LightSail for Homeschoolers Premium Subscription Review

Disclosure:  I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.

 

We were blessed to receive a one-year online membership to LightSail for Homeschoolers and we have been using it to improve reading comprehension in our homeschool!  So far, D and E have used this program the most in our homeschool.  LightSail for Homeschoolers focuses on four main areas - reading, writing, vocabulary and fluency.

There is a great introductory video that you will want to watch as you get started with LightSail.  Plan accordingly, this video is 86 minutes long.

LightSail is an incredible deep and wide platform so it takes time to learn the ins and outs.  Honestly, we are still learning!  The introductory video will help familiarize you and your children with the platform so your kids can get started reading on it right away.

One of the first things the students will do is take a Power Challenge to help the program hone into their appropriate level.

Above you can see some of the questions that were within D's Power Challenge.

Above you can see D's dashboard.  There is so much available within this site!

 

I had her work through one of the LightSail Unit Studies, World Animal Day: Animals of the Ocean.

Working on her unit study.

 

 After she read the first book on Humpback whales, she took a spelling bee.

D read about Vincent Van Gogh for fun.

After reading about Vincent Van Gogh, she took a spelling bee.  You can see one of the questions above.

With our premium subscription, the kids have access to over 12,000 books in the online library.  I like that everything is color coded - within books everything is red, within audiobooks everything is orange, etc.  Students can browse books by author or subjects.

 

My parent dashboard above shows D's request for me to approve books.

 

I love that I can manage the content in D's library and that I can set parameters as I see fit.  Above you can see that she requested me to approve a few books for her to read.

 

I can easily go into the requests and approve or deny it.

 

There is so much to use on this reading-centric, adaptive language arts program!  LightSail literally has dozens of modules, a plethora of features and so much content that works together to improve your child's literacy skills.  I really appreciate that it customizes to your individual student and meets their unique needs.

 

I also want to note, that while there is so much content already available for you to use, there is so much you can do to customize as well.  You can provide memory work lists, create your own unit study, choose your own words for a spelling bee, etc.  You have control over what your child will see and read as you see fit.

This complete language arts platform is a great way to invest in your children's literacy future!  Want to know more?  Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of LightSail for Homeschoolers.

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Personal Finance Illustrated® Homeschool Edition course by PEM LIFE Review

{Disclaimer:  I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.}

For the past few weeks, A has been taking the Personal Finance Illustrated® Homeschool Edition course offered by PEM LIFE.  We were blessed to receive this online subscription with 6 month access for review.  I was hoping for her to be further along in this course but we had to push pause so that she could study for her PSAT.  Now that that's over, she is back at it!  I do want to mention this is a rigorous course.

This one semester, self-study personal finance course has two instructional paths for you to choose from:  the Proctored Path or the Instructional Path.  In the Proctored Path students move through this course on their own watching the lesson videos and completing all the reading, quizzes and other assignments, while parents just oversee the process.  

 

 

Instructor Guide for Unit 1

The Instructional Path is a more hands-on approach for the parent providing access to instructor guides, lesson plans, key points, coaching videos, etc.  You can feel confident in teaching without feeling like you have to be a financial expert (and you will learn a lot!).  These two methods can be combined or mixed to suit your needs as you wish.  This customization is a huge perk for this program in my opinion as we are really using it both ways.

This course contains over 60 lessons broken down into 18 Core Units covering topics like the Personal Economic Model, Time Value of Money, Lifetime Capital Potential, Opportunity Cost, The Tax Filter, Lifestyle Regulator, Temperament & Finances, The Importance of Protection, Debt, Pay Cash or Finance, The Investment Tank, Savings Tank, Access to Capital, Qualified Plans, Mortgages, Why Go To Work, Principles of Work, and The Dangers of Riches.  

  

Above you can see the Personal Economic Model, the picture that's worth a thousand words.

I love how the Personal Economic Model is designed to help you find a balance between your current lifestyle and your future lifestyle requirements.  You can increase your wealth by putting money into your future tanks (investments and savings) while managing your standard of living.  I really wish that I had learned this in high school.  It wasn't until after college that this hit home for me personally.  If A really understands this, she will be ahead of me at her age when it comes to finances and that's encouraging.

Income Tube - Career Choice Video Lesson

The lessons contain the same basic layout.  There is a video lesson which introduces the material and teaches the topic using charts, graphs and other visuals.  There is reading from an online textbook.  There are interactive resources to be used as well.  There are writing assignments, reflection posts and discussions, and a vocabulary and concept quiz.  PEM LIFE takes care of all the grading of quizzes and writing assignments.  Your course will show your grades and the percentage of course completion as well.

 

Above you can see some of the Interactive Resource Library

I really like the Interactive Resource Library!  There are so many models that let you explore various aspects about finance.  One of my favorites is the Budget Builder.  This handy tool lets you make a budget based on your income and monthly expenses.  I think it's a great way to visualize monthly expenses and cost of living and really learn to manage a budget.

In the tutorial above, it walks you through how to make a monthly budget.  This is such a great resource tool!

I'm super impressed with the content that we have seen so far!  The lessons are fun and engaging.  I really like the colorful illustrations shown throughout the course.  And there is hours of video instruction to bring all the material home.  While we have just dipped our toes into this program so far, we are preparing to dive in head first now and I'm excited to see what A and I learn together!  If you are looking for a complete personal finance course, we highly recommend looking at PEM LIFE.

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of PEM LIFE.

 

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