Getting the Most Out of Your SchoolhouseTeachers.com Membership

The easiest way to plan your school year is to use our pre-planned School Boxes, You can access these under the School Boxes tab on the blue menu bar. Simply choose the grade that you need and then click on the subjects that you would like to teach. Each core subject has complete lesson plans based on our Scope and Sequence. You can download the curriculum guide for each subject that you need to teach. Then access the SchoolhouseTeachers.com lessons using the links in the curriculum guides and follow the instructions in the guide each day. Each curriculum guide offers a full year of study for each subject. This is a great option to help in planning.

If you decide to choose your own courses and bookmark them for future reference, let’s look at options for planning lessons and creating schedules on your own.

There are suggested Lesson Plans available for many of the courses you’ll find at SchoolhouseTeachers.com. We are working toward creating lesson plans for every course. If a course has a lesson plan available, you will find a link on the course page.

The Custom Schedule Builder allows you to create individualized plans for each student, either weekly or in nine-week blocks. Simply download the .pdf template, type directly into the template copy, and “save as” to your chosen computer file. You can even include links directly to your SchoolhouseTeachers.com courses within each schedule!

Another benefit of your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership is the ability to download the current Schoolhouse SmartMama™ Planner for FREE! Valued at $34 if purchased separately, you receive it at no additional cost as a SchoolhouseTeachers.com member. This fully customizable homeschool and household planner includes intuitive “smart” features like easy navigation, interactive budgets, page spawning, and more. Claim yours by using the exclusive coupon code found in the Member Bonuses section of your member dashboard.

As you plan your children’s courses, here are a few unique core subject possibilities to consider from the 400+ course options available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com!

• American History in Picture Books– Introduce your young or struggling readers to American history, from exploration through twentieth-century wars.
• Drive Thru History: Ancient History and Drive Thru History: American History – Join Dave Stotts on video tours of the sites where history was made!
• Teaching Reading Through Play– Brief, daily, intentional play activities gently guide your little learner into reading.
• Benjamin Franklin Writing Method– Teach, apply, and expand upon the techniques that Franklin, and others like him, used to improve upon their own writing!
• Geometry in Real Life– A full year of lessons, exams, and detailed answer keys provide a comprehensive high school geometry course.
• Fun with Science– Your young learner will see the world around us in a whole new way as you explore basic life science, earth science, and physical science concepts with hands-on activities.

You have a plan in place and have started using the courses at SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Now you may be wondering about how to document your child’s progress and achievements.

In addition to the beautiful Schoolhouse SmartMama™ Planner introduced under the Planning tab, SchoolhouseTeachers.com members enjoy free access to Applecore, a fully electronic recordkeeping service. Applecore silver membership is included with EVERY SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership. Track courses, grades, and attendance. Print schedules, report cards, and portfolio records with ease. Applecore gold membership, which also includes the option to generate transcripts, is free to SchoolhouseTeachers.com annual members; monthly members may upgrade for $10 to receive twelve months of gold level access. We have a video tutorial that demonstrates the many features of the Applecore system.

The Certificate Library at SchoolhouseTeachers.com gives you the option to personalize and print beautiful certificates for your children. Add certificates to your child’s portfolio or hang them on the refrigerator to acknowledge accomplishments. Certificate templates are available in themed designs to recognize all those special achievements. There are even cute certificates that record accomplishments like learning to recite the alphabet or tie shoes!

As you contemplate the many possibilities for providing individualized instruction for all your children using SchoolhouseTeachers.com, here are just a few of the many elective courses available to consider:

• Hands-On Architecture– Create structures using everyday items. Your elementary student will even design a house and a zoo!
• Media Socialization– Learn about fascinating research findings about the impact of music and advertising on the human brain.
• Photography and Photography Challenge – Help your children (or yourself!) take photos to the WOW level!
• Whole Foods Cooking– Explore healthy, whole-foods cooking techniques and learn the research behind the methods. Photo demonstrations will allow even your youngest learner to participate!
• Business Plan Creation– Equip young entrepreneurs to create thorough, accurate, and complete business plans that will move their ideas to a marketable level.
• Filmmaking– Learn the many elements of film production and editing, as well as marketing and career planning—directly from a professional Christian filmmaker!

Next, let’s focus on how your membership provides you with personal encouragement and enrichment, too.

