Outsourcing Online
Figuring out how to manage your homeschool during the days off from co-op can be daunting.
Over the years, our family has always taken part in multiple cooperatives, online classes, meetups with friends and family, as well as the work we do at home as a family. As a homeschooling mom of four I have always chosen to use plenty of outsourcing. It helps my sanity levels for one, and gives the kids a variety of voices and learning styles besides mine.
The first couple of months of co-op I like to take it easy and let the kids adjust. Once they adapt to their new schedules and workloads, we sit down to discuss what they want to do with their free time. We create a schedule, decide extracurriculars and discuss any curriculums we want to use outside of the co-op.
Here are a couple of my favorite online resources for outsourcing:
Dreaming Spires Home Learning (Recommended for Ages 11+)
Based in the UK, Dreaming Spires offers a more traditional approach to learning that's live, interactive and integrates living books into their instruction.
Classes meet weekly with plenty of homework and reading given to help the child reinforce concepts. They also provide grades and credits at the end of the year to use in your homeschool transcript.
You can begin these classes with your child as early as age 11 or 12. However, keep in mind that the work is more intensive, and courses range from $400-$600 per class.
How I use them:
My oldest currently takes one to three classes per year with Dreaming Spires because she greatly enjoys the teachers and loves the living book learning approach. It also gives her additional support in subjects she is working on either in co-op or independently at home.
Outschool (recommended for ages 5+)
We have been using Outschool for years and it is one of our favorite places for supplemental and core course learning. First and foremost, it’s FUN! Kids love it, it's low commitment, and it’s cheap. Outschool offers live and flex classes with very small class sizes. You can take almost any class on outschool from baking to writing, to Japanese to Youtubing. If you don’t like a class, you can leave when you want. I use Outschool with all four of my children.
How I use them:
I find Outschool an excellent way to supplement, as well as provide additional cores that we aren't doing at home or in co-op. For example, my oldest is learning Spanish with Outschool this year. My second oldest is learning Japanese. I also have my two youngest children taking classes as well. Outschool also provides certificates of completion for homeschoolers to use in their transcripts.
Chess Kid, StarFall, Prodigy, IXL, Art for Kids Hub (recommended for ages 5+)
These online resources are all free or low cost ways to engage your children in a multitude of online learning experiences for math, reading, strategy and art. We use these when the mood strikes us for some fun.
There are plenty of online resources like the the ones mentioned above and outsourcing can be a great way to add variety to your homeschool while letting each child focus meet their individual needs.