Eyeing Great Courses Plus for homeschool or school at home and online learning for kids? Check out our honest Great Courses review, including how you can get a free trial for students, online courses for homeschoolers, homeschooling programs for high school, and online home study courses learning for affordable homeschool curriculum.
Using Great Courses Plus Programs for Homeschooling Online
We’ll give you our honest reviews for the Great Courses (and even how you can get free Great Courses), but first let’s start with some common questions people have about the platform and online courses for kids (or homeschool classes online free) and how to supplement school curriculums, alternatives for homeschooling teens and high school, college students, and even adult plus courses.
What Is Great Courses Plus?
Great Courses online, now rebranded mostly as Wondrium, is a platform with a wide range of courses for lifelong learners — ranging from older kids to adults. The courses are from the Great Courses Teaching Company and are taught by professional educators, experts, and college professors.
It’s a nice learning option for online learning at home, online classes for kids, homeschool enrichment classes or even fun binge learning! LEARN MORE NOW
Great Courses vs Great Courses Plus
What is difference between Great Courses and Great Courses Plus?
The difference between Great Courses and Great Courses Plus is paying course by course versus a paid subscription platform. The Great Courses allows downloads and DVD purchases of one course at a time. The Great Courses Plus is a subscription video on demand streaming platform that allows access to all the course offerings for a monthly or quarterly membership.
Is the Great Courses free?
You don’t need to wait for Great Courses sale or a Great Courses coupon or special code. You can get Great Courses free by starting your free 14 day trial now to check out the courses before you commit to these online classes for kids.
How long is the Great Courses Plus free trial?
The Great Courses Plus is a free 14 day trial. You can cancel before the trial ends and not be charged anything if you find that the courses don’t work for your family.
How much does Great Courses Plus cost?
The Great Courses Plus subscription is between $15-20 per month, depending on if you choose a monthly membership subscription or if you choose to pay quarterly (at a discount). The Great Courses are paid individually and start around $12.95 per course and go up from there to a few hundred dollars for full courses.
On occasion, I see the company promo a coupon for Great Courses on Facebook or on their website. So you can follow them and keep your eye out for Great Courses discount codes (or just try their free trial now).
Also, if you’re paying course-by-course, Great Courses often has sales on a variety of individual classes.
How Do I Access Great Courses?
Great Courses is an online learning platform. You can stream the courses online, the way you would for any other streaming platform.
In addition to online streaming, you can also access the courses through the Great Courses app on:
- iPad (iOS 10.0 or higher)
- iPhone
- iPod Touch
- Android smart phone
- Android tablet
- Roku
- Roku TV
- Amazon Kindle Fire
- GooglePlay
- ChromeCast
You can also download The Great Courses to “My Digital Download” and stream them on your own computer or download them to your own computer to create your own online classroom!
How can I watch Great Course Plus on my TV?
You can access your Great Courses Plus on your TV through Amazon Fire TV. Search for the Great Courses app on your Fire TV and follow the directions for installing.
NOTE: I am an affiliate for Great Courses Plus, but we pay for our own membership and we tried it on our own way before becoming an affiliate. The offerings are so awesome that I decided to become an affiliate for the company!
Great Courses List: What Can My Kids Learn Online?
The Great Courses website has hundreds of classes and course offerings, many that you will find helpful as homeschool courses.
Great Courses series include topics like:
- Great Courses Chemistry (and high school Organic Chemistry)
- Great Courses Latin
- Great Courses Math
-
Great Courses Spanish
- Great Courses Drawing / Great Courses How To Draw
- Great Courses History
-
Great Courses Chess
-
Great Courses Calculus
- Great Courses Old Testament / Great Courses New Testament
- Great Courses Economics
- Great Courses How the Earth Works
- Great Courses Music Theory
-
Great Courses Biology
And a whole slew of other online courses and class offerings!
►CHECK OUT: GREAT COURSES PLUS FOR HOMESCHOOLERS
How good are the Great Courses?
The Great Courses and classes taught by professional educators, experts, and college professors, so the courses are high quality and on par with any professional class that you purchase. And, just like any other courses, sometimes the instructor is fantastic and some courses have professors that aren’t as engaging.
If you use Great Courses Plus, you have the option to switch to other instructors or courses to better meet your learning needs at no extra cost.
Great Courses, through The Teaching Company, is sometimes called the “Netflix for Learning” based on the number of streaming courses available. They have some of the best online classes for kids to check out!
How much does Great Courses Plus cost?
Remember, you don’t need a Great Courses discount code. You can get the Great Courses free trial (Plus) and see if it works for your learning at home before making a commitment to the paid subscription.
