Your question: I'm weak in math. How much math do I have to teach?
For the Elementary Series, pop your kid in your lap and enjoy the adventures of Fred together.
Once your child reaches Life of Fred: Fractions, things will change.
One of the most important skills we want our homeschooled kids to acquire is to learn how to learn by reading. In kindergarten, 99% of what kids learn is from the teacher's mouth. As they progress up through high school and college, increasingly they learn more and more by reading.
After they graduate from the university, for the next 40 years almost all of the technical things they will learn will be by reading—and not by hearing someone lecture. We want to prepare them for college and adulthood.
One of the most valuable skills that Life of Fred offers is the ability to learn by reading. Assuming your child is of normal academic ability, any "help" that you might offer would short circuit that learning how to learn by reading.
Kids are human . . . and hence, they seek the most labor saving approach to life. And the name of that is . . . Mom. And moms instinctively respond to their child's call for help. But in this case, I believe that it is not in the best interest of the child.
You are hereby relieved of all teaching of mathematics.
If your kids insist on help, you can blame it on me. "Dr. Schmidt said that I'm not allowed to help you."
If they claim that they are really stuck, they can take responsibility for their own learning and they can email me with their question. (How many other authors make this offer?)
Moms who email me on behalf of their children are relieving their children of their responsibility for their own education. We want our children to own their own education as much as possible.
Click here to return to the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Click here to return to the Home Page.