So much has changed over the past few years, but one thing that remains constant is that my kids LOVE taking online classes. In their younger years, I love to be as hands-on as possible, especially with language arts and math. However, as they get a little older (and with other subjects), I enjoy assigning them coursework on programs that help them to be a little more independent and save me time, too. This is why we LOVE Clever Dragons in our house. I am not an affiliate for them or anything, I just wanted to share about something we have used for a long time.
We purchased a lifetime membership to Clever Dragons and Always Ice Cream YEARS ago. I just looked up my confirmation email and it was June 27, 2012! This was back when they were first getting started, and it was more of a “fun” kind of program. Educational games and videos, a fun little community where the kids could make, sell, and buy things for their little character avatars, make new penpals on a heavily monitored internal messaging system, and earn points for more little goodies by doing educational tasks. The family membership at that time bought us 4 “seats” in their program, with Always Ice Cream for girls and Clever Dragons for boys.
Nowadays, those two options exist, and they also have Mia Academy. A lot of the features across all 3 programs are similar to that earlier version, but they have truly BULKED UP the content. It now contains a FULL curriculum for kids in grades K-8. Yes, FULL curriculum. It has videos, quizzes, worksheets, automatic grading, and more in all areas of academics (math, language arts, social studies, and science), as well as a nice selection of electives (like ASL, music reading, PE, art, and more). It is an incredible value with monthly, annual, or lifetime programs.
Here is what I love about Clever Dragons:
- It is a full online curriculum. There are printable resources as well, which can be great for folks hoping to do some work off of the computer.
- You can customize what courses your child is assigned to learn, what your school year schedule and dates are, and even which assignments you want them to complete.
- Your kids can use the social features to make new friends, they can create, sell, and buy things for their in-program avatar. This is optional and can be turned on or off by parents. Conversations with other kids are monitored, so your child stays safe in this program.
- There are educational videos, fun games, and even competitions.
- Everything is flexible and parents have a huge amount of say in what their child can participate in.
- If you have a child that’s on a 3rd grade level for math, 5th grade level for reading, and middle school level for social studies, no problem – assign what you want and how you want.
- They keep updating the program and providing MORE AND MORE value every single year.
- My kids never complain about their lessons!
- There is automatic grading, and I receive a recap email at the end of the week letting me know what my students have accomplished.
- With a family of 5 kids, this saves me a lot of time. I assign my boys subjects that I don’t mind them learning online, and it frees me up to work 1 on 1 with them on other subjects that I prefer to teach them myself with another curriculum. You can pick and choose, like me, or use this as a full curriculum.
- When I’m out of town and can’t help my kids with their usual hands-on curriculum, I am able to assign a few lessons here and there on Clever Dragons for just the dates I need them to work online instead of in person with me. This helps me to know that they are working on the skills they need to know, even when I’m unable to help them myself. I love this part because I do go out of town occasionally and want to still be able to keep an eye on their academic progress and keep them learning.
- There is a whole parent login website with reporting, a place to assign all of the curriculum per child, a grade book, attendance (including dates and times spent in the program), and tutorial videos to help you use the parent side.
- The format is predictable and colorful. It engages my kids and they love learning on Clever Dragons!
This program has been such a staple in our household for over a decade, and I love that they’re always improving things.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, I highly encourage you to check it out. They do have all 3 programs available, and I believe the curriculum is identical for each one: