Wednesday, September 01, 2010

My Access!...TOS Crew Review





I love my "job" as a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!  Just for my measly opinion, I am sent some incredible curriculum, books or homeschool helps to review.  I have been sent things that I didn't know existed and probably wouldn't not have known without my TOS connection.




MY Access! Home Edition from Vantage Learning is one such product.  My Access! Home Edition is a writing curriculum for students from age 8 to age 18.  


MY Access! Home Edition has some great features that I really like...


~one annual subscription for $99.95 covers four students ranging in age from 8 to 18.  So, instead of having to buy individual writing curriculums, I can use one curriculum and set up 2 different accounts for Eric and Emily.


~since I can set up different accounts, Eric can log into his account, read his assignments and complete his assignments without being distracted by Emily's assignments.  I'm sure this only happens in our home school, but we tend to have issues with sibling rivalry and sibling competition... different accounts helps keep that issue at bay.


~MY Access! Home Edition has a scoring engine called IntelliMetric.  Seriously, this gizmo grades the kids assignments!  How cool is that!?  I don't know a homeschooling mom that wouldn't enjoy to have an assignment or two graded by someone else.


~As the administrator of our subscription to MY Access! Home Edition, I can log into my kids' accounts at any time.  I can see what assignments they have completed and which ones still need to be done.  I can also pick and choose which assignments I'd like them to complete.


~teaching kids to be great writers isn't an easy task.  Sometimes it helps to have them write for someone else.  Signing into their own account and writing for MY Access! Home Edition is a great incentive to write for someone other than Mom!


~because MY Access! Home Edition is web-based, I don't have to remember discs if we travel away from home.  One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is that we can take school where ever we wish to go.  Anything that makes it easier to pack up and go is a friend of mine! 


~MY Access! Home Edition is not necessarily geared for the homeschool family.  Instead, the writers at Vantage Learning developed a product that any parent (who schools through public school, private school or home school) can use to help reinforce writing skills for their children.

Having said all of that, part of my "job" as a reviewer for TOS is to give an honest review.  Honestly, I'm not sure how much I will use my subscription of MY Access! Home Edition this year.  


We don't use many computer based programs in our school.  We tend to be paper, pencil and book learners.  However, I will definitely keep this resource on the "back burner" and use it to help reinforce concepts or to shake things up to keep school interesting.


***I was sent a free of charge subscription to MY Access! Home Edition writing program for my honest review.





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2 comments:

  1. Very information review. I like the idea of having a different account for each student. What did your kids think of the program?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am visiting your blog for the first time. I, too, reviewed My Access. I enjoyed reading your review!

    Samantha from To Be Busy At Home

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your kind words!