News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by dbancajas on Monday August 17, 2020 @01:40PM (#24189619)
is modulo.app the official app endorsed by school? or are you homeschooling?
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Monday August 17, 2020 @01:43PM (#24189660)
Hi:) I can answer this. I'm the founder of Modulo. Modulo can be used as a supplement or replacement for school. If families want to use it as a replacement, they need to register as homeschoolers, but we help families make sure their kids are on track academically and developmentally. feel free to be in touch if you have any questions. My email is [email protected]
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by bargl on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:24PM (#24190155)
I just wanted to say, I had a hard time googling your product. It was easier with DDG. The name made me have to dig deeper with keyword searches.

This looks like a cool service though and I'll be taking a deeper look TY.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Monday August 17, 2020 @09:08PM (#24194258)
Thanks so much for the feedback. We just launched our website and definitely need to work on our SEO. Any feedback/advice would be really appreciated! Here's the website if it helps. https://www.modulo.app/
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by bargl on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @10:36PM (#24206612)
Sometimes the name can be really hard to find because it's just so common in other places. You can get around that the way Google did with go. They called it golang. So any search has to search golang not go.

It's really hard to find, how to write a loop in go. But how to write a loop in golang is easier. Maybe you can be modulo learning or something. But make sure you have a catch phrase people use to discuss your app that makes it easier to find in Google. Exposure and time might fix that but you want the way people think of your tool to be the way they search it.

I'm no expert on this stuff, this advice might suck, that's my I am not a lawyer disclaimer. Good luck!!!

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by dbancajas on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:20PM (#24190115)
how much does it cost?
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Monday August 17, 2020 @09:09PM (#24194263)
Here are our different monthly pricing plans. We also offer partial and full scholarships. Let me know if I can help answer any questions for you - or feel free to reach out via intercom on our website. https://www.modulo.app/services
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by logicme on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:06PM (#24189947)
This is a great idea. You probably would get more business if you didn't have workshops for 'undoing white supremacy' and 'racismo'

Many of the ppl that will be homeschooling are doing so bc of the blm education being introduced in schools- it isn't just about covid.

https://www.modulo.app/notmyidea

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:50PM (#24190455)
We are very proud of introducing diversity and inclusion into our program. It's of critical importance that we learn to think deeply about the systemic racism in our society - as students and educators. A good education is well-rounded and helps children understand history and social systems in a broad way, not limited to a certain group or perspective. Race, racial tensions and inequity are some of the biggest issues facing society today. Our kids are worried about it and they are the ones who are going to be helping change the way our society runs. They need to be prepared to think about this, analyze multiple view points and make intelligent and informed decisions. Hiding it from them will help no one. Education is about illumination, not casting shadows over what is happening and what has happened before us. While some may be leaving the school system because schools are finally addressing these issues, many also are homeschooling because they feel these topics are not adequately integrated into our curriculum.
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by burfog on Monday August 17, 2020 @07:52PM (#24193676)
Focusing on race is what keeps people focusing on race. It's fundamentally divisive. Teaching children to think of everything in terms of race is the biggest factor in perpetuating racism.

I suppose there is a market for that, and you're serving it, making money as you divide society.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by mcv on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @09:24AM (#24198240)
That is exactly why it's important for kids to learn about that divide, and to break through it. To understand the experience of other people, to recognise the injustice of it, and to do something to change that.

The division is caused by treating with different skin colour or ethnic background as lesser, or as criminals. Pretending it doesn't exist doesn't make it go away. It's real, and it needs to be addressed. Making kids more aware of that is absolutely important.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by burfog on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @12:12AM (#24207080)
Human minds don't work that way. They learn, but not always what you intend for them to learn.

If the kid is white, possible learning outcomes include:

a. self-hate, leading to depression and self-harm

b. reading between the lines, learning that to be normal he must be racist against black people, because that is just how white people are

c. rage at being disfavored by every diversity initiative, leading to a desire for revenge

If the kid is black, possible learning outcomes include:

a. hatred toward white people due to being told that white people are to blame for all the bad in life

b. giving up on life because the world seems so racist that life is hopeless

c. deciding that if most people believe he is prone to crime, it is probably true or he might as well make it true

Most of the above will be recognized by both sides as "othering" that is enough to prevent friendship. That's what is being taught, even if not intended.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by mcv on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @04:55AM (#24208473)
I think you've got this exactly backwards. We have already seen what not teaching people about this leads to: a continuation of the racism. Kids get taught racism, consciously and unconsciously, intentionally and unintentionally. By default, we tend to reinforce the patterns we see. We need more awareness of the old patterns in order to change them.

Of course you shouldn't teach them self-hate, depression and that sort of thing, but you can teach black and white kids to unite against those old patterns that have kept them separate, to have them work together, to teach them they are equals.

I keep seeing too many excuses not to tackle racism, but that means it will continue to exist and hold new generations back.

You don't solve problems by ignoring them. Of course you should also not solve them by making them worse. So you should absolutely look critically at the way in which kids are taught about this, but it's important to make kids aware that this is something that has held previous generations back, and they shouldn't be held back the same way. Sheltering kids from history is not going to make them learn from it, and as we know, people who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by burfog on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @06:07AM (#24208822)
That just isn't how humans learn. You think you are teaching to not hate, but they learn that hate is normal. They want to be normal. You teach that diversity is important, but they learn that they are the undesirables or that they don't have to try in life. Just focusing on the differences puts them on different teams, and thus in opposition. It won't be otherwise.

We have seen what teaching people about this leads to, because we've been doing it for decades, and the result is not a lack of racism. You don't solve racial division with racial division.

Most of these efforts do shelter kids from history. Kids learn a false narrative that slavery was just evil white southerners enslaving black people. Nothing is said of the fact that the first slaveowner in the pre-USA colonies was a black person named Anthony Johnson, or that free blacks in the USA often owned slaves, or that black slaves were purchased from black people in Africa, or that the very term "slave" comes from the white Slavic people, or that black Africans are still being sold today, or that enslavement (generally, and particularly of black people) is endorsed by a major world religion.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by mcv on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @03:15PM (#24214865)
Teaching not to hate is hard to do. Instead, teach everybody is different, and that that is normal. Teach them that people have different looks, different backgrounds, different religions, different believes and personal convictions, and that that is normal. Expose kids to those differences, so they won't see different people as Other.

Don't make it an us-vs-them thing, but unite them. Let them embrace those differences.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by burfog on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @07:10PM (#24217929)
Differences will be ranked, and they will be used to form teams.

You can't stop human nature. At best, you can divert it to something less problematic, like nationalism. If everybody is on Team USA, then there is no room for racism.

We will never eliminate the urge to judge, rank, and exclude. It's very deeply in our DNA. All the social mammals have the urge.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @11:38AM (#24211539)
Beautifully put!
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @11:37AM (#24211532)
How did you jump from offering a workshop about race to "teaching children to think of everything in terms of race." ? Actually, race is not talked about in most classrooms at all. We're trying to create a more well-rounded curriculum that incorporates all points of view, not just one. Black history and women's history is absent from most of our school curriculum. The fact that you responded to this post shows that race and the way it's talked about it is on your mind too. If kids can learn about race, how it impacts our society and how to think and talk about it in a way that encourages connection, not division, that unites us, instead of separates us, that fuels healthy discussion and positive change, not arguments, I see that as a huge plus. As an example, we're all talking about it now and it encourages us all to think! I think education is about teaching people to think and that's a good thing!
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by dbancajas on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:21PM (#24190123)
What is your source of "BLM education being introduced in schools"?
Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by mcv on Tuesday August 18, 2020 @09:19AM (#24198195)
I don't think wanting to teach your kids to be racist, and keeping them away from ideas that might challenge that, is a very good reason to homeschool.

It's important that kids grow up knowing that there are different people out there, with different backgrounds, different ideas, different skin colours, and indeed that some people have been treated differently in the past, and often still are. A too sheltered upbringing is not doing your kid any favours.

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by actfrench on Wednesday August 19, 2020 @11:48AM (#24211685)
I've seen that many people are concerned that homeschooling would be less diverse than a traditional school environment.

I've observed the opposite to be true, especially in secular homeschooling communities I've been a part of in NYC and San Francisco. Parents are homeschooling because they want to expose their child to a more diverse community - or they are joining a more inclusive community because they experienced discrimination in the school community they were a part of.

I think that many families feel that designing their child's learning has paved the way for them to meet families from more diverse perspectives and backgrounds than they would in their school, join a more inclusive community that has space to be more conscientious about how they relate to each other and paves the way for them to include historical viewpoints that are not incorporated in many traditional schools. Of course, the opposite can also be true. It mostly depends on the parent's intention I've found.

Some really great examples of diverse, inclusive homeschooling communities to give you a flavor for this are:

SEA homeschoolers https://www.facebook.com/groups/seahomeschoolers/

San Francisco Homeschooling and Unschooling Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/166286810672946/

HUGS SF https://www.facebook.com/groups/1931740383552142/

New York City Homeschool Support https://www.facebook.com/groups/262047073979701/

Wildschooling https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildschooling/

Bay Area Homeschool Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/1537398423139116/

Re:Ask HN: Parents, what are you doing for school this fall? by jerf on Monday August 17, 2020 @02:17PM (#24190084)
The homeschool (or now, "school addon") market is relatively competitive, compared to the public school "market". There's plenty of non-BLM curricula out there, and here I use "BLM" as a relatively narrow point, so by "non-BLM" I mean many things that are still liberal/left-wing, not as a catchall for an entire ideological "side". The choice is overwhelming, if anything.