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Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

greatbookshomeschool.com

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Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#61

Post by bitlax »

syzarian wrote: post #44

I have a question about home schooling in general. I'm a teacher with 20+ years of mathematics teaching experience at a community college. I don't know how to teach physics, chemistry, literature, reading, grammar, biology, etc. I especially don't know how to teach such topics to children. I don't know how to spot a learning disability except in an extreme case or to know if a student likely needs special education.…

> What makes parents with no specialized training think they can do better than the public school system?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAzsJt1Q7Jc

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#62

Post by paulryanrogers »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #56
syzarian wrote: post #44

I have a question about home schooling in general. I'm a teacher with 20+ years of mathematics teaching experience at a community college. I don't know how to teach physics, chemistry, literature, reading, grammar, biology, etc. I especially don't know how to teach such topics to children. I don't know how to spot a learning disability except in an extreme case or to know if a student likely needs special education.…

Because the experience public school provides is an exceptionally low bar considering class sizes/ratios, commuting to and from school, etc. Also, we can pour resources into our kids public schools can’t or won’t. The data also shows homeschool outcomes to be at parity or superior to public school outcomes. We only have two kids though, and my partner is a stay at home parent. We also rely on Modulo, among other reso…

Schools provide some of the most critical parts: consistent access to peers and a parent free learning environment. Both helped me break out of a cult-like group that my parents were knee deep into for decades.

Home schooling can have an academic advantage where parents are intelligent, well educated, above average in patience, and value education for their own kids.

IME it's more likely one of the home schooling parents had some bad experience(s) in traditional schools and are overreacting.

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#63

Post by toomuchtodo »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #62
toomuchtodo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the experience public school provides is an exceptionally low bar considering class sizes/ratios, commuting to and from school, etc. Also, we can pour resources into our kids public schools can’t or won’t. The data also shows homeschool outcomes to be at parity or superior to public school outcomes. We only have two kids though, and my partner is a stay at home parent. We also rely on Modulo, among other reso…

Schools provide some of the most critical parts: consistent access to peers and a parent free learning environment. Both helped me break out of a cult-like group that my parents were knee deep into for decades. Home schooling can have an academic advantage where parents are intelligent, well educated, above average in patience, and value education for their own kids. IME it's more likely one of the home schooling par…

What you mention isn’t a schooling problem though, it’s a parents problem. And all children are free of their parents eventually. You can’t outrun bad or apathetic parenting regardless of venue, ask a public school teacher to confirm.

https://health.ucdavis.edu/children/patient-education/Positi...

https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/parental-in...

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#64

Post by paulryanrogers »

syzarian wrote: post #44

I have a question about home schooling in general. I'm a teacher with 20+ years of mathematics teaching experience at a community college. I don't know how to teach physics, chemistry, literature, reading, grammar, biology, etc. I especially don't know how to teach such topics to children. I don't know how to spot a learning disability except in an extreme case or to know if a student likely needs special education.…

> What is it about teaching that makes people with no training think they can do better than trained professionals?

My guess is Dunning-Kruger effect and studies highlighting academic benefits from homeschooling.

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#65

Post by paulryanrogers »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #63
paulryanrogers wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Schools provide some of the most critical parts: consistent access to peers and a parent free learning environment. Both helped me break out of a cult-like group that my parents were knee deep into for decades. Home schooling can have an academic advantage where parents are intelligent, well educated, above average in patience, and value education for their own kids. IME it's more likely one of the home schooling par…

What you mention isn’t a schooling problem though, it’s a parents problem. And all children are free of their parents eventually. You can’t outrun bad or apathetic parenting regardless of venue, ask a public school teacher to confirm. https://health.ucdavis.edu/children/patient-education/Positi... https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/parental-in...

If parents are a problem then homeschooling isn't going to help. Traditional school would, assuming the schools aren't complete garbage.