The SchoolhouseTeachers.com Community Facebook group is a great way to stay in touch with others. Seek quick answers about courses from experienced members, be the first to receive new announcements, meet the staff, and invite friends to the private group to find out what SchoolhouseTeachers.com is all about.

Visit the Site News page on SchoolhouseTeachers.com, found under Planning on the menu bar, to learn about new developments, course additions, and upcoming resources.

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the premier trade magazine for homeschooling families, is available to you free with your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership! It is filled with informative articles, teaching ideas, product reviews, resource directories, and interviews. Claim your free quarterly print issue on your SchoolhouseTeachers.com Member Dashboard.

The Old Schoolhouse® also has a Free Info-Pak waiting for you. It is filled with several eBooks, as well as product samples and other items to help you get started homeschooling.

Friendly, knowledgeable customer service representatives are available to respond to your questions in three ways:

• Customer Service Live Chat – Jump on the chat box in the bottom right corner of the website. Live help is available Mon-Wed 9-5, Thurs 9-11, Fri 9-3 EST
• Call 1.888.718.4663 Mon-Wed 9-5, Thurs 9-11, Fri 9-3 EST
• Email CustomerService@TheOldSchoolhouse.com at any time, and you will receive a response as soon as possible.

In addition, SchoolhouseTeachers.com members have access to the Parent eBook Library and Just for Parents courses. Here is a sample of what’s available just for you, Mom (and Dad!):

• The Myth of Socialization: Dispelling the Rumors
• How to Beat Curriculum Boredom
• How Do I Teach My Platypus if He Won’t Sit Still?
• Disconnected: Connecting with Teens in the Digital Age
• Homeschooling Through the Rough Spots
• Marriage Built to Last
• How to Be the Ultimate Homeschool Dad

We have created video tutorials showing how to access the many features of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, including those listed below.

Are you ready to delve into the World Book Online and video streaming library access that are yours to enjoy?

World Book Online has given all SchoolhouseTeachers.com members access to eight full libraries of resources. These are a new generation of World Book, definitely not the old encyclopedias you may remember using as a kid.

• Early Learning– audio books, nursery rhymes, and songs; books and materials to practice early reading skills, including Lexile® levels; interactive pages of facts about animals, people, vehicles, and more; games and worksheets for learning early concepts in size, color, same/different, matching, etc.; video clips of real-world people and events
• Kids– interactive maps and biographical exploration; extensive multimedia content; printable critical-thinking, language, and arts/crafts activities; science projects; text-to-speech and translations of articles; instruction on dictionary use; lesson plans
• Student– all the tools available in the Kids Library, plus current events, “How to Do Research,” “Citation Builder,” trivia quizzes, bookmarks and personal research files, graphic organizers, and extended research through key word links
• Advanced– many features of the Student Library, plus “In the Headlines,” “Today in History,” and access to worldwide newspapers and travel resources
• Timelines– interactive chronologies in history, science/technology, arts, sports, and literature; personalized timeline creation
• eBooks– over 2,000 titles include topics in science, culture, health, history, early readers, classics, and more; tools for highlighting, taking notes, and referencing key information
• Discover– many of the tools available in other libraries, plus extensive visual dictionary and life skills center
• Spanish version of World Book Student

Choosing World Book on the main menu bar will take you to this page:

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has organized World Book resources by Library and by Grade and Subject to help you navigate with ease. Instructions for accessing and personalizing materials are included, as well as a special note to remind all of us that it’s important to exercise discernment and be aware of the content our students can access.

Choosing the Streaming Videos tab on the menu bar will take you to the main page of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com video streaming library, which includes access to hundreds of titles to educate and entertain the whole family. Instructions are included to set up your free RightNow Media Originals account. A RightNow Media account is not needed to access all the videos in the streaming library, but it does give access to many that are not available directly from the SchoolhouseTeachers.com site.

Be sure to read the notes about North American Access and High School Only in order to fully understand what is available to you based on your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership level and location. If you have questions about this or any other features of your membership, you can always reach us through Customer Service or the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Community Facebook group.

Remember, when you browse through courses by grade or by subject, symbols will indicate courses that use World Book or video components. You may also view an at-a-glance summary of the courses with video from the Course Components page: Planning → Course Information → Course Components.

