Frequently Asked Questions
We’ve got answers. Here.
Q. Why was this new site started? I liked Teacher’s Toolbox! Why the change to this format?
A. Teacher’s Toolbox was a great resource, but its look had become dated and its resources were limited. In short, we wanted to greatly increase the scope of what we could offer. SchoolhouseTeachers.com will provide your family with everything needed, in one place, for one incredible low price, for your home education needs. Seven expert Schoolhouse Teachers (writing, geography, literature, music among them) debuted in our first month, five more on April 1. As the months progress, we’re going to add more tracks, more Teachers, and more and more daily content. Log in and get your work for each new day. The subscription rate is just $12.95 per month—but the first month is yours for just $3. See our SIGN-UP PAGE for what you get with your membership.
Q. So tell me a little more about SchoolhouseTeachers.com and why I should I sign up. How can I use SchoolhouseTeachers.com in my daily homeschooling?
A. SchoolhouseTeachers.com was created with the vision to provide quality homeschool materials from the best teachers in many subject areas. We offer daily, weekly, and monthly lesson plans and activity ideas.The site has daily lessons on many subjects to assist you with your daily homeschool. Some of our Teachers will provide weekly or monthly activities that you can use at your convenience with your own lesson plans. You also will receive daily historical information, daily menu ideas, and tons more.
Q. Why did SchoolhouseTeachers.com choose the tagline “Blended Learning, Innovative Education”? How do you apply that term to home education?
A. World English Dictionary: “Blended learning is the use of both classroom teaching and online learning in education.” Our approach believes in the combination of face-to-face learning—i.e., home education and homeschool co-op settings—combined with the latest in technology. And that’s where innovative comes in. We’re using the latest in technology: online learning, E-Books, apps, back issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine archived, and more. And there’s much more (video, audio files) to come.
Q. You’re saying absolutely everything I need for my school day is here? I’ve got kids ranging from in age 5 to 17. How can that be?
A. We’re providing an extremely broad spectrum for you, and again, you’ll see our list of subjects grow month by month. That said, we recognize two things: (1) many families are already using programs that they enjoy and are benefiting greatly from, and (2) all families are different! So here’s our short answer: For a number of families, yes! You’ll have plenty here to keep your day filled and to challenge your children in every way, in every subject you need. For others, it will fill the final gaps or provide the outline for much or most of your day, or supplement your curriculum in subjects that you feel you just don’t have a good handle on.
Q. Will you bring on more Schoolhouse Teachers each month, or is this going to be the total? Will the site’s content grow? If so, can we know what’s coming in future months so we can decide if we want to keep our membership?
A. Yes, the content and number of subjects will be growing month by month. In the final week before the new month, we’ll begin to promo our new Teachers for the coming month. We think you’ll enjoy seeing how the site and content grows with each month.
Q. Explain the program itself and how it works; is this something I can budget for?
A. See our SIGN-UP PAGE for what you get with your membership. But basically, you utilize these lessons and activities to fulfill your goals for your family and school! We’re offering flexible learning—not heavily directed learning. You’ll see that tone reflected by our Teachers. They will encourage your creativity within their lesson plans. The cost per month: equal to or less than the price of one fancy coffee. Who can’t do without one of those in order to gain educational content like this?
Q. Can I use this for my entire family? Or must I purchase the program for each child/adult who will use it?
A. We look at this as a family membership. Anyone living in your home may use the program 24/7. You don’t need a separate subscription for each child you’re educating; the entire package will have such versatility that it should meet many or all of your children’s needs.
Q. What do I get with my membership?
A. A membership provides you with all the daily, weekly, and monthly lessons from our expert Schoolhouse Teachers and Contributors, but there is much more. It also gives you all five Schoolhouse Daily Planners each year; the five, together, represent a $125 value.
