Resource Description
Calvert Homeschool offers self-paced learning for students with step-by-step lesson plans for parents. Calvert Education was acquired by Edgenuity as part of their Glynlyon purchase in 2019 and currently offers mainly digital curriculum (K-2 is still print-based). According to their website, the new curriculum includes:
- Best-of-class digital resources
- Step-by-step lesson plans
- An online learning platform with 24/7 access to lessons, assessments, progress tracking tools, and more
For grades K-12, families can enrolls students in the accredited Calvert Academy online. For grades 3-12, families can sign up at more affordable rate to use the Calvert online curriculum without enrolling in the academy. For grades K-2, a colorful print-based curriculum is available for purchase.
Website: Calvert
(118 Reviews)
Before investing in any homeschooling resources, please read "How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum."
Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: yes
Grades Used: 5th
It is like others say, Boring ,but the curicculum seemed "OK", My daughter like me is stubborn at times, so better to be taught by another, we found out ,but this did take a little time, so at the 30 day mark we decide to get our daughter enrolled with the public school, and guess what ? You guessed it, no refund, you must pay $1200 more dollars still which is three months more.
Cons: everything else
Grades Used: k, 3
I had heard good things about this school, and was happy when our district provided it through their new online option. I had homeschooled my older kids for a few years with CAVA using k12, so thought I knew what to expect.
One week in, and we have ordered Seton and will disenroll after the new books arrive.
It's a nightmare. NO BOOKS. Online only, but the lessons refer to activities on paper books, like take a sticky note and place it in the text when you reread the story. So confusing. Many typos and serious grammatical errors like they wrote it in the middle of the night and didn't proof it. Really long lessons, with projects that take 47 days for a kindergardener?? My 3rd grader just refuses to do the work. I am overwhelmed. There are no lesson plans for the parent, just "notes" on a different computer that you would need next to you, and they are just not that helpful. A lot of busy work in each lesson which is broken down to be a days work in that subject, and it is hard for me to find the focus for that lesson, it jumps around trying to gloss over ideas, asking the child to demonstrate their skills without really teaching the idea. And I don't know what the point of it is either so I can't teach it.
I really like the Houghton Mifflin Science and Social studies digital texts that are linked in, they were confusing at first with so many places to click just to get the lessons...it was weird that they would do the online worksheet, then move to the next screen and their answers disappear...so if I wasn't right there I wouldn't know they did them, and then they couldn't refer back to their own answers...but I think they are work learning how to use, and they taught the concepts extremely well.
I forgot to mention that for 2 days of the last 5 the website was down and we couldn't actually access the curriculum? That it loads slow or just stops other times. My husband says it is just the first week and give it a chance. But this is not what homeschooling should be, it is not even what a curriculum should be from a teacher's perspective I am overwhelmed and confused.
Cons: Unless parents handle it correctly, there can be some problems with companionship, but that is easily overcome with the proper attention of the parents.
Grades Used: 2'7
I am an "old" alumna of Calvert School. I was enrolled for grades 3 through 7 in the 1940s, believe it or not. I could not have had a better education. I went from the 7th grade into 9th, High School , seamlessly. In fact, I kind of "coasted" for the first year or more. I heartily recommend this school. It prepared me academically in every way possible. My mother only had a 12th grade education, and she was the primary teacher at home, although I also had the teacher from Calvert. In this pandemic situation today, if I were a parent, I would find the money however I could and enroll my child in Calvert.
