Can Algebra Be Fun? It Can with Standard Deviants Accelerate Online Learning! - Eva Varga

September 4, 2014

My kids have always enjoyed math. Like many homeschoolers, we continually move forward developing their skills and competency in the subject at their pace. Since my daughter began to learn algebra, I noticed that her pace has slowed down significantly.

I began to see a level of disinterest develop and that concerned me. How can I assure that she doesn’t loose her enthusiasm? How can I help make algebra fun for her? 

We received access to the Standard Deviants Accelerate online learning library in exchange for an honest review. I also received monetary compensation for my time spent in reviewing the product.  All opinions expressed are true and completely our own. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

Don’t miss the special promo at the end!!

SDA

Online Learning Resource

When I shared with my daughter the online learning resource, Standard Deviants Accelerate, she lit up. This was a change from the book work she had become accustomed to and the perfect way to engage her. She loved the videos – the humor and music were just what my pre-teen needed to reinvigorate her enthusiasm for the material.

She had no difficulty navigating the online learning environment.  Each chapter was divided into several lessons and tabs across the top provided clear points of reference. She could also easily jump forward or back between topics if she wanted to revisit something.

In addition to a short Pre-assessment, each chapter begins with The Big Question that the student is asked to keep in mind as she works through the material. At the end of each lesson, the student is prompted to revisit this thematic question in the Written Answer assignment.

Each lesson within the chapter is divided into a range of well-balanced assignments to provide students with different outlets to demonstrate their understanding. The lesson opens with an engaging Video that breaks down content and provides in-depth instruction. The Vocabulary for each lesson is also highlighted and students can click on the speaker icon to hear how the term is pronounced and to listen to the definition. 

Some lessons also include a drag and drop Diagram to test knowledge using a visual component. A multiple-choice Quiz follows each video and is uniquely designed to re-teach material by replaying clips corresponding to questions that have been answered incorrectly. This immediate feedback and individualized instruction helps assure the child masters the material.

Critical Thinking questions at end of each chapter are customized according to student’s quiz scores, and prompts student to apply and analyze knowledge. Post Tests at the end of each chapter and at the end of the subject continue to check knowledge and are customized according to student’s prior quiz performance.

Project Based Learning

My daughter loves projects and as a result, we have generally steered away from online courses for this reason.  What my daughter most enjoyed about the learning platform within Standard Deviants Accelerate was the Group Activity at the end of the chapter. This hands-on project allowed her an opportunity to demonstrate her mastery of the material by teaching what she had learned to her parents or peers.

In the Group Activity, students are asked to select one of the chapter topics and to teach a specific audience.  When my daughter was working through the chapter on Algebra Functions, she selected the topic of ‘Trendlines’ and her selected audience was a group of ‘Game Players’.  She was thereby asked to break down the topic and reconstruct it in the form of an educational game.

She absolutely loved this assignment. She really put her heart into it as it enabled her to use her creative energy to share her passion for math.

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Easy-to-Use and Affordable

The Standard Deviants Accelerate online teaching system guides homeschool students through complete courses with clever instructional videos. My daughter was laughing at the humor used to make difficult topics like polynomials and quadratic equations fun and easy to understand.

The SDA program designed for middle and high school is easy-to-use, providing instruction and enrichment for core subjects. SDA will teach and re-teach, allowing your student to learnprogress, and then master a subject, requiring little time from parents.  Parents are provided with grade reports, red flag alerts, and editable scoring rubrics to aide them in facilitating their child’s learning progress.

There are a variety of subjects to choose from including:

  • Biology
  • Geology
  • Chemistry
  • Nutrition
  • Arithmetic
  • Algebra
  • Government & Economics
  • US History
  • English Composition

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The Standard Deviants Accelerate program is also affordable. Core subjects are just $99/year (or $24.95/month).  AP subjects are just $14.95/month.

For a limited time, Standard Deviants Accelerate is offering a FREE 6 month full access to ALL 14 subjects on SDA for homeschoolers. Sign up by November 15th!

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