A Net In Time Schooling
Follow me on Social Media
  • Home
  • A Net In Time Blog
  • Reviews
  • Homeschooling Organizations
  • Freebies
    • Free Education Sites
    • Curriculum Reviews
    • Blogs
    • Canadian Content
  • Art, the arts
    • On-line Art Instruction
    • Crafts and More
    • Music
    • Just drawing pictures
    • Paper Crafts
  • Bible
  • Geography
    • Social Studies
    • Continents
    • Countries
  • History
  • Language Arts
    • Books
    • Reading
    • Writing
  • Math
  • Science
    • Plant/Animal Science
    • Chemisty
    • Physical Science/Physics
    • Earth Science
  • Links
    • Puzzle and Page Makers
    • Christian Studies
    • Special Needs
  • Specific Grade Level
    • Kindergarten
    • Elementary 1-4
    • Middle School 5-8
    • Highschool
  • Curriculum sources
  • A Net In Time Store

Review: Visual Learning Systems

3/10/2015

 
Do you have a learner who is audio-visual like my boy?   If so you have met a curriculum that is made for your child.  Even if you don't... like you have a hands-on, tactile learner... Visual Learning Systems has YOUR child in mind as well.  :)   Come walk with us and we've had a blast using Digital Science Online : elementary edition (k-5) of Visual Learning Systems for our science these past few weeks. It's been a great review for us courtesy of the TOS crew.  :)  We also got to use the Digital Science Online edition: secondary edition (6-12)
Picture
When signing intoVisual Learning Systems you get two passwords, one for the teacher, and one for the student.     I am not sure if normally you get to choose your own code for your student or not, as part of the crew we were assigned a student number and code.  
Picture
This will lead you to a new page where you can pick what you want to study.   The course is divided into three sections, primary, elementary and middle/high school.  By default it opened to the middle/high section.
Picture
Once you pick your section, it opens up to a further area.   We consistently used the elementary, predominately using the life section, occasionally venturing in the earth area.   As you can see, there is a video screen that automatically plays while you are making your decision about what to watch.   I really liked how it made your choices very obvious.   The video are clearly named.
Picture
Once you choose an area, you will see there are four sections in the top corner to help you with your teaching.  Videos, Animations, Images and Teacher's Guides.   The video section is divided into specific sections.  This is very helpful if you need to review a particular aspect of the subject matter.   Animations are great as they highlight specific areas, while the images section helps with review while providing a visual cue.   The teachers guides are where the work is done.   They include a pre and post test, and various other activities.  
Picture
I had a firm appreciation for the variety of the teacher's guides.  I mixed up how we used them.  Sometimes we did the pretest, other times the post and I could choose which of the experiments or additional learning we did.  We frequently did the questions and answers as oral work as my lad isn't keen on writing any more than he has to.  :)
Picture
How did we use this program?
I have to tell you how much I enjoyed the portability of Visual Learning Systems.  It was so great while my dad was not doing well to be able to just be able to do the program anywhere there was internet.   Homeschooling on the run you know.  :)   Also being able to mix up our learning.  If my son said "No, I don't want to learn about animals, can we learn about rocks instead?"   It was so totally not an issue.   He was learning and that's all the matters to me.  :)

I loved that the teachers guide would do a preview on the screen in a separate window which saved on us having to print everything out.  I could just ask the question and he could answer it and if he was having a "ACK!  I can't remember moment and start to get all worried about it", the fact that the videos are divided up so nicely meant we could just quickly go back and review.     Or I could find the appropriate visual cue and learning happened without major upset happening about not remembering everything.

We did one or two lessons a week.  Sometimes doing it all at one go and other times dividing up the video work and the paper or experiment work.

Here are some of the experiments we did.  :)   Doing the camouflage game and the plant/animal cells was so much fun.   My son thoroughly enjoyed building an island to have some of his toys hide in for safety and surprise.  (but he wouldn't let me post that picture).  :)
Picture
Doing worksheets while or after watching a video is a new thing for my lad.  It helped him to recall more detail as he had to think about the answer.   Again if he was stressing we were able to quickly review the material due to how the 15 minute chapters are broken up into smaller segments.
Picture
When signing onto this online education system, you can sign in either as your student or as the teacher.   As you can see below, the teacher's area looks a lot like the student area.
Picture
There are two big differences through.   The teacher's guide and the script of the video.   When planning lessons it's great to be able to see the words of what the video will be teaching.   The teacher's guide gives  you quiz answers and puts all the work sheets for the student into one handy file for downloading.
Picture
Picture
What did we like?
Mom liked:
Flexibility in use.   Sometimes we used the teacher's guide, sometimes we just learned together.  We could print out the worksheet or just talk about what we learned by viewing the worksheets online.  We could do a whole lesson in one day or parse it out over the week.    We could basically do whatever we wanted and it was great. 