Cons: Loss of a wonderful curriculum
Grades Used: K-6
I used Calvert curriculum when my children were in elementary school. They are now 27 years old. We all loved it because of the content. The reading books for first grade were colorful with wonderful stories. The social studies portion skipped the "community helpers" drivel that was so present in other first grade curriculum materials and went straight to Greek mythology and stories about King Canute and King Arthur. By sixth grade, they had read a shortened version of Robinson Crusoe and were learning about the Battle of Hastings and the Hundred Years War. It was SO interesting, and they loved knowing about things that the kids in public school were never exposed to. They have kept those books all these years. I liked that we could either follow the enclosed teacher book or (after I got the hang of teaching) use whatever seemed appropriate at the time and could supplement with other things I found. We could also take vacations whenever it suited our family. My children did eventually attend a public high school, where they graduated as valedictorians. I was thinking of recommending Calvert to a neighbor whose son is entering kindergarten and will be homeschooling, but after looking at the "new" curriculum, I see that the early social sciences has changed to "My Friend the Fireman". The wonderful mythology and world stories books seem to be gone. Homeschool learning seems to have changed from a family bonding, interactive experience to handing your kid a workbook or sitting him in front of a computer screen for hours at a time. What a shame to lose what made Calvert such a unique and wonderful curriculum.
Cons: customer support is non existant
Grades Used: K-5
I have no idea if the software is effective or not...I can't accomplish a simple task of importing my student roster. The user guide is a joke. I've been on hold for over an hour. My school dropped $50k on this software and I'm getting about $19.99 out of support for it. RIDICULOUS.
Cons: really none
Grades Used: P-K though 12
Our Son started in P-K now a senior in Calvert. His GPA is 3.8. I was the teacher until 6th grade. Then his dad took over until 9th. Our son started interactively by himself. We had to watch him be sure he got all his work done on time. If he had questions he would ask his dad. We worked at home so he was with his dad. We did art classes, he is a 2nd black belt. he played 6 years at the local middle school and high school football. We did homeschool science classes at the local zoo. Until he thought he was too big to go. We had camps in all subjects in the summer. He played all sports but his love was football. He will no longer be with Calvert come October. But I would have never done anything differently. We are now starting our granddaughter for 1st. grade. I'm looking forward to being with Calvert again. starting with her. I'm so lucky.
Cons: Lessons can get long sometimes
Grades Used: 8th
My daughter has found so much success with Calvert Academy. She struggled socially in public school and Calvert has been a safe place to watch my child blossom and grow academically. We just received her standardized test scores and she scored above the national average! I never would have dreamed that possible with my daughter before. I attribute that all to Calvert Academy, the teachers and the curriculum.
Cons: Poor quality teachers, boring curriculum
Grades Used: 5th, 6th
Poor Quality with Calvert!! We utilized Calvert for my daughter for 5th grade (2018-2019) and 6th grade (2019-2020). Basically for 6th grade they changed to an entire new curriculum. They send you NO books. It is boring, SO boring! No videos! No activity pages. Everything is online. You read 4 pages of small type, with boring photos, and then answer questions. My daughter hated it! It is not engaging at all. (I found it boring!).
The worst part is that ALL her teachers were changed several times during the year. The final English teacher . . . gave feedback with POOR English! [edited to comply with guidelines] That is right, an English teacher who cannot write in proper English!! I tried repeatedly to provide example of this to the Principal, who said they would "train her more". Good Grief! I tried to give examples of how boring it was, etc.
Do NOT waste your money! It was very disappointing!
Cons: High level of reading content
Grades Used: 7th
My son loves Calvert Academy! After moving from a public school program (due to COVID-19) we were at a loss of what to do. Our school district did not provide us with curriculum resources and I was not confident that I could find the right resources for him to continue his studies. We decided to finish the school year at Calvert Academy in the safety of our own home! Although my son was a high achiever at public school and found school to be "easy," he was surprisingly challenged by Calvert's curriculum. The teachers were helpful and provided feedback on assignments. Students were allowed to set up private appointments with their teachers and the school even provided an afternoon live virtual office for students to walk in to get help with their work. We were concerned about giving this school a try after reading some reviews, but it is clear that the current administration has made a big difference! We are seriously thinking about staying with Calvert for the new school year.
Cons: Software run "academy."