The 2012-2013 Planners can be downloaded at any time. Though the school year is winding down, you’ll still benefit from literally hundreds of pages of articles, supports, helps, encouragements, games, informational lists, and other benefits (as well as a few months of tracking space). The 2011-2012 Schoolhouse Planner alone is 819 pages! There are also separate planners for elementary, middle school, and high school ages, and a planner for special needs children.
A membership also provides with you access to our past (archived) and future Expo webinars—we have had up to one thousand attendees at each webinar. We cover the latest in home education trends and sponsor many free giveaways. For instance, the March webinar featured Jay Ryan teaching about astronomy and Andy Harris teaching on Google Earth. (What a blast that was!) Note: The Expo-to-Go postings will go up on our site in May. (More on this question below.)
There’s more: The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered by TOS straight to your inbox monthly; all The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine digital back issues (easily searchable); a free E-Book every month; and, after 12 months of uninterrupted membership, you’ll receive a $25 gift certificate to the Totally TOS section of The Schoolhouse Store!
All of this is yours for $12.95 each month—and the first month is $3.
Q. What is a Schoolhouse Expo or Expo-to-Go? What is a webinar? I understand all past Expo webinars will be archived for me. How will I benefit from these?
A. The Expos are our webinars—live, online conferences with video and audio—held several times a year, in which we feature instruction from some of the most highly respected and loved names in homeschooling. (In March we had an astronomy tutorial and Andy Harris walked more than three hundred people through the fantastic things you can do on Google Earth.) We cover trends in home education, provide educational lessons such as those just mentioned, hold item giveaways at the end of the sessions, and more. We’re limited to one thousand attendees per session.
These archived recordings will give you access to some of the best speakers and teachers from around the world. Enjoy them at your convenience and pace; they’ll be just a click or two away.
Q. How can I contact a Schoolhouse Teacher?
A. You can reach them in these ways: write to our feedback email at SchoolhouseTeachers@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com or go to the Teachers’ respective websites. And we can guarantee you—they want to hear from you! Each Teacher’s site address will be provided for you as part of his or her package. Just mention, within your question, that you’re writing about your SchoolhouseTeachers.com lesson, and specify the month in which the lesson was presented.
Q. Whom do I contact if I have a question about something contained within a lesson?
A. First, please contact the Teacher or contributing author who provided the instruction. The Teachers and contributors will have their email addresses or websites listed at the end of their lessons, on their bio pages. Or you can write to SchoolhouseTeachers@TheHomeschooolMagazine.com.
Q. How can I contact the SchoolhouseTeachers.com team?
A. You can email the Executive Editor, Bob Irvin, at birvin@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com, or editorial team member Tami Fox at tfox@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. Or write to SchoolhouseTeachers@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.
Q. How can I contribute content to SchoolhouseTeachers.com? I’d like to be considered.
A. We have a volunteer group of Schoolhouse Writers who create additional materials for the site. We’d love to consider your work. For more information, contact SchoolhouseTeachers.com editorial team member Julie Coney at jconey@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.
Q. Where can I find the back issues of The Old Schoolhouse magazine?
A. The digital back issues are available here. They can be found under the Schoolhouse Extras tab.
Q. For what length of time are the Schoolhouse Teachers’ lessons available on the SchoolhouseTeachers.com site?
A. The Teacher lessons will remain up for at least three months. We encourage you to use each monthly/weekly/daily lesson as it is posted, within that respective month, as much as possible. But as the site grows, our cumulative archived material also will grow.
Q. If I already have a subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and Teacher’s Toolbox, am I going to have to pay?
A. If you have a subscription to TOS Magazine, you are automatically a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com for the time remaining on your subscription; there are no additional fees. If you need log-in information or want to know when your membership ends, email Customer Service at CustomerService@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com
Q. How do I log in? It’s not letting me use the email address and password that I formerly used to access Teacher’s Toolbox.
A. Are you using your old password from Teacher’s Toolbox? If so, you will need new log-in information for SchoolhouseTeachers.com. If you haven’t received your log-in information, contact Customer Service at CustomerService@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. Put “SchoolhouseTeachers.com login information” in the subject line of your email.
