An introduction: Reiki is for everyone!
So, I've been attempting to familiarize myself with SpellingCity.Com. We're all about vocabulary and spelling in our home – both my husband and I competed in spelling competitions when we were school aged. Our six year old is already showing signs of being very competent in the areas of spelling, grammar and vocabulary, so I welcomed the chance to receive a free membership to SpellingCity in return for a review of their program.
I set up our account and attempted to learn just how the site works. Right off the bat, it became clear that this was a site that was going to be best suited for actual spelling (in a classroom setting) teachers. Having homeschooled for well over a year now, I knew I could handle it, however.
I'm four weeks in, and I'm still not as comfortable with the site as I could be – but PLEASE do not misunderstand. I HOPE and PLAN to become familiar and comfortable with this program because I AM such a lover of spelling! And the way I see homeschooling, is that it's just as much of a learning experience for ME as it is my daughter, so backing out of this program is not an option. Since I am reviewing the program, however, I feel it's important for the creators to know that this website is not as user-friendly as it could be. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who, upon learning I homeschool, ask for advice and recommendations. Most people are looking for ease of program as well as affordability. This program would be better off being just a little easier to dive into.
I will be more equipped to give an actual review of how things work once I fully understand them, myself! And I will!
I appreciate the good folks at SpellingCity, offering chances like this, to people like me. It is my hope that they take my critique in the spirit in which it is intended, and appreciate my take on their program.
I love being able to homeschool my daughter and to help others get started with homeschooling, too, so providing links to easy, effective and affordable programs is something I am committed to continuing to do.
I've been given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.
There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.
If you are the parent of a young child, who is looking for an affordable and easy homeschooling curriculum, or simply a supplement to a current curriculum, Time4Learning.Com might be right for you!
T4L was recommended to me by a dear friend who had homeschooled one of her children. Her personal experience with it, as well as the fact that her major in college was early childhood education, was enough for me to check it out! I had a peek at the website, tried some of the freebie lessons and decided to give it a go. From the start, my kindergartner loved it! We had no issues "getting the hang of it" at all.
I really only had just a few minor "hiccups" in our month long trial: The first glitch was just a few days into the program. We were unable to advance or go back during one of the lessons. (The "go forward" and "go back" arrows would not high-light to indicate that we could move on, even after we had finished with that particular screen.) This occurred during a Language Arts module, and we had to restart the whole lesson – by logging out of the system, then back in, in order to rectify the situation. When we came back to that same page, the glitch had, thankfully, resolved itself and we were able to move on.
The second instance was not so much a glitch, as it was an observation. During the coloring activity at the end of some Language Arts lessons, the voice that prompts the student to move on by clicking the "go forward" arrow, sometimes comes on too often, and too many times while the student is enjoying some "play time," coloring. If there is a way to turn this prompt off, we never figured it out. During one such coloring opportunity, the voice prompted over a dozen times! And it's not as if my daughter was taking too long. She typically spends no more than 3-5 minutes on the coloring segments. I realize that this is nothing more than "nit picking" but T4L compensated me for this review, and I want to be as honest as possible. Perhaps they can find a way to reduce the number of prompts during these "fun" activities, as we found the constant barrage of prompting a bit distracting.
The last "critique" I will offer is simply that I would have liked a bit more notice that my trial was up, or at the very least, notice that I wouldn't be able to access the curriculum once my trial membership was over. I would have purchased my full membership before that date, as I didn't want my daughter to have to miss a lesson. As it stood, once that time came, I was locked out of the system. I immediately signed up, but was alerted with an email that my ability to log into the system might take up to 24 hours, so, we actually did wind up missing a day. Some advanced notice or a better understanding that I would be locked out of the system until my payment cleared would have been greatly appreciated.
I certainly hope this feedback doesn't portray T4L in a negative light – my daughter loves it; My husband and I also enjoy it, and other friends and family members that have seen the site seem to think very highly of it, as well. I would not have signed up for it the moment my trial membership was over if it had not been as wonderful as it is! It is my hope that offering the critiques that I have, T4L will be given a better idea as to what parents may experience while working with this system. These critiques are not in any way, intended to be interpreted as complaints! Again, I would not have signed up for a full (paid) membership if I was upset with or disgruntled by my initial experience with T4L. Quite the opposite! I am thrilled to now be a full-fledged part of the T4L family, and look forward to learning and growing with this company!
Note: This review is entirely the opinion of me, Layla Beth Munk. I am not a T4L employee or affiliate. A free month of membership in exchange for this review was my compensation.
Welcome to ~ReikiForYourBaby.Com~ I hope you enjoy the various posts and pages. I welcome your questions and comments, and hope that you will become a follower of this blog. Namaste!