I studied at home through 12th grade, and we’re planning to teach our daughters at home as well. I loved the experience (including the memory of getting up at 6 AM to do math with my dad), and love the idea of helping our daughters wake up to the world of knowledge. That will involve a lot of hands-on teaching, and a lot of learning woven into real life. I’m also realizing that it’s likely, unexpectedly, to include a fair amount of “screen time”. This is partly because we live where it’s hard to ship paper curriculum, partly because of schedules…but partly because the selection of digital resources is so rich! We’re getting the kids Chromebooks (for educational apps, reading, music, and audiobooks) soon. Some of the Web apps they’ve been using on Mom’s and Dad’s computers will migrate over, and a world of new ones will become options as well. I’ll share a few of the online resources I’ve found in various posts, and try to index those posts here.
Bear in mind that I do see “Chromebook school” as a fairly impoverished approach, if that’s all one’s doing. I don’t, however, have any intention of this being all we do with the kids. I expect the future to hold lots of lovely books, free and creative play, table games for the sake of play or with an academic goal, household science experiments, Lego robotics, art, music, emotional/social intelligence, fun exposure to languages and cultures…and, yes, math worksheets, writing assignments, and all the other “3R-y” parts of school. Activities involving wandering through the woods or tossing a ball also seem like lovely ideas, but living in a flat in a megacity may limit some of these possibilities. (Though I’m sure we could come up with some great nature studies re. particulate matter concentrations in the air, or of the behavior of crows!) As part of a holistic approach to school, though, I’m ecstatic to have online curricula and educational resources available!
Note that there’s a bit of irony in this series: as I’ve researched the various apps available, it’s become apparent that while many apps are available both in Android and iOS flavors, a number of interesting apps are iOS-only. And so…while I still prefer the ethos of Android, a Chromebook or Android tablet may actually not be the best device if you’re looking for kids’ educational apps.
Known Unknowns 