What is Miacademy?
In my quest to "do it all" I recently realized that I needed help. I am still full-time homemaker, beekeeper, urban farmer, chauffeur, mom of five, and now I also work outside the home part-time at our local junior college. My plate is full! In my search for online homeschool help, I found Miacademy. Now that my children have been using it for a month, I would love to share a review!
Miacademy is an online learning program for K-8 that combines engaging lessons in math, language arts, science, and social studies with real-world learning. It is also a safe community on the web where your child can watch videos, practice math and language arts skills, learn new vocabulary, become familiar with other languages, create, play games, race dragons, practice typing, create and decorate their own castle, earn and care for virtual pets, interact with fellow community members/siblings (if you choose to allow this option), team up for challenges, and more.
Activities are divided into two main types: educational activities and just for fun activities. You can set up the program so that children cannot advance to the fun activities until they have completed their daily lessons.
On the parent login, you can choose the subjects you would like your child to complete, the grade level you would like them to work at, and you'll also have the option of adding as many electives as you would like (in addition to the 4 core subjects: Language arts, math, science, and social studies)
You will find the elective choices to be overwhelmingly abundant! Art classes, music classes, foreign languages, sign language, typing, dictionary skills, Bible, internet skills, writing songs and lyrics. Many choices!
The parent login also has reports on your child's progress and time they spend working on subjects. You can set up a schedule for your child to follow.
The lessons are engaging and fun. Often they are followed by a short quiz or assessment activity.
You can find many FREE sample lesson videos here:
Ok, now to the fun stuff. Your subscription to Miacademy includes access to their fun world. The world has something for everyone. Hangman, spelling games, math games, typing challenges. A place to grow and nurture a virtual pet. A place to race dragons. But my favorite feature in the world is the shop where you can design items to "sell" to other members. My daughter designs clothes, furniture, and art.
Once they have designed items and sold them, they can track their earnings and shop stats in a way that is educational. As an wishful entrepreneur myself I love this feature! This is an example of the business analytics page.
Lastly, I'd like to tell you what I really, really love about Miacademy. It is the first online program I have found to be truly dyslexic-friendly. Every question AND answer has a read aloud option. We have tried T4L, PowerHomeschool, and other online options for my dyslexic and they have all been horrible and confusing for him.
I give Miacademy an A+ for use by dyslexic children!
And finally, my disclosure:
I in no way, shape, or form think that software based solutions for homeschooling should be a primary teaching method. That is not what homeschooling is.
What is the purpose of homeschooling? Some of us just want to get our children out of the 8 hour government school day, some use homeschooling to satisfy a specific need — a child’s physical or mental health issues, a child’s passion such as sports or the arts, a situation with severe bullying. I do not advocate parking a kid in front of a screen for their entire education. That would be soulless, empty, and devoid of meaning. Any kind of software-based learning program is to be used in conjunction with REAL LIFE experiences. That is truly what homeschooling is.
If your child is going to be subject to online public school, I encourage you to give Miacademy a try. A full day's worth of lessons can be accomplished in 1-2 hours (or less!).