Why do Parents Send Their Children to Elementary School?

• Question #1: Do you send your children to elementary school to pass tests or do you hope that your child is establishing thinking capabilities and an interest in the pursuit of knowledge?
• Question #2: Is your school focused on your child or on a group established by age?
• Question #3: Does the school consider your child’s previous knowledge, attitudes and values in their teaching?
• Question #4: Do you believe your child is the same as every other child, or does your child show independence and different interests than other children you know?
• Question #5: Do you think your child is capable of creating great things as they grow older?

Depending on your answers to the above questions, you may choose to take a more active role in your child’s mental/knowledge and thinking development. You may want to consider moving away from the standardization taught in schools and consider more personalized development with occasional aid from a teacher to assist your child reach the extent of his/her possibilities. Standardization ,which was created with the intentions of helping students prepare for college, has actually made matters worse for young students. The common core standards were drafted by academics and assessment “experts,” many with ties to testing companies. A well known foundation provided $160 million to fund the roll out. Common Core was created in 2009 and was meant to “even the playing field” by giving every state a universal set of standards by which to measure learning. A basic flaw in design was the fact that no two minds develop or think the same way.

The two most critical results from common core are:

1. The obsession with high-stakes standardized tests is stifling creativity and imagination in the classroom. The overemphasis on testing has led many teachers to eliminate projects and activities that provide students with an opportunity to be creative and imaginative. Scripted curriculum has become the norm in many classrooms.
2. Standardized tests are used in high-stakes ways to evaluate and punish teachers.

Until recently, schools have always been skeptical of standards imposed from outside sources. Too many standards projects have been efforts to move decisions about teaching and learning away from educators and schools and put them in the hands of distant bureaucracies and politicians. AYM is a learning program that provides school administrations and teachers with real time data for each student and allows them to know where students might need help in real time.

• AYM uses the process of learner-centered education interests which is directly correlated to the student’s achievement. AYM is sparking their students’ love of learning by letting them figure out what they’re interested in within a range of necessary content. Whatever is learned through the motivation of interest and passion is rarely, if ever, forgotten.
• AYM employs a much broader curricula that is specific to web-based learning.  AYM material is organized so that learners continually build on what they have already learned and discover principles on their own.
• AYM uses multimedia technology to engage the student, including video, photographs, interactivity and audio that serve a practical purpose (reality) and reinforce the speed of learning . Since the brain only thinks in terms of reality, the utilization of reality imagery stimulates brain development.
• AYM keeps students interested throughout the learning process by providing immediate feedback with each click of the mouse.
• AYM is based primarily on self-learning and establishes thinking patterns necessary for life itself.
• AYM allows students to return to and review the course at their own pace.

Accelerating Young Minds: Providing a Balanced Learning Experience for Each Student

Sample of A Continuous Recording of Each Student’s Personal Performance
(Maintained and consolidated over the years of use of AYM )