Records, AliYah Academy

Mastery Learning: Why Your Child Should Make A’s

Here at AliYah Academy, we are always reassuring parents that it’s OK, if not typical, for our children to make all A’s while homeschooling. For some reason we feel guilty like maybe we aren’t hard enough on them or maybe we are showing favoritism, after all, most children in traditional schools aren’t making all A’s.

There is a very good reason for this, apart from the fact that your child IS a genius and you ARE an awesome teacher (one of the best,) you are teaching to mastery. This is something that would be quite challenging, if not impossible, in a traditional school setting. Your child gets A’s simply because your child has you. For example, if your child takes a math test and misses a question you do not simply mark it wrong, give him or her an arbitrary grade A-F, and move on to the next chapter of the book. No, you stop everything and help your child understand and correct the problems they did wrong and then you pay attention and celebrate with your child when you see that they figured it out on their own and now understand the concept. Whether it happens that day or weeks down the road, you, without thinking, teach to mastery because it doesn’t make sense to skip over or rush through something your child doesn’t understand. We naturally want our children to understand, to learn. If they don’t understand a concept we don’t give a grade of failure, we just simply aren’t finished with that concept yet. This holds true for all subjects and skills. We want our children to do their personal best and be their personal best.

I have been explaining this to parents for years now. Mastery Learning is something we instinctively do with our children, but is not (maybe can not) be practiced in a classroom of 30-plus students, who have just met a teacher for the first time that year, and may not see said teacher again after the year ends, to move on to the next unknown teacher, and so on. This is the traditional system, but you have made a different choice, to teach Mastery. To enjoy the process, not just check off required boxes but teach your child to master each task set before them and teach them to love learning.

I recently came across this video from Khan Academy that explains Mastery Learning pretty well. I am thrilled that others are realizing the need for change in the current system and I hope it continues. You can find a link to Khan Academy on the resource links page, They have a free, good math program. Enjoy.

Happy Homeschooling!

Time to get Organized

There are a few times in the year that I like to regroup. August, at the beginning of the school year; Passover in the Spring, of course being the beginning of the biblical year; and December/ January, the Gregorian new year. These times just seem natural to me and I reevaluate where we are in school and what we need to do better. I “tighten up ship” so to say. This almost always involves me writing goals, schedules and to-do lists for everyone in the house.

AliYah Academy offers a simple planner for record keeping but you may want a more detailed one to help organize all chores and meal planning, maybe you also work and need a planner for your personal goals also.

There are plenty of free downloads to let you create a planner that is tailored to your needs.

Compass Classroom has free homeschool planning pages download with organizational charts and planning sheets. Just search “Homeschool Planner” once you get on their website. They also have a lot of other free downloads and videos, check them out under Resources.

Another good resource for a free planner I have used in the past is The Homeschool Mom. Although you won’t need her transcript maker because we take care of that for you, she does have organizers for appointments, school assignments, lesson planning, and family menu planning. This is a good planner for any homeschooler but especially good for an unschooler or an on-the-go type of schooler because it has pages that are helpful for keeping track of those hands-on educational activities that can be hard to document.

These are just a couple of many good, free planners out there and as a homeschooler, whether you run a tight ship or homeschool on the fly it is important to plan your school year. It is also a good idea to document and keep samples of your children’s work. Not only “in case” they are ever needed but more importantly to see how your child is progressing, to have records, for yourself, of what worked and what didn’t, to improve and give our children the best education for them and direct them in the direction they are to go.

It is also encouraging in those times when we don’t feel like we are accomplishing anything to be able to look back and see how far we and our children have come and how much they have done. Or challenging when we look back and see weak areas where we need to improve.

The Scriptures give us many examples of, and lessons in planning, from Yoseph and the famine, to our simply planning for the Sabbath each week. It is nice to have a plan of what lies ahead but also be flexible to unexpected changes or needs that may arise. It’s always a good idea to plan in pencil.

Happy Planning and Happy Homeschooling!

*updated from Nov 28, 2014 post*