pehp Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 Exactly what the title says. We're working through Miquon and some R&S, and I have a demo account w/ K12 b/c I have been examining them for possible history/science/LA next year (still totally undecided on this). I think my son could *maybe* benefit from some online math work, b/c he seems to connect with it more than he does the paper (he loves his c-rods though. a lot). We've done some math on the K12 demo account and he was receptive. He is a very visual learner. Why is it horrific? Is it some sort of tie-in with the common core approach to math? Conversely, if you have a secret love of K12 math, please come out of the closet and enlighten me! We would probably begin it in third or fourth grade-whenever we run out of Miquon, basically. He's working pretty slowly through Miquon--just finishing up the second book now, and starting blue and green (I pick and choose pages), so we have a while. Right now I am only vaguely pondering this as I think of what comes after Miquon for us, not seriously considering it, but am interested in people's perspectives. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Bumping this for anyone who has used K12 math and has an opinion to share! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 We HATED it. I had a 5th grader and a 2nd grader. The main thing was this: k12 math was okay because they taught many different problem solving approaches. So when learning addition and subtraction they taught it several ways so that kids can find a way to understand the concepts and solve the problems. However, they didn't say, here are 5 methods to salve these kinds of problems. Use the one that makes the best sense for you. They said "Solve these problems using the ____ method." if that method didn't make sense to the kid, they were up a creek. So every test would force kids to use many different methodologies to solve problems. My child would go into a math lesson having a decent grasp on solving certain kinds of math problems and why it worked properly. She would leave the lesson completely confused. She LOST ground because they introduced so many different ways of solving the same problem and forcing her to use ones that didn't make intuitive sense to her. I also found that forcing her to use these many other methods seemed like a waste of time when she already understood one or two ways that made logical sense to her. So that's why k12 math was such a poor fit for my kid. It might be amazing for yours. My other more math-minded kid did okay with it (2nd grader) but she merely found the extra work as a silly waste of time when she already "got" it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Sounds like public school. We HATED it. I had a 5th grader and a 2nd grader. The main thing was this: k12 math was okay because they taught many different problem solving approaches. So when learning addition and subtraction they taught it several ways so that kids can find a way to understand the concepts and solve the problems. However, they didn't say, here are 5 methods to salve these kinds of problems. Use the one that makes the best sense for you. They said "Solve these problems using the ____ method." if that method didn't make sense to the kid, they were up a creek. So every test would force kids to use many different methodologies to solve problems. My child would go into a math lesson having a decent grasp on solving certain kinds of math problems and why it worked properly. She would leave the lesson completely confused. She LOST ground because they introduced so many different ways of solving the same problem and forcing her to use ones that didn't make intuitive sense to her. I also found that forcing her to use these many other methods seemed like a waste of time when she already understood one or two ways that made logical sense to her. So that's why k12 math was such a poor fit for my kid. It might be amazing for yours. My other more math-minded kid did okay with it (2nd grader) but she merely found the extra work as a silly waste of time when she already "got" it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 I have used K12 math through 7th grade. I don't think I used 3rd or 4th once it was redone. I have used 5th, K, and now 1st since it has been redone. I don't have a problem with it. It has been awhile since I used the new 5th grade, and I don't remember much from that. 1st grade is fine. As Fairfarmhand said above, several different methods are taught. Once my dd understands it, we do the lessons and I show her the other methods, but I don't require that she use that method on the assessment. As long as she knows how to get the right answer, that is what matters to me. When you enter in the answer on the assessment, it is only looking for the correct answer, not method used. There may be a question or two where points are awarded if she used a number line or something, but that is rare that it asks that. We are at a point where dd is learning the different methods (using cubes, base 10 blocks, drawing, number lines, etc...), so most of the "teaching" is through a video/game online that she can watch independently. Which is a bonus to have that type of lesson every now and then. I think there is a good balance between online and offline in the course. You still use the manipulatives even when the work is online, so your ds would still get to use base 10 (not c rods). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 My other more math-minded kid did okay with it (2nd grader) but she merely found the extra work as a silly waste of time when she already "got" it. If your child can meet the objectives of the lesson and they don't need the extra work, then move on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 We spent two years with K12. The old K12 math (Sadler-Oxford) was decent. The new K12 math (their own design) covers a large number of topics, but the pacing and depth are a bit off. More concerning to us was the lack of mathematical understanding that my kids were experiencing in using the program. I suggest using the search feature and reading previous people's reviews. There are many. My thoughts are mostly summed up here: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/469854-review-of-k12-math/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 If your child can meet the objectives of the lesson and they don't need the extra work, then move on! We were working with our online public school system and we had to demonstrate that she could do all of the mentioned methods. Of course, if you are doing it independently or in a state that doesn't care, then that is what I would do, but it didn't work for us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 This is pretty helpful, thank you! We would be using it independently, and I have no qualms about skipping and picking and choosing, which sounds like it would help make the