Grades Used: 9 and 10
We had heard such wonderful reviews about Calvert and it was nothing like we had heard. Unfortunately we enrolled just after the school was bought by Odysseyware and it's basically a computer program running the entire educational model. There wasn't any, I repeat, ANY flexibility on how much / what kind of work that my two high school students had to do for each class. The amount of work was absolutely ridiculous - most of it computer graded. After spending every day on the computer for 6+ hours, within a month they both burned out, and got behind over one long weekend with all of their assignments and never could catch up. There's no option to skip any material that they might pre-test out of. Endless written projects. My son literally had 10+ essay papers to write for P.E.!! So many hours on the computer that there was no way we could monitor how much work they were really getting done versus just doing whatever they like online, which led to many family arguments and unhappy parents and unhappy kids. Our son got so depressed that he needed intervention. We sent in a hospital form showing he was hospitalized for depression for two weeks and the school didn't change the deadlines for any of his assignments and simply asked for another $300 to extend his semester. It's not a school, it's a software program with teacher support - but no teacher can fix that broken system. We withdrew after not even one semester finished. Both of my kids only finished two classes during the time period and only got halfway through the remainder. What a waste of thousands of dollars.
Cons: A lot
Grades Used: 6th
This online program is horrible, my 6th grader has had major issues with this curriculum, lots of busy work, one teacher does or says one thing, and another does something the complete opposite. The expectations with the typed essays and no keyboarding classes for sixth graders is ridiculous. And again the amount of work, is just too much. I’m sad I didn’t find this review board earlier, because I would of never signed up for the program. PLEASE DO NOT SIGN YOUR KIDS UP FOR THIS PROGRAM. IF you like busy work for your kids and your kid to be stuck at a computer everyday for 4-6 hours a day, this is the program for you.
Cons: Support, grading, online platform, price, quality of curriculum
Grades Used: K-9
We had used Calvert Curriculum for 11 years. We had always been pleased with their curriculum (the older version). Recently, they changed their curriculum not once, but twice. The newest version being the online platform. My oldest was starting high school so he started the online high school academy. Initially, we thought it was going to be a great program. However, as he got more into the course we found that it wasn't all that great. Very long essays and easy grading with little to no feedback. We were so disappointed because we had been using Calvert for years. My daughter's 8th grade program wasn't much better. We have moved on to another curriculum and will never recommend this program to anyone!!! I'm so disappointed and frustrated that they took something great and made it worthless.
Cons: That we did not have this two years ago.
Grades Used: 9th and 11th
We are very happy with Calvert. I have two high school students and we have a great experience. The curriculum has set them up to score well on their ACT test and also they qualify for some really substantial scholarships. You do have to be involved with your students as you would in any other school. I love the projects as I have colleges sharing that is what will help them be successful as they will have many papers and projects to prepare in college. Teachers have been super nice and we take advantage of the booking sessions if need more individual teacher help. I did my research in detail and this was by far the best school for our family. I previously paid $6000 per student and did not get half the support in Calvert a couple of years ago. We love the changes. We are not a book in hand family and prefer it all online. We do print out math assignments when needed and do them on paper and then key in the answers. Thank you Calvert Academy. Thank you for listening and taking my feedback. Much improved over the past.
***PLEASE DO NOT BUY!!!***
I loved Calvert when my son was in 7th grade 2 years ago. There were textbooks, workbooks, paper assessments to turn in for grading, and an entire online component for school on the go. It was well organized, rigorous, and my son was happy and thrived. His teachers through the ATS service were responsive, pleasant and very helpful.
Fast forward to his 8th grade year with the "New Calvert." It was mostly online, and instead of paper assessments, there were required assignments to turn in all throughout each lesson. The way that Calvert designed the New curriculum made it impossible to finish. I think they knew this. They HAD to know!! The ELA portion required very lengthy essays weekly. I remember my son had to write a 3 page short story, complete with quotations, and 'evidence' about whatever topic we were on at the time. This was just for ONE subject. We fell so far behind trying to complete the ELA portion and the other subjects were often just as lengthy. You would have to school 7 days weekly, for 8+ hours to barely keep up. I would often play phone tag with the ATS teachers. They were scarcely available, and when they did call me back 4-5 days later, it was too late! And they were NOT helpful at all!! After months of both my son and I being totally frazzled and stressed out, we withdrew from Calvert. He transitioned to traditional high school and is doing wonderfully.
