Learning to Use Homeschool Software

You have just purchased that new homeschool software from the convention. You get home, you eagerly unwrap the package, and plop the dvd into the drive. After the install program pops up, you happily install and think you are on your way. But, first thing into the program, you realize you have no idea how to use it, and it is not intuitive. You are going to need some help using this software, and you are not sure where to look.

1. Blogs, using Google blog search

2. Software creators website

3. YouTube videos

4. Friends and family that also use the software in their homeschool

If you go to blogsearch.google.com, you can search the blogs that Google is aware of for whatever keyword you like. Let's say you have just purchased a new software program from Sonlight. You could go to the Google blog search and type "Sonlight homeschool software". This would bring up all the postings on blogs with that phrase in the text. This can be very useful for finding people that use the software in their homeschools. Many people post their trials and errors about their homeschooling experience on their blog, and that often includes information about the software they are using. Once you find and read the information on the blogs that the google blog search returns, you can email the writers of the blogs tfro information, or perhaps tips and tricks for using that particular piece of software, and what works best for them.

Another place to look for information on how to use the software is at the software makers website. Many software providers have tutorials and instructions directly on their website, to make it easier for people to learn their software, thus increasing their sales. Microsoft Office has an entire website dedicated just to free training on their products. These sources can be effective, because the maker of the homeschool software will know their product best. If you visit office.microsoft.com, you will find that their information is very good, including training videos, tutorials, and even downloadable samples of different software packages and utitlies. For custom homeschool software, it will be hard to beat the really good publishers own websites.

Another effective way to learn a new piece of homeschool software is by visiting YouTube. Of course, there are many useless videos on YouTube, but there is also a lot of helpful information on it. You could search for videos created by regular users, demonstrating how to use the software you have purchased. These videos could be more practical than what is provided from the software maker, or you could contact the creator of the video and ask additional questions in the comments. Some homeschool software publishers are using youtube to distribute their training material, rather than having their own costly distribution on hard copy, or from their own website. Plus, you may find more updated videos than what originally came with software.

Maybe your friends or family members are already using the software in their homeschool. You may be able to work one on one with them to get up to speed on the software package you chose. Their children might already be proficient at the software you are trying to learn, and you could pay them to be your tutor. One on one with a real person could be a quick way to learn all the ins and outs of any homeschool software. If you are able, you might plan a friends night, or family night, where you host your friends for the evening and dinner, and in return you have perhaps a working dinner using the homeschool software you are trying to learn. I am sure that you friends and family would appreciate you cooking them dinner in exchange for a little learning or tutorial.

These are just some of the methods you could use to lessen the pain of effectively using and learning any new software for your homeschool. Many people feel intimidated after spending hundreds of dollars on homeschooling software and discovering that it will take much more work to learn how to use it. These days, software is growing ever more complex, including software for children and homeschoolers. Using some of the resources I have outlined here, you should be able to tackle your new software with ease.