Garrett County Local Homeschool Explaination of DVD and Online Homeschool Curriculums

DVD and Online Homeschool

Perhaps one of the greatest advancements in homeschool came with the advent of the DVD and Online homeschool curriculums because it has meant that any parent can homeschool and still be able to give their children the best possible education.

DVD and Online curriculums are just what their name suggests. They are a full year of instruction in each grade level. DVD's can be played on any DVD player with no internet connection required, whereas the Online option requires an internet connection. Students can complete their homeschool anywhere, anytime, with either of these alternatives. DVD options generally come with books and worksheets, and online options vary in that some come with books and worksheets, and others contain all of the material online.

Parents do not have to be good at teaching. They do not have to know the subject material themselves. And, they do not have to spend the entire day standing in front of their students explaining each subject. Instead, homeschoolers can learn everything from teachers seen on the DVD or Online platform. DVD and Online curriculums, for the most part, contain all of the educational material that would be normally required for students in a specific grade. Therefore, parents don't have to be experts in knowing what things a child needs to master for the year either.

DVD and Online curriculums vary greatly. Some require more parent involvement than others. But, the beauty of them is the fact that parents no longer have to stress about teaching subjects they don't feel expert in themselves. The quality of DVD and Online Curriculums varies between institutions and publishers, but there are some that provide a strong education.

DVD and Online options differ from Academies in that Academies generally assume the responsibility for verifying that a student has completed the work, whereas, DVD and Online curriculums require that the parent is responsible for their own student's completion of the program. What that means is that Academies generally have some way to track a student's progress for proof that the material was completed. They, then, may offer accredation, report cards, transcripts, and possibly a high school diploma upon completion of high school. With DVD and Online offerings, the only ones checking to see if the work is completed are the parent and the local overseeing authority. Publishers or institutions selling the curriculum do not issue report cards, transcripts, or diplomas.

Many parents prefer DVD and Online curriculums because parents have full control. Parents can change up the curriculum, adding or deleting elements of the program. They can turn lessons into "hands-on" activities instead of the student simply viewing the teacher talking. And, they can "splice" curriculums together, using different curriculums for different subjects to create a school year that addresses any unique needs that the child may require. Parents have full control over start and stop dates and days and times that lessons are completed.

With DVD and Online curriculums, parents are responsible for making sure the child completes the lessons and any accompanying assignments; explaining material that the child may not understand, (although some come with a teacher that can be accessed via phone or e-mail for questions); and all record-keeping.

Using DVD and Online curriculums requires more time and responsiblity on the part of the parent than Academies, but less time and responsiblility on the part of the parent than Book Packs. Therefore, it is not surprising to find that the cost of DVD's and Online curriculums is higher than that of Book Packs and lower than Academies.

Following is a brief outline of a few DVD and Online curriculums to give you some idea of the variety of types that exist:

Abeka - In addition to book packs and the Abeka Accredited Academy options, Abeka offers either DVD or Online curriculums as well. In the case of Abeka, students using the DVD or Online option receive the same education offered in the accredited Abeka Academy with the only difference being that Abeka does not check student work, issue report cards, maintain transcripts, or offer a diploma for students not enrolled in the fully accredited version. Parents can choose to either school with DVD or Online. The material is the same with both, so it depends entirely upon preference and the availability of internet. Students receive books, worksheets, quizzes, and tests in a large packet prior to the start of school. And, the homeschooling parent receives teacher manuals, grade reports, and full instructions for overseeing the program. Students watch a DVD or Online lesson in each subject each day. There are 170 days of instruction in each subject with 10 days figured in, as well, for field trips. Abeka is an advanced curriculum, as it is the same material covered by the students at the private Christian school, Pensacola Christian Academy in Florida. Homeschool students watch actual classes conducted in the private school in their lessons. Abeka will work well for students who learn best listening to a teacher give instruction and viewing visuals on the blackboard. They emphasize learning through repetition.
BJU Press - BJU stands for Bob Jones University, which oversees this homeschool program. BJU offers either a DVD or Online Curriculum option. Instead of watching an actual class as in Abeka, however, students watch a teacher giving instruction directly to the child. There are also creative videos interspersed throughout. As with Abeka, students receive books prior to beginning school. Grading for the Online option is done automatically as the student submits assignments online, whereas the DVD option requires the parent to keep grades. Students in the Online program have the option to chat with other students taking the class worldwide, however, this function can be controlled by the parent. BJU Press curriculum has been around for a long time. It is not as advanced as Abeka, but the instruction is solid and covers all of the material required by most states for students in each corresponding grade level. When ordering, parents have the option to select the grade level for each subject so that the curriculum can be customized to meet the needs of students that may be struggling or excelling in certain subjects. The Online version offers more interaction with the computer than Abeka's Online platform, as many of the assignments are completed online, as opposed to all of the assignments being done in workbooks, as is the case for Abeka. BJU has a great deal less repetition, and its lessons are very short, so parents may find that they need to add in some teaching of their own on the subjects or add additional information on the material from other sources.
Monarch - Monarch is produced by Alpha and Omega, which also offers Switched-On-Schoolhouse Book Packs and the Alpha and Omega Academy. Monarch is strictly an Online platform. Students do not receive books. Everything is contained online. The program does do some grading automatically, but parents are also responsible for grading some assignements and some questions on tests. Parents have access to their own private dashboard where they can grade assignments, set stop and start dates, and send messages to their child on the student portal. Grades can be printed out for report cards or transcripts. Lessons consist of reading passages and some crude videos, along with assignments and quizzes and tests. Monarch has a large number of electives that are not found in other programs. This curriculum would work well for a student that enjoys reading long passages online. We were very impressed with Monarch's elective selections, and we have heard some excellent comments about them from homeschooling families who have used them. However, parents need to be aware that there is no teacher explaining the lessons. Students must read all of the material themselves and understand it from that reading. Therefore, parents may have a greater responsiblility in needing to explain some material. Additionally, Monarch's platform is very basic. It contains long reading passages with only crude graphics to break up the reading. Videos are very basic. Students with short attention spans and those used to bold graphics may have difficulty with this program. Additionally, the parent dashboard is not very user friendly and is somewhat difficult to learn. In our experiments, the content of the subjects seemed adaquate but neither of the two students that we were following stayed engaged with the program. Difficult or boring subjects may be particularly hard to master in Monarch. Our staff "clicked out" mentally after the first two pages of seemingly endless and very confusing reading in several Chemistry lessons. Therefore, we would recommend this program for electives added to another program, but parents using Monarch for major classes need to be prepared to help teach the material and add some assignments and elements to add interest to the subjects for optimal success.

The cost of a full year of DVD's or Online teaching varies. For Abeka, the cost runs around $900.00 to $1219.00, depending upon grade level, for all subjects required for a year, including "Bible" and electives for high school. BJU is slightly lower at $899.00, however, "Bible" and electives are optional and there is an additional charge for them. Monarch allows a family to have access to 50 courses for three students for a year at the set price of $629.96 per year. Or for one student only, it is $359.96. Additional classes can be purchased at a very reasonable rate. Most DVD and Online curriculums allow for the purchase of individual classes as opposed to the full year's curriculum, however, the "individual class" price is generally much higher.

There are a number of other homeschooling DVD and Online programs out there, and we will add them to the information on this site as we obtain additional information about them. Our policy is to only include information on the site that we have verified personally or which has been submitted by local families familiar with the programs.