Video learning.  For my lad who learns best by hearing things this was great.  Combining it with being able to see it was an excellent addition

Portability.   As long as we had an internet connection we could watch the videos anywhere, and if I printed off the pre-test, we could do those in the car on the way back from an appointment and then watch the video on the way home.  The Pre-test was a great way to introduce my boy to actually taking tests without it being a cause for worry "After all, have you learned about it yet?   So then does it matter if you know the answer or not?"

Units of Study.   Broken down into pint sized pieces.   Whole chapters only being 15 minutes long so really easy to fit into times when "mom, I'm bored can I play minecraft longer?"   It gave me an easy answer of "no, but you can learn about plate tectonics".     :)

Variety in Student sheets: pre and post tests, vocabulary, experiments, further study, and such like.     It was great that the units were not all identical and we could pick and choose which ones we wanted to do, or even do all of them if we so desired.

Different age levels in one program. I liked that the middle/high school levels were viewable as well.   We used only the elementary section to learn from as that was applicable to my son and what I was actually reviewing, but occasionally we'd take a peek at the older material as we are just that curious about life and science.  :)   We could also go back and view the primary levels as well.  

Evolutionary Viewpoint.  While I can't say that I espouse the evolutionary viewpoint, I don't mind when it is included as it gives me an additional talking ground with my lad.  I can explain where the creationist viewpoint differs from the evolutionary one.    This is something that parent might want to take note of.  We had a lot of good discussions.

My son's opinion
"I like the videos"  
"I don't like doing the pretests unless we do them verbally".  
"It would be a better program if they did it for Christians'.
"I liked doing the different experiments".

What I would like to see added?

I would dearly love to see a way to check off what we have already done, or a way to book mark it.   My reasoning is that sometimes my lad will go and watch something without me and then say "mom, I watched that already" after I had printed off the work I wanted to do with him.   If it were visible that it had been viewed already it wouldn't be a surprise and I could work around it more easily. :)
Picture
Social Media:
Facebook -http://facebook.com/visuallearningsystems
Twitter - https://twitter.com/visualearning

To see what other members of the TOS crew thought of Visual Learning Systems please click this link or the Banner below.   Thanks!
Visual Learning Systems Review
Product Details:
Vendor: Visual Learning Systems
Catalog for Pricing: can be found here.   For homeschool pricing see here.  $99 online.  which is an affordable price for up to 8 students.   No public performance rights.
Received:

Digital Science Online: Elementary Edition (Grades K-5) (This is primary as well as elementary science.)
Digital Science Online: Secondary Edition (Grades 6-12).
Crew Disclaimer

Comments are closed.

    Who Am I?


    Loved by God and family - these things center me

    Writer, Poet, Hiker, Reader - these things make me smile

    Educating, Raising a child, Involved with Critters, Pastor's wife - These things make me grow

    Picture
    Team Member

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
    Blog Roll

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Subscribe to A Net In Time Schooling - A Net In Time Blog by Email
    My Joy-Filled Life
    Click here to sign up for SchoolhouseTeachers.com
    Visit Annette's profile on Pinterest.
    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    September 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Team Member

