Standard Deviants Accelerate

Hotrod Girl is trying out a new computer based learning program, The vendor is  Standard Deviants Accelerate  and we were given access to there Homeschool Courses for a year we will be using the arithmetic class. You can check it out at http://www.SDAccelerate.com/. I hadn't heard of this one tell it came up for review on the crew. It is a video rich online learning system. It has different classes for grades 3 to 11. Standard Deviants Accelerate or SDA as Hotrod girls is calling it. Is an accelerated learning program that uses accelerated learning techniques to help a child learn at a faster rate. I am going to recommend you visit the site and read about the accelerated learning technique as they explain how it works far better than I ever could.  

What I can tell you is how well it is working for Hotrod girl. She is only in third grade so most of the classes were above her level. But we got to try out one of the math classes. She struggles a bit with math and I am always eager to try something new. For us accelerated learning is a new concept and I though it might help her out.

I had a bit of trouble getting started with the program. I used my account to enrolled her in the arithmetic class, but I didn't realize that I had to give her a separate log in with her own email. Once I figured that out with some great help from customer service we were ready to go. (customer service is very fast)  I started her on the arithmetic class which is geared for grades 3+ or ages 6 and up. It is designed to teach children all the basics of math so that they have a solid foundation to move on to the next level.

She logs in on her own, I have the email and password she needs to use written down for her. One she logs in it shows the classes that she is enrolled in, for her it just shows arithmetic. She clicks on the class and down below it, it shows a list of the areas that she need to complete. I had her start with addition/subtraction and area she was already comfortable with. Since we are trying to build up her math confidence, I wanted her to start with something I knew she would do well with. So she would look to where is says addition/subtraction then it gives her lessons below it ending with a review/quiz. Once she clicks on a lesson it gives her a video lesson. Then it offers some other selections across the top. There is a vocabulary tab with all the vocab used and the definitions,  A diagram area which is like practice problems. There is a Quiz tab and an written answer tab. We have not used the written answers tab yet.  The vocabulary has been very handy for her to use as a reference point.

She says she likes the videos and that they are easier to understand. She also likes that they are short and to the point. I like that when she takes the quiz for that lesson if she gets one wrong a little arrow pops up that says see video. She can click this arrow and a video opens to show her how to do the problem correctly. It also gives her the option to re-take the quiz and print the quiz. I love that the program is showing her how to do it correctly and not leaving her to figure it out on her own. Its a big help when I am working with snoopy so that she doesn't have to completely stop working to wait for me to come help her. It gives her the opportunity to try listening to the explanation again then if she is still having trouble she gets me and we work through it together.

For teachers there is an administrative tool box where you can view grades, grade written assignments, edit the rubric, and see progress reports.  The progress reports were a little tricky to get at first. It showed me a a pie graph of sorts broken down into different areas: subject review, act it out, written responses and text/quizzes. You click one of these areas and it brings up the child's grading for each area.  We mostly just use the text/quiz area it shows the class the lesson weather it was quiz a pre-test or post-test and then the actual grade for the test/quiz. Of course everything is printable which is great for portfolios.

While SDA arithmetic is a good program and she likes the explanations and GETS them. We are having to supplement some because it just doesn't give her quite enough practice. I can see the other classes being great for middle to high school students.

Some of the other Crew members used different classes in SDA and I really want to encourage everyone to check out what they have to say about them. It will give you a great idea how the classes we were unable to try work.