Q. How can I find out how long my current subscription runs?
A. If you have not received an email with your information to log in to SchoolhouseTeachers.com please contact CustomerService@TheHomeSchoolMagazine.com. The customer service representative will be able to tell you how long your subscription lasts and give you log-in information for SchoolhouseTeachers.com
Q. Is there a way to purchase past magazine print issues at a great discount?
A. Sometimes we run specials on back issues and sell them at a reduced price. Visit The Schoolhouse Store for pricing and special deals.
Q. Can I use SchoolhouseTeachers.com on my Apple or Android devices?
A. Yes, you can use SchoolhouseTeachers.com on your Apple and Android devices or any other electronic tablet that allows Internet browsing. Your back issues of the magazine may also be viewed on an app. Download the Apple app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-old-schoolhouse-magazine/id495989438?mt=8 or the Android app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.texterity.android.HomeSchoolMagazine
Q. I live in Australia (or Chile, or Israel, or the UK, etc.). Can I participate in SchoolhouseTeachers.com?
A. Absolutely! You can join SchoolhouseTeachers.com from anywhere in the world where you have Internet access and the ability to pay the monthly membership fees through PayPal. We want your ideas, too! We’ll do the best we can with them. (In response to the suggestion of a new subscriber, we recently initiated research on Canadian facts to add new entries to our This Day in History feature.) Note: International memberships are subject to applicable legal restrictions in respective countries.
Q. I want to spread the word about this site and earn money. Can I become an affiliate?
A. Yes you can! As a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you earn 50 percent of a monthly or yearly membership by referring others to the site. That could be anywhere from 50 cents to more than $30 in your pocket from a sale. Simply provide your Affiliate Link to friends or post the information on your blog, websites, or social media sites. (Note: this is a one-time, initial signup payment to you; it does not recur with succeeding renewals.)
If you click on the Affiliate Stats link at the very bottom of any SchoolhouseTeachers.com page, you’ll find your Affiliate Link to use. Can’t find your Affiliate Link or have other questions? Contact Customer Service at CustomerService@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. The Affiliate program and benefits are subject to legal restrictions and void where prohibited by law. Affiliate program benefits and availability may change without notice.
For more information on Affiliate sales, visit the Affiliate Information page.
Q. Can I share the lessons from SchoolhouseTeachers.com with my co-op?
A. The lessons on SchoolhouseTeachers.com are for individual homeschool use only by subscribing members. Lessons from SchoolhouseTeachers.com cannot be shared with other homeschool families or in homeschool co-ops. We encourage you to tell others about the lessons available on the site and share your Affiliate link so they can subscribe—and you earn money from their subscriptions. (See the I want to spread the word . . . Can I become an affiliate? entry, above.)
Q. Can I cancel if I really don’t want to continue?
A. Absolutely. You may cancel at any time. If you’re a subscriber to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine for a set amount of time already, however, we encourage you to continue to use SchoolhouseTeachers.com as it meets your needs; it’s not costing you anything. Otherwise, if you wish to cancel, we’d love to know the reasons why. Please write to us at SchoolhouseTeachers@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.
At the same time, we also ask you to consider giving the site a further chance. Month by month, our content (we have 12 expert Teachers covering 12 full subjects, and much more content) will be growing. We think it’s the best full-spectrum online homeschool repository in the world.
Q. I want to gift a membership to my friend. How may I do this?
A. One of our staff members is set up to help you do just that. Contact Kristen Hamilton at khamilton@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com for details.
Q. I like your website, but I have a suggestion. Is there a feedback link?
A. Yes, SchoolhouseTeachers.com welcomes your feedback. If you have a suggestion for the editorial team, please email Executive Editor Bob Irvin at birvin@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com or Tami Fox at tfox@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com. Or write to SchoolhouseTeachers@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.
Note: For all Customer Service inquiries, including those mentioned in this FAQ, in addition to e-mailing, you may always call us at 1-888-718-HOME (4663).