Ignitia Needs Improvement
I unfairly gave this review to the wrong school that uses its curriculum until I found out GSN is the entity that makes Ignitia to participating schools. So, here's my review of GSN rather than one of the schools that uses it:
Unable to learn with the 90-plus percent of reading coupled with a few review games and minimally quality extremely brief videos, my child struggles to comprehend the math of this accredited curriculum without teachers or tutors available to explain its complicated math lessons. Some Common Core concepts include compatible numbers. Questions on assignments are extremely unclear.
There are other problems that we encounter on this platform that make it less promising than seemed during the online sale pitch and demo. It definitely has not delivered the satisfactory results for our family.
We experience multiple technical problems every single week. My child has received 0's due to errors several times. The system literally sends a message that the child has already attempted an assignment, for which she receives a 0 for that "attempt" that never happened. I have to manually go into the system to re-assign for a second grade. (I've also discovered another option of my child requesting an "unlock" in order to avoid the 0. I then must manually go in an unlock it. But this is still due to the error of the system stating she's already attempted an assignment that she really did not attempt.) There are often other glitches.
Update: I increased my rating to 3 stars because Ignitia platform does have 4 other subjects that are fairly good with a lot of information in the form of reading. Unfortunately, reading and more reading is the only main source of learning unless the parent can either teach based on what she/he knows or spend long prepping time prior to lessons OR fits into the rigorous schedule outside sources for learning.
Update 2: It does appear they are trying to insert more online activities and videos to supplement for learning. Still, there are not nearly enough math instructional videos and not enough time given in those videos explaining complex problems. A parent may have to learn this math in order to teach it.
The Bible, History, Language Arts, and Science courses all offer very good information, mostly in the form of excessive reading in comparison with any other material that would engage a student. But there are some review games that help.
Today's math was still frustrating for my child. The platform is designed to rush the students as do many public school math lessons. They introduce a concept then assess the student with advanced questions on that concept in little to no time. With constant due dates to meet closely behind the other, there's little time to fit in to the schedule other resources to help the student grasp what they've just learned and little time to practice in order to master it. Quizzes are so frequent that the child is frustrated and finding it hard to grasp. The child is rushed into taking quizzes and tests on concepts newly learned. Some kids need more scaffolding, building from one concept to another without being plunged into extremely advanced assessment. With scaffolding, kids are able to advance highly if they are taught one concept at a time. This program lacks the patience needed to pace the student with more practice.
My child was very skilled in much of the math on the level we're working. But the Common Core type approach in some of the math throws a wrench in what was mastered in the previous grade when I myself taught some concepts with ease. If I could give 2.5 stars, I'd choose that instead. I'm increasing to 3 stars with hopes of better experience for the remainder of this school year. I remember Abeka, an older Christian curriculum, being a better program for my older kids.