is outside enrichment really unaffordable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's less the monetary cost than it's the time and individual attention. Kumon/RSM/AOPS are roughly in the same price ballpark and the curriculum and instruction is all fine for purposes of reinforcement. I find though that even though I send the kids to Kumon/RSM/AOPS, I still need to make sure the kids do the homework and I often need to work through problems with them. It's the keeping tabs on the kids and support that take up the most time and that would be expensive to replicate in that I suspect it would otherwise require some 1-1 tutoring.

Well yes, having to spend time with them is called parenting.. kinda hard to replicate that. And you don't need to suspect; it does require 1-1 time.. with the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

The assumption that many people are making is that families who are living in poverty have the same knowledge regarding available services, free or paid, and the same desire for their kids to have aa higher level of academic success. That assumption is a bad one.

Parents who do not have high school degrees are not likely to be aware of enrichment opportunities, free or paid, as parents who have high school degrees or college degrees or advanced degrees. The parent who is working two jobs is not likely to have the time to be looking into Khan Academy or making sure that their kid is doing Khan Academy or helping their kid with struggles on Khan Academy.

We can talk about all the resources that are available, the schools can talk about all the resources that are available, but it means nothing unless the parents are reading those messages and want to act on those messages. That is the disconnect. By the time that the kids are able to read those messages and understand them it is too late because they will be far behind the learning curve and they might not have the support to catch up at home or in school.

The problem is deeper and harder to solve then pointing people to Khan Academy or free worksheet websites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Different parents choose different forms of math enrichment for their kids. Mine is pretty good at math, so I can help with anything she needs, if she cannot get clarity with help from YouTube videos or Khan Academy.

Some of my friends and relatives have used Kumon. What I have found is that especially as they get older, kids don't like Kumon and its 1000 worksheets, and will eventually stop, usually around upper Elementary. IME, Kumon kids get very good at arithmetic, doing it quickly and accurately, which helps them out in the long run.

Others go to Mathnesium or equivalents, where there is more one on one help, and I believe costs more. Still others go to AoPS and RSM, which are still more expensive. So, the expenditure depends on what resources you are using.

RSM is not more expensive then Mathnasium and the like, I have seen the monthly bills for those programs. It is set up differently, it is a 2 hour class once a week with homework instead of 2 times a week drop ins. The programs are different, one is a class while the other is small work groups.

Look for the program that works best for your child and for your schedule. A lot of the programs have scholarships, I know RSM does.

not many are aware. cuts the monthly fee to about three movie tickets and a popcorn bucket

But I can only afford three Lamborghinis and a fur coat. No one can afford movie tix and popcorn anymore!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Understand it's parenting and we are doing everything as parents, but cant get child interested in studies. Child says no homework. How are they learning with no homework? We get library books but child doesnt touch them. Can we ask school for help to get child interested in studies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Hook up with your neighbors and take turns bearing down on the kids as a group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Understand it's parenting and we are doing everything as parents, but cant get child interested in studies. Child says no homework. How are they learning with no homework? We get library books but child doesnt touch them. Can we ask school for help to get child interested in studies?

Some kids are just not intelligent or academically motivated. No amount of tutoring will get them there. You and drill-and-kill their way into some short-term success (like admission into AAP) but it won’t last.

[Anonymous]

Yeah ‘outside enrichment’ is another term used to describe involved parents. Because ultimately as PP stated, that’s the crux. Sure there are a few people spending big money, but that’s not the reason for the gap. It’s always been the parents and schools will never solve this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Understand it's parenting and we are doing everything as parents, but cant get child interested in studies. Child says no homework. How are they learning with no homework? We get library books but child doesnt touch them. Can we ask school for help to get child interested in studies?

Yes, I understand how kids behave. I also understand that when they get their phones, ipads, and other screens taken away, they're smart and quickly learn how to respond positively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Understand it's parenting and we are doing everything as parents, but cant get child interested in studies. Child says no homework. How are they learning with no homework? We get library books but child doesnt touch them. Can we ask school for help to get child interested in studies?

