Does anyone use these on a regular basis?  Are they worth the money?  If you had to pick one, which would you pick?

THANKS!

I can only respond about BrainPop- when I first started homeschooling my now 12 year old son 3 years ago we subscribed to Brainpop and my son LOVED it.  SO did I!  It wasn't that expensive and even though there were many topics my son knew about he discovered a lot of interesting subjects that got him excited and interested.  He loved the animation, the humor and the brevity of the videos.  We no longer subscribe mostly because he's watched nearly all the videos and he started to not watch very often which didn't justify the price.  That being said I would highly recommend Brainpop.

Hi Becki,

I subscribe to Cosmeo.  I started this b/c of a friend's recommendation & I had never heard of United Streaming, BrainPop, etc. before.  Cosmeo is neat, it has all types of activities on any given topic within any given subject, plus videos.  For example, your child could look up "sharks", then can choose from games, Lang. Arts, Sci., etc. activities on this topic.  I think you can browse their site a little to sample it before signing up.  It's been awhile, but if I'm not mistaken, there's a 1 month free trial.  I've never been on BrainPop before, sorry I'm no help with that.  You should look at United Streaming while you're at it, I hear alot of other homeschoolers say they like it most.

I have both.

You can get a discount on Brain Pop from the Homeschool Buyers Co-op.  The same goes for Discovery Streaming (the "teacher" version of Cosmeo).

They are both EXCELLLENT, but they are two different concepts.  BP has animated videos for educational topics, along with activities & quizzes.

Cosmeo is a bunch of things.  The interface is set up for students and one home account can have four students, plus the teacher account.  I split the accounts with friends since I only need one.  So when we split up the $99/year four ways, its affordable!

Cosmeo has streaming video, including many cable shows (which we don't have) like Mythbusters.  They have Standard Deviants, too.  The SD stuff makes the price worth it right there.  Then you add on their Nutshell Math and it's a no-brainer.  They also have links to great educational games (many from I Know That), a huge clip art library, an encylopedia, etc.

You can get Cosmeo for $8.25/month and check into it more w/o committing to a full year.  Both site have free trials, too.

Cosmeo is the same content as Discovery Streaming; it's just set up for the student, rather than the teacher.  I like the logging ability it has.  We've been members since before it was called Cosmeo (can't recall the original name now).  It's been six years now.  We added a "real" subscription to Brain Pop this year.  Before that we had public library access, but then they changed to school hours only which isn't when we needed it the most.  But do check with your library to see if they have it.  Also, in some states, Discovery Streaming is free for educators.  I know Georgia is one - it comes through via PBS (the TV network).

If I had to choose between them, I'd do Cosmeo.

JC

Thanks everyone for the input.  It's very much appreciated.   I signed up for the Cosmeo trial last night and the girls went to seperate computers and for the half an hour I gave them, had fun learning different things.  My oldest went to the math, english and science and the youngest went to art and health.  When their dad got home they were full of information to share with him.  I will keep track of how often they use it in the next month but it looks like Cosmeo is going to win out!

Thanks again!

We get a free subscription to the Streaming Discovery which is the teachers version of Comeo. We get a free one each year since we homeschool here in GA.

Someone a few years ago contacted some person and we just email them some kind of proof of homeschooling and we get a log in and pass word.

I love it! We use it a whole lot.

My husband is the one who contacts the person we need to contact so I don't have the info about that right now but it is great to get it for free.

We have done Brainpop too and plan to use it this year. My kids enjoy it.