Here are just a few of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com courses that incorporate World Book or video components to get you started:

• Achieving Art Success with ArtAchieve (video, printable, and hands-on resources)
• Introduction to Physical Science (World Book Library)
• How to Do Research (World Book Library)
• Lighting the Way (video-based – Torchlighters series)
• Leadership 101 (video-based – RightNow Media Originals)
• Understanding Modern History (printable lessons and assignments using World Book Online resources)

Your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership was designed to be affordable, flexible, portable, and self-paced. Courses and other helpful resources are added regularly to increase your value without increasing your membership price. In other words, your monthly or annual rate will never increase during the life of your membership!

One of the unique features available with your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership is access to our Focused Learning Centers. Sometimes a student needs a little extra help in a subject area—or we need advice or additional resources for teaching to a child’s learning style. SchoolhouseTeachers.com is here for you! We have designed several Focused Learning Centers to direct you to courses, individual lessons, and articles that will facilitate your student’s learning and equip you with the information you need.

Focused Learning Centers, found under Resources on the menu bar, is a page that introduces you to all thirteen of the Focused Learning Center concentrations available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com: math, reading, science, preschool, special needs, high school and college, career center, ESL and foreign languages, the Charlotte Mason method, hands-on learning, physical education, seasonal, and resources just for parents. You can explore several of these centers in more depth through the tabs on the left. You may also visit the Tutorials page for video tours of a few of the centers.

Let’s take a closer look at the Literacy Center, found under Help with Reading on the Focused Learning Centers page. You may also access the Literacy Center directly under the Resources tab on the menu bar. At the core of this learning center is “101 Simple Steps to Teach Your Child to Read,” which outlines the foundational steps needed for developing literacy skills through a fourth grade level.

Included with the 101 steps are explanations, suggested learning activities, and links to teaching resources available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that include a focus on specific skills. There are also links to downloadable books that are included with your membership, guidelines for using consistent strategies, and the option to print a .pdf version of the literacy center. Visit the Literacy Center often if you have a young or struggling learner for tips and materials to help your student succeed in reading!

In addition to the comprehensive supplemental materials found in the Literacy Center, here is a small sample of the more than 70 language arts courses available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com:

• Adventures with Books– Suggested reading lists based on themes, combined with related activities, bring stories to life.
• Crafting Fiction– Twenty-one bite-size assignments are designed to take the fear out of writing fictional stories, guiding the student every step of the way.
• Daily Grammar– Lessons and worksheets are available across several grade levels to cover grammar, punctuation, and word-relationship skills.
• Elements of Literature– Key literary elements are examined across eight genres, providing middle school and high school students with a foundation in literature study.
• Introducing the Many Faces of Poetry– Brief lessons introduce students to tools of poetry without being overwhelming.
• Schoolhouse Spelling– Word lists, worksheets, and video flash cards provide spelling and vocabulary instruction for kindergarten through high school.
• Writing: College Admission Essay– A veteran writing instructor walks high school students through the process of showing colleges who they are, including tips about what college admissions counselors look for in an essay and critical “do” and “don’t” lists.

Next, let’s explore the Preschool Playground and Help with Special Needs resources.

We are very excited about Preschool Playground! Accessible from both the Focused Learning Centers’ page under Resources and the Browse by Grade tab, this is an entire preschool curriculum on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. You can use components individually or combine them for a full preschool program. Guidance is provided, along with links to all the courses, activity ideas, and worksheets that are available to help you create a fun, individualized early learning experience for your youngest student. Also on this page, you will find links to bright, colorful preschool certificates of achievement, as well as articles and resources for encouragement to keep your little one learning at home. Visit the Tutorials page to take an in-depth tour of all that’s available in the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Preschool Playground.

The Help with Special Needs learning center brings together articles, eBooks, webinars, and suggestions to help you teach your special needs learner. Sometimes we need a little extra guidance or encouragement to help us teach to our child’s unique strengths and needs. From learning styles to homeschooling through the tough times, SchoolhouseTeachers.com has several resources available to assist you along the way. You can access Help with Special Needs from either the Focused Learning Centers’ page or the direct link found under Resources.