No. School can provide free books, give free tutoring, move your child to a lower grade, move your child to grade higher even if unqualified, give your child preferential treatment based on race or economic background, free transportation, free meals, etc... but the one thing the school cannot do is force your child to get interested in studies. It's the child's will, no one but the child controls what they like and dont like. With proper parenting, there is a good chance that the child's will can be influenced to an extent. It's still a chance.

[Anonymous]

Finally some people here are getting it.

We have to actively improve equity. That means, wealthy parents, parents who have time, should not be reading to their kids, checking up on them to see if they did their homework, and most of all should not use any resources that might unfairly teach their kid things that are not taught to everyone at school.

Otherwise, you are racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of free resources out there. Parents just have to know where to find them, and both the parents and kids have to be motivated to use them.

Khan Academy is free and covers a lot of subjects. AoPS has many free resources as well as a message board where kids can ask for help if they didn't understand something.

We know these free resources exist and tries using them, but child is not motivated. How to get them motivated and interested in studies?

Welcome to the world of parenting.

Understand it's parenting and we are doing everything as parents, but cant get child interested in studies. Child says no homework. How are they learning with no homework? We get library books but child doesnt touch them. Can we ask school for help to get child interested in studies?

No. School can provide free books, give free tutoring, move your child to a lower grade, move your child to grade higher even if unqualified, give your child preferential treatment based on race or economic background, free transportation, free meals, etc... but the one thing the school cannot do is force your child to get interested in studies. It's the child's will, no one but the child controls what they like and dont like. With proper parenting, there is a good chance that the child's will can be influenced to an extent. It's still a chance.

Schools cannot force the parents to care and if the parents don't care you cannot expect the kids to care. Title 1 schools offer smaller class sizes, more reading and math specialists, tutoring, and free summer school. The free summer school ends up not being filled with poor kids but plenty of kids who are doing fine in school end up there as the slots become available.

Generational poverty is a real thing and the long term effects are well documented.

[Anonymous]

I know many of you might not know about this and inadvertently promoting racism.

Just a PSA, from what I learned at DEI training.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's less the monetary cost than it's the time and individual attention. Kumon/RSM/AOPS are roughly in the same price ballpark and the curriculum and instruction is all fine for purposes of reinforcement. I find though that even though I send the kids to Kumon/RSM/AOPS, I still need to make sure the kids do the homework and I often need to work through problems with them. It's the keeping tabs on the kids and support that take up the most time and that would be expensive to replicate in that I suspect it would otherwise require some 1-1 tutoring.

We are lower middle class as well, and the monthly fee was lowered to almost nothing. We made time to sit with the child as well, but our kid did not want to study. So we stopped, and child is back to TV and phone. We are looking for suggestions what we can do if child refuses to study.

How old is your child?

I would remove access to TV and phone. Those are earned. Doing your homework, turning in assignments on time, getting As and Bs on tests - those things will give access to TV, phone, hanging out with friends. If those are not done, there is no access to fun things until they do. It's like when DD was young, I would say 'You have 3 hours before you have to go to bed. You can spend all 3 hours dawdling, arguing, not doing your work, or you can get it done quickly and well, and the rest of the time is yours'. She learned very quickly that being efficient and good got her free time to do whatever she wanted. If your child is still young (I'd say below 12 or 13 years old), I would read to them. Play audiobooks in the car when you're taking them places. Talk to them about the books you're both reading/listening to.

A lot of what you need to do, is to get them out and about, and expose them to what the world holds for them. Take them to museums, monuments, gardens. Talk to them about what's there, why it's important to preserve old things, talk about events that led to monuments, etc. Look into things like planetariums, or talks about space and cosmology. Look into events your library might have, or ask them for help to research events that you can take your child to. A lot of what kids get in MC/UMC households, is parents talking to them about what is going on in the world around them, from a young age. This tends to develop curiosity and interests.

And I would be honest with them about your life and your struggles, and what you hope for them. DH and I are immigrants, that through education, hard work, and luck are now wealthy. We don't hide our past from our child; we talk about the enormous amount of effort that got us to where we are. My very first job as a teenager, was picking up trash in parks. I put myself through my post-grad work by working 70 hours in 3 jobs, while also carrying a full course load. We also talk about how much more opportunity she has to make a really good life for herself, and have a positive impact on the world around her.