Elephango is an online homeschool curriculum supplement site to help round off our homeschool weeks. I'm in the planning stage for our coming year, and I've found some gaps in my curriculum choices. My high school U.S. Government book does not have anything related to state and local government, and that must be included. I always end up using supplemental lesson ideas to tie together my lessons with my second grader, since I use a variety of resources for some subjects. Elephango provides the supplemental curriculum just great for homeschoolers, and at a variety of levels to meet my homeschool family's needs.
I was compensated for my time in preparing this review. All opinions I share are my own.
I can stop searching Pinterest to find the correct supplemental lessons for my children's lessons. Elephango has homeschool lessons at all levels of learning in a variety of subjects. Now the frustration is gone when I can find just what I need with a search on Elephango.
Each lesson has three parts: "Get It!," "Got It!" and "Go!" As these page titles suggest, the lesson plan begins with new information, the second page provides us with some review and additional applicable instruction, and then the last page of the lesson gives us an activity to bring the lesson to life. For older kids, this could be a powerpoint or a small research project. For the younger ages, it maybe an art project, a learning booklet, or even a "kitchen science" lab.
Elephango can open up parent time. Because I can make unique child logins, I can assign a lesson without constant supervision. Even the lessons for young children have the "audio" option where a student can click to hear the entire lesson instead of reading. What a great option for non-readers and not strong readers! So, Elephango can provide learning time with minimal parent assistance.
Sometimes lessons are grouped together under "badges." The badges program is a way to motivate my daughter in her learning, but it will also help me put together unit studies. I can find badges that nicely align to her main curriculum, adding a great supplemental unit that is already curated.
Some people probably don't like the term "gamified" when they talk about learning activities. But I sure do! I love making learning into games. Using points, badges, and encouragement on Elephango helps to make learning into a journey with a specific goal. It encourages my daughter to look forward to something as she finishes an assignment for me. My daughter can see what I've favorited for her, but she can also look for other lessons that appeal to her. The achievement pages tracks a login streak. (I have a "streak" for my Spanish learning progress on DuoLingo -- I'm over a year of everyday practice and I just won't miss it. So, gamification works for me too!),
Some of the lessons have interactive elements, like drag the item to the correct spot. This is really fun too. It gives an interactive element so kids don't just watch the videos and listen to the text. As I mentioned, the last page of each lesson "Go" also includes a usually non-computer project or learning suggestion.
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An Elephango subscription also provides access to the kid-safe Elephango browser, which opens for my second grade child with a customizable homepage, a "safe" Google search (as well as a search through the Elephango lessons). This keeps her learning in an appropriate environment, even when she is on the Internet.
Watch my video review to see behind the scenes of Elephango.
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