BJU Press K4 Distance Learning Review

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When my 6th child was 4-years-old, he was eager to “do school” like his older siblings but I didn’t have a lot of time to implement a preschool program into our already-full homeschool schedule. His older siblings were using a mix of BJU Press Distance Learning and other curriculum which meant my 4-year-old wanted to “watch school” too.

I knew that BJU Press had a K4 Distance Learning program but their website didn’t have much information about it. I went back and forth for months trying to decide if it would be worth our money and a good use of my son’s time. I shared some of my thoughts on why I decided to try the BJU Press K4 curriculum in this video.

After using the K4 Distance Learning program for a year with my 4 year old, I’m ready to share what I learned about BJU Press K4 Distance Learning with you! First, I’ll give you an overview of what the course consists of and then share my thoughts.

Two Formats

The BJU Press K4 Distance Learning curriculum is available in two options, which include DVD or online access. You can order DVDs to use at home. These DVDs must be returned after 13 months. The online option allows you to access the video lessons and parent guides online. Internet access is needed, and you have from July 1 of one year to December 31 of the following year (18 months) to complete the course before you lose access.

Contents of Course

The BJU Press K4 Distance Learning program includes the following:

• Videos (DVD or online access)
• Parent Guide (If purchasing DVDs, then you will receive a physical copy of the parent guide. If you purchase the online option, then the parent guide will be accessed online)
• Foundations Student Activity Packet (A physical copy comes with both options.)
• Student Handouts (A physical copy comes with both options.)

What Does It Cover?

This video-based curriculum covers beginning phonics and language skills, age appropriate math concepts, some heritage studies and science as well as story time and exercise time.

While the curriculum is set up for 180, there are only 153 video lessons. The remainder of the days are for test days and work days (which we chose to skip). Lessons are 1 hour long but are broken up into smaller segments that can be done at different times throughout the day.

BJU Press K4 Distance Learning Review

I found this program to be just what I needed. It gave my 4-year-old a great introduction into basic concepts while keeping him entertained. My 4-year-old enjoyed the videos and usually asked to watch them every morning while I worked with my older kids on school. Even my 2-year-old loved the videos so much that he joined in on watching almost every lesson.

While the videos lessons are outdated, this did not bother my kids at all. The same concepts that you would see taught in any other (more updated) K4 curriculum are the same age-appropriate concepts taught in this curriculum. It has a nostalgic Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood feel which I enjoyed and my boys did not mind at all.

Because my goal in purchasing the K4 Distance Learning program was to have an educational show for my child to watch while I worked with older siblings, we did not do all of the activities. Worksheets and activities that my son was suppose to do while watching the video he completed. Activities and crafts that were to be done after watching the videos, we often skipped. However, the activities and crafts were simple enough to implement at home and would have made a fun addition to the program.

I appreciated that the hour long lesson was broken up into smaller segments. This allowed me to intermix the video lesson segments with play and exploration time. My boys’ favorite segments included exercise time and story time. I loved that part of the video lessons encouraged my boys to get up and move!

The online option allows you to easily click and go to a particular segment. In the picture below, I clicked on the exercise tab and the video started at the corresponding section. This is a wonderful feature if you plan on splitting the segments up over an entire day.

The video quality is poor compared to newer videos. That might be something to consider. This was not an issue for my family as we usually watch older television shows as a family.

The handouts and the Student Activity Packet have fun and age-appropriate activities for the child to do. They are not very colorful though, as you can see in the pictures below. My son loved doing the activity pages and never mentioned the lack of color. This is something you will want to take into consideration for your own child though.

Overall, the BJU Press K4 Distance Learning program was a huge success in our home. Both my 4-year-old and my 2-year-old enjoyed watching the videos. I was thankful to have my little ones learning while being entertained so that I could work with my older children.

However, if I’d had more time to work one-on-one with my 4-year-old, I probably would have chosen a curriculum that I could teach myself. This age is an exciting time for learning and a great opportunity for parents to join in on the wonder of discovering and learning.