summerreading Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) Background: my son hates when I try to help him with math, he's done CLE, Khan Academy, Derek Owens (pricey and he wasn't feeling it), Adapted Mind, a tutor, etc, etc. I showed him Essential Mathematics for Life book 6 (got for $1!) and said do you just want to use this with reference books and the Internet? No, I like Khan Academy. He is going through the whole thing as review and is about to graduate 3rd grade :glare: (in Khan's world of math - up to pre-algebra otherwise) Ideas on if I should let him form his own math plan and see what happens? He is geared towards STEM, so not something I want to see him struggle with. Edited May 22, 2016 by summerreading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) I wouldn't use Khan Academy as the main math instruction for a child who appears math adept. Have you looked into Beast Academy and/or Singapore Maths? eta: Sorry, I didn't originally notice this was for a 13 year old. Not sure why he is still doing 3rd grade concepts, but if he really is math adept, you might want to consider AoPS. If not, I'm not sure what to suggest -- I'm sure there are others who could help. Edited May 22, 2016 by amsunshinetemp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 (edited) He probably likes Khan Academy because it's easy (I am assuming this is regarding your oldest). The true test of math program fit is how well it works for you when you're actually learning something new with it. That said, I would not turn over the math decision entirely to him. I would select three programs that you can live with (and that you think would work well for him) and then let him choose. Edited May 22, 2016 by EKS 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerreading Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 I wouldn't use Khan Academy as the main math instruction for a child who appears math adept. Have you looked into Beast Academy and/or Singapore Maths? eta: Sorry, I didn't originally notice this was for a 13 year old. Not sure why he is still doing 3rd grade concepts, but if he really is math adept, you might want to consider AoPS. If not, I'm not sure what to suggest -- I'm sure there are others who could help. Sorry, I guess that is confusing. He is going through every single thing in KA math to get all the points, so he is on 3rd grade for fun. He is at a pre-algebra/algebra level. I'm pretty sure KA isn't sufficient, just not sure what else to try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsunshine Posted May 22, 2016 Share Posted May 22, 2016 I agree with EKS -- pick 3 different curricula that you are satisfied with and let him choose. AoPS is excellent, and offers online classes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerreading Posted May 22, 2016 Author Share Posted May 22, 2016 He probably likes Khan Academy because it's easy (I am assuming this is regarding your oldest). The true test of math program fit is how well it works for you when you're actually learning something new with it. That said, I would not turn over the math decision entirely to him. I would select three programs that you can live with (and that you think would work well for him) and then let him choose. picking 3 is a great idea, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EndOfOrdinary Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 My son needed a math break, so this year I let him do essentially what your son is doing. Ds is 11. It took him two to three months to go from PreK through Algebra 1. It was not a complete waste. He firmed up some rusty skills like area of triangles and simplifying advanced radicals. However, I cannot imagine it taking more than a very small number of months. I'd let him do it over the summer, then pick another curriculum. He gets what he wants, you get what you want, win win. After AoPS, Khan was blissfully easy. I think that and the points/badges were the main draw. Ds just needed to feel like he was super math amazing, even if it was in 3rd grade skills. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Khan Academy as I understand it is an instruction program. It's not a curriculum. It's easy to watch a teacher do almost anything. It's NOT easy to do it yourself in the quiet of your own mind. To my mind, KA by itself is not acceptable. Though, it's possible I'm missing something here and there are assignments and homework problems that you work yourself. But I would be extremely wary of any program chosen for ease. My daughter likes Beast Academy. It's not always easy to get her to do it because it is... gasp... WORK. ;) But when she gets into it, on a roll, it's great to watch. Inspiring, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SporkUK Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 As it seems he wants something as independent as possible, I would - as already suggested - give him a choice of three with how they could be done that way. An online option he may like [particularly as it self grades so brings you in less] is the MEP Interactive material for secondary level possibly alongside reading the teaching material in the course material himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Aops has Alcumus. Its online if he wants a computer review program. Still need a book though. Jacobs alg might appeal and then follow up with aops for depth with a stem kid. Do alcumus along with both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Khan Academy as I understand it is an instruction program. It's not a curriculum. It's easy to watch a teacher do almost anything. It's NOT easy to do it yourself in the quiet of your own mind. To my mind, KA by itself is not acceptable. Though, it's possible I'm missing something here and there are assignments and homework problems that you work yourself. But I would be extremely wary of any program chosen for ease. My daughter likes Beast Academy. It's not always easy to get her to do it because it is... gasp... WORK. ;) But when she gets into it, on a roll, it's great to watch. Inspiring, even. There are problems. Here is an example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerreading Posted June 11, 2016 Author Share Posted June 11, 2016 Aops has Alcumus. Its online if he wants a computer review program. Still need a book though. Jacobs alg might appeal and then follow up with aops for depth with a stem kid. Do alcumus along with both. Do you mean do Jacobs one year and then transition to AoPS? I'm having such a hard time figuring out what to pick. MEP I read is hard to jump in if you don't start early. I'm worried AoPS might be too hard. TT seems to easy. I checked out Lial's but the format is too busy. He will be taking the SAT10 in a few weeks, but last year he scored above average in a lot of the math sections. He is just slow. This is why Derek Owens didn't work out. He got it, but it was taking so long to move ahead. Not a good thng when I'm paying monthly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutingmom Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I'm having such a hard time figuring out what to pick. MEP I read is hard to jump in if you don't start early. MEP is hard to jump into the middle of years 1-6. It is easy to jump into in Year 7. Not sure about jumping into 8 or 9, haven't heard, and my oldest is about to start 7. Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 I meant I would do Alcumus online while doing Jacob's Alg and then Aops. This would be a somewhat independent easy entry into Aops because Jacob's (less depth) would have previously touched on the concepts. I looked into this because I wanted a gentle entry into Aops with a young son. I'm always afraid the next thing will be too much. We ended up not choosing this route last week. We bought Aops PreAlg to do with MM6(old version). We will be letting him choose which book he wants to work in out of those two choices. The topics match but are presented differently. Workbook verses text book. Different order of the topics. This will, I hope, ease him into the text book style Aops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticHaiku Posted June 13, 2016 Share Posted June 13, 2016 No experience but isn't Jousting Armadillos a text that is written to the student? That might be a good option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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