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Anyone know of schools that do / allow Self-Paced Math, and maybe even Science at the Elementary Level?
Our kid in locked into something they call "Spiraling" and re-re-re-covering the same stuff that was covered in 2nd Grade. And then again in 3rd. Now SSDD for 4th.
We would like her to be able to move on, but this seems to be a totally confusing concept to the school.
Our school started the "University of Chicago" math curriculum a few years ago and it has been disasterous. Disasterous for the students who already struggled with math but wonderful for those who didn't. Spiraling is confusing for a lot of students.
I attended a self-paced elementary school and there is NO WAY IN HECK I would send my kids to one. I basically spent 4 years doing NOTHING because I was smart enough to be able to pass the "progress" tests without actually doing the work. Nope, no way, no how.
I attended a self-paced elementary school and there is NO WAY IN HECK I would send my kids to one. I basically spent 4 years doing NOTHING because I was smart enough to be able to pass the "progress" tests without actually doing the work. Nope, no way, no how.
So clue me in here. It was a crappy program with no adult supervision?
Just asking. I do not know.
But if you were making it past the progress tests, were you not moved on up?
So why would it take 4 years?
Is the progression not: arithmetic > geometry > trig > algebra > linear > calculus?
Did they just loop around the same thing for 4 years? That is what we are stuck in the non-Self Paced "spiraling."
So clue me in here. It was a crappy program with no adult supervision?
Just asking. I do not know.
But if you were making it past the progress tests, were you not moved on up?
So why would it take 4 years?
Is the progression not: arithmetic > geometry > trig > algebra > linear > calculus?
Did they just loop around the same thing for 4 years? That is what we are stuck in the non-Self Paced "spiraling."
Thanks.
Well, it was an elementary school so no calculus was taught and why it took 4 years, I started in 3rd grade-so 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th grades. The set up was what they called "Colonies" and they had 4. Colony 1 was basically kindergarten and and some 1st graders, Colony 2 was 1st/2nd, Colony 3 was 3rd/4th, etc. You switched colonies when you were ready. For some kids that was at the beginning of the year, others it was in the middle or whatever. It is considered the "best" school in that district--not sure why. There is plenty of supervision but you were expected to work on your own. We had some classes but most of the day you spent working on individual assignments. I was good at making myself look busy. Like I said, I was just smart enough to take the assessments and pass. I never really did the assignments. If you passed the assessments it was assumed you did the work-and rightly so. The lower grades had more direct supervision but once you were in colony 3 and 4, 90% of your day was doing independent work.
One of the high school teachers in that district did her master's thesis on this school comparing the kids that attended this school to the ones that attended the traditional style schools in the district. The results were basically that the kids that went to this open school, while they got as good of grades in high school, they didn't score as well on standardized tests, college entrance exams, etc. I accredit that do basically not having any formal instruction in the basics for all subjects, especially math and reading/phonics. I know a lot of people crab about kids having to take timed math table tests and reviewing information learned in earlier grades but it DOES help with retention and basic understanding of why things are the way they are.
I don't know of any of my classmates or anyone that attended this school that would send their kids to this school. There were a lot of great things about the school but most of those were not related to academics. This was back in the early 70's so this school has been around for a long time. It is still a popular school in that town but it is what I call a "touchy-feely" school and a lot of parents find that important. What usually happens though is that their kids get into junior high and they figure out how far behind their kids really are. The smart one can catch up but average and below average kids never do.
Check out Montessori programs. It's not totally self-paced, but there's a LOT more freedom to work independently at your own pace than in many traditional schools. There's a range of Montessori schools out there (all follow the basic philosophy, but some are more true to the concepts than others), so shop around. Around here we have Montessori public magnet schools, otherwise I think most cities or towns of much size will have at least one private option.
Well, it was an elementary school so no calculus was taught and why it took 4 years, I started in 3rd grade-so 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th grades. The set up was what they called "Colonies" and they had 4. Colony 1 was basically kindergarten and and some 1st graders, Colony 2 was 1st/2nd, Colony 3 was 3rd/4th, etc. You switched colonies when you were ready. For some kids that was at the beginning of the year, others it was in the middle or whatever. It is considered the "best" school in that district--not sure why. There is plenty of supervision but you were expected to work on your own. We had some classes but most of the day you spent working on individual assignments. I was good at making myself look busy. Like I said, I was just smart enough to take the assessments and pass. I never really did the assignments. If you passed the assessments it was assumed you did the work-and rightly so. The lower grades had more direct supervision but once you were in colony 3 and 4, 90% of your day was doing independent work.
One of the high school teachers in that district did her master's thesis on this school comparing the kids that attended this school to the ones that attended the traditional style schools in the district. The results were basically that the kids that went to this open school, while they got as good of grades in high school, they didn't score as well on standardized tests, college entrance exams, etc. I accredit that do basically not having any formal instruction in the basics for all subjects, especially math and reading/phonics. I know a lot of people crab about kids having to take timed math table tests and reviewing information learned in earlier grades but it DOES help with retention and basic understanding of why things are the way they are.
I don't know of any of my classmates or anyone that attended this school that would send their kids to this school. There were a lot of great things about the school but most of those were not related to academics. This was back in the early 70's so this school has been around for a long time. It is still a popular school in that town but it is what I call a "touchy-feely" school and a lot of parents find that important. What usually happens though is that their kids get into junior high and they figure out how far behind their kids really are. The smart one can catch up but average and below average kids never do.
Interesting perspective. Thank you for that.
We are seeing the other end -- with pretty much lock-step.
Not just doing review, but actually stopped from further progress.
Texas (here) has some very strict and structure imposed on the local folks due to so much screwing around in the past.
Seems the industry has a very hard time with balance.
We are seeing the other end -- with pretty much lock-step.
Not just doing review, but actually stopped from further progress.
Texas (here) has some very strict and structure imposed on the local folks due to so much screwing around in the past.
Seems the industry has a very hard time with balance.
I disagree with that statement. In better districts/states you do see plenty of balance and kids doing just fine. There are individual schools here and there that have a hard time with balance. Like I said, the school I attended, I would bet that if you asked current parents what they think, they would all love it. They have an easy option NOT to go to that school in our state and even in that district they have had an option to go to any school since before I was in elementary school. Once their kids get out of that school is when you start to see the dislike and even not so much with the parents but the kids that went there.
Anyone know of schools that do / allow Self-Paced Math, and maybe even Science at the Elementary Level?
Our kid in locked into something they call "Spiraling" and re-re-re-covering the same stuff that was covered in 2nd Grade. And then again in 3rd. Now SSDD for 4th.
We would like her to be able to move on, but this seems to be a totally confusing concept to the school.
I would supplement in the meantime, as she will be in middle school soon, and then the elementary math curriculum will be irrelevent. I had the same problem a few years back, we had a math curriculum that was terrible. My first grader's homework would be to count the windows one day, count the stairs the next. I've heard it's used as remedial math in some districts, and this was our regular curriculum. I supplemented with Singapore Math books in the interim. Luckily, enough parents complained, that they changed it and it is decent now.
Spiraling is sometimes good, unless they are not doing it correctly and not covering enough new material. The fundamentals of math need to be second nature, so sometimes a review of addition facts as fourth graders will do wonders to help them with their speed algebraic equations. For a self paced online curriculum, I would suggest you get a subscription to Aleks.com. She can work on it at home, that way you can make sure she is not being stifled in her progress.
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