Disclaimer: I received digital access to this product as well as reimbursement for the time spent writing this review in exchange for my honest thoughts. This post contains affiliated links.
Homeschool Middle School. What a trip!
You will experience a natural and but sharp increase in workload compared to the elementary school years; at least for us.
The multiple learning materials from various resources like textbooks, articles, and/or video media will become standard across many subjects. There is an abundance of information to learn and retain.
It becomes immediately apparent that time management and organization are essential to achieve success in each of their classes.
“Wow, if this is just middle school, what will homeschooling in high school look like? How do I teach self-direction to my kid? Where do I begin?” <——- This is me panicking.
Let me tell you, I was so happy to get my hands on Mr. D Math Study Skills self-paced course.
I received digital access to this product as well as reimbursement for the time spent writing this review in exchange for my honest thoughts. This post contains affiliate links at no additional charge to you.
Teaching Study Skills with Mr. D Math
You might be thinking, why should I teach study skills? If you have a homeschooler, you may notice that they typically don’t take a lot of notes and since they always have access to their books, and can refer back to them whenever needed, formal study skills tend to easily “slip through the cracks”. You know.
And if you are like me and plan to homeschool all throughout high school with the goal of getting into and succeeding in college and beyond, there are certain foundational skills that, I feel, need to be consistently practiced to achieve their level of success. This is why a program like Mr. D Math Study Skills can be so useful.
Mr. D Math Study Skills:
8 Steps to Powerful Studying class is a 16-week class taught by Jenny, one of two co-creators; they have a combined 35 years of homeschooling experience. Veterans.
Each week there are video lessons, video assignments, reading assignments, and quizzes. The course is very well organized and easy to navigate. I feel this course is well-suited for older homeschoolers. Unless you have a very disciplined younger student, then kudos to them!!
- Grade/Age: 8th Grade+
- Parent Involvement: Minimum parent oversight; Independent work
- Schedule: There at 17 pre-recorded/self-paced lessons set up to be completed within 16 weeks; videos average about 30 minutes long.
- Product Format: Online Courses
The Study Skills 8 Steps covered in the 16-week course are:
- pre-learning
- maximizing class time
- processing notes to make the most of them as a study tool
- individual studying
- group study
- pre-testing
- maximizing test performance
- reviewing tests effectively
Even though this is a pre-recorded self-paced class, you have the option to email them with any questions for added support and they will respond within 24 hours on business days.
Four takeaways I really appreciate about this course:
- BINDER Setup! I personally love using binders in our homeschool. Sadly, my kids really don’t truly appreciate the beauty of a well-organized binder, yet. But if your kids do, in the very first class with Study Skill, Jenny literally walks them through building their very own binder!! and speaking magical words like, three-hole punch, page protectors, extra fine tip sharpie, washi tape, page reinforcers, writable tabs, and post-its with an explanation between post-it flags and tabs and how to use washi-tapes!! Come on! You see, my beautiful kids, I’m not the only momma who loves binders and supplies. It IS essential!
- Explicit Video Lessons with Printables: Jenny lectures AND models what is expected for each lesson. She takes her time, goes over the steps with detailed explanations, and works alongside the student. Additionally, she provides complete sample notes, lesson plans and resource texts for each class.
- Quizzes and Tests after every lesson. Each lesson is locked. After every lesson, you must complete a quiz to finish the lesson and unlock the next one. This is to ensure you understand the lesson before moving on to the next one.
- I learn too! No, really! Honestly, it’s been years since I’ve been in school taking my own notes and I’m definitely out of practice.
How We Plan to Use the Self-Paced Course
Mr. D Math 8 Steps to Powerful Studying is very detailed and organized. The video lessons are thorough and relatively short. But for my home, since this topic is not particularly interesting to my middle schooler, the videos are not short enough.
Even though I appreciate the value of these skills, I’m not going to officially add Study Skills as a stand-alone class to his learning lineup at this time. Instead, I intend to go through the lessons myself, and naturally implement some of these techniques into his planned workload during our 1:1 learning blocks.
Based on our experience, we will read the lesson (mostly like a history or science lesson), discuss it, and I will then scribe while he dictates details that are deemed important to him. Realistically, whatever lesson it is, it will probably take a week to complete.
That’s the beauty of a flexible homeschool. I can customize the learning based on his current needs.
>>CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT OTHER CLASSES MR. D MATH OFFERS<<
We are happy to recommend Mr. D Math’s course; homeschooled or not. We’ve used a couple of other courses from Mr. D math throughout our homeschooling years; Preparing for Pre-Algebra and Pre-Algebra.
The coursework isn’t overwhelming and very low-pressure. The video lessons are relatively short. The homeschool assignments can be done at your child’s pace and self-corrected using the provided rubrics. Mr. D Math courses really sets your child up for success.
Mr. D Math has a variety of Live or Self-Paced (pre-recorded) Middle School/High School level Math courses and elective courses to choose from. In addition to these self-paced courses, Mr. D Math also offers live online math classes, summer courses, and ACT and SAT prep classes. See the full catalog here.
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