    Subscribe to A Net In Time Schooling - A Net In Time Blog

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Adventus
    Affiliate
    A Journey Through Learning
    Animals
    Ants
    Art
    Art Books
    Atutorsoft Math
    Bible
    Biography
    Birdcage Press
    Blast From The Past
    Blog Hop Or Cruise
    Blog Hop Or Cruise
    Blog The Alphabet
    Blog The Alphabet
    Book Club
    Book Review
    Book Review
    Books For Children
    Books Read Lately
    Book Work Day
    Brainfood Learning
    Canada
    Carnival
    Chess House
    Child Led Learning
    Child Led Learning
    Christianity
    Christianity Cove
    Christmas
    Circle Time
    Cleaning
    Coding For Children
    Community Service
    Computer Work
    Contest
    Conversation Jar
    Cooking Class
    Crickets
    Critical Thinking
    Curriculum
    Day In The Life
    Days Of November
    Devotion
    Devotional Time
    Doctrine
    Earth Science
    Educents
    Email
    Encouragement
    Esl
    Essentials In Writing
    Europe
    Experiment
    Faith Issues
    Family
    Field Trip
    Five Day Blog Hop
    Five Minute Friday
    Five Minute Friday
    Five On The Fifth
    Flyby Promotions
    FoodBank
    Foreign Languages
    For Sale
    Freebies
    French Essentials
    Games
    Gardening
    General Update
    Geography
    Giveaway
    Global Art
    Guest Post
    Hands Of A Child
    Hands On Learning
    Handwriting Without Tears
    Healthy Living
    History
    Holidays
    Homemaking Skills
    Homeschooling
    Homeschooling A Singleton
    Homeschooling Essentials
    Homeschooling Helps
    Homeschool In The Woods
    Homeschool Issues
    Hope
    Human Body
    Hymn
    Insects
    International Student
    Issues In Homeschooling
    I Won It
    Joyce Herzog
    Kick
    K'Nex
    Knights And Castles
    Language Arts
    Language Arts
    Language Study
    Legal Issues
    Lego
    Letters To Pastors Wives
    Mammoth Math
    Math
    Middle School
    Miscellaneous
    Missionaries
    Missions
    Movie
    Museum
    Music
    Nature Study
    Nature-study
    On Line Learning
    Online Learning
    Ontario Science Centre
    Organization
    Outer Space
    Parenting
    People Of Faith
    Philosophy
    Phys Ed
    Pinterest
    Play Dates
    Poetry
    Preschoolers And Peace
    Printable
    Random Five
    Reading
    Reading Kingdom
    Recipe
    Resource
    Review
    Sale
    School Planning
    Science
    Scienceandmathcom
    Series
    Sight Words
    Sponsored Post
    STEM Activities
    Student
    Study Aid
    Sunday School For All Ages
    Supercharged Science
    Taking Time To Think
    Target The Question
    Thinking Out Loud
    Thinking Tuesday
    Time4learning
    Tools
    Tos Review
    Ultimate Bundles
    Vacation
    Vendor Sales
    Website News
    Week In Review
    Westminister Shorter Catechism
    Whats-in-my-browser
    Word Blog Hop
    Wordless Wednesday
    Word Prompt
    Youtube

    RSS Feed

     photo 9c2d3d39-9e5d-4351-b060-d6251ee13eaa_zpseda17cd5.jpg
    Follow on Bloglovin Follow my blog with Bloglovin

    2013 TOS Reviews

    IXL.com
    if you were me
    Chess House
    YWAM
    Seed Sowers
    Time4Learning
    Family Hope Center
    Reading Kingdom
    Bible Study Guide for all ages
    Bird Cage Press
    Christianity Cove
    Math Mammoth
    Joyce Herzog
    Homeschool in the woods
    SuperCharged Science
    Adventus
    LoneStar Learning
    A+tutorsoft Math
    Wet, Dry, Try App
    Schoolhouse Teachers
    French Essentials
    Dogwood Mudhole

    Circle Time
    Gryphon House
    Essentials in Writing
    In the Hands of a Child
    A journey through learning
    Ed Douglas
    Picaboo Yearbooks
    VocabularySpellingCity

    2014 TOS Reviews
    Science4Us.com

    Egglo Entertainment.
    ScienceandMath.com
    Supercharged Science.
    Philippians in 28 weeks.
    CTC math
    The Brinkman Adventures.

    Maestro Classics.
    Logic of English.
    Learning Breakthrough
    Go Science DVD's
    Veritas Press
    Happy Kids Songs
    Wizzy Gizmo: In his image
    UberSmart Software.
    Essential Skills Advantage:

    Other Reviews

    My Beloved ..
    Homemaker's Mentor
    Don't Miss the Boat
    Tokens of Promise
    Biff and Becka's ....
    A Child's Geography
    Homeless at Harvard
    30 Days of Bible Study...
    Topaz and the Evil Wizard
    Alone yet not alone
    Lead me Home
    I am Second
    Can't wait Willow
    Hey God....
    This is Our Time
    What I wish I knew at 18
    Classical Composers
    Seeking Christmas.
    Raising boys by design.
    The Ruby Ring.
    Knowing God By name.
    The Jesus Bible, NIV. 
    One Realm Beyond.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.