Alpha Omega's Switched on Schoolhouse Review

Note - This review was last updated in 2011.  I'm sure many things have been updated since then!  　

We've used  Alpha Omega's Switched on Schoolhouse (SOS) for 4 years now, 6th-9th.
It is similar to their LifePacs, but on the computer.
(update: This is our 5th year.  Rebekah (10th) is using only the English for SOS this year.  Since she LOVES history, I allowed her to do some research on her own this year.  JohnDavid and Bethany (8th) are using it for history and science.)

We did all 5 of the main subjects the first year, then decided it was a bit much to do on the computer, so we dropped Bible and Math. 

This past year (March, 2010), we dropped SOS science for Rebekah (9th), and switched to Apologia. The upper sciences get hard in SOS with no teacher manual, and I didn't know much about Biology. (And Apologia has audio CDs that read the books, so that will work out great for my dyslexic ds!)
We are still using SOS science for JohnDavid and Bethany, but this fall will be changing the science.  JohnDavid really wants to use SOS Bible, though.  They had used the 6th grade one I got for Rebekah.

**I would recommend NOT putting all your kids into SOS at once, or at least doing only a couple of subjects to begin with.**  Start early in getting it set up, (like a few weeks, or if you're like me, the day you buy it, lol), so you'll have time to learn how to do everything.  Esp. if you network your computers.  Whew!  But it was so worth it.  I can access everything, all kids' work, from my computer, even while they are working.  =)
SOS has a 1-800 number for tech support, and they will patiently help you with any question.  I recommend calling early in the morning, before the phone lines get busy.  =)  Be prepared to just put your phone on speaker while you get a few things done, and just let the kids play.  =)

What I like:
Subjects are taught with a Creation- and Bible-based viewpoint throughout the lessons.
No internet connection needed. But nice if you want your computers networked so you can see their work from your computer. =)  Very handy if you have more than one child.
From the teacher's application (password protected), you can choose for quizzes and tests to be open book or not.  You can have the child rework any problem, or an entire lesson or quiz.  You can change the grade the computer gives if you think the answer is acceptable.
For one child, I duplicated an extra spelling quiz on Thursdays and retitled it Practice Quiz.  (hehe, I can't remember now how I did that, lol)  I also deleted a chapter last year from science, and this year was able to drag and drop it into the current year's grade.  I also created a separate subject for Spelling, and was able to drag and drop the spelling lessons and quizzes from Language into the Spelling folder.  This way, it was easier to control which days the spelling lesson and test landed on.
(Sorry, I can't remember how I did all that!  I'm sure a tech person from SOS will be able to help.)

The student can send messages or questions to the teacher from individual problems by clicking on a yellow sticky note.  Teach your children early to send you a note if they feel an answer was graded incorrectly.  Even if you're standing right there!  ("that way I won't forget which problem to check." ;)  Act matter-of-fact, and they will learn it's nothing to be stressed about if the computer says they're wrong.  They'll feel better as soon as the note is sent.  =) (My kids had no problem with this.  I've just heard some have.)

Also, if it says the answer is wrong, teach them to first check the score of the problem.  (each problem has it's own grade)  If it's just a spelling error, depending on what your student settings are, it should say 95% or 98%, etc.  Then they can change spelling instead of changing their answer.
Of course, this is not the case in the actual subject of Spelling.  If it's wrong, it will be counted as a zero.

I've included some screen shots of student pages. 
Click to enlarge.  

Left image:  The top of the screen shows Bethany's current day's lessons, which she will click on to access.  At the bottom shows all subjects, and completed lessons are clickable for review.

7th grade science

10th grade English

Right image:  JohnDavid's science lesson for today, showing a clickable slide show, and student questions at the bottom.  There are match-up questions as shown, fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, True/False, and essay.  He can drag the page divider-bar up or down to see more of the question or more of the student text.

Left: One of Rebekah's English lessons.

They usually take a few notes (I had to teach this), or draw maps, graph, diagrams, and label their pictures or write a short paragraph.  {notebooking}  This really helps reinforce what they've just studied.



--All student work should be backed up on a flashdrive daily.
If your computer crashes, SOS tech support can help you get your child's work back without having them do it over. (horrors!)
--Curriculum is reusable, and each subject/grade can accommodate up to 5 children at a time.
We have piano on Wednesdays, so I'm able to change the due dates of the lessons so we don't have as much to do that day.  For that day, I leave off whatever subject has fewer lessons that year.  I love that!  (Yes, I actually counted the lessons, lol)
Next year I plan to use the main lessons from 6th and 7th SOS Language (drag and drop method) to fill in gaps my dyslexic child has not learned and create a one-year curriculum, and hopefully do grade-level the following year.
AS OF 2011.  The price is $85 per full-year subject, except for April (20% off) and May (15% off).  Even full price with tax, that's only about $30 per subject per year when I divide by 3 kids, and less when I get the discount.  =)

The first year using SOS will seem harder, but believe me, it gets easier, especially as the kids start learning to take notes and study on their own.  I think history is the subject I help the least on now.  Virtually none. I started with only one child using SOS the first two years, and JohnDavid and Bethany started when they got to that grade.

