If you’ve been around a minute, you know our oldest daughter has learning challenges. She currently has a diagnosis of a specific learning disability in reading, also known as dyslexia, and a diagnosis of a specific learning disability in written expression, also known as dysgraphia. I also just scheduled her for testing to determine whether or not she also has a specific disability in mathematics, also known as dyscalculia. As such, you may recall I mentioned in my 8th Grade Plans for 2022-2023 article that we’ve learned to shift gears as needed when we find that a homeschool curriculum isn’t working. This is what led me to check into using Compass Classroom with learning challenges. Compass Classroom is an online provider and publisher of educational videos, resources, and course materials for homeschooling families, and it’s all from a Christian worldview.
Using Compass Classroom with Learning Challenges
Given that we need the ability to switch gears as needed, I chose to explore the Compass Classroom Premium Membership. The premium membership allows members to access the entire library of Compass Classroom homeschooling classes on any device. It also gives you a Family Dashboard, which allows 3 “child” accounts underneath the parent member account, each with their own progress and scoring. You can simply link your student to the homeschool video course of your choice. The Family Dashboard allows you to see, at a glance, what courses each student is in and how many steps they’ve completed in the course. For now, I’ve only added classes for my oldest daughter to the family dashboard.
In the Student Dashboard, students are able to see the courses that they are enrolled in and the progress they’ve made, as well as the last date a step was completed in the course.
By clicking on the course, the student may view what steps are required to be completed for each lesson. A green checkmark is displayed on steps that have been completed.
One of the many advantages of the Compass Classroom Premium Membership is that if a course isn’t working out for your student, you can simply unlink the course from your student in the Family Dashboard in the parent account. Another advantage is that students can rewatch videos within the course as needed.
As you can see, we chose two courses for Sister to start off with.
First is Compass Classroom’s American History video course taught by Dave Raymond. The American History class is one of four video courses for homeschool taught by Mr. Raymond. I chose to print the Teacher’s Guide and the Student Reader for American History and have them bound at my local office supply store. The American History course is the first of four full-year courses taught by Mr. Raymond. It gives a comprehensive history of the United States by applying a Christian worldview to the characters, events, theology, literature, art, and religious beliefs of the nation. All four video history courses, which include Modernity | World History (1600s to 2000), Antiquity | Ancient History (Creation to AD 33), and Christendom | Medieval History (AD 33 – 1600), can be purchased in a History Bundle if you choose not to get the premium membership.
Second is Compass Classroom’s General Science, which is taught by Bonnie Kookogey, who brings her 19 years of homeschool mentoring and licensed nursing experience to the classroom. The General Science video course also uses the Exploring Creation with General Science Student Textbook, 2nd Edition, textbook from Apologia.
I had to get this used, as it’s no longer in print. Tests in General Science are optional, which is fantastic because our girl struggles with tests. Quizzes are available to download and are based on the On Your Own Problems in the student notebook. We also got the student notebook used, because a new copy was ridiculously priced since it’s out of print.
Each course tells you what materials you need to purchase or download, if any.
After using Compass Classroom for a month with Sister, I thought I would share some reasons I think you should consider it for your student, especially if they have learning challenges…
Compass Classroom courses are affordable. Individual courses range from $20 to $155.
You can be confident that your student is getting a quality education with courses from Compass Classroom because the courses are comprehensive.
Your student can progress through courses at their own rate with Compass Classroom. Have a student that wants to blaze through a course in 6 months? That’s perfectly acceptable. Have a student that needs a few weeks to get through one lesson? That works, too.
Compass Classroom courses appeal to students with learning challenges because of the video lectures that are available with courses.
Compass Classroom offers free resources for homeschooling, too!
The Compass Classroom Premium Membership allows you to trial courses with your student to find the perfect match. Bonus – you can do a Free Trial of the Premium Membership to see if it’s right for your family’s homeschool needs.
