iPads for Homeschooling: A Pain or a Godsend?

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Barbara Frank

When my grandparents went to school, they carried along a little slate (chalk board) to do their schoolwork as directed by their teachers.

When I went to school, we used textbooks that were owned by the school.

Today’s schoolkids have begun using iPads for doing schoolwork and reading textbooks. Advantages including saving the cost of print books and never being able to say they lost their homework.

I’m wondering how useful this would be for homeschooling. For one thing, homeschoolers aren’t usually the wealthiest people in the world, and iPads aren’t cheap (though we can expect the price to come down over time.) And if you buy one for each child, well, now you’re really talking a few bucks (the Duggars would need a home equity loan to pay for iPads for everyone!)

You’d also have to block out Facebook and Twitter and all the rest of the social media suspects, or no one would get any of their schoolwork done.

So what do you think? I’m removing the affordability factor by asking: if someone gave you $500 per child to buy iPads for homeschooling, would you do it? Do you think it would make homeschooling easier or harder?

How to Homeschool (Simply and Peacefully)

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Sometimes I feel like homeschooling has become too overwhelming.

I mean, it’s great that the homeschooling movement has grown so much over the past 25 years, but now that there are so many homeschoolers out there with all sorts of different theories on how to homeschool (true confessions: I’m one of them), I can’t imagine being a newbie and trying to figure out which way to go.

Back when I was a newbie, there were only a few voices out there telling us how to do this. My favorites were Raymond and Dorothy Moore. They had a calming way about them that left me feeling more confident after reading their books.

Recently I found a post which describes their method of homeschooling very well. If you’re looking for some common-sense homeschooling advice, you’ll find it right here.

The Cost of Not Teaching History

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Schools are increasingly reducing the amount of history taught to today’s children. A while back I noted in one of my newsletters that in North Carolina schools, there’s a proposal to stop teaching events in U.S. history that occurred before 1877. Meanwhile, in England they’re reducing and sometimes even eliminating the study of history in schools.

This is tragic. Are 21^st century citizens so self-centered that they think they’re too sophisticated and technologically advanced to learn anything by studying the past? It’s starting to look that way. I guess the educrats who make these decisions have chosen to ignore George Santayana’s warning that “(T)hose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Thank goodness homeschooling families have the freedom to choose to study history. I like to think that many of our homeschool grads will use the wisdom they’ve acquired from studying history to help straighten out our country when they become adults. We’ll certainly need their help, the way things are going these days.

A Fun New Math Book

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Teaching my son math has been a long process. He finally gets the concepts of adding and subtracting, but only in a very concrete way. Taking it to the abstract is too hard for him, so he doesn’t do computations with numbers greater than 100 as his siblings did when they were learning math.

He also tends to lose what he’s learned if he doesn’t review his math facts regularly. So I occasionally pick up new books to use with him. A new book holds his interest even when the concepts it teaches are not new to him.

Recently I picked up a new book for him called “Subtraction Secrets.” It was recommended to me by a clerk in a teacher supply store. This book contains 30 map puzzles that require my son to do subtraction problems, then use the answers to determine how to find a specific point on each map.

He likes these problems because they’re entertaining. I like the fact that he reviews subtraction, he learns very basic map skills, and he enjoys doing the puzzles. This book is reproducible, so I can keep copying the puzzles for him as long as he needs them.

There’s another book in the series called “Addition Adventures.” I didn’t buy it because the addition problems in it require the student to figure out one of the addends instead of the sum. For instance:

Instead of 7 + 5 = ___

It says 7 + ___ = 12

My son’s not there yet; it’s a little too abstract for him. But we’ll work up to it.

Here are sample pages for both “Subtraction Secrets” and “Addition Adventures.” The publisher recommends these books for ages 6-10, but I think the typical 8-10 year old would find them too easy. Six-to-seven year-olds will probably enjoy them as much as my son does.

Off-shoring Homeschooling?

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Barbara Frank

Over in England, a school now hires tutors in India to teach math to its students online. The reason? The cost: Indian tutors cost less than a third of what British math tutors cost.

So far these tutors supplement the children’s math education, as the tutoring takes place in addition to regular math classes. But how long before the school decides to extend the savings by replacing math classes with online teachers?

I can see this having potential for homeschooling families, too. Many parents lack confidence in teaching their children math beyond a basic level. I don’t know why this is, since you relearn everything along with the child (at least that’s been my experience.) But some parents may prefer paying a modest amount for an online teacher in India instead of doing math with the child themselves.

That said, I have to wonder how understandable the tutors are. My experience with Indian call center operators has been frustrating, at best.

So, what do you think? Would you hire a math tutor in India to teach your child online?