Tuesday, March 8, 2016

A TOS Review: Here to Help Learning

I really like to write. In a perfect world it would be one of my favorite subjects to teach in our little homeschool. However (dum dum dum), my beautiful and creative son does not like to write.
Of course, he is dyslexic... so there is that. But I know that there are many kiddos out there without any learning issues (such as dyslexia) who do not enjoy the writing process whatsoever.

And, perhaps neither does mama.

I recently had the opportunity to review Here to Help Learning. This is a COMPLETE homeschool writing program. I initially started our review journey by taking a look at Flight 1 Essay Writing, but decided that it would be better to go back and do some review with Flight 1 Paragraph Writing



As I mentioned above, Here to Help Learning is a FULL and COMPLETE writing curriculum. The beauty of the whole thing is that it doesn’t require a whole lot of heavy lifting from the teacher. You receive all the tools you will ever need, including video instruction by the lovely Mrs. Mora. You may purchase the video instruction via an online membership or the actual physical sets. I received the online membership which meant I received access to all of the levels…which wound up being absolutely perfect for us.



The writing program is intended for grades 1-6, but I think it will benefit a whole lot of kiddos like my Josiah, who is in 8th grade but struggles with those pesky reading and writing issues.

It is recommended that you use Here to Help Learning two days a week. We did our lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I had printed off all I needed for a whole Projects worth of work and every week Josiah would add those sheets to his notebook. Tuesdays were spent on the video lesson and activities and Thursdays were used to do Josiah’s Flying Solo work…which is a writing project.

Josiah and I initially began our lessons with Flight 1 Essay Writing.

 I quickly decided (by reading the lost and bewildered look on my handsome boy’s face) that it had been too long since he had constructed an actual viable paragraph. I easily made the switch to Flight 1 Paragraph Writing.

Now, don’t let me scare you off. There is nothing intimidating about the Essay Writing course. In fact, it’s quite good. But because it had been a bit since we had implemented an actual writing program into our curriculum that he would benefit from a refresher. I felt like it was time he moved from the following form of paragraph.

Peyton Manning is a quarterback. He plays for the Denver Broncos. He is cool.

Our switch paid off even within the first few lessons.

One of my favorite memories of 8th grade English (and there was many….I am a geek) was our writing exercises. In particular the “brainstorming” exercise. I would quickly fill up my journal with all manner of random thoughts.

Any brainstorming activities I’ve done with Josiah have not been successful. He starts out by listing 1 or 2 things and then begins to scribble random football statistics all over his page.  Mrs. Mora began every writing Warm-Up with a picture and the instructions to write down 6 words about that picture.



That was just right for my guy. 

Another huge benefit with Here to Help Learning is that he was able to see an actual group of kids working through an exercise with Mrs. Mora during the first lesson. 

He does so much better when he has a model. Hearing those kids brainstorming, asking questions, etc. was such a big help to him.


I would like to encourage all you parents out there who might need to move a little slower through the learning process. This program is very gentle. The students are encouraged to do what they can do.  I was heartened to see that Josiah was engaged and felt like he could complete the task before him.



Another little note. This is a great program to use with a multi-aged group. It is very flexible.


If you are interested in poking around the Here to Help Learning site, I suggest you try their online membership with a FREE 1 day pass. It will give you a good idea to see if this is something that will work for your family.

If your child is older (like my Josiah) he might feel that the lessons are a bit “corny”…. Josiah could really care less. I suppose he is secure in his teenagedom, but there are those might feel a talking dog is a bit much. I personally loved the talking dog.  You can’t going wrong with a talking Basset Hound.

You can connect with Here to Help Learning via the following social media outlets. Don't forget to click on the banner below to read more reviews. 


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heretohelplearning/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HTHLTweets
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HTHLearning/ 
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/HereToHelpLearning


Here to Help Learning Review


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