Online Homeschool Programs and Options for Students

Although there are many online homeschool programs, they are each different in their own way and serve the needs of specific students. Parents should be sure to investigate several programs and take into account their child's learning style, their homeschool budget, and their goals for education.

Summary of the most popular online homeschool programs:

online homeschool programs
 

Enlightium Academy is an online Christian private homeschool for grades K-12. If you homeschool your children, or would like to, you can consider Enlightium as your partner in private online Christian homeschooling. Enlightium is a next-generation online homeschool that sets the industry standard for quality education. Their teachers pray for and care for the academic success of each student as if they were their own.

Enrollment is open year round and there are many different customizable support packages to fit your families specific needs. They offer affordable monthly payment plans and well as many discounts.

Preschool through Kindergarten - ABC Mouse is a great online homeschool program that covers all subjects in an interactive environment with puzzles, games, printables, songs, videos and more for just $7.95 a month.

Jubilee Academy - They offer K-12 curriculum. Parents are in charge of leading their student. All books and curriculum are included, but watch out for book rental fees that are not always mentioned. They use interactive media to help your child learn using their accredited Christian-based online program. They have a learning management system where students can interact with one another and parents can participate in online forums.

Each year you receive 6 courses that have 180 lessons each over the course of 36 weeks. Parents have full control of the curriculum with online assignments each day, calendar, automatic grading, progress reports and transcripts.

Morningstar Academy and Southern Baptist Academy are also affiliated with Jubilee and offer their own online learning programs that can be viewed on their websites.There you can choose one course or a whole year of online learning.

Monarch Online - Alpha Omega Publications now have online homeschool programs. I have written a complete review of their program including the pros and cons listed at AOP Monarch.

Grace Academy - This is an accredited Christian-based curriculum. You receive 180 lesson plans, books, workbooks, CDs and videos all in a safe Christian environment.You also receive help with record keeping, evaluations, progress reports, attendance and portfolios. They also have teaching teams available during the day to help answer yours or your students questions.

They say they are a good fit for both new and veteran homeschoolers. They provide support and structure for new families and take some of the load of grading and lesson planning off the shoulders of veteran homeschoolers.

Their calendar year runs September through May. You have 30 days to decide whether the program is right for you. Then you are obligated for the year. There is also a CD usage fee of $50-$250.

You can pay all at once or on an installment plan. Part time students pay by the course and full time students pay the tuition fees. You can get placement tests, but they are $19.95 each or 2 for $24.95.

You don't need to return anything at the end of the year and the video CDs time out after a year.

The grading scale is 93% and above for an A, 80% and above for a B, 70% and above for a C and 60% and above for a D. You can print their grades at the end of each quarter.

There is a social center for students to socialize with other students during school hours to discuss assignments or school work. The Joy Directed area of the program allows parents and students to enter any extra projects or educational activities they participated in during the year.

Tuition fees are $1437 for the year or $399 per course. Plus there is a $75 per student registration fee, $29.95 per student shipping cost, $7.95 per CD handling fee, and a few courses that have additional materials to purchase.

Time 4 Learning - I have written a complete review of Time 4 Learning where you can learn all the pros and cons of this online homeschool program. The cost is $19.95 per month for the first student and then $14.95 for each additional student and no additional fees. Their program is for pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.

Laurel Springs - This is a college prep online homeschool program that accepts students from K-12. They were established in 1991 and accept students from all over the world. They even have public school students use their online curriculum. They are the primary teacher and offer curriculum only (available K-6) or standard enrollment.

They have lots of student testimonials on their site from athletes and actors who use their program. Special needs and gifted students can get help from them too. Scholarships are available by application.

Laurel Springs is a legally accredited private school, so if your child decides to go back to public or private school, the credits will transfer over. Students can even take classes with them AND attend a public or private school. National Honor Society and honors courses are available too. There are placement tests to help know where to place your student, but they are $150.

For high school, students are expected to work about 20 hours a week to complete their courses. They also provide college counseling and help with what courses to choose for high school. Students can take advantage of the Personal Project Portfolio section to keep track of their activities and community service.

The cost is $2000-$3000 per year for K-8 and $950-$1500 per course for high school since it is an individualized course of study. Students can even complete one course at a time if they choose. Their online homeschool programs are one of the more expensive options out there, but also seem to be individualized and well accepted among high schools and colleges.

Zion Academy - Zion Academy of America is another accredited national private school that has been in operation for 20 years. They provide a K-12 college preparatory curriculum where all their students are homeschooled.

Their calendar year runs September through May and they offer diplomas, transcripts, record keeping and a yearly report card. For a $295 enrollment fee (can be reduced by $100 with promo offer) and a monthly $160 fee per month per student, they receive 5 core classes. Additional classes can be purchased for an extra fee. The yearly cost translates out to $1440 per year.

They do not allow you to just purchase curriculum from them. The books you use are part of their online curriculum and all books and materials have to be returned at the end of the year. It's hard to tell if this is truly and online homeschool program or not since they use books as their curriculum.

There is a nice long list of colleges that have accepted their students.

Bridgeway Homeschool Academy - They are also a K-12 accredited homeschool academy. They have a variety of curriculum choices from various publishers and say that you can create a customized curriculum with them. I believe that their high school program is the only program that is truly online.

They handle everything from homeschool enrollment with your school system, record keeping, transcripts and a diploma.

There are no hidden costs and all curriculum is included with the tuition costs. For PreKindergarten and Kindergarten the cost is $595. For grades 1-8 the cost is $1095-2125 depending on how many courses you take. The cost for online high school is $2195. All grades require a yearly $145 registration fee. They also allow you to enroll in dual enrollment so that your high school student can earn high school and college credits at the same time!

Online Science Course - Supercharged Science also called e-science has great online science courses taught by a real scientist who loves kids and uses videos and experiments to get kids interested in science and onto learning!

As you can see there are lots of choices if you choose an online homeschool program. I hope this information has helped you feel more confident in making an informed decision for your family.

Here are my favorite homeschool resources and home school books I recommend have for each subject.

Check these links for more help with choosing online homeschool programs:

Homeschool Classes Online

Online Science Courses

Online College Course for High School

Accredited Online Classes

Online Math Program - TenMarks