Homeschooling with Outschool

When I first found out about Outschool, I was teaching my private students online, working for VipKid, and another online tutoring company. Someone in the VipKid Facebook group mentioned Outschool but complained that it was too difficult because they were used to a pre-made curriculum. Coming from a teaching background, I already knew how to make lesson plans and classes. Transferring those lesson plans into virtual classes was easy for me.

However, not only do I teach on Outschool, but I also have a child that I homeschool who has taken classes on Outschool. Taking classes on the platform is quite different from being a teacher on the platform. Here is my honest review about taking classes on Outschool:

Outschool is the first online platform that my child has taken classes on. She has taken my classes which is great because she gives me wonderful feedback. She has taken every class that I have offered. As an online teacher and a homeschool mom, I have to find a balance between both of our schedules. I do outsource the subject matters that aren’t my strongest teaching areas. I have enrolled my daughter in math classes, Spanish classes, and most recently, Dungeons and Dragons.

There are several things I look for when enrolling my daughter:

Cost: I look at the cost and number of classes offered. I am not concerned with finding the lowest priced classes, but I want it to be comparable to what I would pay for classes that she’d have in a physical setting. There have been classes that I felt were priced too low but I understand teachers pricing low when they first start on the platform. I have also seen classes that I thought were priced too high.

She took a math class with a teacher we both thought was amazing, so I reached out to the teacher and asked if she’d be willing to do private 1:1 tutoring. That is another great aspect of Outschool. I am able to communicate with her teachers at any time. I have sent request and questions to teachers that don’t respond. In that case, they’ve just lost a potential student. It also lets me know that I would not be a good fit because I prefer someone that has the time to respond to questions.

Reviews: I know reviews can be subjective but I like to see what other parents have said about a course. It’s easy to look past personal feelings as I want to focus on the content of the course. I want to know if the class description matched what was taught in class. I also check out the teacher profile. This is something my daughter does not care about and we choose her classes together…for the most part.

Material and Presentation: I let my daughter take her courses and might sit in the background for the first minute or two. I am only there to help her with technology. It is her class. I treat it the same when I sign her up for summer camps. I’m not hanging around in the classroom. However, once the class is over, I look at the material that is available from the teacher to see if it is relevant and/or beneficial. My daughter and I are both visual learners, so a class with a teacher that is just sitting there with no slides would bore my daughter.

My daughter’s remarks: I always ask my daughter is she enjoyed the class. I allow her to leave her own star rating and review. There was one class that she took that I thought was awful but she loved the class. I didn’t like the presentation or the tone of voice the teacher took when she responded to the learners. But, it wasn’t my class to review, so I opted out of leaving a rating or feedback. For the classes we both loved, a glowing review was left!

I love that there is such a vast number of subjects children can take on Outschool. I was able to outsource math, she was able to take 1:1 and group Spanish classes, and with her newest interests in D&D, she is able to participate in an on-going class with the same group of players.

Another great aspect of Outschool is the referral program. Classes that I wouldn’t usually pay for, I am willing to pay the extra cash because I can earn a $20 referral from other parents that decide to try out the platform. It’s a great way to test the waters.

One final point I would leave with parents is if your first class isn’t everything you were hoping for, try another class and another teacher! Different personalities, learning styles, and teaching styles will change all the dynamics in a classroom.