FAQs

Why did you make these video lessons?

I’ve been homeschooling and teaching homeschooled children for a long time.  I’ve seen so many well intentioned parents get busy and overwhelmed with life (little ones at home, jobs, etc..), and the homeschooling fell more and more by the wayside as the school year went on.  Parents would get concerned because the child was behind, and would hire me to help their child get back up to grade level.  These video lessons were designed to help busy parents homeschool.  There are also parents who welcome the assistance of a credentialed teacher in educating their child.  It makes them feel more comfortable with homeschooling.  There is also the issue of arguments and stress in the parent/child relationship when the parent is trying to get their child to do schoolwork.  It’s normal.  Some parents would rather an outsider be assigning and doing the work with their kids, to cut down on the arguments and tension that can occur so that you can still homeschool, but don’t have to do it alone.

What are your lessons like?  How do your lessons work?

Each lesson is based on a concept that is standards based for that grade.  I introduce the concept (sometimes this is done with a story or a video), then we do some pencil to paper work to practice that concept.  I literally do the work with them, teaching and explaining all the way through.  After several examples of how to do the work, I ask the student to complete the rest of the work on their own, and then when they are finished they check their work along with me in the video lesson. 

When I’m teaching students in person, and have them with me for long periods of time, the learning is always divided into chunks of time where we oscillate between active learning through play, and sit down pencil and paper work.  I am not able to do that with these lessons.  So think of these lessons as the sit down pencil and paper portion of your child’s learning.  I make the lessons as efficient, short, sweet, and to the point as possible, so that the child then has plenty of time to run around, play, create, and be a kid!  There is no busy work in my lessons.  Everything has a purpose, and is always building skills.  When I left teaching in schools and became a homeschooling parent, I quickly realized that the “school model” was not at all needed at home.  Homeschooling can be done in a much shorter period of time when learning one on one.   

When you purchase a package of 15 weeks of lessons you will have access to them inside of my Google Classroom for 20 weeks.  That gives you 5 extra weeks of wiggle room to complete the lessons.  I have a total of 30 weeks of lessons to offer, but have divided them into two 15 weeks parts so that you do not have to commit to the whole school year at once.  You can try them out, and see if it works for you.

How much is the parent required to do in this program?

Very little is required of the parent, if you choose.  You can also be very involved, if you choose.  The parent simply needs to print out the worksheets, pull up the learning video, and press play.  That’s it!  It’s important to check on them and their work from time to time, just to be sure that they’re doing it, and so you can see how they are doing, and if any extra support is needed.  If you’d like to be involved, my lessons are a great springboard for you to add on all sorts of fun activities, crafts, games, or maybe even more research about a topic that your child would like to learn more about.

Do you follow the standards where I live?

Learning standards are different in each state, or area, where you may live anywhere in the world.  However, there are a lot of similarities in those standards, and it is to those standards that I am teaching. 

Does my child need to take all of your subjects?

My lessons are designed for coverage of the core subjects.  However, if you are only looking for support in one or two subject areas, then you can certainly pick and choose.  My lessons in each grade level assume that the student completed the standards of the previous grade level in that subject.  If the work is too hard, perhaps doing the lessons in a grade below is a better fit for your child.  If the work is too easy, then you can bump up a grade level in that subject.  Whatever fits your child best is the goal here.  In the first 2 weeks after you purchase a package of lessons, you can switch to a different grade level for free.  In other words, there is a 2 week trial period for you to figure out what works best for your child.

What about reading books?

Because of my video lesson format, I am not able to assign reading to your child (other than in First Grade where I teach them to read with reader books).  I would highly recommend that you have your child read every day, at whatever level they are reading.  Practice is key, and the more they read the better of a reader, writer, and speller they will become.  There is also a lot of value in being read to.  If you don’t have time to read to your child, there are so many books available as audiobooks to choose from, even for free at your local library. 

Why can’t my child do the worksheets digitally?

There is a great deal to be gained when a child does pencil to paper work that cannot be accomplished in the digital format.  In today’s world where so much is digital, and our kids are typically brought up with electronic devices in their hands from the time they could hold one, it’s important to be learning how to write with pencil and paper.  The brain learns the material in a different way, and important skills are being practiced.  That said, I do want to point out that I only teach printing in Kindergarten in my lessons, and not cursive writing in later grades.  

What materials do I need?

You will need:

• Access to the internet

• A device to access the internet

• A Google account, such as a gmail account, which is free

• A printer

• Printer paper

• Paper with lines (for writing)

• Pencils and erasers

• Crayons, markers, or colored pencils

• Scissors

• Glue

What if we buy the lessons, but don’t like them?

You will have 2 weeks after purchase to decide if my lessons are a good fit for your family.  You will receive a refund, if you wish, within the first 14 days of purchase.