Khan Academy

[ProudGrandma]

what is the purpose of this site?  I mean, is it just for supplimenting your primary curriculum?  Is it to take the place of a primary curriculum? 

 

How do you use this site?

 

thanks.

[OneStepAtATime]

Short answer...Yes.

 

Some have used it as their math spine. Others use it to supplement a primary math program or for targeted clarification/practice in trouble areas and still others mainly use it during hiatus from a primary math program, etc. Lots of ways to use it. All depends on a student/family's needs.

 

The main thing is to make sure that whatever you are using it for, it is actually effectively fulfilling that purpose. For instance, if you use it as a spine, stay involved and make sure it is a good fit and provides the needed instruction/practice for your particular student.

Edited March 4, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[Jean in Newcastle]

Some people just supplement their primary curriculum.

 

Some people use it for review.

 

Some people use it as a source for explaining difficult content that isn't getting through in other ways.

 

A very few use it as their primary curriculum.  I used it from 3rd grade to 8th grade.  Dd (who was struggling mightily with math up until 3rd grade) then placed right into Jacobs Algebra and is getting straight A's despite dire predictions from many on this board.

 

Since people are going to ask yet again how we did it, here is how we used it:

 

When dd startted a new grade level I required her to do the Mission Foundations before branching out into any other skills.  And I required her to do those in order because they often build on each other.  You can find the Mission Foundations by clicking "Show all Skills".  They are the first line of the Skill Breakdown.  How we did it is to then try the skill.  If she missed a couple of problems in a row, then I suggested that she watch a video or click to show all the hints to see how they attacked the problem.  I was sitting next to her and was able to jump in and show her physically how to do things as well.  (I bolded this because I did not use Khan as way to get out of being the primary math teacher.)  Dd did not like the videos very much so we put those off until we'd tried all other ways of learning the material.  Once you've started learning a skill on Khan, a Mastery Challenge will be generated (a review/test of the material).  We liked to start each session by doing the mastery challenges and then we attacked the Mission Foundations.  My goal was two of those skill squares a day but I had a general sense of how much time I wanted to spend on math and also my dd's frustration level and made decisions each day based on that.  

 

Once she mastered all the Mission Foundations, then each day I asked her to do the Mastery Challenges and then two other skills of her choice.  In dd's case she did all the easier skills until all she had left were things like fractions and then we did those at the end of the grade level.     ;)

[luuknam]

what is the purpose of this site?  I mean, is it just for supplimenting your primary curriculum?  Is it to take the place of a primary curriculum? 

 

 

The intro and history section of the Wikipedia article give a pretty good overview of the purpose:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy

 

IIRC Salman Khan's also given at least one TED talk about it (yep, looks like he did 2):

 

https://www.ted.com/speakers/salman_khan

Edited March 5, 2017 by luuknam

[Guest]

 

 

How do you use this site?

 

thanks.

I have used it a few different ways. When dd was using TT I had her do set problems from Khan Academy as extra practice and because I learned to trust their report of her mastery on a topic far more than the grade book results in TT. Sometimes I would assign a set amount of time, sometimes a set number of problems.

 

After we switched to CLE, I've used it primarily for video examples of concepts. CLE is great, but as we've progressed in Algebra I'm seeing she is a super visual kid and needs lots of video support for some things to click. Khan helps with that.

[luuknam]

How do you use this site?

 

 

Forgot to answer this part. Apparently the last time I touched the site (before last night) was 2.5 years ago. At that time, I occasionally had one of the kids do some of the exercises, but they didn't do much - I'm not a big fan of it for the lower grades (for one, even though they give you an on-screen scratch pad, it's not that comfy to use, so why would I inflict that on my kids?). So, from 4-2.5 years ago I'd go through bursts of just using it for review for myself, and did some volunteer work (screening bug reports on GitHub). Maybe I'll have the kids use it some now that they're older, though probably not much - it's still easier to work problems using pen and paper (and will remain easier for all of eternity, I bet).

