Emily S.

I'm not sure what the sleep cap I bought from Lilysilk is made from, since they don't list their fiber content anywhere on the packaging or the item itself- as required by the Textiles and Wools Act- but it isn't silk. The fabric isn't as smooth or slippery as real silk, in fact, a good cotton weave feels softer. It doesn't breath like real silk and my head started getting hot just a few minutes after putting it on. I do not have this issue with my other sleep cap made from 100% mulberry silk, as labeled on the tag.

The company claims to their silk is OEKO-TEX certified, but when I put the label number from their website into the database it stated "The validity of the label is currently under review. Please contact us for further information." See attached photos.

Last year (19-20) we purchased a Code Combat subscription for my son. It was listed above his age and grade level (they recommend ages 9+/4th grade), but he has caught on to coding easily so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately, it was just too advanced for a kindergartner that is still learning how to read fluently. That's not the fault of the program, but I definitely caution others to try before you buy if your kiddos are below the recommended age. Anyway... now we had a coding subscription we couldn't use and the charter wouldn't cover a second- so code.org to the rescue.

Code.org is absolutely free. They have coding lessons for ages 4+ that are amazingly intuitive to use, and they even have ones aimed at pre-readers- so your child can start coding before they can even read. I've heard complaints about the use for older kids, but for early elementary I think it's perfect. They also have Hour of Code which is a one-hour tutorial- there are 500+ to choose from in 45 different languages. And it's FREE.

Last school year (19-20) our charter offered DreamBox as an optional subscription, but this year (20-21) it was not offered and wasn't an approved vendor. I ended up purchasing the Lifetime Subscription for my son, because one year was $99, but Lifetime was $150 and I know we will continue using it for at least 2 years. The subscription through our charter was set to the grades 3-5 environment, which my son liked better than the K-2 environment. They all have the same grade level content, but he thought the K-2 seemed "babyish". I was disappointed that when the school subscription expired and I re-enrolled on my own, all his previous work was lost and he was switched back to the K-2 environment. I was able to get the environment switched back within an hour a the request, but he did end up having to repeat some grade 1 lesson that he'd finished in kindergarten because they didn't transfer. Once the system recognized that he had mastered first grade content, it bumped him back up into grade 2 lessons. We use DreamBox as a supplement to our Singapore Dimensions curriculum, and it complements it well. I am able to add assignments, so I can assign standards to match where we currently are in the curriculum. I also love that you can track by National Common Core standard, or state standards- which may cover more content than the national CC standards. They have an app so you can use it on an iPad in addition to their desktop site. The family dashboard is much easier to use on the desktop, but my son prefers the app when he's just playing.

My son has enjoyed all the classes he's taken so far from Outschool. We haven't used it for his main subjects, just extracurriculars. One teacher has a Studio Ghibli art series and taught him how to make Soot Sprites from Totoro. Another teacher offers courses such as Design Your Own Zoo and Design Your Own Town- we didn't try the town one yet, but the Zoo was so much fun for my son. I love that they offer social clubs arranged by age and interest, as socializing has been difficult during lockdowns. They have ones for Minecraft, Mario and even Animal Crossing. I love that they run background checks on the instructors and have secular content which- while becoming more common- is often harder to find in the homeschool world. I also like that they are considered a vendor with most hybrid-homeschool charters, so the courses are covered by them.

Misleading advertising: They advertise themselves as one of the most comprehensive online curriculums out there. In fact, not a single course offered by them could be considered complete. The French course comprises a total of 4 lessons. The Kindergarten Jr Math courses is a whopping 2 lessons. Ballet... 1 lesson. Korean... 1 lesson. Grade 8 Algebra... 1 lesson. There is NOTHING comprehensive about what they offer.
Fake reviews: The reviews scattered across the internet were written by the same handful of people. The vast majority of these "people" have only reviewed this "school". The photographs used by some of these reviewers are stocks photos. Alas, since the entire website, "viral" videos and instructor profiles also include stock photos this is unsurprising.
Lacks transparency: they have no sample lessons or trial period. The opportunity to try a sample, view a lesson or try before you buy is universal amongst educational sites. They refuse to answer questions on how they screen their instructors, if they screen their videos, etc. Additionally, the same "social media manager" runs an unemployment website (unemploymentpua) and a school review website (schoolrating.net). It's dishonest to not disclose these relationships, especially when you run the rating website that gives your school perfect reviews. The only interaction on social media for remotelearning.school is from the unemploymentpua account and a blatantly fake account with a stock photo.

They have now blocked my IP address from accessing their site due to my review. This doesn't look good for the company. If you aren't doing anything wrong, why would you block a user.