Bridgeway Academy
Contents
- Name: The Best Homeschool Curriculum
- Price: $995 USD – $5,295 USD depending on the program / individual learning plans
- Overall Rank: 85 out of 100
Overview
Bridgeway Academy offers purely faith-based curriculum in both textbook and online homeschooling. Their “Bridgeway Difference is to provide a fully-integrated care and support system enabling each student to work and learn in a way that best complements their learning style and needs.” The program promotes working together with the homeschooling parents and child to ensure the student attains “optimal results.”
The Positives
The curriculum includes yearly programs from pre-school through high school in both online and print formats, as well as a blended program featuring a mix of textbooks and online activities. Individual courses include history, language arts, foreign languages (from around the world), marine biology, forensic science, as well as a social studies curriculum and a full range of basic and advance mathematics courses!
Additionally, among the various curricula offered by Bridgeway Academy are two highly specialized programs: the Virtual Academy and HOPE for Learning Disabilities. The Virtual Academy directly addresses those students who need the flexibility of online learning at anytime and from anywhere. The HOPE program utilizes Eli’s Learning Disability Therapy which, they claim, has proven to take students from “struggle to success.”
The Negatives
One of the basic tenets of homeschooling is that the student and the parent are learning simultaneously. Because many parents are learning alongside their children, it is a very special experience for all.
Not only does Bridgeway Academy provide all the necessary materials, for a fee, they provide pre- and post-testing of the student which, in some ways, detracts from the discovery and sense of accomplishment if that task were left to the parents. Many would argue that homeschooling, in all its phases, is best left to the parents.
Affordability can also be a major hurdle for many parents. With prices ranging from a thousand to several thousand dollars a year, Bridgeway Academy, with all its positives, can be prohibitive.
Who is Bridgeway Academy For?
Basically, the curriculum is designed for the homeschooling public, and the students are the beneficiaries of the product. Beyond that, it can be used by students with very special needs, from those
needing the flexibility of anytime, anywhere learning to students with learning disabilities.
Bridgeway Academy Price
Bridgeway Academy features several pricing levels, depending on which delivery system the homeschooling family chooses. It can range from $995 USD to $5,295 USD, depending on the specific learning plan.
My Final Opinion of Bridgeway Academy
Speaking as one with experience with homeschooling and with a daughter actively homeschooling, this is a program with lots to offer the homeschooling public. The content of the product and its demonstrated flexibility lead me to recommend it to everyone. One, however, must bear in mind the pricing may be prohibitive to many, and its pre- and post-testing services tend to take away from the homeschool teacher, which should have the flexibility to disseminate only the information needed for their students. This includes the testing process at the end of the school year.
