Kirk's Tutoring

10/15/2026

If you’re a classroom math teacher, Mix and Math is for you.

10/15/2026

Ruth is THE BEST!

10/14/2026

10/14/2026

👀

10/12/2026

If you’re not following Ruth | Maths at home and you homeschool, my advice is to go follow her and sign up for her newsletters.

She may not be your cup of tea, but she knows what she’s talking about.

I have watched her change how she approaches math with her children based on their preferences and that is a beautiful thing. Too bad schools can’t do that.

10/11/2026

Not bad for their first time parallel parking.

The young people I meet give me hope for the future. I wish adults listened to them more.

10/06/2026

Buy it before I do.

Math U See Integer 133-piece manipulative block set for Primer-Algebra 1; includes 20 ones and tens, 13 fives, and 10 each of twos, threes, fours, sixes, sevens, eights, nines, and hundreds blocks. Not in original packaging.
https://usedhomeschoolbooks.com/product/math-u-see-integer-block-set/

10/05/2026

I asked my 8th grade student, “What is the value of the left side?” Their response was, “Isn’t that what I am trying to figure out”?

I am seeing a fundamental lack of understanding with some middle school students and this is a prime example.

When students just do the steps without thinking, they are performing, not understanding. It hurts my head.

10/04/2026

Putting a Child on a Computer Program Is Not the Same as Specialized Instruction

A Colorado Department of Education decision from August 2026 makes a point every parent of a struggling reader should know: a school can meet every minute of specialized instruction an IEP requires and still deny a child FAPE, if a computer program is doing the teaching instead of a teacher.

In State Complaint SC2026-602, Colorado Springs School District 11, a fifth grader with dyslexia had an IEP requiring 90 minutes a week of specialized literacy instruction from a special education teacher. Instead, for an entire semester, he worked independently on Read Naturally Live, an online reading program, while his case manager helped other students in the room. The district's logs showed he received more minutes than required, in some months more than double.

CDE found a denial of FAPE anyway. The reason: "specially designed instruction" means instruction adapted to a child's specific needs, not a program he works through alone. 34 C.F.R. § 300.39(b)(3). Here, the online lessons weren't paired with teacher instruction, didn't target his actual IEP goal, and his reading fluency regressed while he used it. As CDE put it, services beyond what the IEP requires don't fix the problem if the services delivered were never the right kind to begin with: "additional services cannot substitute for required services that were not delivered as specified in the IEP."

The clearest proof is what happened next. The same district switched the student to small-group, teacher-led instruction the following semester, under the same IEP requirement, and CDE found no violation at all.

The lesson for parents: if your child's IEP calls for specialized instruction, ask who is teaching the lesson, not just how many minutes show up on a log. A computer program can be part of good instruction. On its own, for a child who needs direct teaching, it is not enough.

Full decision: https://ed.cde.state.co.us/fs/resource-manager/view/88f4dd26-a143-44ef-bc5c-cfa27f503d85