Thinking of Outschool for homeschooling? Here’s our personal experience, tips for using online learning for homeschool (instead of seeking out the best homeschool curriculum) and simple class tricks to get the best class and best teachers! Also great for after school tutoring or supplemental learning and how to catch up fast when behind in school. Here’s our personal experience and review of Outschool.
The Best Way To Use Outschool For Homeschooling
In case you’ve never heard of the Outschool learning platform, I’ll answer some basic questions to start.
NOTE: If you’re familiar with this learning tool, you can skip this FAQ section and head to the next section where I talk about our personal experience using Outschool to homeschol.
What is Outschool?
Outschool is an online platform that offers live and self-paced, interactive classes for kids and teens, ranging from ages 3 to 18. It provides a wide variety of classes on virtually any subject you can think of, from traditional academic subjects like math, science, and languages to more niche topics like cooking, coding, arts, gaming, and, yes, even D&D!
Outschool is designed for families looking for supplementary education, enrichment opportunities for their children, or even to use for homeschooling.
It’s also popular among homeschoolers! We use it to add topics of interest to our relaxed homeschooling schedule and other homeschoolers use it to add more structure and variety to their curriculum.
It’s also used by families with students in traditional schools who want to explore topics outside the standard curriculum and school hours.
They also have tutoring options if your child needs help in a specific area.
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How We Use Outschool Homeschool
We’ve been using Outschool for homeschool for YEARS now.
My daughter actually loves it and, as a parent, I love that there’s a parental dashboard where I can download the syllabus, class topics, and information/grades/quizzes (if applicable) and keep those for my records.
We’ve taken many courses over the past couple of years, but these two are my daughter’s favorites.
Outschool Visual Biology Class
STOP THE WATCH ON ALL OTHER MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TO HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY CLASSES!
We take a visual biology class through Outschool and it is one of the coolest classes my daughter has ever taken (maybe even the best online homeschool science I’ve seen!).
My daughter went from zero interest in biology to excitedly showing me her notes and telling me about what she learned each week from schooling online!
If you’re not familiar with visual courses, or the sketch notes method, or active note taking courses, it’s where the instructor and students draw and take notes of the drawings while learning. (She’s an artist, so this really connected with her!)
We will continue to sign up for these science online courses throughout my daughter’s high school years (as long as they offer them!).
SEE THE VISUAL SCIENCE COURSES (AND MORE) TAUGHT BY THIS TEACHER GROUP
PRO TIP: If you’re looking for homeschool science online, definitely check out this group, especially with Benjamin Corey. However, this is his group and we’ve only had great experiences with teachers from this group!
My daughter has been taking this class for over a year now because when they get to the end they recycle and start over again.
Since it’s a join any time class, she gets to learn the topics she missed before she started.
Immersive Spanish On Outschool
We’ve used a variety of homeschooling foreign language class for Spanish learning over the years — in-person classes with a teacher, group in-person immersive classes, online classes, and online immersive group learning.
Our homeschooling second language classes have been hit or miss. Right now, my daughter is at the point where she needs a mid-level Spanish class, so we decided to put here in this Outschool immersive group and she loves it!
It’s an Intermediate Spanish Club (a casual meetup group for teens) and a fluent Spanish speaking teacher runs the group.
There’s no set agenda, classwork, or curriculum, but the students each bring a topic to discuss each week and it’s immersive, with the teacher guiding and correcting.
This is another one we’ll keep on our home schooling online schedule as long as she offers it.
The immersive conversational aspect has been extremely helpful in practicing a second language and she really enjoys the interaction of the virtual homeschool group live.
CHECK OUT THE IMMERSIVE SPANISH CLUB WE USE FOR ONLINE HOME SCHOOLING
Pros & Cons Of Outschool
What we like about Outschool
Live Classes: Unlike pre-recorded lessons, Outschool classes are conducted live via video chat, allowing for real-time interaction between students and teachers.
Small Class Sizes: Classes are usually kept small, often with just a handful of students, which allows for more personalized attention.
Diverse Offerings: The platform has a HUGE (almost overwhelming) catalog of classes, covering standard school subjects, enrichment activities, hobbies, and even social clubs.
Flexible Scheduling: Classes are offered at various times, accommodating different time zones and schedules.
You can find one-time classes, ongoing sessions, or even semester-long courses.
Independent Instructors With An Interest In Their Topics: Classes on Outschool are taught by independent instructors who set their own content, style, and pricing.
Many teachers are experienced educators, while others might be experts or enthusiasts in their fields. Most of the teachers we’ve experience are really excited to teach their subject and engaged with the class.
PRO TIP: Be sure to read the teacher’s bio to fully understand their experience and also the ratings and reviews for the specific class that teacher is teaching.
Ability to Pause Classes: One of the things I like best as a homeschooling mom using this learning platform is that you can pause your class attendance and not be charged for missing classes without canceling the class.
There have been several times that we were going to be out of town, go on field trips, etc. that we’ve just paused our classes (even for a few weeks!) and then unpaused them when we were back.
PRO TIP: Be sure to cancel or pause your class by SUNDAY or else you will be charged for the upcoming week.
Cons Of Outschool
Cost
Can Get Expensive: While there are some reasonably priced classes, many can be costly, especially if you enroll your child in multiple courses.
Some classes can range from $10 to $50+ per session, which adds up quickly if you’re using it regularly.
No Subscription Model: Unlike some educational platforms that offer a flat-rate subscription for unlimited access, Outschool charges per class, making it potentially more expensive if your child takes multiple classes or you have multiple kids taking a large variety of classes.
Quality Variation
Inconsistent Teaching Quality: Since instructors on Outschool are independent, the quality of teaching can vary significantly.
Some teachers are excellent, while others may not meet your expectations.
Reading reviews and watching intro videos can help, but it’s still somewhat of a gamble.
OUR MOST IMPORTANT TIP: Be sure that you’re looking at the rating and review for the specific teacher (if you can) and not the group of teachers. We took a class with thousands of 5-star reviews and there was NO WAY this “teacher” had that type of review. When I went back and looked, we were looking at the reviews for the teaching group he was part of and those were the reviews it was showing. Be sure to read review comments and look for that specific teacher / class.
Technical Issues
Reliance on Technology: Classes are conducted live online or via self-paced video, so if there’s an internet outage, tech glitch, or platform issue, it can disrupt the learning experience.
This can be frustrating, especially for younger kids who might find it difficult to re-engage after technical interruptions, but it’s probably not anything this generation isn’t accustomed to already.
Platform Learning Curve: While Outschool is user-friendly, there can still be a learning curve, especially for parents who aren’t as tech-savvy.
Navigating the site, enrolling in classes, and troubleshooting tech issues can be daunting at first, but easy after you get used to it.
Scheduling Challenges
Limited Availability: Popular classes or instructors may fill up quickly, or may not be available at times that fit your schedule.
This can make it challenging to find the right class at the right time, so be sure to keep an eye on the classes you like and sign up ASAP!
Time Zone Confusion: Since Outschool caters to a global audience, classes are offered across different time zones.
This can lead to confusion and potentially missed classes if you’re not careful when scheduling, but I think in the past they’ve converted to our timezone? (I would have to check.)
Final Thoughts On Outschool
We definitely recommend Outschool for homeschooling. You can add supplemental classes to your current homeschooling curriculum, piecemeal classes to make a full curriculum, and even find homeschool extracurricular activities on Outschool.
You can even get social groups meetups on Outschool and tutoring!
Also, if you’re looking to catch up fast when behind in school topics, this is a great way to do it!
Although this is not a sponsored post, I am an affiliate for Outschool. The review I’ve given here is our personal experience and how much we love the platform!
I’d love to hear if you’ve taken any Outschool classes you love so we can check them out!
Have you used Outschool for homeschooling?
