My son's senior year of high school was approaching and I just knew I had to do something different or neither of us might make it to graduation.
We didn't want to go the public school route and we couldn't afford the private school options so I had to keep searching. I had been hearing rumblings about this online schooling thing called Homeschool Connections. Not wanting to get my hopes up, I checked out their website and what I found made me sigh with relief.
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My Son Sighed, Too!
For his senior year we ended up signing him up for two live classes and it made such a difference in how his last year of homeschooling went. Having him be accountable to other people was a game-changer. We both needed the break and he really stepped up to the plate and got a lot out of his classes.
In addition, exposing him to different teaching styles and expectations was good, too. I'm glad that he got that experience before heading off to college later that year.
Why Chose Homeschool Connections
Let's face it, after doing something challenging for over 20 years, you sometimes need a break. (In all honesty, you don't even have to be teaching for that long to need a break. Am I right?)
Or maybe you're dreading the thought of homeschooling for high school because you think you don't know enough to teach at that level.
In addition to those, there are many other reasons why Homeschool Connections might be a good fit for your homeschool:
- This year you'll have a lot of littles and it would be a great help to take some of the load off your back
- Your child might do better being accountable to someone else for a class or two
- You don't feel like you have the resources to teach a certain class (like science, math, literature, history, art...)
- There is an interest they have that you don't have time to delve into
What's even more helpful is that they offer both live and recorded classes. We've tried, and liked, both! Lets break them down so you can decide which will work for you.
Homeschool Connections Live Courses
Son #1, mentioned above, was interested in learning Latin. He also needed another math course. We decided to go to the live classes for these two because
- Learning a language is better when done out loud and with others
- I just couldn't teach him another math class 🙂
We chose Beginning Latin and Financial Algebra and signed him up for both semesters. He loved both of them!
After being at college for a semester, he said he was glad he had taken Latin because at least he had some familiarity with the language. The live class allowed him to interact with others and to speak the language out loud.
Financial Algebra was a good class, too. Each semester there was a fun project along with some challenging math concepts. First semester they did a stock market challenge and second semester was a budgeting simulation.
The downside to live classes are:
- You have to be on your computer at a specified day and time every week
- The atmosphere has to be quiet and conducive to listening and thinking (which was sometimes a challenge, even with no little kids)
- The classes, while worth it, can be a tight squeeze for families on a budget. With multiple kids, I had to limit it to two classes total because our budget just wouldn't allow us to do more
The upside is - someone else is teaching your child from a good, moral, Catholic viewpoint and you don't have to.
Wait. I know that seems to go against why we homeschool, but remember, sometimes you just need to enlist some help. This is a great option and you should feel comfortable knowing that they will be learning a lot.
Unlimited Recorded Courses
The next year after that experience with Homeschool Connections, I had an eighth and a 10th grader. I wanted to try out more courses but knew we couldn't afford to take any live ones so I signed us up for the unlimited recorded courses. It's $35 a month and you have access to as many courses as you want.
Here is what my 8th grader took that year:
- History: Making of the Modern World - 2 semesters
- Religion: The Baltimore Catechism Parts I, II and III
- Science: Introduction to Earth Science 1st Semester
- Science: The Planets 2nd Semester
My 10th grader took:
- American Sign Language Parts I and II
- American History: Lands of Hope and Promise - 2 semesters
- Science: Botany 1st Semester and Physical Health 2nd Semester
- Religion: Beginning Apologetics I and II
- True Radiance: Discovering Your Authentic Beauty as a Young Woman
The downside to recorded classes is that there is not any interaction with a teacher or other students.
The upside is that you can take the courses whenever you want. You can also stop a class if you don't like it and start another one in its place (which we did).
The students still have the online quizzes available to them and there is the option to pay to have access to an instructor for help and grading.
Experience Homeschool Connections
You really can't go wrong here.
- You get your first week for $1
- There are multiple options for signing up (they've added access to just a single recorded class if that's all you need)
- They offer so many subjects to choose from
- You can switch classes if it isn't a good fit
- Both you and your student get a break from you teaching
I really can't say enough about this whole system. The fact that I have an option to beef up my kids' curriculum is so helpful. Heck, I can even structure their entire year around online classes if that's what we both want!
If I don't feel confident in teaching something, I have an easy alternative.
This sounds like a compensated endorsement but it isn't, if that helps you at all.
Even if it was, I wouldn't change any of the great things I've said. There was only one time that the kids didn't like one of the teachers because he was too monotone. Other than that, we have had a very positive experience and are looking forward to taking more courses in the fall.
Have you ever had experience with Homeschool Connections? If so, tell us what you thought and what classes you've had your kids take. Leave a comment below!
I couldn’t agree more! We started using Homeschool Connections when my two youngest were 15 and 12. They were able to learn so much on their own — although, I must admit, at the beginning I enjoyed the classes right along with them. Joseph Pearce’s courses on Shakespeare are fabulous. He is a true expert, yet quite humble, and his British accent makes it all so authentic! Another favorite teacher has been Philip Campbell for History (great visuals) and Logic, as well as Kevin O’Brien, who can be goofy and has a great connection to teens. Erin Brown Conroy is wonderful at teaching Writing. We look forward to trying out many more courses and a few new faces this year (Jean Rioux and Sam Nicholson for Philosophy, Christine Hamilton for Biology).
By the way, may I also recommend Tom Woods’s online courses on Western Civilization and Intro to Government? And The Great Courses Plus for Math, Vocabulary, Spanish, and so much more? These are relatively affordable options, esp. if you use them for several children at once. Be bold! Some of your high schoolers may even be ready for the FREE college-level lectures from Hillsdale College. What a luxury to have access to all this wisdom from our own couches — Deo gratias!
Thanks, Adelaide, for all of those great recommendations! We’re looking forward to getting into more classes soon!
Thank you so much for this review! I’m a co-founder and I couldn’t help but smile big when I was only two sentences into your review. A big motivator for me in starting Homeschool Connections was that I saw half of our local Catholic homeschool moms (half!) putting their children into site-based schools for high school even though their heart’s desire was to keep homeschooling. I wanted to find a way to help them with those hard subjects so they could keep doing what they felt called to do. Well, that and I love doing fun, out-of-the-box courses too 🙂 Thank you again for sharing your experience. And, never hesitate to reach out to us with questions and ideas to make HSC even better 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Maureen! I think that Homeschool Connections is a game changer for high school. I’m still surprised at how many people don’t know about it so I make sure to tell people!!