Here is just a sample of the courses available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com especially useful for teaching your preschool-age or special needs learners:

• Around the World with Stories
• Preschool in a Box
• Small World Sensory Science
• Strengthening Behavioral and Social Skills
• Reading Remedies
• Your Child’s Learning Style (series of articles for parents)

We recognize that you may have questions as you design and implement your child’s learning plan, or you may be wondering how SchoolhouseTeachers.com fits into your family’s dynamic lifestyle. As a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you belong to a community of over 7,500 homeschooling families. Please reach out through our Community Facebook group to get your questions answered and find the support you need to stay the course. Our customer service representatives are also ready to respond to your questions. Contact them through the live chat box found in the lower right corner of the website, email CustomerService@TheOldSchoolhouse.com, or call 1.888.718.4663.

Another fantastic benefit to membership in SchoolhouseTeachers.com is the option to receive print issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine delivered directly to your home for free (US addresses only). Filled with articles, tips, and practical information, each quarterly issue is yours for the asking! Request your free copy of the upcoming issue on your Member Dashboard before the deadline!

The thought of homeschooling through high school and helping your child prepare for life beyond homeschooling can feel intimidating at times. SchoolhouseTeachers.com strives to equip you and your teen with the tools you need to continue your homeschooling journey. It is important to note that SchoolhouseTeachers.com is not a school, and it is not under the authority of any accreditation agency. You maintain the responsibility to be familiar with your own state’s homeschooling laws and requirements, choose courses for your children, and keep the necessary records required by your state. We have designed a High School Help center as a place to organize important information about planning, determining credits, creating transcripts, and preparing for college.

You can find the High School Help center under the Resources tab on the menu bar; it is also accessible from the Focused Learning Centers’ page under Focus on High School and College. The center contains links to eBooks, high school courses available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the Applecore Recordkeeping System, College Help resources, useful forms and printouts, and the digital Schoolhouse SmartMama™ Planner. All these resources are included with your membership in SchoolhouseTeachers.com. In addition, a Transcript Information tab is located on each high school level course page, which provides suggested academic weighting if your student follows the guidelines for thoroughly completing the course.

Also accessible from the Focused Learning Centers’ page is the SchoolhouseTeachers.com Career Center. Whether your teen demonstrates interest in a particular career field or wants to explore different possibilities, the Career Center is a valuable resource. It was designed as a quick reference guide to courses available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that provide a glimpse into various career options.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has over 150 courses available to help your teen meet college entrance requirements and explore interests. Here are just a few of the high school courses to consider:

• Internet Entrepreneurship for Teens
• Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and Advanced Spanish Fluency
• Age of Revolution
• Trigonometry
• Mock Trial
• World Literature and Cultures

This is a great time to mention the Applecore Recordkeeping System, which can help you track courses and attendance, as well as generate report cards.

All SchoolhouseTeachers.com members are eligible for a free Applecore silver membership, but those who purchase an annual SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership are eligible for a free Applecore gold membership, which also includes the ability to create transcripts. Visit the Tutorials page for an in-depth look at how this versatile resource can help you generate your student’s high school records.

Please remember that courses designed specifically for the high school level are only available with a SchoolhouseTeachers.com Ultimate Membership. If you would like to upgrade your Limited Membership to Ultimate—or if you want to change your monthly membership to annual in order to take advantage of all the great features of the Applecore Recordkeeping System—please contact our helpful customer service representatives. Live help is available through the chat box in the bottom right corner of the website M–F, 9am–5pm EST, or by calling 1.888.718.4663 M–F, 9am–5pm EST.

Did you know that your membership with SchoolhouseTeachers.com includes access to a wealth of resources to help you streamline household tasks, too? Let’s take a look at how SchoolhouseTeachers.com is also a valuable tool for keeping your family organized and learning essential life skills.

The Schoolhouse SmartMama™ Planner, an exclusive product from The Old Schoolhouse®, which normally retails at $34, is yours free as a member of SchoolhouseTeachers.com!

In addition, there are several time-saving and encouraging tools available under the Resources tab on the SchoolhouseTeachers.com site:

• Monthly Menu – an entire year of recipes waiting for you
• Seasonal Resources (located within the Focused Learning Centers) – Christmas Corner, Summer, Easter, and Fall resources—plus additional activities for celebrations across the entire year
• Just for Parents and Parent eBook Library – courses, articles, tips for working from home, household organization help, finances, cleaning, and more
• Home Economics and Bulk Food Preparation – just one of more than 25 Schoolhouse Expos from The Old Schoolhouse® that are free with your SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership
• Trade Magazine – link to all the past issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine in digital format—and remember to claim your free upcoming print issue on your Member Dashboard!

