If you search online for virtual ed programs, the results are overwhelming: there are a huge number of programs out there.
Here's a place to start.
All virtual ed programs have their frustrations, but these are the ones that people I know (or correspond with) have used and either still use or recommend to others as strong candidates for consideration.
Programs I heard about from school administrators:
Connections Academy
FLVS (Florida Virtual) - merged with Connections
Edgenuity (I proctored students using this one -- let me know if you want details)
ALEKS (a math program)
Fuel
Someone told me she wants to try Bonim b'Yachad; at this writing I don't know of anyone who has used it.
The following three are the programs that come recommended by parents homeschooling their kids on sailboats:
Laurel Springs
Calvert Academy
Oak Meadow
There are a couple of other programs out there that people I know have tried and cautioned me against using. They aren't mentioned in this post.
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Showing posts with label math. Show all posts
Trove of Math Articles
There's a wonderful collection of math projects, math art, math explorations, math puzzles, math... all kinds of interesting math, the kind of math that appeals to people who do and who don't like math -- on this website:
It's a great resource.
Math Manipulative: Montessori Binomial and Trinomial Cube Puzzles
Montessori is great for beautifully made manipulatives.
I finally found a good excuse to order the binomial and trinomial cube puzzles.
This site which explains how to use them recommends them for the youngest children; but I seem to remember working on these cubes (and finding the trinomial very challenging) in both my Lower Elementary (1st-3rd grade) and Upper Elementary (4th-6th grade) classrooms.
Personally, my excuse for ordering them is a group of high school students who are studying polynomials. I think we never outgrow good visuals.
I handed the boxes to my second grader, told her they were puzzles, and let her figure out on her own how to solve them. She found them an absorbing and pleasant challenge.
(The math-genius grown-up of the family walked in, took one look at the trinomial and, without stopping to think, FOIL'd it and built up all three layers at once, diagonally.)
A significant part of the Montessori philosophy is that children are sensitive to beauty, so their learning materials should be beautiful. The school I attended used, I remember, beautifully crafted, polished Montessori materials.
I ordered the (relatively) cheap version of the puzzles from China. I'm satisfied with the quality. They're still lovely and curiously attractive (like Uncle Andrew's magic rings) and satisfying to handle.
I finally found a good excuse to order the binomial and trinomial cube puzzles.
This site which explains how to use them recommends them for the youngest children; but I seem to remember working on these cubes (and finding the trinomial very challenging) in both my Lower Elementary (1st-3rd grade) and Upper Elementary (4th-6th grade) classrooms.
Personally, my excuse for ordering them is a group of high school students who are studying polynomials. I think we never outgrow good visuals.
I handed the boxes to my second grader, told her they were puzzles, and let her figure out on her own how to solve them. She found them an absorbing and pleasant challenge.
(The math-genius grown-up of the family walked in, took one look at the trinomial and, without stopping to think, FOIL'd it and built up all three layers at once, diagonally.)
A significant part of the Montessori philosophy is that children are sensitive to beauty, so their learning materials should be beautiful. The school I attended used, I remember, beautifully crafted, polished Montessori materials.
I ordered the (relatively) cheap version of the puzzles from China. I'm satisfied with the quality. They're still lovely and curiously attractive (like Uncle Andrew's magic rings) and satisfying to handle.
Learning Everything through LARP
LARP stands for Live-Action Role Play. It's a hobby. To LARP, you dress up in costume and go out with your friends to a big, open space and act out whatever story you have in mind. LARPing may follow a script, or be an improvisation that starts with a couple of givens (e.g., the year, the place, and a quest).
(There are various solutions to the problem of how to LARP combat. Some people learn actual combat skills; some use foam weapons; some halt the drama at its climax for a game of rock-paper-scissors.)
There's also a school in Denmark (I gather that it serves to fill in a sort of European gap year) that teaches all its subjects through LARP.
Here's the school's website:
Østerskov Efterskole
Q. Do you lose something when you teach a subject in a different subject's framework instead of organizing it according to its own internal logic (e.g., teaching whatever math happens to fit with the LARP scenario)?
Q. Or do you gain something?
I'm intrigued by the relationship in this educational model between what the teachers put together and what the students furnish themselves. It's a very teacher-determined course of study. Somehow, it doesn't feel like one.
I've also been trying to figure out where LARP might serve in the Judaics department. It has obvious applications in halacha l'maaseh, since that's all about understanding what to do in situations as they arise. I think it would be great to teach students halacha and then send them into a series of scenarios to test their knowledge.
But in, say, Navi class... I'm still thinking about it.
(There are various solutions to the problem of how to LARP combat. Some people learn actual combat skills; some use foam weapons; some halt the drama at its climax for a game of rock-paper-scissors.)
There's also a school in Denmark (I gather that it serves to fill in a sort of European gap year) that teaches all its subjects through LARP.
Here's the school's website:
Østerskov Efterskole
Q. Do you lose something when you teach a subject in a different subject's framework instead of organizing it according to its own internal logic (e.g., teaching whatever math happens to fit with the LARP scenario)?
Q. Or do you gain something?
I'm intrigued by the relationship in this educational model between what the teachers put together and what the students furnish themselves. It's a very teacher-determined course of study. Somehow, it doesn't feel like one.
I've also been trying to figure out where LARP might serve in the Judaics department. It has obvious applications in halacha l'maaseh, since that's all about understanding what to do in situations as they arise. I think it would be great to teach students halacha and then send them into a series of scenarios to test their knowledge.
But in, say, Navi class... I'm still thinking about it.
Book Review: Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
When I got asked to teach math, I went to the library and scraped off the shelf all the children's picture-book biographies of Ada, Countess of Lovelace. There are quite a few of them.
The best-written of the lot to which I had access is Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, by Laurie Wallmark, because the author succeeds in taking the reader into Ada's experience of falling in love with numbers.
I asked my second-grader, who tested all the books with me, and she agreed that this version tells the best story.
Now you know.
It's a pity there aren't lots of shiny math manipulatives with brass bickerjiggers on them. Most rotary calculators, for instance, are plastic.
Abacuses and Montessori beads are two welcome exceptions.
The best-written of the lot to which I had access is Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine, by Laurie Wallmark, because the author succeeds in taking the reader into Ada's experience of falling in love with numbers.
I asked my second-grader, who tested all the books with me, and she agreed that this version tells the best story.
Now you know.
It's a pity there aren't lots of shiny math manipulatives with brass bickerjiggers on them. Most rotary calculators, for instance, are plastic.
Abacuses and Montessori beads are two welcome exceptions.
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