My high schooler received a 3-month subscription to CLEP & DSST prep materials from Study.com. Here’s what you can expect if you want to use their resources.
What are CLEP & DSST tests?
CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) tests allow your teenager to earn college credit by obtaining a passing score on a standardized test in various subject areas.
DSST (DANTES Subject Standardized Test) is another credit-by-exam test that your high schooler can take for college credit. The Study.com site explains the differences between the two tests.
How We Used CLEP test prep
Study.com offers extensive instruction and practice questions to prepare for CLEP or DSST tests.
Since my 10th grader was taking American History this year, we decided to specifically check out the CLEP History of the United States II.
You should start out with a placement test, which will automatically adjust the course and quizzes to show what is left to complete your course. Confession: We didn’t start out with the placement test, so it would have helped us if we would have done this first thing!
This course included 120 video lessons, ranging in length from 5 to 13 minutes. That means your student could complete all the videos in a little over 10 hours.
If you added in extra reading, writing assignments, research, and completing the quizzes and tests, then this could easily count toward your homeschool high school transcript as a course in American History, or at least 1 semester’s worth since it covers from Reconstruction to present day.
So, in short – these courses have dual benefits to homeschoolers: they could count toward high school credit even if your student doesn’t end up taking the CLEP test, or they will prepare them for the CLEP test, which will also give them college credit.
CLEP preparation courses on Study.com are self-paced and include self-assessment quizzes to help you prepare for CLEP tests or to allow these courses to count for homeschool high school class credit as well.
The videos are well done and also include written transcripts so you can follow along if needed.
This course also included 21 flashcard sets for additional studying aid. While you have the option to print these flashcards, you can also use them online by clicking on the rotating button to check your answers as you work through these out loud.
If you miss an answer, the site provides a quick reinforcement of the material by linked to the video that explains the term.
Once your student has completed the test prep materials, they can also take a complete CLEP practice test on the site.
Recommendations
Overall, I was very impressed by the content and quality of reinforcement on the CLEP & DSST practice courses from Study.com.
I think it provides a valuable resource to homeschool families with high schoolers whether or not your kids plan to take the CLEP. You could totally use this site for several high school classes for your homeschoolers.
If you want to try it out, you can save 20% off your subscription price.
And don’t forget to check out the other reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew by clicking the graphic below.
Edited to add: Study.com now has a new online homeschool program!
Homeschooling with Study.com:
- Is flexible and practical – their new Family Plan offers connected parent and child accounts
- Allows students to achieve dual credit
- Gives students the opportunity to learn non-traditional subjects like marketing or criminology
- Offers useful supplementary information such as state-specific homeschooling laws
