Parents need to understand that KA is not a substitute for the teaching paradigm, but rather introduces a great tool for self-enrichment - as the article suggests, a "supplement" to homework and education, KA is great. But the "education" itself is a varied and dynamic system that cannot completely rely on a child to be self-motivated. Few 7 year olds are self-motivated to master math, and gamification is just another arrow in the quiver, but not the panacea. Learning is IMO at least a 2 step process, requiring participation beyond simply multiple choice and listening, it most importantly requires exploration and deep problem solving skills. For example, being assigned a math word problem where the child must read, re-read and attempt to find the answer using at least 30 minutes of analysis before realizing the true nature of the word problem. That 30 minute process is an important mental exercise that cannot be circumvented. KA is a great way to quickly understand a concept, but true mastery requires application, and having a teacher present to gently guide without revealing the answer is an art.
Being a parent that closely monitors his child's learning process, I'm very careful to never give my child the answer, but just enough hints to keep him from being frustrated - ultimately, HE must figure it out, never me. KA is a great way for my son to learn about a subject, but the next stage is when I take him away from KA and start applying those concepts to real life problems.
Helicopter parents everywhere I'm sure have taken this tip and shared it virally. Expect a sudden drop in participation over the next 10 years as a result! But on the flip side, expect creations of extracurricular civic groups that are "college approved".
Keep in mind that truly sophisticated and informed "helicopter" parents know that tests are not enough - they've done their research, they themselves have been through the system. As a matter of fact, the truly informed helicopter parents are engineering failure into their child as well in order make him stronger. Many are reading how Native Americans create emotional strength in their children; others research and study the biographies of great leaders, investigating what separates these leaders from those that failed.
Worse yet, it's a tiered system where to get the plum jobs, you have to graduate from Ivy/Stanford/MIT. But the reality is that a passionate hard working kid from UCLA or UTexas is no less qualified to fill the same role as a similarly educated one from Princeton. Employers are simply lazy, and rather than truly vet candidates for talent, they just assume that if the candidate has an Ivy on the resume, that's good enough.
Also, you have to pay attention to the internal economics of how colleges are funded and the services they provide to truly understand the cost required to run a college. You are assuming the demand delta just means the college is voluntarily increasing its margins in the face of demand. Take the California UC & CalState System, it's structurally broken. Regardless of demand, it simply has no choice but to 1) increase fees, 2) reduce admissions, 3) fire professors. Much of its money does not come from tuition paid for by students, but entirely by the state - what happens when the state is financially strapped? No differently, large private universities also rely heavily on federal funds - same thing, what happens when the feds cut back?
So how do you get costs to go down? You change the paradigm of how a college is run so that they are not paying for unnecessary expenses. Seriously, is there any value to all those publications that professors are expected to publish? I'm certain we can do without 30% of such writings when the real cost is higher tuition to the students.
Yes, demand does play a part, but it's only a part of the equation. There's a huge problem with how colleges are structured and operated that is unsustainable.
We should explore why some people deserve to enter Harvard/Stanford/etc. and why some don't? Part of the reason Harvard graduates are successful have little to do with merit and everything to do with being a "Harvard Grad", so it is a self-fulfilling prophecy in many ways. In other words, if we pulled 3 super-hard working freshman from random state schools, and put them through Harvard, and follow them 10 years later, would it surprise anybody that they would end up being successful? If so, what does it matter that their SATs sucked in the first place? Do they not deserve a shot at success as the next person? So they scored "only" in the top 20%, because they were hard working dual athletes with a part time job helping out their single parent and no AP classes, so what? Why should they not have the same shot at the Harvard lottery ticket as the kid who's fortunate enough to be born to a "tiger" Asian mother or well connected blue blood parents?
It's clearly a racket, this whole Ivy/Stanford system where grads from such schools receive the benefit of the doubt when it comes to employment.
By the way, I am such a tiger parent, and it's almost ridiculously pathetic to game this system to a certain degree. Let's see, he is currently enjoying:
1. Summer computer camps
2. Singing/piano lessons + rock band camp in the summer
3. Leadership/Scout programs
4. Private school education with very small teacher/student ratios
5. Competing on the swim team
6. Starting a recycling program at his school as his "entrepreneurial project" and writing a journal about his experiences
Most importantly, the above is very fun for him because he's allowed to enjoy the moment after periods of incredibly hard work. And he just turned 8. The only time he watches "TV" is Netflix on the iPad in the car while we shuttle him between activities. This is the new normal, and what I'm doing is what all the other Tiger parents are doing to create the "balanced" individual.
Yes, he goes to birthday parties, yes he has sleepovers, and yes he has lots of friends. But because he's having "fun", we are not pushing him 24/7 to be the "best" in all these activities, but to simply do his best, as best as an 8 year old is expected to do. Nevertheless, I feel bad for the kids that do not have such supportive parents with the resources to help their children in this way. My son does not deserve success any more than the next child, he's simply blessed that he was not born in the 'hood.
Being a parent that closely monitors his child's learning process, I'm very careful to never give my child the answer, but just enough hints to keep him from being frustrated - ultimately, HE must figure it out, never me. KA is a great way for my son to learn about a subject, but the next stage is when I take him away from KA and start applying those concepts to real life problems.
Parents need to understand this 2 step process.