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I was very excited when I heard of the chance to review Time4Learning.com’s program. Being in a hotel makes trying to do any homeschool . . . interesting. And my resources are pretty limited. I am always looking for something to keep the girls occupied.
In fact, when we first began the program, I went straight for the math addition facts exercises, as we had gotten a bit stuck on these, and I was a bit desperate – trying to figure out how to get these concepts through my oldest’s head.
But, surprisingly, my oldest didn’t really respond well to the program. And I’m not quite sure why.
I do know what a major part of our problem is – and it has nothing to do with the program. Being in a hotel, we are working off laptops, and our laptops do not have a mouse or even a “button.” We have the touchpad box. And most of the exercises we tried required a huge amount of dragging. And dragging on the laptops without a mouse needs a HUGE amount of physical coordination. I haven’t spent a lot of time doing computer “training” with my kindergartener so this is just beyond us right now.
And unfortunately, this frustration caused my daughter to refuse to even try the program again.
So, my best advice with the program is to make sure you have a mouse! I finally found one this weekend, and hope to try her out on the program again, maybe even at a lower level, so she can gain confidence and then move forward.
I will say that I liked the “lesson/explanation” part of the particular lesson we tried. They turned it into a story, and I liked how they made math “interesting.” So, while we didn’t get a lot of time with the program, I do recommend the program – as long as your child has at least some computer experience and ability. It is not really for a beginner computer user.
And having an online “school program” is very convenient in a lot of situations, whether you are using it as your full curriculum, or just enhancing what you are already working with. Or, if you don’t even homeschool and are looking for a bit of afterschool tutorial help, I think this would be AWESOME for that.
I received a short-term membership from Time4Learning.com, in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Becoming a Modern Proverbs 31 Woman 
I soooooo agree you have to have a mouse to use this program. We do all of our work on laptops and have a ball mouse to use. My son knows to go get his mouse before he starts school. Glad you enjoyed the program.
Thanks for the note. Did you use a program to teach your kids how to use the computer in general, or it was a learn as they go type thing?
Learn as you go. We don’t use the normal mouse we use the ball mouse. That takes some getting used to. But my son, like me preferes the ball mouse over the traditional mouse cause it does not run out of space. Instead it is in the same place all the time. The ball is all that moves.
That makes sense. Thanks!