A Complete Schoolhouse Teachers Review
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I am excited to announce that I recently joined The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Review Crew! This means that I will get to try homeschool products so I can test them out and see if they are worth your time and money. My first Schoolhouse Teachers review is an annual membership for Schoolhouse Teachers. This was a website I was not at all familiar with, so I was excited to check it out. In exchange for an honest review, I received a free copy of this product (a membership for the entire family). I was not required to write a positive review.
Schoolhouse Teachers is a subscription-based website that provides online learning for a variety of course offerings, preschool through 12th grade. There are downloadable lesson plans, printables to accompany lessons, video lessons, and audio seminars. Courses can be used together as a full curriculum or individually to fill in educational gaps or explore interests. It is the ultimate prek-12 educational website. There are very few online programs that provide resources for preschoolers and high school students.
Schoolhouse Teachers has something for the whole family, regardless of learning styles or grade levels.
I will be the first to admit that I am a tough sell on new curricula. My professional teaching background means that I am very picky with curricula. I want to see lessons that are well planned out, so it is easy for busy parents to just pick up and teach, but I also want the lessons to be flexible enough that parents can customize them to their own family’s needs.
Schoolhouse Teachers exceeded my expectations!
The SchoolhouseTeachers.com website has a ton to offer, so I will share my favorite parts.
Complete Schoolhouse Teachers Review
Course Catalog
My ideal course schedule each year includes traditional academic classes mixed with interest-led learning. SchoolhouseTeachers.com has both. They offer an assortment of courses within each core curriculum subject area. There are currently over 30 courses just in history alone! The elective options are equally phenomenal.
I was quite happy to discover so many course options during this Schoolhouse Teachers review. Some course topics include:
- Language Arts
- Foreign Languages
- Art
- Bible
- Drama and Speech
- History
- Math
- Electives
My kids had a really hard time deciding which electives they wanted to study right now.
Ben finally settled on photography. He has some natural talent in this area and wants to see what he can do with a little bit of guided instruction.
I know nothing about photography, so I’m happy to outsource this to SchoolhouseTeachers.com. The class is set up for a fancy camera, but his point-and-shoot camera works too. The lesson plans give explicit directions on how to use the course, regardless of the type of camera available. He has been taking photos nonstop lately.
I poked around a bit and didn’t find a single class that required you to buy anything other than the supplies you probably already have.
Hannah decided to learn about architecture. She is currently designing her own zoo. How cool is that? The course is planned to take a few months to complete, but we are speeding it up a bit because she is already pretty familiar with geography.
Geography in an architecture class? Yep, many of the lessons overlap in content areas. I love that and frequently plan my own lessons that way. Two birds. One stone.
Over Christmas break, Hannah and I spent a bit of time going through some of the watercolor art lessons. I am not an artist, so this is a subject I have a difficult time teaching.
The plans were explained well, though, so I didn’t need any special abilities or skills to oversee the lessons. This class is taught by a professional illustrator with 25 years of teaching experience. The tips and suggestions in the lesson plans made this lesson easy and fun.
The courses include a suggested timeline but are ultimately self-paced. This means that we can slow down a bit if life gets crazy or kids get sick. It also means that if we fly through a course, we have more time to pick out another to try.
Your Schoolhouseteachers.com membership gives you access to ALL of the courses, so if you try a class that isn’t your cup of tea, you can just try another.
Scope and Sequence
This is probably a holdover from my professional teacher days, but I appreciate it when curriculum companies offer well-thought-out scope and sequences. A scope and sequence is basically the what and when of an educational plan. Have you ever felt like you don’t know what specifically to teach in a certain grade? Looking at the scope and sequence will help. During this Schoolhouse Teachers review, I was pleased to see a detailed scope and sequence.
The Schoolhouse Teachers scope and sequence can be viewed by grade or content area. Each subject area contains a list of skills appropriate for the grade level and the online classes that will help your child master those skills.
