Frequently Asked Questions

Will you be interacting with students?
What future plans do you have for the site?

Will you be interacting with students?

I will be participating on the forums daily by questioning students about their reading and joining in the general discussions. I'll be as involved as possible on the forums, but, obviously, for $35.00 a year I can’t provide individual feedback to every student. Largely, this is a self-directed site. Most of my “interaction” with students is contained in the Flash presentations and creative stories (see here(K-3) and here(4-7)) I write for the younger children and in the creative stories, pre-flights and wrap-ups I write for the older students. Most of my time for this site in spent in preparation (reading, researching and writing).

What future plans do you have for the site?

Two overall plans (along with continuing to add new Literature Units and creative stories every semester—the most important thing for students to do is to read great literature!):

• I want to make this site a practical, usable site for homeschoolers. I don't want this to be the site you pay for, use for a couple of weeks and then never use again. If you don't use it, that's my fault not yours. The first thing I want to add (at Christmas break) is a "Tools" section and the first thing I'll be adding there is a "Schedule Maker." With this parents will be able to make a reading schedule from the Literature Units available on this site. You'll be able to access it on-line, print it, check off what your children have completed or alter it. Once your schedule is complete when you come to the site you and your children will know exactly where to go and what to do. Suggestions for other "Tools" are welcome!
• I want to continue to experiment with the technologies available on the web. One of my frustrations as I've looked for web-based educational things for my son is that very often what is purported to be innovative and creative is simply a book, or questions or a study sheet on-line flanked by numerous ads. Those things are fine, but what about animation, what about sound? My frustrations with these are that they tend to be game-oriented and shallow. I've just started with the Flash animations on this site. My goal with these is to entertain, inform and provoke thought. In the coming year I am also going to experiment with more interactive types of things, particularly for younger students. I'm not exactly sure what form this will take (I'm open to suggestions), but I know I want to do something that involves the students more while they are on the site. It might be a lesson where I read a story, Sniffy the Hamster asks questions, gives tidbits of information, students decide where to go—some kind of game—I'm not sure—I'm still thinking about it. Again, suggestions are welcome!