons on THOTC. I'm just not sure if THOTC is thorough enough to be our core curriculum even for K. Any thoughts?
I've never heard of The Head of the Class, but we used T4L as a supplement for a year or two when the kids were first starting out. I do know that the one big plus I saw in T4L was that you had access to 3 grade levels on one subscription; if you had a first grader, you got access to K, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. I thought that was a nice feature as it allowed for some flexibility and review for kids who might excel in one area but struggle a bit in another. Of course, we only use T4L as a supplement to our curriculum, so I can't speak too much regarding it as a stand-alone versus some other curriculum.
We used T4L for a bit, I don't think it was adequate for a complete curriculum, but I felt it was very helpful for me at the beginning. It kind of gave me a box curriculum without the commitment of buying a years worth of stuff. I loved the pay by the month deal. We were using it for an older child, and the science and history(SS) was not good at all. Just paragraphs pulled out of a mediocre text. The math was our favorite, but a bit slow. It might work a lot better for a younger child.
I'm not a fan of T4L and I have never heard of the other program. We use ClickNkids and my daughter loves it. I found an online promo, if you enter SAVINGS you can get 40% off. (I am not affiliated, just love the program). The good thing about ClickNkids is you only pay one time, and its good for a lifetime. If you have younger kids you can add them for no additional fees, even years later.
I used T4L at the beginning of this year and was not impressed. It might be fine for supplimental material, but not as a complete curriculum. I took a look at Head of the Class briefly. I am thinking about using their art, music and history sections for my k/1 child. I am not sure how complete it is. I'll have to get into it more to tell. Thanks, though, for bringing up this topic and Head of the Class. I have never heard of it.
another vote for ClickNKids.....at least for phonics. I would suggest that a complete curriculum for a kindergartener is numbers, phonics, and writing.
also wanted to vote for click-n-kids....my dd has a processing disorder and started the year out not recognizing her letters and is now ready cvc words with few problems! I have no patience for teaching phonics (I have a teaching degree and never ever wanted to teach kindy or 1st grade b/c I was so uncomfortable teaching a child to read) so this program has been great for us. As another poster mentioned if you have younger kids they can use the program too. Good luck with your choice!
We've used Time4Learning as our core curriculum for four years and have LOVED it!! The first year we used it, my son was in 5th grade and his standardized math scores went up by 15 points!! He is a very visual learner, and I think the learning style fit him perfectly. We've never looked back! The only things we have to supplement with are handwriting, art, and music, and we usually add some unit studies to the science and social studies. I'll have to say that the program is one of the most parent-friendly curricula out there!! TSmama24
We use clicknkids (phonics and spelling) for my 1st grader. We like it a lot - and when you buy it-it's a lifetime membership-not yearly-so you can pass it on when your child finishes. We used http://readingeggs.com/home for phonics with the 1st grader and a 3 year old for a while - liked it quite well, just can't afford it right now. (the 3 year old cried when our subscription ran out-he missed his friend Sam poor guy LOL) We've used head of the class- we like it, it's not a complete curriculum though by nay means. But, it is a nice supplement. We also like http://letteroftheweek.com/ -it's meatier than head of the class, but also free. Very cool and worth a look. I haven't used T4L so I can't comment on it. For K you might also look into http://letteroftheweek.com/ Honestly there is enough out there for FREE (especially at this young age) that if you're strapped financially, there is no need to buy any curriculum. Here is a list of some free sites I have found for K-2 http://gapeachhomeschool.yolasite.com/primary-k-2.php hope this helps.
