CK12 Math

[Joshin]

We've been kind of blase about math with my 9 year old this year. We knew he was way ahead and we couldn't really find a curriculum fit. He wanted to just play around on Khan Academy for most of the year so we let him do his own thing there along with an outside the home, twice weekly fractions class he wanted to try. I decided we needed to get a bit more formal with math for next year, so I bought a couple of 4th and 5th grade math workbooks (the type to make sure your child knows all the topics they should know after summer break) a couple of weeks ago to check for knowledge holes. Well, he just finished them and except for a few topics he needed to review, they were pretty simple for him.

 

We've been planning AOPS for Algebra for him, but I'm not quite sure he's ready for it maturity-wise. I want to get him used to doing math more traditionally rather than just exploring and following his whims. He has also requested a textbook approach ("Moooooom, I want to get serious about math!"), but he prefers to work online. I'm thinking the CK12 Flexbook for 6th grade looks just right, with the text and problems both presented online but in textbook format. Maybe work through it over the summer and reassess his readiness to move on in the fall? Has anyone used these with a kid that enjoys math and understands math concepts quickly, but gets bored with repetition? Maybe I just fail at searching, but I'm not finding much info from anyone that's actually used these. Thanks!

 

 

[EndOfOrdinary]

Never used the ones you have listed, however, I would not jump directly from Khan, or even a traditional text, directly into AoPS with new material. We chose Pre-A for my son even though he had been completely through the material twice (once blasting through Khan, once in a traditional text, and half way through Saxon) just because the approach was so different. It is not the material which is hard in AoPS, it is learning to struggle and think outside the box. The depth is staggering for someone who has never been asked to think before.

 

By starting the program with previously learned material, the extreme jump in depth won't be such an issue. This is especially true for kids who get concepts really easily. Meltdowns and major self frustrations frequently occur in the first few chapters of AoPS because most kids have never had to struggle. The book is designed to force a bit struggle. That makes it really fun, but only once you stop equating your value to how fast you have previously been able to computation and follow a prescribed process.

 

Just a word of warning. I have not really heard of many kids picking up AoPS and not having troubles initially or wanting to stop due to difficulty. You may consider Pre-A next year instead.

[Dmmetler]

I've used CK12 for science as a supplemental text and for math as an extra problem set. I think it would work fine as a main text, but we've found it very dry, and I don't like the electronic format for math. I also found the pagination (on the kindle version, anyway) to be odd (which may be better on the PDF.

 

I do want to echo EoO-my DD just finished AOPS pre-algebra as her 2nd pre-algebra course, and I'm glad, as a younger student, that we'd taken the two years and then entered at Pre-algebra. There weren't a huge number of new concepts for her this year (and almost all of them were in the last half of the book, with the last three chapters being almost entirely new to her), but the depth and the uses to which the concepts were put, plus the effort required was definitely new for her, and I'm not sure we would have made it through the first two chapters had the concepts been new as well. I suspect part of that is simply the difference between being a really smart 8-9 yr old and being a smart 12-13 yr old.

 

 

[Joshin]

Thanks for the feedback! Yes, our plan is to start with AOPs pre-algebra before jumping into algebra, and I was thinking of using the CK12 text as the first introduction to the concepts. Saxon is a definite no-go with this boy, even though I have all the texts because my older son used them. DS outright despises Saxon from when we briefly tried to use it with him. I'm trying to find an option for the initial introduction of concepts before we move on to AOPs.

[Guest CK-12 Foundation]

If you're looking for something a little less dry, you'll want to look at concepts on CK-12. Concepts break down the Flexbook further and allow you to view concepts in multiple modalities (simulations, videos, reading, real world applications, practice, etc.) Your child may enjoy these formats more as he moves from Khan Academy to a more traditional textbook. You will also find it easy to do practice problems as they go with most concepts. If you have questions about CK-12, contact support@ck12.org.