I'd advise installing it way early and get used to figuring out the way it works. That's the hardest part. When we networked our computers 2 years ago, I thought I'd go crazy getting it all figured out.
SOS said to contact our Internet Service Provider. ISP said to contact the router company. Router company said to contact Microsoft. Microsoft said...  You get the idea. But finally it was DONE!!!  And I love it.  The kids send me notes on SOS, or IM me with GoogleTalk (if I'm working on my computer).  I can check work, reset problems, give them hints as to where an answer is located, which paragraph, etc. especially for my dyslexic child.  (I still have Internet Explorer 7, not 8, on my computer so I can still use Ctrl-F to 'find' key words in the text and tell him generally where to look.)  =)

Things that I don't like:
►When we first started using SOS, I noticed the way of writing was less "conversational" than I would have liked.  But they did fine, and have no problem with it.  Even my dyslexic ds. 
►I only used math one year. Sometimes (not all the time!) if an answer was two-fifths, and Rebekah wrote two fifths, or 2/5,  it would count it wrong.  She did ok with it, and didn't ask for much help.  She'd send me a note if she felt the grading was incorrect.  
But two years ago (2008) SOS started having more user-friendly answers - where more than one answer was acceptable, but I'd already gone back to BJU for math. We tried the SOS 6th math again for a bit w/ JohnDavid, but since there is no Teacher's Manual, I still needed to make up my own "teaching" lessons (with him having dyscalculia, he needed extra explanation, and going slower). =( And I've saved all my books and Teacher's Manuals for BJU, so I don't want to buy more SOS math.
BUT it was better with the user-friendly answers.  So I would like it if JohnDavid didn't need so much help w/ me sitting at his side.  Hmmmm...  But again, there is no TM, just the built-in answer key.  =\
Note:  If you have an older application (installation) disc, you won't get the user-friendly answers. You'd need at least 2008 or later.  (unless things have changed since then - always check w/ SOS)
We installed the 6th math and other subjects (from 2006 as well as 2007 this year) w/ the 2008 installation disc and got the user-friendly answers, even tho SOS said we wouldn't. (?)  So that I do like!
►There is no teacher guide w/ SOS, and when we got to physical science, it began to get difficult for me to understand (lot of scientific math w/ not much explanation), so how could I explain to Rebekah while not knowing a lot about science myself!  I would need to go back several lessons to catch up, and some most times I did not get around to helping her in a timely manner. =(
We stuck it out, and then (since I had no clue what else to buy) we bought SOS Biology. 
Then a month later!! I found Apologia science.  Now if you understand upper science, SOS would be great!  I just needed help, ha!

I still like SOS for History, Bible, Science if I knew what I was doing, and even  for English (parent really needs to keep up and make sure they're actually learning), but we've only used SOS from 6th up, so I don't know how their younger grades are for these subjects.  
Note:  My daughters had good background with ABeka Language, so they have done fine with SOS Language/English, which has literature and spelling included.  It does have grammar, punctuation, etc, but not a lot.  They may have done fine even with the younger grades of SOS, BUT I do NOT know how much the younger grades cover grammar, punctuation, etc.  It would be good to call and ask them.

Also, I have learned it is never a good idea to allow them to "learn" English or math on their own.  Maybe in highschool.  You will learn your child, whether they are self-starters, self-disciplined, etc.
Children need daily supervision  in these subjects because if they get off on the wrong track, it's a lot of un-doing and catching up.
Not fun.
That said, if I'm going to need to teach these anyway, I don't know if I would use SOS for youngers.  I need to have the book laid out so I can flip back and forth while I study and prepare lessons, and so I could look at it while teaching.
Also, there is no teacher's manual with SOS.  Nothing to teach except what they read in the lesson.  Not enough example problems.  My brain doesn't work well enough to make up my own.  ;)
However, if we both had laptops, and if my child was a fast learner and didn't need much instruction... maybe.  =)  Except for essay questions, reports, etc, it does grade the work so that the computer gets to tell them if they're wrong instead of mommy.  ;)


►Here's an Alpha-Omega Switched on Schoolhouse review that I did earlier this school year:
http://www.homeschool-curriculum-savings.com/sos-curriculum-for-dyslexic-talkative-active-kids.html 
Note: I no longer read the questions to JohnDavid.  He's reading much better now, and if he can't read it, he highlights the question and uses NaturalReader Software (free download at the time of posting).
►Here is an extensive review that tells the pros and cons.  Very good article.
►Another blogger's review.
Also her updated reviews along w/ a review of a subject:
Update #1/English II; Update #2/Geometry; Update #3/Biology (has tips); Update #4/World History

ALL Curriculum I Use