Please do not waste your time or money on this New Calvert Curriculum. They make it absolutely impossible to finish. It's the equivalent of Honors COLLEGE courses for 7th and 8th graders!!! Ridiculous!
DO NOT BUY!!!!!!
I will absolutely second all of the negative reviews here. I chose this curriculum very very carefully 2 years ago. Though not perfect, I liked it enough to buy the program for the following year during one of their “sales”. Little did I know that they were basically just clearancing out all their old materials, grabbing money as fast as they can, and taking us for a ride as they “transitioned” to this newer way of doing things.
Previously, the work was a combination of textbook and online work. I was promised that the student view and teacher/parent view would be different, but there were only ever 3 (often incorrect) questions given at the end of their “graded” lessons. When a question appeared within the lesson, the answer was written immediately after in italics. DUH. What kid is going to critically think or answer a question when all the answers are already done????
Next, they promised math help with online publisher sites. Somehow these sites never “worked” and despite how many times I called, no change. We ended up going with a whole other math because this one was so bad.
THEN, during their “sale”, they bought commercial textbook programs (many of which didn’t work properly), gave us online access and called it a day. BUT what no one really realized is that the conversion to the newer curriculum was already well in the works. This “curriculum” they sold me was their old outdated experimental curriculum.
To make it worse we never were even allowed to finish that next year’s program. I had my child in 5th grade. Bought the curriculum in December for 6th grade with the promise we had already “bought” the program and it was ours for the following year. However when I called, they told me I had to complete it THAT year...Wait...You mean you sold me two curriculums, then expected me to complete both in one year???? To make it worse, they would not give me my money back. I called MULTIPLE times to no avail.
Very bad practices. And we were their victims. Deceptive, unfair, and I would NEVER EVER EVER go near them again.
Please, if anyone sues them, let me know. I’ll be the first on the list to join.
Cons: The worst program ever
Pretty much what they did was take a generic template and plug the curriculum. Spelling is a repetitive bee saying the word, then typing a few sentences using words, then taking a test. Science is projects that who knows what supplies you need until project or even if the kid is supposed to do the project because part of it is on video. Lots of typing paragraphs even for 2nd and 3rd grade. Very basic descriptions on all the courses. TONS OF TYPOS EVEN IN SPELLING!!! Lastly is the part they mostly enjoyed.
Collect $1200 for a $10 a month program from the old Calvert parents and give “one year free” and charge $400 for new families per year. Why those of us that paid $1200 didn’t get 3 years is beyond me.
I WILL NOT be renewing after my time is up! Class Action lawsuit I’m in.
Cons: There is a short learning curve when you start using the Calvert Academy format.
Grades Used: K, 2nd, and 4th
My 3 elementary aged kids have used Calvert since K. We started using Calvert Academy this year. I was worried at first because it was a big change from Calvert Homeschool. But, we absolutely love it!! It is so much better for all of us. The information is better laid out. For my 4th grader, he learns the more complicated lessons better because he is reading and taking notes simultaneously. He is really learning the information. He likes knowing what is coming up in his assignments, he feels more in control. For my 2nd grader and Kindergartner, they use the workbooks still. Both like the way the information is presented and both are learning so rapidly. I like it because it is easy to follow and the teacher manuals explain everything as you go along.
The content is challenging but achievable. We are really happy with the new system!
Cons: Lots
Grades Used: 8th & 9th
We loved Calvert, until they changed their program. Both of my boys were confused at first when learning the new program, but eventually got it down. It’s nothing like the old program and neither is the schooling itself, it’s completely different. This new program is so hard, too hard, confusing, unrelated questions and highly demanding. We did it for two months and never finished what was expected of us to do in one day, sometimes not even in two days. Projects after projects, 250 to 500 words essays at least once sometimes twice a week. If you have a child that loves a great challenge, go for it, it will definitely challenge them. My 8th grader was so bored, it was too much to read and too many questions, nothing fun about learning at all. I printed most of it out, to try and help him, but we just kept falling further behind, which stressed us all out, because there is a dead line to finish the semester. It’s very sad to write this, because we recommend Calvert to everyone, I would never recommend it now. We won’t be getting any of our money back and we’re obligated to pay for the rest of the semester...that’s another $2500 out of our pockets. Like I said, if you have a very smart child that has nothing else to do but schoolwork all day long and wants to be challenged daily, this program is for you. If your like us and want a relaxed type atmosphere and the day is done by 2, Calvert is not for you. Calvert is rigorous, college prep, tons of typing and projects and essays. Lots and lots of reading long lessons, tons of research papers and you have to stay on a timeline or you will not finish the semester. I hope this helps in your decision.
