Looking for remote learning options for the kids? Here’s our review of Outschool online classes
IT WOULD be an enormous understatement to say that the past few months haven’t been difficult on parents and their school-age children, who haven’t been able to attend school.
The summer holidays are just around the corner but many parents are still keen to give their children both the academic and social stimulation they’ve missed out on over the past several weeks. If you’re one of those parents, we’d highly recommend you look up Outschool.
is a US-based online learning course provider with over 15,000 video chat classes and camps suitable for children aged 3 and up.
This isn’t your typical online learning set-up, however: Outschool encourages teachers to teach the classes and subjects they’ve always been passionate about, in ways they find inspiring, creative and fun.
Outschool online classes: what kinds of classes are available?
The first thing you’ll find when looking up classes for your child on Outschool is the sheer number of options.
No matter your child’s age, interests (academic or otherwise), or time availability, you will find classes that work with your schedule, appeal to your child – and that you quite want to take yourself.
Some examples? Chemistry class using Harry Potter spells and potions as a learning tool. Civics and economics through Minecraft. Creative writing with Pokemon. Greek myths from Percy Jackson’s perspective. Fashion history through the Descendants movies. Whatever your child is excited about, Outschool likely has an academic take on their favourite subject.
Not only will you find these exciting creative classes, but there are a slew of academic subjects, from Mandarin to coding, counting basics to storytime, for kids to try.
Children can also take ‘life skills’ classes in subjects like cooking, crochet, tying shoelaces and caring for pets.
For those looking for more active classes, yoga, dance, football, gymnastics and basketball classes are all available too.
- Outschool classes, from $5 –
Outschool online classes: Live, Ongoing and Flex
In addition to choosing the classes your child wants to take, you can decide how Outschool can best work for you in terms of how your child learns.
Some classes are one-offs, others are weekly classes that last a couple of months, and you can also find courses that meet multiple times over a week or two.
We’ve tried live classes for our children aged 4, 7 and 9 and they got a lot out of seeing the other kids, and getting direct feedback from the teacher.
Even more excitingly, the classes included students from all around the United States, as well as some other countries across the globe (Outschool has students in the US, Europe and Asia).
It was especially helpful for our kids who were missing out on real-life socialisation to interact with other children their age, who had different viewpoints and experiences.
Ongoing courses are weekly sessions that you can join at anytime (you don’t need to catch up on previous coursework when you sign up).
In addition to live and ongoing classes, Flex options are also available (some courses offer live and Flex versions) – these are done in a child’s own time, with no live video chats.
Our 9-year-old was enrolled on a Harry Potter creative writing class in Flex form which ran from April-June.
She had twice-weekly creative writing assignments (which were wonderfully creative and she enjoyed thoroughly), and was encouraged to communicate with other students by leaving feedback on their work.
The teacher would mark assignments and give advice on grammar and punctuation, linking to supporting videos and documents to help the students, via private messages in the Outschool classroom.
Flex classes can be done in your own time, so are a convenient option for those wanting to learn at their own pace, who have a scheduling conflict with the live classes or who prefer not to do live sessions.
Outschool online classes: Cost and safety
There is a wide range of prices when it comes to Outschool classes, which start from $5 a class.
If you sign up for a class that meets multiple times, you’re looking at paying anywhere from $15 to over $100, depending on how many sessions there are and the length of each class.
Safety is a key concern for parents and Outschool ensures the safety of each student, with extensive vetting of the teachers (including background checks) to password-protected Zoom meetings for the classes (you sign in to live meetings through the secure classroom).
Parents rate each class and teacher, and our top tip is to sign up for classes with teachers who have five-star reviews.
The teachers we’ve had have been very knowledgeable in their fields, from a former Lego designer teaching a Lego-based class to a fashion stylist hosting fashion courses. Many of the Outschool teachers are qualified teachers, professors and homeschooling parents themselves.
For more safety information on Outschool, click .
- Outschool classes, from $5 –
The verdict
Outschool has been one of the best discoveries we’ve made during lockdown.
The children have enjoyed their classes so much that Outschool is something we plan to continue with during the ‘summer holidays’ and even when schools return: it ticks the boxes for stimulating the kids’ interests, providing a social outlet, expanding their worldview and giving us a chance to catch up on work emails as they sit next to us.
We haven’t tried every Outschool class – there are far too many – but we’ve been impressed with the quality of the teaching and the passion the teachers have for the subject.
We’ve also been impressed with the learning that’s been happening, that’s been far more effective than any homeschooling we’ve tried ourselves.
Case in point: our 7-year-old was a very reluctant reader. We enrolled her on a US history class (taught through the eyes of an American Girl doll from the time of the Revolutionary War). The teacher was creative and engaging and despite being based in California, was very much someone the 7-year-old wanted to please – she’s been reading nonstop since she first started that course in March.
We’d recommend Outschool for slightly older children as we found that our younger ones required quite a lot of babysitting and help during their classes.
Also, since most of the teachers are based in the US, you’ll find that there aren’t many morning classes available – and some of the most desirable courses are late at night. However, there is an option to email a teacher and request a class or time change, which the teachers try to accommodate where possible.
You’ll also notice that a lot of the popular, well-rated classes sell out fast, so if you find a topic or teacher you like, we’d recommend booking swiftly. There was a massive uptake in classes when the lockdown commenced, which has continued as children in the US (and many in the UK) have remained at home.
There’s a referral programme for those keen to try Outschool: refer a friend, and they’ll get $20 off their first class (you’ll also get a $20 bonus).
Win, win – and when your child begs you for a new reading book or spends an afternoon writing their first novel – win.
- Outschool classes, from $5 –
Enjoyed our review of Outschool’s online classes? We’ve got lots more parenting content in Sun Selects’ dedicated parenting section.
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