How it works

Homeschool Connections wants you to be informed about the student experience.  We offer a couple of ways to learn more.

Description of the Live, Interactive Course experience
Free Open House Webinars

Live, Interactive Courses
So how do our live courses work?  What does my student need to attend a course?  We hope to answer these questions as well as others here.

First, you'll need to decide what courses you would like to take. See the course catalog for course descriptions. Ask yourself if you would like to build a full curriculum around Homeschool Connections courses, or if you prefer to use Homeschool Connections courses to supplement your current homeschool curricula.

Once you determine the courses you would like to take, sign up at our registration page. We suggest registering early so that you are assured a seat and also to save money with the early enrollment price.

Before class actually begins…

1. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email of your purchase from our registration system.  
2. You will also receive a Preparing for Class email from homeschoolconnections@gmail.com within 21 days and 4 days of the course begin date providing you with the login instructions for our course management system, Moodle. This email, also, contains your in-class instructions.  

1st Day of Class

1. The student will receive an automated email reminder approximately 1 hour before class begins. This email contains the link to the course so the student can join the class at the designated time (ex. 10 am ET).  Note: we strongly encourage students to join at least 15 minutes early.
2. The designated Course Monitors will kick off the course and introduce how to participate in the live course using chat, your computer microphone to ask questions, and the annotation or drawing tools.
3. Instructor and Course Monitor will proceed to support the students for the duration of the 1st class and remaining classes.

1. The student will continue to receive reminder emails 1 hour before the class to join the class meetings. 
2. The student will do their course assignments, quizzes, and activities as directed by the instructor in our learning management system, Moodle (again, the instructions to access Moodle are found in the Preparing for Class email). 

What equipment is necessary…

1. A computer usually purchased within the last five years is more than sufficient.  It can be a PC, MAC, or mobile device including iPad or Android tablet.  Please note that Microsoft Vista and XP Operating Systems are no longer supported by our online collaboration tool, Adobe Connect.
2. A DSL connection or better is recommended. Click this link to run this diagnostic of your computer connection - http://na1cps.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm. 
3. A headset with a microphone (see picture). Make sure it is compatible with your computer.

Moodle - Student Resource for class participation

We use a very popular tool for instructors to support the students in accessing the course materials, assignments, and class recordings.  It is called Moodle.

Depending on the course and instructor, the students will take quizzes online, turn in their papers, and any other responsibility the students are asked to perform during the course. The student will also receive their grades online.

This tool is specific to Homeschool Connections and not accessible to anyone outside the course. It is free for students.