Skip to main content

AVKO (TOS Crew Review)

As a current member of this year's The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I have gotten some really interesting things to review. There are gobs of homeschooling and supplemental materials and resources out there to be had that I didn't even know about! AVKO is one of them.

AVKO (which stands for audio, visual, kinesthetic, oral) Educational Research Foundation was created with the intention of helping dyslexics learn to read, write, and spell using a multi-sensory teaching style. You can read more about their philosophy here.

For the purposes of this review, I was provided with the online membership, and it is the benefits of that membership (which generally costs $25) that I am reviewing.

The membership to AVKO comes with free downloads, articles, supplemental materials for their Sequential Spelling program, discounts on printed materials, and much more. While it may be an amazing deal for many homeschooling families, I was too overwhelmed by the website to get much use from it. There was so much information about learning styles and dyslexia, but we don't suffer from those problems at this stage of the game. There were downloadable PDF files, MP3's, and diagnostic aides, but we didn't need most of it.

Unfortunately, the stuff I did print out either went over my head or required too much time and focus to make use of it. We have a very laid-back attitude toward schooling, and I am not motivated to spend hours researching something that we don't currently have an interest in. The website itself was also very cluttered and time-consuming to navigate, with quite a bit of fluff that was unnecessary (and often off-color). All of which is a drawback for me. For a family looking to get some real help with learning difficulties like dyslexia, this is probably well worth the money. For us, though, it wasn't really useful.

To see what my fellow TOS Crew Members had to say, as well as read more about the AVKO membership, click here.

* As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's Homeschool Crew, I was given a complimentary subscription to the AVKO website with the understanding that I would use and review the product. This is my honest review of that membership. No other compensation was provided.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Health Care in the USA

Well, it is time for another political rant, so depending on your standing, you may want to mosey along.... Health care in the United States is apparently in need of an overhaul.  There are few who disagree.  However, the method of that overhaul is in question.  Many would like to use their power in government to take over health care.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, they are calling it a reform , but it is really just a takeover . So, okay, let's evaluate. Your company, which you have worked for your entire life, is losing money.  It is still afloat, but it isn't doing as well as it could.  You have a couple of choices as a member of the voting board of directors : you could vote in favor of a reevaluation of what is working and what isn't, what rules are already in place that aren't being followed that would benefit your bottom line, and what people in your company are beneficial and what people are detrimental, then you could weed out things and people who aren...
2 comments
Read more

How Has Homeschooling Affected My Life?

Well, homeschooling IS my life, so suffice it to say, there's no stone unturned!  Massive takeover, at times, a bit hostile!! For example, my second child was getting ready to embark on Mother's Day Out and my first child was conveniently ensconced in a Government-run "educational" facility, and I had a glimmer of real freedom... for about a day.  Then I found out I was preggo with Baby #3.  Commence Meltdown. I have since gotten over that traumatic , er, beautiful time, and we have embraced homeschooling.  The freedom never came, the oldest got pulled from Uncle Sam's Brainwashing Academy, and the second offspring never entered a public school.  The third will not go away to preschool. They go with me to the doctor.  This, they do not love.  Neither do I. ( Mommy, why is she putting that there?? ) Alas, it is our lot in life... at least until the eldest is of babysitting age. They go with me to the grocery store.  This, they love occasion...
3 comments
Read more

The Children Unite!

My children all got together last night while I was sleeping and decided to up the ante. They agreed to sabotage all of my good intentions with back-talk, whining, defiance, and drama. And that was just for breakfast. My day started with my husband grouching at me about something that doesn't affect him, followed by the Mommy Sweater attaching herself to me over my morning coffee and clinging for dear life. Not to be outdone, The Boy decided to refuse to do his math. That's it. He just wasn't gonna do it. So there. (yeah, he did his math) As if that wasn't enough to turn Super Mom into a blubbering idiot, The Princess, aka The Eldest Child, spent a laborious hour writing sentences for her spelling words, because " it's too ha-a-a-a-ard " to write a sentence using words like "kitchen" and "throw." Uh-huh. Sure. Well, more whining continued throughout the day, interspersed with moments of blatant defiance and dramatic flair over...
3 comments
Read more