Great Courses Plus Price
After the free trial, you can choose The Great Courses Plus membership two different ways:
- $20/month, billed monthly, for unlimited streaming courses that you can cancel anytime
- $15/month, billed quarterly as $45, for unlimited streaming courses that you can cancel anytime
The site also lists that paid membership benefits include:
- A discounted rate off purchased DVDs and Downloads from The Great Courses (www.thegreatcourses.com) (need a Great Courses Plus login)
- Free shipping from The Great Courses on all orders shipped in the US and Canada
- Access to Guidebooks or Workbooks
Great Courses Cost
Great Courses are paid individually on a pay as you go (by course). Classes start at $12.95 and can go into the hundreds of dollars for a course series. You can also currently get DVD versions of the courses for an extra cost.
If you need multiple courses (or on an ongoing basis), Great Course classes can be much more expensive in the long run.
Our Personal Great Courses Plus Review for Homeschool
Great Courses Pros
1. The great courses catalog is expansive.
There are hundreds of courses for families, so you can definitely find something to meet all your needs for online programs homeschool or students.
Categories include the following course topics and class subjects:
- Economics & Finance
- Exclusive Features
- Food & Wine
- Health, Fitness & Nutrition
- History
- Hobby & Leisure
- Literature & Language
- Mathematics
- Music & Fine Arts
- Philosophy & Religion
- Professional & Personal Growth
- Programs for Young Learners
- Science
- Travel
2. Great for a variety of ages and stages, including adults.
Not only is Great Courses Plus good for older kids, but I’m also enjoying different courses. There are online courses for a wide variety of ages. It makes great online homeschool programs high school!
3. You learn at your own pace.
You can stop and start the courses as needed, which makes them great for discussion and even rewatching parts for a greater understanding.
4. One price for the whole family.
I happen to think the pricing for Great Courses Plus is phenomenal. At $45/quarter for hundreds of courses, it makes the cost of Great Courses Plus a steal.
And, most platforms make you pay per user, so to be able to cover courses for your entire family for one low price is definitely worth it.
5. Meets the needs for homeschool middle school and homeschool teens.
Sometimes homeschooling middle school and homeschooling high school gets difficult because it’s hard to find engaging courses for these ages.
Great Courses definitely has a ton of engaging subjects for preteen through teen learning. (And, if they hate one course, you can try another without wasting money!)
6. Courses are mainly lecture style.
I think the lecture style is a pro because it helps transition preteen and teen learners into that format (for college or adult learning.)
It’s also a great method for advancing self-directed learning and if you’re looking for a student led homeschool curriculum.
7. There are also hobby courses and personal growth courses.
Not all the courses are about academic development. There are many offerings for hobby, leisure, and life skills that make learning fun! The diverse topic offerings makes it one of the best programs for homeschooling!
Great Courses Cons
1. The great courses catalog is expansive.
I listed the Great Courses offerings as a pro and con because, while having a lot of different classes to choose from, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with so many courses you want to take.
You definitely need to go into it with a plan (like, we’re looking for colonial American history or art methods) or with a list of courses you want to complete.
2. Not as many offerings for younger kids.
There are some courses that are great for family viewing (like The Wonders of America’s State Parks and more), but the vast majority will fit into the preteen/teen and up learning.
3. The instructors can be boring.
The Great Courses are lectures and online courses taught by professors and experts. And, like any course anyone takes, some of the instructors or experts can be boring (no matter how much you love the topic!).
This isn’t specific to this platform (and can happen on any platform).
In some cases, there are multiple courses and instructors on a topic. If this happens, switch to a different instructor!
4. A la carte pricing can be expensive.
If you do Great Courses instead of Great Courses Plus, buying each course individually can quickly get expensive if you’re looking for multiple homeschool curriculum, courses, and subjects.
If you have multiple online students who need homeschool classes (over different subjects), definitely go with Great Courses Plus instead of Great Courses.
5. Courses are mainly lecture style.
I listed this as a pro, but I also wanted to put it under the con list because some kids may find the lecture style difficult (or may take a little time to adjust).
If you’re unsure about this learning method, let your kids try a few classes with the free trial before committing.
6. No refunds for cancellations.
If you cancel, your access terminates at the end of the current paid billing period (so you still have access through that billing period), but you can’t get a refund for early cancellation.
Is the Great Course Plus worth it?
YES, if you’re looking for online courses for middle school, high school courses and even college classes and adult learning! Using the Great Courses for homeschool curriculum and/or supplemental online learning courses is definitely a good idea, especially if you’re looking for an alternative instead of curriculum, supplemental courses for learning at home, unschooling ideas, or fun homeschool curriculum options.
OUR GREAT COURSES RECOMMENDATION: Definitely go with Great Courses Plus vs Great Courses. It will save you money in the long run and your entire family can use it for one low price. If you can, go with the quarter billing because it will save you 25%. (You don’t need a special Great Courses Plus discount code for the savings. Just choose the quarter billing.)
Start your Great Courses plus free trial and check it out.
If it doesn’t work for your family, just be sure to cancel before the 14 day trial ends and you won’t be charged! (But, I’m guessing you’ll want to stay after you see all the offerings!)