program a bit friendlier. Perhaps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the program was very glitchy and cumbersome. You couldn't leave a lesson and come back to it. You had to go through each and every screen. And, if you DID leave a lesson, you had to start at the very beginning (answer every question again) in order to get back to where you were. The work had to be copied off of the computer screen, worked off-line and then the answers entered back onto the computer screen. This made for very long lessons at the computer (I got around this by going through the lesson first, writing down all of the problems, having DS answer the questions on the paper and then entering it for him...but that was a great waste of MY time, for math that I was finding sub-par at that point). FWIW, we used the 3rd-5th grade levels (don't remember the colors, sorry) of K12 a few years ago, I won't use it for either of my younger two. If I need something more "computer based" for them, I will use TT and supplement with Math Mammoth or Life of Fred. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the program was very glitchy and cumbersome. You couldn't leave a lesson and come back to it. You had to go through each and every screen. And, if you DID leave a lesson, you had to start at the very beginning (answer every question again) in order to get back to where you were. The work had to be copied off of the computer screen, worked off-line and then the answers entered back onto the computer screen. This made for very long lessons at the computer (I got around this by going through the lesson first, writing down all of the problems, having DS answer the questions on the paper and then entering it for him...but that was a great waste of MY time, for math that I was finding sub-par at that point). FWIW, we used the 3rd-5th grade levels (don't remember the colors, sorry) of K12 a few years ago, I won't use it for either of my younger two. If I need something more "computer based" for them, I will use TT and supplement with Math Mammoth or Life of Fred. I have not found this to be the case. If you start a lesson and are not able to finish it, when you come back to it, you have the choice to continue or start over. If you select continue, it takes you to the screen where you left off. Any work that needs to be completed off-line can be printed, if you don't want to copy down the problems or work directly on the computer screen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 I have not found this to be the case. If you start a lesson and are not able to finish it, when you come back to it, you have the choice to continue or start over. If you select continue, it takes you to the screen where you left off. Any work that needs to be completed off-line can be printed, if you don't want to copy down the problems or work directly on the computer screen. This is what I noticed when we toyed with the demo account recently. We could start over or just continue within the lesson. Perhaps that has been an improvement made in more recent years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 10, 2015 Author Share Posted April 10, 2015 One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the program was very glitchy and cumbersome. You couldn't leave a lesson and come back to it. You had to go through each and every screen. And, if you DID leave a lesson, you had to start at the very beginning (answer every question again) in order to get back to where you were. The work had to be copied off of the computer screen, worked off-line and then the answers entered back onto the computer screen. This made for very long lessons at the computer (I got around this by going through the lesson first, writing down all of the problems, having DS answer the questions on the paper and then entering it for him...but that was a great waste of MY time, for math that I was finding sub-par at that point). FWIW, we used the 3rd-5th grade levels (don't remember the colors, sorry) of K12 a few years ago, I won't use it for either of my younger two. If I need something more "computer based" for them, I will use TT and supplement with Math Mammoth or Life of Fred. This (bolded) is exactly what I am chasing down--trying to figure out why it seems sub-par to some families. Do you mind elaborating on that, either here or in a PM? I have played with the demo account a lot, but I am not sure why people just seem to dislike the content. And I find it's hard for me to get a handle on that by just surveying scope & sequence and using the demo account, if that makes sense. If I had to write down the problems and then enter them back into the computer I would be tearing my hair out! That would drive my efficient-self nuts!! I don't blame you for hating that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebbyribs Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I don't have any experience with K12, but have you looked at Dreambox? It's online and very visual, so it might be a good fit for your son. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
school17777 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 If I had to write down the problems and then enter them back into the computer I would be tearing my hair out! That would drive my efficient-self nuts!! I don't blame you for hating that. You do have to enter in the answers sometimes from the written work. I do find this inefficient. I'd rather just say how many were right or wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 I am bumping this to see if anyone else has any additional thoughts on this topic. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 My 2nd grader can do the math completely independent with K-12 most days. He keeps a dry erase board handy while doing problems in the lesson. We do not write down and go back. That would drive me bonkers. He does the problems as he goes. Now when he was in k and 1st, I did stand and read the lessons and go through it with him completely. Now I go through it only when it calls for something from the learning guide. I have done k, 1, 2, 4, 5, Fundamentals of Geometry and Algebra, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra 1. It is a solid math program. My oldest dd went back to school this last year and placed in Honors Algebra. We chose to have her do Algebra again with the honors for her high school transcript. We do use a charter, but as long as he can pass the assessments...we do not force doing it a particular method unless it helps him to do it differently. He is very good at mental math having started with their program in kindergarten. I do see similarities between it and Singapore math. There is definitely a mental math element to it at certain points. :) In k, 1, 2 grades, there is a consumable workbook. In grades 3 and up, it is a hardback book. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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