We haven’t forgotten your student in the subject area of “life” either! Here is a sample of the courses available at SchoolhouseTeachers.com that are designed to help your child develop independent living skills, including Home Economics, Personal Finance in Bite-Size Chunks, and Homesteading:

Now it’s time to discover how you can become an even larger part of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com family!

Click on Affiliates, under the EARN MONEY! tab, and you will be taken to this page, where you can learn about the SchoolhouseTeachers.com affiliate program, sign up, and join the email list to receive our affiliate newsletter:

Start earning affiliate cash right away when you share your love for SchoolhouseTeachers.com with your friends and family, and they become members. The affiliate community also interacts through a private Facebook group, and some months there are fun, friendly affiliate competitions that include wonderful prizes—in addition to your cash earnings! There is plenty of ongoing support, and resources are provided to help you be successful.

Do you have a specific area of expertise or passion you would love to share with other members of SchoolhouseTeachers.com? We are looking for individuals to become lesson designers or create other educational content for the site. Each SchoolhouseTeachers.com independent lesson designer or team lesson designer earns a free membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com for their family. We currently have over two hundred lesson designers from eight countries and five continents at SchoolhouseTeachers.com! Meet our lesson designers here and picture your own bio appearing on SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Email stmanager@theoldschoolhouse.com for more information about this opportunity.

We are more than just another curriculum site. SchoolhouseTeachers.com strives to earn your trust and to provide a community of like-minded folks with whom you can feel at home. We are a family.

Like a wonderful family reunion brings people together, this tab brings together the valuable resources we have visited. We know that family can be overwhelming and chaotic at times, and sometimes we just can’t remember all those names to go with the faces, so think of this list as your “cheat sheet” to recall the names and uses of all those SchoolhouseTeachers.com resources just a little more easily:

• All Courses provides an alphabetical listing of all courses by subject area
• Course Information page includes Course Components, Course Directory, and Course Availability
• Scope and Sequence shows you the academic goals traditionally held for each grade level and suggested SchoolhouseTeachers.com courses available to fulfill those goals
• Bookmark feature is located on the Lessons page for each course
• Lesson Plans provide a suggested path to completing each course
• Custom Schedule Builder allows you to create individualized plans for each student
• Schoolhouse SmartMama™ Planner, a fully customizable homeschool and household planner that includes intuitive “smart” features like easy navigation, interactive budgets, page spawning, and more.
• Applecore is an electronic recordkeeping service
• Transcript Information tab is located on each high school level course page
• Certificate Library gives you the option to personalize and print beautiful certificates
• World Book gives access to eight full libraries of resources and interactive materials
• Video Library includes over 450 titles to educate and entertain the whole family
• Focused Learning Centers are thirteen concentrations of resources for math, reading, science, preschool, special needs, high school and college, career center, ESL and foreign languages, the Charlotte Mason method, hands-on learning, physical education, seasonal, and just for parents
• Monthly Menu contains an entire year of tasty dishes
• Seasonal Resources for celebrations across the year are located within the Focused Learning Centers
• Just for Parents and Parent eBook Library provides you with resources for personal enrichment and inspiration
• Schoolhouse Expos from The Old Schoolhouse® are like inviting convention speakers directly into your home
• Trade Magazine links to all past issues of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine in digital format—and remember to claim your free upcoming print issue on your Member Dashboard!
• Video Tutorials provide visual guides through several of the SchoolhouseTeachers.com resources
• Site News informs of new developments, course additions, and upcoming resources
• Free Info-Pak is filled with several eBooks, as well as product samples and other items to help you get started homeschooling
• Affiliate Program gives you the opportunity to earn cash when others join SchoolhouseTeachers.com through your unique affiliate link
• Write for Us gives you the opportunity to share your expertise with others as a lesson designer, while getting a free membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com for your family

Also, don’t miss:

• Unit Studies
• Schoolhouse Devotions
• Teen Writers Group
• Master Course Checklist
• Help Charts