Cons: dishonest conduct, rudeness, sub-par curriculum
Grades Used: 8
This is followup to a review I posed in June after we withdrew from the sub-par OdysseyWare /Gynlyon monstrosity that Calvert morphed into. We withdrew our daughter, who is in 8th grade, from the horrible curriculum, lost 500.00, and moved on to Laurel Springs and Keystone and resumed our Teaching Textbooks/ Kahn Academy math curriculum.
Then today, out of the blue, and certainly without our knowledge or consent we recieve these emails:
Course Registration
Dear [student name redacted],
This email is being sent to you to confirm your course registration.
Course name: History And Geography 800 B
Teacher: [teacher name redacted]
Start Date: 9/30/2019
End Date: 2/16/2020
If you have any questions, contact your teacher at [email redacted].
Connect with us:
Phone: 877-789-2766
© 2017 Glynlyon, Inc. 804 N. 2nd Ave. E. Rock Rapids, IA 51246.
So, I contacted [email redacted]: Maire Durkan
To:
studentsupport@calvertacademy.com
Sep 25 at 3:02 PM
To Whom it may concern:
Is this a new Glynlyon scam? We NEVER signed up for this course. Delete this error immediately or I will take whatever legal action is necessary. It's bad enough that we lost 500 dollars to your sub-par curriculum in the spring. Take [student name redacted] from your data base, contact whoever made this error and have them amend it and send me assurance you have done so, and make very very sure that we have not been billed for a course we neither requested or signed up for.
Sincerely,
Maire B Durkan
I then called the contact number, waited for almost half and hour to talk to someone. When I called the first time, the women hung talked over me . She said that a manager would call as I was "yelling at her" (I wasn't) and, although the new platform is Odysseyware/Glynlyon, she denied ever hearing of Glynlyon. Then she hung up on me.
So I called back: She said that she wasn’t going to take someone "yelling" (again I wasn't yelling) at her and said she’d refer me to the manager, and then she hung up again.
She was rude to a fault and would not let me talk without speaking over me. I work in an office; here are ways to respectfully deal with a customer and she seemed to have no interest in courteous customer service. Yes. I believe that it's time for a class action lawsuit. To quote Hamlet, something is rotten in Denmark.
Cons: Not what we paid for
Grades Used: High School
Since Odysseyware/Glynlyon is accredited through AdvancED and Calvert Academy is accredited through Middle States, bringing your complaints to these accreditation organizations would be helpful. Accreditation requirements are very rigid, and I am sure they would want to know if one of their schools was not following standards. You can contact them at:
AdvancED - http://www.cognia.org
Middle States Accreditation - http://www.msche.org
I am sure Calvert/Odysseyware/Glynlyon would not want to lose their accreditation since they use it as a selling point.
Good luck!
Cons: lot of mistakes / horrible transfer from old to new platform
Grades Used: grad 8
Like many of you, we were caught in Calvert’s unexpected, short-notice changes as they moved to their new platform. Our son has been with Calvert since the 3rd grade. He was almost finished the 8th grade when we got notice of the platform changes in June. We scrambled to complete what we could before the June 28 cut-off date, arranged for him to test out of math, and was still left working on Social Studies/History and Science. I am so frustrated because he/we spent our summer doing the new work. In fact, it’s September 5, and he’s still trying to complete the 8th grade!! When we called to complained to Calvert, I can’t say they didn’t take the time to talk and listen, it just felt empty, cold and unapologetic. Basically, I got the feeling that these were the changes, we could accept them or walk away.
