Have you entered the middle school, high school years of homeschooling? The older the kids get the harder it is to meet all their learning needs. My teens and I reviewed an online program Standard Deviants Accelerate that helps in those upper learning years. There are a large selection of courses to choose from. If you have a high schooler or a gifted child flying through material you will be happy to find out that there are AP courses!
Arithmetic – Grades 3+
Fundamental Math – Grades 4+
Earth Science – Grades 6+
Nutrition – Grades 6+
Algebra – Grades 7+
Biology – Grades 7+
Chemistry – Grades 9+
English Comp. – Grades 9+
U.S. History – Grades 9+
AP Biology – Grades 11+
AP Chemistry – Grades 11+
AP U.S. Government & Politics – Grades 11+
AP U.S. History – Grades 11+
AP Eng. Composition – Grades 11+
I had the girls each work with 2 programs. They both worked on Algebra. My oldest added Nutrition and my youngest pre-teen helper added US History. Because we have been working on Algebra for a while they started over midway through the course. It took only a few minutes of reading through the course titles to find the right place and start up. The other courses were new to them both so they started at the beginning with them.
My gifted daughter that also deals with autism sees the world (including her education) in strict black and white terms. This program had lots of young adults ‘teaching’ the classes. It was very much an entertaining educational program. I thought it was engaging and very informative. My daughter agreed that it taught her lots but she didn’t like the entertainment portion. To the point that it distracted her and she had to watch a few lessons more than once to pick up the information and disregard the jokes and fast switches between actors.
Her take was, “I think they are just being too quick to be hip. They need to stop jumping person to person. It doesn’t help”
That was not the same reaction my other learner had. My 16-year-old thought that the style of teaching was much more interesting. She did think they tended to move to quickly. Both my girls had to repeat lessons at times, especially ones that had lots of info like US History. My teen learned more from this program than other options we have tried. It kept her engaged and focused on the lesson. The quizzes were short and I could easily see if she completed them or not. The accountability factor helped the learning run smoother and on a more steady schedule.
I like that in this program each child has their own account and is let in by a code you generate when you start the class. This means brother and sister can’t see each other’s work or grades. No sibling rivalry. yeah! This does mean that each child will have to have an email to use. For my younger child I used one of my extra email accounts rather than make her own email. Mom is just not ready for that step!
There are easy links on the home page to follow to find out how this program covers or excels well beyond the state and common core standards. If you state needs it or you desire to know how your child fits into the grade level puzzle this will help.
My thoughts on this program were very good. This is a program that teaches your teen the subject rather than just practice what your teen already knows. The method of teaching was high energy and engaging. Those teens with short attention spans should be able to hang in there and do a great job with Standard Deviants Accelerate! Great online learning program for your techie teen!
Format: Online Learning Program
Age Range: Varies per subject but a general idea is ages 8 through adult
Price: regular courses, homeschoolers can purchase the course for use by one student for $99 for a year, or $24.95 per month; AP courses are available for one student for $14.95 per month
Standard Deviants Accelerate on Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDAccelerate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SDAccelerate
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SDAccelerate/
Google+: google.com/+Sdaccelerate
Would you like to hear what other families thought about Standard Deviants Accelerate think? There were many other classes we didn’t take so there should be many other unique reviews to see!
