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| The Chicken Whisperer |
Today's picture has only a little to do with my post. I've decided to do a quick review of Teaching Textbooks, just in case any of my homeschooling friends decides to use this curriculum. Teaching Textbooks is the latest Golden Child of homeschoolers. The program runs on the computer and acts like a private tutor, without you even having to leave your home. It is easy to install, easy to use, and covers what needs to be covered. IJ is using the 4th Grade level as a third grader, so you know the content isn't difficult and maybe a little dumbed down. He has been earning a solid A on all his assignments. What I've really enjoyed is the ability to plug a pair of headphones into the computer and tell IJ to go do his math. Absolutely no work needed from me. At all. I just check the grade book.
But today I didn't plug the head phones in. I listened to the lesson. There was no lesson! IJ has been skipping the lessons and going straight to the problems! No wonder he is done so fast! I asked him why he wasn't listening to the lecture first and he said, "It's boring." I said, "No wonder you don't know what estimating is." But can you believe that he has been able to still get an A without listening to the lectures?
I am not claiming to have a genius on my hands-I know him better than that. I'm thinking any math program that is so easy you don't have to be listening to the lectures before doing the assignments really is too dumb! My final thought: Not impressed. But I'll keep using it and try to speed things up a bit.
