Homeschool Crew Review: Techie Homeschool Mom

My boys love science and were excited to have an opportunity to review Famous Inventors Online Unit Study from Techie Homeschool Mom   .

I had never heard of Techie Homeschool Mom until her Online Unit Studies came up for review.  I stopped by her website to find out some information and I loved what I read there.   Beth Napoli, mother of 5, talks about how it was more important to her that her children know how to learn rather then what to learn.  She recognizes that we live in an amazing information age and created online studies to help parents utilize technology without having to do a lot of research or have a ton of extra resources to go along with them.  But she also talks about how important it is to do hands on learning as well and not use screens to do everything.  She created some online studies for her children and then began selling them to the homeschool community. She has several Online Unit Studies available including:

Ancient Egypt Online Unit Study
Ancient Greece Online Unit Study
Ancient Rome Online Unit Study
Famous Artists Online Unit Study (Vol. 1)
Famous Artists Online Unit Study (Vol. 2)
Famous Inventors Online Unit Study
Solar System Online Unit Study


I had a hard time deciding which one to choose when I looked at the list, but since my boys that would use the study (12 and 13 years old)  love science, engineering, and inventions I decided that the  Famous Inventors Online Unit Study would be the best choice for them.

Famous Inventors Online Unit Study covers 10 different inventors:

Archimedes
Galileo
Leonardo da Vinci
Alexander Graham Bell
James Watt
Charles Babbage
Nikola Tesla
Johannes Gutenberg
The Wright Brothers
Steve Jobs

The courses were designed for upper elementary to middle school aged children but younger children can participate with help.  The course is self paced and flexible.  Once you pay for the course you have permanent access to it across all devices.  It can be used with multiple children and the sections can be visited multiple times.  To complete the online portions all you need is a device with internet access.  Each unit has a project to make.  If your children want to make the project (and they will) you will need those supplies.  A supply list for all of the projects is included in the Before You Start section of the course.  Each section of the study can take up to 2-3 hours to complete depending on the project being made.

Navigating the course is very easy.  All you have to do is click.  Each inventor starts off with a video talking about that person.

Then there is a link to a timeline of events in that persons life.

And a quiz.

Next is another video or two talking about their inventions that they are famous for, and links to more information such as articles about that inventor or timeline of inventions.

Then comes the project.

Galileo's Telescope

A parachute from the lesson on daVinci

After completing each section you click complete and continue at the top of the page.  The course saves your progress and tells you how much of the course you have completed.  As I mentioned above if you wish to go back and rewatch a video or visit a section again you can.  All you need to do is click it in the sidebar.

Anthony and Christian have been using this course independently as a supplemental course completing one inventor per week.  It takes them around 2 hours to complete each unit including the project.  The first inventor, Archimedes took longer because they were using an online software to try and create the Archimedes Screw (it was a free link included in the course) but it had to be downloaded which took some time, then they had figure out how to use the software and try and design with it.

I love that they can do the entire thing on their own.  I did not even help with the projects with the exception of downloading the software for Archimedes Screw.  It has been great for them to use this study while I have been working one on one with the girls on other things.  I love that you do not need to search out any other resources to be able to use this course.  The boys have been fascinated with the information and especially have enjoyed making the projects.  We have studied Leonardo da Vinci in art many times but have not focused very much on his contributions to science so they were especially interested in learning about him. 

Members of The Crew reviewed several different studies from Techie Homeschool Mom.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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