My Access! Home Edition Review

I've always been the type that loved to read and write. In elementary school, I won a couple of different writing contests. In high school I was on the yearbook staff and always in advanced English. It was never work for me but pure enjoyment. When it comes to teaching the technical side of writing…I fail miserably! Therefore I literally jumped for joy when I found out we received a free trial of Vantage Learning's My Access! Home Edition. ( A big 'thank you' to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for allowing me to be a part of the review crew.)

What's included in the writing program? For $99.95 for up to 3 students or $129.95 for up to 6 students you receive:

• A completely web based writing program for 12 mths
  





• Immediate scoring and feedback
  





• Editing and writing tools
  





• Individual progress reports
  





• Self- paced and interactive lessons
  





• 96 preloaded writing topics for 3 age groups- (8-10),(11-14) and (15-18)
  

As a parent I was able to set up student accounts for my girls-assigning individual projects for each. I could also schedule rewards and receive progress reports. Instruction is given in how to write narrative, persuasive and informative essays. The student's writings are assessed by their Focus, Content and Development, Organization, Language Use and Mechanics & Convention. They are then given a score on a scale of Below Proficient, Proficient and Advanced Proficient. There are also activities that the student can complete to help strengthen areas that need improvement.

The My Access! Home Editon website takes a bit of getting used to. With a little practice we were able to find our way around. Also, on their first assignments the girls were slightly confused with the grading and how to correct their mistakes. They quickly got the hang of it. One daughter loved that the website was so bright and fun; the other liked the idea of pretending she was an author and her work was being 'edited' before getting published. I liked knowing that my girls were finally getting a writing course that was concise, engaging and motivating but best of all that had non-subjective grading.

"The ability to write well is one of the most practical and useful skills that we can teach our children." –John Fallon, Vantage Learning

My Access! Home Edition makes it easy for me to incorporate writing into our day by taking away the stress of planning and grading and giving my children something they can enjoy and learn from.

*For the purpose of this review, I received a free membership to My Access! Home Edition. My review is based on my opinion of the product only. No additional compensation was received.*

To read more reviews on this product and others, visit The TOS HomeSchool Review Blog.