Our family has been homeschooling for about 9 years now. Up until 6th grade we used workbooks, textbooks and other curriculum we could get our hands on at a reasonable price. Once we reached the 7th grade, however, it became harder to find a curriculum that would meet all of our needs. With four children to educate picking a curriculum that is cost effective can be a challenge. We were introduced to Switched on Schoolhouse after several recommendations and deciding that purchasing one curriculum to use with all four children would be worth the money. We have been using Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS) software for three years now and are very pleased with it!
The program allows the parent lots of control over their students lessons and content. Also, with the program doing most of the work it offers more freedom for parents to help their other children while giving the children a quality education.
Some things to consider if you decide to use this software:
1) It is highly recommended that you purchase a brand -new copy of SOS, if this is the first time you are using it. Check out eBay as that is where I got my brand-new copy that was an inventory item that needed to be cleaned out. You may be able to get a good price on it.
2) If you are given a copy of the software, you MUST purchase a NEW installation disc with a serial number, once the installation and serial key have been used it cannot be transferred to someone else, even if they gave it to you. Do NOT use a used one as you will not be able to register the software. The only reason to purchase a used application disc is if yours is scratched and will not run. You CANNOT purchase a new application disc from AOP if it is older than 2010 as they no longer support these versions.
3) All Switched on Schoolhouse software before 2003 do NOT require an installation disc, however, you may have problems running them on the newer computer systems. We have a 2003 version which does run on XP.
4) We have been able to run 2004 SOS on Windows Vista and Windows 7 computer systems.
In conclusion, I highly recommend this product if you are looking for computerized schooling for your child/children. It has saved me a lot of time in not having to make up quizzes, tests and worksheets.
