SchoolhouseTeachers.com

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the curriculum site of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, a Christian homeschool publisher. One membership gives a whole family access to hundreds of self-paced, parent-led courses from preschool through high school, plus several courses for parents themselves, lesson plans, recordkeeping tools and a large video library. The FAQ describes it as "a comprehensive, parent-led homeschool curriculum platform for the entire family," and the homepage sums up the offer as "A Complete Christian Curriculum for Every Grade and All the Tools You Need!"

The membership benefits page says the site launched in 2012 and is used by thousands of homeschooling families. It now lists more than 400 courses, which the company says are mostly taught by homeschooling parents and graduates. The lesson designers page counts more than 200 designers and contributors since 2012, from six countries and four continents, including active and retired teachers, authors and homeschool graduates.

How the courses work

Classes are not live. The FAQ explains that families can start any course at any point and begin at whatever lesson a child is ready for. Courses vary in length and intensity, "from a few weeks to a full year or more," and the site includes full-year courses, one-semester courses and short unit studies. Almost every class has a written component, and the curriculum is downloadable or online; the company states that "There are no physical items included in your membership." Some classes, such as Film-making, Beginning Guitar, Beginning Violin, French and Spanish, add audio or video.

The course information page sets out the routine in six steps:

1. Plan: browse courses, choose them and build a schedule for each child with the Schedule Builder, checking the Scope and Sequence for what a child needs.
2. Prepare: download and print lesson plans. These are optional: "you may choose to use ours, make your own, or use none at all."
3. Teach: download the course PDF files and start.
4. Progress: grade the work with the included answer keys and tick off the checklist in each lesson plan.
5. Record: keep attendance, test scores and final course grades in Applecore.
6. Celebrate: print a Certificate of Completion, which the homepage says can be customized, printed and signed.

Families who would rather not plan can use the School Boxes, pre-planned curricula for every grade from Pre-K to 12. A parent picks the grade, selects the subjects, downloads the lesson plans and follows the instructions for each day.

A growing set of courses also runs on iST (Interactive SchoolhouseTeachers), an online lesson platform with quizzes, drag-and-drop exercises and instant feedback, where parents can track progress and grades.

What the catalog covers

The course directory lists each course with its components, length and grades. A few examples show the range: Algebra 1 runs 36 weekly lessons for high school; Advanced Chemistry has 25 weekly video lessons with worksheets, tests and answer keys for parents; Accounting 101 is 18 lessons and the directory notes that parents do not need to understand accounting; Advanced Apologetics is an audio course of 183 lectures; ABC with ME gives preschoolers 26 weekly units. The membership benefits page names subjects from computer programming, Bible, foreign languages, science, music, math and language arts to electives such as art, history, geography, architecture, public speaking, home economics, physical education and health, and it mentions new Pre-Med and Pre-Law Centers.

For extra help, the site has Focused Learning Centers for a child "struggling in an area" or needing a new approach, searchable by skill and topic, and a Special Needs Support area with resources and classes "geared towards the special needs child." The FAQ says many families use the site as a complete curriculum and others as a supplement. Some courses recommend books, often available from a library, and a few upper-level courses need a purchased text; the join page says most curricula need no extra textbook except certain honors-level college prep courses.

Every membership also includes streaming access to 25,000+ family-friendly videos and World Book Online, which the homepage values at $250 and describes as 8 full interactive libraries.

Records, transcripts and accreditation

Recordkeeping is a large part of the offer. The Homeschool Records Center includes an Education Plan Builder, a Letter of Intent Template, a Portfolio Builder and a Schoolhouse Gradebook, and the membership benefits page says it holds "dozens of interactive templates for all your compliance needs." Applecore, included with every plan, handles report cards, attendance, portfolios and transcript help. The site says academic weighting for transcripts is included for many high school classes, and its High School Help area covers transcripts, credits, college prep and careers.

On accreditation the FAQ is direct: the answer is no, because accreditation applies to schools and not to curriculum providers like SchoolhouseTeachers.com. It adds that the site is not aligned with Common Core, because "We believe children learn best when education is individualized, not standardized." Its content is developed from a Biblical worldview and presents God as Creator.

Membership and pricing

One membership covers the entire immediate family, with multiple children at multiple grade levels "at no additional cost per student," according to the FAQ. The join page lists:

• Ultimate Annual: $389 a year, the most popular plan, with all 400+ courses and the Applecore Gold Plan, renewing automatically.
• Ultimate Quarterly: $129 a quarter, with all courses and the Applecore Silver Plan, renewing quarterly.
• Lifetime Membership: a one-time payment with Applecore Gold. The plan card on the join page shows $1,800, while the plan table on the same page and the homepage show $1,850.

The plan table is marked U.S. Only. The join page promises instant access after checkout and "Cancel anytime," and the homepage adds a Price Lock Guarantee and no additional fees. A Bright Beginnings starter kit at $399 bundles a full year of Ultimate membership and Applecore Gold with 4 print back issues of the magazine, a tote bag and a homeschooling primer booklet. Gift memberships are available, and individual ST courses are now sold a la carte at the TOS Homeschool Store.

Support and community

Help comes by chat, email or phone at 1-888-718-4663, and video tutorials cover using School Boxes and member benefits. Families can join the ST Community online group on Facebook or a Schoolhouse, a local or online co-op that uses the curriculum together. An affiliate program pays 25% for referring other homeschoolers.

Who it suits

SchoolhouseTeachers.com suits Christian families who want a large library under one price, especially families with several children across different grades. Parents who like to plan get full freedom over courses and pacing; those who do not can start with a School Box for each grade. The recordkeeping tools are a real help in states with reporting rules.

It suits fewer families who want a secular curriculum, live classes or a teacher who grades work, since the parent does the teaching and grading. Because the site is not accredited, families who need an accredited diploma will have to find that through a school.