On the pros side, our son likes the new online platform. He’s doing most of his work unsupervised and if we continue with this program next year, he should finish the school year before the scheduled time. I’m actually confident we can free up our Fridays so he can start pre-college classes or to sign him up to do some hands-on art, sports or computer courses.
I am concerned he’s spending so much time in front of the computer and never opens a textbook. This is a kid who spends a lot of his personal time playing video games, so I’m not thrilled he’s also spending more time in front of a computer during school.
We have found many problems in the tests. Questions are asked that were not covered in the course work, and it’s assumed that he should know information from some obscure means. There is also LOTS of typos. Yes, typos!! But don’t tell anyone at Calvert this… teacher advisors tell you that are not responsible for the course content, and the people who are never follow-up. My son is a good test taker. We got to a point where, it my son got an 89 or somewhere in the 90s, we didn’t bother to say anything because we were just trying to complete the course work.
If you are looking for a hands-on experience, you better get it some place else. We will probably use Calvert this year because I’m too busy right now to look for an alternative, (our home in the Bahamas was hit by Hurricane Dorian), but I am curious what choices/curriculum some of you are considering if you leave Calvert.
Our son was doing very well with both platforms. He averages around 93-96 in all of his test and subjects. Even though I have some concerns about this new platform, it seems to simulate what he will be doing in college.
Cons: Online learning- been bought out and didn't tell us????
Grades Used: Grades 2-9
Calvert was bought out by another company? I was not aware and have been getting the runaround for months regarding the "new platform" which they decided to inform us 2 weeks prior to June 28, 2019. We bought the curriculum in late February of 2019. They informed me that my 3rd grade child will need to finish her year before the new curriculum was to start June 28. She began in February and was one-third of the way through. Unacceptable. Now i have received her new platform and we cannot access the work to complete her lessons! What is going on? I am now on hold one hour with Calvert to resolve. We have been using Calvert for 8 years and loved the school. We are a traveling family by sailboat and learned immensely using Calvert Classic. As we were hit with a cat 5 hurricane two years ago, we thought we would give the digital program a try as we were helping and rebuilding our lives on one island for the season, and it has been a nightmare. I think i will demand the Calvert Classic books for this year asap and see if that option is even avail???
Cons: Boring platform and sneaky business
Grades Used: High School
It seems that many of you have shared the same frustrations about Calvert/Glynlyon. It would be a good idea to contact your state attorney general and BBB about this company. If we all band together, we might be able to get some of our money back. Our state attorney general's office has informed us that they have been looking at other complaints about this company. So it is on their radar.
As of now, I still have not seen my daughter's transcript even though I have asked many times. I am not even sure if what they give me will be accurate.
Cons: Every con you can imagine
Grades Used: K-5
Like others have mentioned I would be interested in a lawsuit as well. I was sold a product knowing I wouldn’t be able to use it. Please report to BBB and let’s get this company in trouble.
Can anyone tell me the research that has been done for young ones to stare at a computer all day for 12 years? Not learning how to write? Pushing buttons and saying that’s better than pencil and paper. Seriously this is absurd to make everything online so you can collect $400+ for bare minimum education and $300 per month for “teacher guidance.” Why can’t I see the teachers degree like a regular employer since I’m paying for my child to be taught by them? This company is a scam. I don’t believe they actually hire teachers since none of the teachers have ever answers basic elementary school questions. They always say they need the exact lesson so they can look in the manual. They could even tell me whether the math is common core or not. Who actually came up with this stuff?
Cons: Glynlyon
Grades Used: 9-12
Terrible experience when the company was bought out by Glynlyon/Odysseyware this past summer. We had been loving the old Calvert Academy, but with the big company buyout, all the great things Calvert was known for are gone. They have been horrible during the transition - unhelpful, unkind, and unreasonable. Very sad. http://www.glynlyon.com is the website of the company that bought Calvert. Of course, no one at the new Calvert is letting the parents know this because they are ensuring that lawsuits don't come their way, I would guess. Very sneaky, dishonest company.