 

I gotta give it to them though - getting points is addictive. Finally hit 2,000,000 points last night, and got the Da Vinci badge today, so life is awesome.  :lol:

Edited March 5, 2017 by luuknam

[Emba]

I have used it as a supplement for my kids, both the one that is homeschooled and the one that is public schooled.  Mostly I like the videos, even though they are dry, which explain things in a different way (and closer to what the public school here teaches than what I learned).  Then there are a few practice problems, which is also good.  And despite the fact that it is pretty dry and not fun at all, the earning points/badges and the novelty of working on the computer appeals to my kids, so they not only do this math practice without a fuss, they voluntarily request it.

 

I would not however use it as my primary curriculum because I know for the homeschooled child it would be a bad fit.  There isn't enough practice for her to retain it, and also it doesn't review old topics enough.  It might work for some but would be a disaster for her.

[Guest]

Forgot to answer this part. Apparently the last time I touched the site (before last night) was 2.5 years ago. At that time, I occasionally had one of the kids do some of the exercises, but they didn't do much - I'm not a big fan of it for the lower grades (for one, even though they give you an on-screen scratch pad, it's not that comfy to use, so why would I inflict that on my kids?). So, from 4-2.5 years ago I'd go through bursts of just using it for review for myself, and did some volunteer work (screening bug reports on GitHub). Maybe I'll have the kids use it some now that they're older, though probably not much - it's still easier to work problems using pen and paper (and will remain easier for all of eternity, I bet).

 

I gotta give it to them though - getting points is addictive. Finally hit 2,000,000 points last night, and got the Da Vinci badge today, so life is awesome. :lol:

I love the points too! I would love to know what part of the psyche those tap into. :)

[Jean in Newcastle]

There is no law that you can't use a pad and pencil to work out problems on Khan academy.  We never used the electronic scratch pad feature. 

[luuknam]

There is no law that you can't use a pad and pencil to work out problems on Khan academy.  We never used the electronic scratch pad feature. 

 

 

True, it's just that when I'm balancing my laptop on my lap, I don't want to also manage pencil and paper. 

[LMD]

My kids mostly use it to watch crash course history!

I'm using it to brush up on my algebra skills before we get there.

[sdobis]

My daughter is currently using it as her main curriculum. She works with it for 45 minutes per day. I don't sit with her for most of it, but she comes to me when she needs help. I also check her activity every day. Just in our sit down time together, I can see a huge improvement. It was just what we needed to get through the rest of this school year. It seems to be shoring up some skills that will make next year easier.

[Pegs]

We used the Early Math mission to fill in gaps and check for competency, having already covered most of the content through living math.

 

It got the job done. :)

 

We didn't use the videos. I just taught any unfamiliar topics on the spot when they came up.

 

We prefer Prodigy now, for fun review and practice (as a supplement to Beast).

[MarkT]

The intro and history section of the Wikipedia article give a pretty good overview of the purpose:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Academy

 

IIRC Salman Khan's also given at least one TED talk about it (yep, looks like he did 2):

 

https://www.ted.com/speakers/salman_khan

 

the Wikipedia is somewhat historical - Khan is expanding his mission

https://www.khanacademy.org/about

[Zoo Keeper]

Here's a blog post by someone who does use it as her main math...http://www.mthopechronicles.com/2016/02/in-which-i-pour-out-my-love-for-khan.html

 

I have used bits and pieces of it with all of my school aged kids--one child is steadily working her way through her grade level (for fun, in addition to her regularly scheduled math), and she loves coding.  Another child uses it as a pleasant break from his regularly scheduled math.  A few days on Khan, and he's ready to go back to the books again.  He also does coding, and enjoys the science videos (most of it goes over his head, but he does enjoy it). One of my older boys really, really likes Khan for math--particularly the "Doodling in Math" videos.  I think he wants to marry Vi Hart.  ;)  I'd go so far as to say that Khan has fanned the flames for his math love very well.  My oldest is using some the SAT prep, and enjoys the history lectures.  I'm thinking of adding some the art history videos to his schedule for next year.

 

Both the middle school and high school in my district rely heavily on Khan--not as the main math program, but as an aid for remedial and gifted/talented work.