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#66

Post by toomuchtodo »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #65
toomuchtodo wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you mention isn’t a schooling problem though, it’s a parents problem. And all children are free of their parents eventually. You can’t outrun bad or apathetic parenting regardless of venue, ask a public school teacher to confirm. https://health.ucdavis.edu/children/patient-education/Positi... https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/parental-in...

If parents are a problem then homeschooling isn't going to help. Traditional school would, assuming the schools aren't complete garbage.

Sorry to hear you had a bad homeschooling experience and you disagree with the data with regards to success rates (there are roughly 3.7 million children being homeschooled currently in the US). It works for many, I’m sure there are folks it might not (you mentioned some sort of cult situation in your case; I don’t believe this is typical except perhaps if you consider religious reasons for homeschooling).

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#67

Post by snotrockets »

bequanna wrote: post #60
snotrockets wrote: post #58

I couldn't find a list of said books. Which makes me assume the name is indeed a dog whistle, and not just a marketing coincidence.

Dog whistle? I don’t follow.

On the chance you really don’t know “Great Books” in some contexts is a racist trope, referring to a list of so called pinnacles of civilization, even if they are often read literally and not critically, without placing in context.

Not that they’re bad books, mind you.

But it’s like reading “The Merchant of Venice” and assuming Shylock represents a Jew, and not the xenophobia of British society at Shakespeare’s time.

tl;dr it’s what retrvn guys pretend to read.

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#68

Post by bequanna »

snotrockets wrote: post #67
bequanna wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dog whistle? I don’t follow.

On the chance you really don’t know “Great Books” in some contexts is a racist trope, referring to a list of so called pinnacles of civilization, even if they are often read literally and not critically, without placing in context. Not that they’re bad books, mind you. But it’s like reading “The Merchant of Venice” and assuming Shylock represents a Jew, and not the xenophobia of British society at Shakespeare’s time.…

I've never heard of this.

So, the below is considered by some to be a "racist" organization?

https://www.greatbooks.org/

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#69

Post by syzarian »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #66
paulryanrogers wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If parents are a problem then homeschooling isn't going to help. Traditional school would, assuming the schools aren't complete garbage.

Sorry to hear you had a bad homeschooling experience and you disagree with the data with regards to success rates (there are roughly 3.7 million children being homeschooled currently in the US). It works for many, I’m sure there are folks it might not (you mentioned some sort of cult situation in your case; I don’t believe this is typical except perhaps if you consider religious reasons for homeschooling).

The average person with no training in teaching or education isn't going to do better than the average person with said training.

Your stats aren't all that meaningful for the following reasons. What percent of homeschooled kids meet the criteria for "structured homeschooling"? Without this information it's not a meaningful stat.

There is also selection bias going on. They tested reading, writing, arithmetic. Did they test algebra? Did they test biology? I'll bet a fair number would fail at questions regarding evolution or have a skewed view of historical facts.

Re: Show HN: Great Books Homeschool beta program

#70

Post by 8589934591 »

jkurnia wrote: post #13
sparrish wrote: post #3

$40/month for a list of books to check out at the library seems a bit much. Transcripts aren't difficult so what additional value do you offer for that price?

Thanks, this is helpful to hear. It's interesting that one of the main pieces of feedback we get is about pricing. Some people say that it is overpriced, others that we should be charging more. To answer your question, we have quite a bit of original content and functionality beyond the book lists and transcripts. And based on my experience assembling customized homeschooling curricula for my kids, the book curation…

Your product is great. I do have a pain with the price point. I live outside the US and it's simply expensive.

Maybe consider regional pricing? If you include this and region specific books as well, your service will be golden.

Btw, what stops someone from paying for just a month or two and collating all your plans and then use it for the rest of their lives without paying you anymore? I mean this genuinely and not with ill intent.

Regarding pricing, I'd be happy to pay an amount as one time purchase for the entire curriculum vs a subscription model. Or pay one time for each bundle/grade. Just some ideas.

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