Reply To: academics

CTLawyer, thanks for the info.
Maybe we should pair up – We are doing statistics right now … I’d love to teach more Calculus but kids are questioning it. They even peaked at my work and noticed that even my “mathematical” work does not involve Calculus. … Although I do enjoy covering gaps in my English and History.

Biggest problem with music – younger kids try to play piano in the (rare) moments older ones study.
I agree on effects on students from families without educated parents (I think it is education level, not income, that matters).

I want to notice that there is big difference between regular school making it online, as you have and we tried for some, and fully online schools that we are using. Both have benefits. Your school is good due to having a regular social circle and involved teachers. Online schools have limited interaction with teachers who do not know kids. At the same time, constant Zooming involves lots of waste time and frustration. I wish we could start a school that combines these approaches.

Encourage schools to make it less interactive. Here is how it look in fully online: online list of tasks for a class – for a week or whole semester; multiple choice “quick checks” 3-5 questions after every topic with immediate feedback; longer quizzes weekly; long tests/portfolios every couple of weeks.
In addition, there are live lessons – 1-2 per subject, per week, that are recorded. One good thing is that kids (eventually, hopefully) learn to control their own schedule. Some like to binge on the same subject for a week, for example, and then forget about it for a month.