Compare Outschool with us
Outschool is a marketplace where families book classes from independent teachers. Your child's whole curriculum here comes from one place, in lessons written for them.
Separate classes or one complete curriculum
Outschool is a marketplace of live small-group online classes, self-paced courses, and private tutoring for ages 1 to 18. Classes are taught by independent teachers from around the world, with separate listings and schedules. Families use it to supplement a homeschool or to build a full curriculum from its classes and courses.
Our courses already form a school year, so separate class bookings and timetables never decide what comes next.
Where your child starts
On Outschool, families choose each class from listings for ages 1 to 18. That decision happens class by class, rather than through one placement process for a complete school year.
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
An Outschool day depends on the separate classes the family has booked. Live small-group sessions happen at their listed times, with any self-paced courses fitted around those bookings.
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
Outschool students get help from each class's teacher during its sessions. A family can also arrange private tutoring, booked separately from the group sessions.
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
Outschool leaves grades, certificates, and assessments to each class's teacher. It advises families to ask before the class begins, because those arrangements vary between the courses they book.
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
Outschool does not offer credit for its classes. Some families use Outschool transcripts as proof of enrollment, which is different from a school issuing credit for a complete course of study.
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 Outschool 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
- Does my child have to be online at set times?
- No. There are no live classes. Your child opens the next lesson when your day allows, and the weekly plan fits your family's hours.
- 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 a child who is not reading yet use it?
- Yes. Kindergarten through Grade 2 is spoken: your child listens to each short lesson and answers out loud, with an adult nearby.
Your child's curriculum. Your family's time.
Give your child a continuing course between activities, without booking each part of the school week.
$149/month per child after the trial.