Compare Connections Academy with us
Connections Academy enrolls your child in an online school with its own teachers and attendance rules. Your child learns here from lessons written for them, while we handle the teaching, the grading, and the record.
Who is in charge of the school year
Connections Academy, part of Pearson, runs online public schools for Kindergarten through Grade 12. Its teachers are state-certified, and a parent or trusted adult at home serves as the Learning Coach. Materials come in print and online. Connections Education is accredited by Cognia.
Our homeschool program puts your family in charge of the calendar and the subjects, and we take on the teaching, the grading, and the record keeping.
Where your child starts
To start your child where they actually are, we write a placement test for each subject. It has 25 questions, or 12 for younger learners, and it adapts as your child answers.
From every answer, we estimate where your child is solid but not yet finished, and that's where they start. Each subject is placed on its own, so your child might begin in the middle of fourth-grade math and the beginning of fifth-grade reading. In grades 3 to 12, a child who prefers paper can print the free placement test, then upload a photo of the answer sheet for grading.
What a school day looks like
Connections Academy includes live instruction in LiveLesson sessions. The rest of the week can follow a flexible schedule, provided the student still meets the school's and state's attendance requirements.
Our Parent Dashboard lays out today's lessons by subject. You can build the week around your family's hours and print it for the fridge.
Interactive articles weave in your child's interests, with images and videos made for them. Reading checks confirm understanding, then your child applies the idea in a project, such as optimizing lap times for F1 or working out a rocket’s fuel load.
When your child gets stuck
Connections Academy students get help from their teachers, including during LiveLesson sessions. The Learning Coach at home is also involved, so support comes through both the school and the adult alongside the student.
Our Always-On Mentor sits beside every reading and project, so help is there the moment your child needs it.
The mentor also steps in on its own when your child seems stuck, explains the idea another way, and can make it visual by drawing on its board. In a reading check or a project, it guides your child's thinking without giving the answer away.
Learning to keep a notebook
From Grade 3, our readings offer an optional Notebook guide to help your child organize their learning. It encourages lesson headings and unit labels, and the printable guide offers tips for taking notes in their own words rather than copying the article.
The guide encourages your child to note where they struggled and how they got past it. One tip is to star a useful takeaway, then gather those takeaways into a review page. When your child scans and uploads their notebook pages, we help them remember those ideas and shape practice problems around the places they struggled.
Who grades the work
Connections Academy teachers review the student's submitted work. They evaluate performance and provide feedback through the school, rather than leaving the family to grade the full course on its own.
We grade everything your child submits as soon as they submit it, so grading never lands on you. When your child gets something wrong, we help them work through it, and projects come back with feedback so they can revise them.
Records, state paperwork, and the transcript
Connections Academy schools keep report cards and transcripts for their enrolled students. Its online high school diploma program is part of school enrollment, with the school issuing the resulting record.
At TheHomeschoolingCompany, your child's school record builds as they work: daily check-ins log attendance, and everything they finish is saved automatically. Attendance logs and learning summaries are ready to export, and we draft the documents your state asks for from that same record, including portfolios with real work samples.
Our high school transcript builds from completed work, with courses, letter grades, credits, and GPA calculated for you.
Moving from Connections Academy to us
School in a Box includes up to 12 subjects, from the core to custom electives on anything your child is curious about. Single Subject covers one course, if you would rather start there.
Start the 14-day trial and choose School in a Box or Single Subject.
Pick your child's subjects, including any topics they have been asking to learn more about.
Your child takes a placement in each subject, and their whole curriculum is built around them.
Other questions
- Are there live classes my child must attend?
- No. Your child works through lessons on your family's schedule, with no class times to keep.
- Can we use ESA funds?
- Yes. We are an approved vendor in Arizona, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Utah. Your program decides which purchases it covers and how to pay through ClassWallet or Odyssey.
- Can my child read lessons on paper?
- Yes. Lessons, reading checks, and projects can be done on paper. Your child scans and uploads the finished pages for the same detailed feedback as online work.
Your child's curriculum. Your family's time.
Give your family control of the school day without taking on a classroom teacher's workload.
$149/month per child after the trial.