Educational Online Resources

Recently I made the decision to home school my youngest daughter. Honestly I feel it is the best thing I could have done. I realized that my daughter was not adequately taught in the public schools. I did a small experiment and spoke to several mothers at different schools and had them ask there 2nd graders a few simple questions that you would think a second grader would know.

The questions that I asked them to ask their second graders were:

• Do you know what an Illustrator is?
• Do you know what a consonant is?
• What does it mean to multiply?
• What are odd and even numbers?
• What is a fiction story?

I chose these questions because by the time your child is a second grader they should be able to identify these things even if the have to give an example. In kindergarten and first grade they should be learning all about the alphabet and the types of letters like vowels and consonants. For some reason most of the second graders involved did not know what a consonant was, nor could they provide an example. However they made it to the second grade without knowing these things and are given homework asking in depth questions about the main idea and most of these kids can't read and are still developing the fundamentals of reading and writing. 

They should know what an even and odd number is. Although these children can provide an example of what an even or odd number is they don't have a good understanding of why it is an even or odd number.

Many of the second graders are not accurately explained what multiplication is. These children are believing it's like adding but can't explain why is it like adding. You the parent has to explain to your child accurately multiplication is like adding because the number gets larger because you're adding groups of something. or you have to explain its adding the same number over and over a certain amount of times.

All the story books these children are reading in school with pictures you would think they learn about illustrators in the first grade. 

I'm not saying that these things are not being taught; I'm saying it's not being accurately taught in the inner city schools. The over crowding in the schools prevent your child from understanding and connecting the way they should with the material. That is why you the parent have to re-teach them everything they learn in school at home... 

Well, why are you sending your child to public schools? So their teachers can get a paycheck for not effectively teaching your child?

Start investing in your child's teaching at home until they get to 7th or 8th grade that way you can be certain that they are connecting, registering and maintaining the information that is taught.

Below are only a few of the many online resources for all academic levels that are helpful to home school your child or to ensure they get the most out of their public school experience; I would suggest you have them spend time self educating online at home
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Princeton Tutors                      SheppardSofware (look for recommendations by level)  Splash Math

K5 Learning                                Adapted Mind                                                          K12