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Monday, May 26, 2008

Part 4, Why I Love Using k12

7. Material is selected and written with homeschoolers in mind. Instructions speak to kids as well as adults. Looking back at some of the other programs I've used, I wonder how we ever did anything without the kids already having a college degree.

This brings me back to rambling on about Everyday Math and the two years I struggled using it. I don't recommend Everyday Math as a homeschooling program. The teacher's guides don't speak well to parents. I found myself spending more time on Google learning about the topics Bigfoot was covering than he spent in actual learning time.

Please understand there are some things about Everyday Math that are quite good. The connective development between language and math skills excels beyond most math programs. Developing the connection between concrete and abstract thoughts creates a well understanding person. This is all about The ability of a person to connect and communicate with a variety of people in the world holds the key to making proficiency in a field matter.

Application of math in the real world has always been an issue with public schools. Everyday Math does a very good job in this category. Everything taught in Everyday Math has a practical application to it. There isn't much of a point in teaching anything if it can't be used.

Now come the issues I have with Everyday Math. Why teach a pre-calculus concept if a child doesn't even understand how to do the work? Everyday Math has very little focus on basic skills. Parents are realizing this more and more as our public schools carry lower and lower math scores in Washington State. Homeschoolers for years have sworn by programs that teach basic computation skills over advanced applications. I didn't like the idea of not having a clue of what was going on in Bigfoot's math program just because I don't have a college degree. I became uncomfortable real quick with spending half my time on Google learning about what he was supposed to be learning.

Which brings me back to why I like k12. The program developers speak to kids. Kids should be able to read instructions and be able to follow them without translations into plain English. Material is explained in a way parents can help kids understand. A great weight has been taken off my shoulders this year. I don't feel uneducated in our learning process.

If the purpose of education is to develop the future of America, are we doing any good in writing directions our kids can't follow?

I don't think so.

1 Thoughts for the Day:

Shalene said...

Hi! I saw your post on BlogHer Ads, and had to come see. I use k12, as well, but we actually attend the virtual public school available in our state- CA Virtual Academy. They use only k12 materials and testing. My daughter had gone from being a borderline C student (some Cs, a D or 2, and a A- in PE) to having all Bs and Cs! Though she could still do better, if it weren't for the great curriculum, and great teachers going through this, I don't know that she would have been even close to graduating, when her time comes. It's not quite the same as traditional homeschooling, for sure, but I don't have the time or discipline to do it all myself, so this was a great (and free) option. Have a great remainder of the week, and a great weekend! Blessings to you!

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