Hi, Lindy. We use Time4Learning and our daughter can easily work independently if I need her to. I'm always close by so she can call out to me if she's having trouble understanding something, but for the most part, she works independently. I think it would depend on the child, but I certainly think that at about the 4th to 5th grade level, a child could work through their lessons alone. The Progress Reports make it easy for parents to just login and check a student's scores on lessons they've been working on for the day/week/month. I don't know why you mention it was a lot of work for you. You didn't say what grade level it was. The lessons are already layed out, so there's no planning other than letting the student know how many lessons you want him/her to do. And of course, if they have problems understanding the lesson or concept being taught. But the student can easily move from one lesson to the next, following the suggested sequence already set out. The Parent Admin page has some detailed videos that show you how to use the website for things such as creating a Lesson Scheduler, if you want to use that option of scheduling the lessons for your son. I don't use it. I just tell my daughter to do 2 to 3 lessons for each subject. I would say it's worth giving it a try again. It's a month-to-month subscription. So if it doesn't work for you, you can always just cancel. :)

I just Googled this question and was led here. I used Brighter Vision with my older kids and would now LOVE to have it for my younger daughter and my granddaughter. Any ideas? I know this thread is old. I'm hoping someone has found something similar to Brighter Vision. Thanks!!

Time4writing matches the description of the things you're looking for. Your son would be assigned his own personal certified teacher who would provide him with assignments, deadlines and personal feedback. In addition to different online writing courses, you can find free resources at their website. Janet, mom to 5. Homeschooling 3 elementary through high school.

khpinson, one of the things I like about Time4Writing is that you're working with a live certified writing tutor. I believe if the level or writing course doesn't work for your child, she may be able make recommendations or adjust the assignments to your child. I love that the site has so many free resources. It's a wonderful resource to help you with guidelines in helping your son put his thoughts down on paper. Do you think that working on reading comprehension as you read books together would help him in his writing? My daughter has several learning challenges. She is 16, but also writes at about a 2nd grade level. She has trouble with comprehension, putting her thoughts down, and sentence structure. In addition to her writing, she also has trouble with orthography/handwriting. Her spacing between letters and the size of her letters are inconsistent. I found a particular notebook paper that has been very helpful for her. This is the link: http://www.mead.com/meadstore/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=48018 This notebook paper has a space for each letter. It's for 2nd through 5th graders. We LOVE this notebook paper. She's been doing a page of copy work a day. This helps her to see the punctuation, capitalization and spelling as she's writing. Maybe you could alternate between copy work and dictation. And then also have him keep his own journal for free-style writing. Just have him write 1 paragraph about something familiar to him, like what he did over the weekend, or how he takes care of his pet, or how he felt about a movie he saw, or what he would do if his best friend came to visit. :) I hope these suggestions help. :)

Hi, Suz. We've been using Time4Learning for a little over 4 years. Our daughter really enjoys the learning with T4L. We've tried different curriculum, but this is the only one that keeps her engaged. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that I have to limit her time on T4L because she would stay on there for hours if she could. She's shown a lot of progress. Her reading and comprehension have improved tremendously. I appreciate that she's learning how to work independently when I need her to, and I can easily go back and view (and print) her progress report. If I see she's scored below 80%, I'll sit with her as she repeats the lesson so I can see where she needs my help in understanding. I also like that the program is prompted to explain a concept in a different way if she gets an answer wrong. Another thing I like is that we're not stuck to one grade level. We have the flexibility to choose from 3 different grade levels per subject. In the lower grade levels, I would say that you can use this as the sole or primary source of learning. Higher elementary I suggest you supplement the science and social studies. We have been very happy with T4L!!