ALEKS question

[abdesigns]

Can ALEKS be used as a curriculum on it's own, or is it more supplemental or review?

Thanks!  Abby

[EKS]

It was originally designed to help adults review math they had taken years before in preparation to take more advanced math in college.  It works *very* well for this purpose.

 

IMO, it is not a good primary program for anyone as the explanations aren't overly accessible and the whole thing emphasizes procedures over problem solving.  

 

It also has the problem, for kids in particular, that once they zip through the easy stuff they tend to get cranky about doing it.

[gstharr]

About 1 1/2 years ago, my then 4th grader completed an honors 6th grade math (pre-alg) with CTY/thinkwell, then did alek pre-alg as a stand alone class. Worked great for review and covered  many things not covered by CTY, or most pre-alg textbooks (by exercising "additional topics" option--all alek classes have this option ) .  We still go back to alek pre-alg a couple of  months before standardized testing.   Great for review, but cannot recommend as a primary class. Very limited instruction. 

 

 

[Targhee]

My oldest used it when she was 11 as a preAlgebra - it was not good for her. She finished her "pie" with all required components in under a semester, and learned almost nothing. There's very little teaching at all. She did AOPS preA after that and has continued with AOPS. With very little instruction and lack of rigor that semester of ALEKS was a waste of time.

[Brad S]

Is there a reason to use ALEKS vs. the free KhanAcademy.org ?  Khan Academy seems to do the things listed above and has a bit of instruction too, although I wouldn't say it's a standalone course either.