by Kyrsten Sherwood

I mean, I have quite a few favorite homeschooling resources including sites like CodeCombat, Tynker and Prodigy which are all super engaging, free and well made educational game sites, but Outschool really takes the cake!

Outschool is a tool that is especially made for homeschoolers who are going the child-led and interest-based learning routes.

Also, before I get too far into this post the links to Outschool are affiliate links which means that we get credit toward our future classes and YOU also get $20 off your first class (how’s that for an amazing affiliate program?)!

What is Outschool?

So what even is Outschool? Outschool is similar to Udemy (another great resource) or Coursera (one that the Mr. prefers), all of which are websites that are filled with courses designed and taught by various teachers, professionals, and experts to help every day, casual learners to, well, learn things!

It turns out that high schools, trade schools, and universities aren’t the only places where one can get educated! These amazing sites support ordinary people who have extraordinary skillsets – skills that have been learned through school, life experience, random obsessions, etc.

One of the amazing things about Outschool is that anyone can be an educator, which is something I can totally get behind. We all have unique life experiences and we can all help others to learn and grow.

And while Udemy and Coursera are targeted toward adults and older teens, Outschool has classes for all ages, starting at pre-k.

What’s so great about Outschool classes?

What gets me giddy about Outschool is the variety and pop culture-ness that the teachers have so amazingly intertwined throughout their lessons.

While you can technically get online homeschool classes for free through a variety of public education resources, what you DON’T get in those classes are classes like:

Designing a Zoo in Minecraft – where the class learns about animals, habitats, eating habits, weekly reading and geometry activities all while creating a zoo in Minecraft

A Watercolor Class with Studio Ghibli’s Totoro – where students are introduced to a beautiful film by Hayao Miyazaki and taught basics of watercolor fundamentals in a live online class setting.

Pokemon Paragraphs! Creative Writing – students are prompted to create their own Pokemon and are given Pokemon-inspired writing prompts to encourage writing comprehension, penmanship, and imagination-based writing in a familiar, well-loved world.

LEGO Engineering Challenge – students will learn engineering and architectural design processes, creative problem solving and creating structures from initial idea to the final product all through building fun LEGO structures that they can continue to play with after the course is finished.

Potions Year One: Harry Potter Themed Chemistry – this class is filled with shrinking and expanding potions, invisible ink, bubbling brews and more! Expect lots of vinegar and baking soda supplies and lots of messy, hands-on fun!

I mean, *I* want to take like all of these classes! And for those with older students, Udemy has some really amazing ones, too!

What if we have a tight schedule?

We just signed up for Marine Biology and Ocean Ecosystems with Minecraft and the kids are SO excited to begin (I’ll be sure to follow up once we’ve completed the course and have something to report back on!).

What’s nice about this class is that it’s a FLEX schedule (versus a live schedule with set times and meeting days).

While this schedule is amazing for those who run a tight ship and need flexibility in their schedules, Outschool also offers live classes that meet weekly, one-off courses that meet only once and also Flex classes (like the Minecraft one we just enrolled in).

Really, there are class schedules for everyone 🙂

And if you fall in love with a class, only to find out that it isn’t available at a time that works for your schedule, most teachers have “Request Another Time” slots and others have TONS of upcoming times available!

Get $20 off your first class

So! Which class do you think you’ll do first?

Something I absolutely LOVE is getting Outschool’s newsletter which tells you all of the amazing classes that are coming up (I do NOT do newsletters, by the way, but Outschool’s newsletter always gets me homeschool-inspired)!

I’d love to know what classes you and your learners think look the most exciting!

Make sure to grab your:

$20 off coupon

So that you can jump into learning with Outschool, and let us know what classes you’re most excited for in the comments!

Happy Homeschooling!

Kyrsten