An individual child’s scope and sequence is not written in stone. It can be changed to meet the pace of the child. I love a well-organized plan, though, and feel like my family accomplishes more when our lessons occur in a sequential, logical order.
Schoolhouse Teachers High School Help
Does anyone else find the idea of teaching high school a little intimidating?
I’m committed to teaching my children at home as long as it is working for them, which will likely mean through high school, but something about it just seems more complicated than homeschooling elementary school. My elementary teaching licenses did not prepare me for teaching high schoolers.
Thankfully, SchoolhouseTeachers.com is here to help! During this Schoolhouse Teachers review, I was able to get a feel for how to homeschool high school.
In addition to getting high school course suggestions via the scope and sequence, SchoolhouseTeachers.com also has an entire section all about homeschooling high school. They provide advice on awarding credit and weighting classes, creating transcripts, navigating the always-changing SAT and ACT tests, and finding scholarships. I will need help with all of that!
Yes, my oldest child is only in sixth grade, but high school will be here before I know it. I want to be organized ahead of time so that we don’t miss anything important.
This spring, I plan to map out a plan for high school. This will let me work backward to figure out what Hannah needs to learn in 7th and 8th grade, so she is ready for high school.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com Additional Resources
Your yearly membership to Schoolhouse Teachers gets you more than just awesome lesson plans. You also get:
A free downloadable planner. Last year I bought a lesson plan book to tear apart and put in my lesson plan binder. This free planner is better. And there is no waste because I only need to print the pages I want to use.
World Book Encyclopedia Library access. The World Book Encyclopedia Library is a subscription website that has a plethora of research tools for grades K – 12. You can search by subject, keyword, or grade level. They even have an app so you can read books on the go! It is an incredible educational resource.
A monthly menu complete with recipe links. I meal plan every week, but sometimes it is hard to decide what to cook. It is easy to get overwhelmed by all of the recipes on Pinterest. Sometimes I just need someone to tell me – make slow cooker BBQ chicken.
Silver membership to Applecore. If you need help organizing the record-keeping aspect of homeschooling, especially if you live in a state that requires attendance or report cards, you will benefit greatly from Applecore. Applecore can keep all of those important records safe in one place.
Print issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine. The Old Schoolhouse magazine is available in print to SchoolhouseTeachers.com members. It prints once a year, and you can request your issue by email. The magazine is always available virtually if you prefer to read it on your favorite device.
Schoolhouse Teachers Tips
I discovered a few tips while doing this Schoolhouse Teachers review.
- The SchoolhouseTeacher.com customer service team is awesome. Don’t hesitate to reach out to them if you have difficulty with something. I emailed them using the link on the website because I forgot my password. Within minutes, I received a personalized response and was able to log in!
- Many of the courses have a biblical worldview. I personally prefer secular curricula, but it was very easy to modify lessons to remove religious references. Obviously, you would need to ignore the bible courses if that is something you don’t wish to teach. If you prefer a Christian homeschool curriculum, it is worth checking out the SchoolhouseTeachers.com site. If you want a secular curriculum, this is not a good fit for your family.
- There are seasonal lessons. If you like to include fun seasonal projects, don’t skip that area. You will find lesson plans, crafts, poems, and recipes.
- Save your homeschool budget. A yearly membership is good for your entire homeschooling family, which can be a great savings for large homeschool families. There are even courses for parents!
- Look for coupon codes. SchoolhouseTeachers runs discounts pretty often. Why pay more than you need to? Always look for an active coupon code before subscribing. I keep a current list of homeschool coupon codes and sales.
- Keep what is working. You don’t need to toss out curricula you already love and use. You do not need to use SchoolhouseTeachers.com as a complete curriculum. You can choose online courses to supplement what you already love. SchoolhouseTeacher.com is well-organized, so it is easy to find resources to supplement your current curriculum.
I hope this Schoolhouse Teachers review helped you decide whether this is a curriculum you should check out.