Preparing for AP exams with Khan only

[TrustAndLove]

I have a 13 yrs old needs some challenges. And her current school does not provide AP. The only online, free AP preparation classes I can find is Khan. And the program is flexible enough that she can work in her own pace and time. Has anyone have any experience with using Khan only then taking AP exams? Are those Khan classes itself sufficient for the AP exams? Thanks!

[Plagefille]

We have only used Khan as a supplement, but I would say it is not enough. We are doing AP Stats this year and Khan did not go through every topic that the textbook did and the Khan questions were easier. Maybe if you were just trying to pass the test it may work, but not to get a high score.

We are just using AP approved textbooks and it has worked well so far.

[kokotg]

11 hours ago, TrustAndLove said:

I have a 13 yrs old needs some challenges. And her current school does not provide AP. The only online, free AP preparation classes I can find is Khan. And the program is flexible enough that she can work in her own pace and time. Has anyone have any experience with using Khan only then taking AP exams? Are those Khan classes itself sufficient for the AP exams? Thanks!

It depends on the exam. We've used Khan stuff as our "textbook" for a couple of AP histories/social sciences with good results (that's not ALL we did, but that was our main source of course material). One of these was world history, though, and, last I checked, they haven't updated the material to reflect the new exam. We used Khan for government, too. And for AP art history, Khan is great; I'm on an APAH teachers group on Facebook, and pretty much everyone uses the khan material for that--it's more engaging and better tailored to the exam than any/most textbooks. You definitely need to add in some kind of test prep, though...essay writing, etc. 

[Clemsondana]

I would think that it depends on the exam.  Khan tends to do a good job of explaining concepts.  My own kid has found that the AP review videos on the College Board website are a good review once you've covered the material.  In US History and Chem kid took a standard solid high school class (co-op or online).  For chem, we found an AP syllabus and followed it's pacing through a textbook.  For calc, kid started by working through a textbook but when kid didn't like how one section was covered kid started watching the videos and then doing problems from a couple of different texts until kid understood the concept.  For AP Lang, kid will watch the videos but isn't taking a special class -  kid's co-op English classes should be sufficient preparation.  For all, we do a few practice tests starting about a month out to figure out what areas need more work.  

[ishtare]

I haven't used any of these before but, I know Georgia Virtual Learning has free AP Literature and Composition  and AP English Language and Composition courses, and OpenStax has a few free AP textbooks. Maybe those will be helpful. You can also check out this website.

[Malam]

On 4/1/2023 at 11:14 PM, TrustAndLove said:

I have a 13 yrs old needs some challenges. And her current school does not provide AP. The only online, free AP preparation classes I can find is Khan. And the program is flexible enough that she can work in her own pace and time. Has anyone have any experience with using Khan only then taking AP exams? Are those Khan classes itself sufficient for the AP exams? Thanks!

Which subject(s)?

[TrustAndLove]

Biology, and  maybe Physics 

[Malam]

11 hours ago, TrustAndLove said:

Biology, and  maybe Physics 

Physics 1, 2, or C?

 

[TrustAndLove]

I am not too sure of the difference among the three. Let’s start with the simplest: physics 1

[jplain]

7 hours ago, TrustAndLove said:

I am not too sure of the difference among the three. Let’s start with the simplest: physics 1

Physics 1 and 2 tests do not use calculus.  Physics C has two different tests; both require calculus.

I have read that in AP Physics 1 and 2, some types of problems are significantly harder to solve without calculus than with it, so we never considered it.  My older one took Clover Creek Physics as a sophomore (lots of younger kids in that class, BTW).  Spring semester junior year she took Calc 1 at the community college.  Then she took Physics C senior year.

[daijobu]

I'm not familiar with Khan and their AP prep.  If this your first time with AP I might start with something easy like AP CS A or HUG.  Bio is an ambitious first AP, especially with a younger student, because it is very dense with content and there is sometimes a chemistry prereq.  

My kid started APs in 8th grade with AP CS A.  It's super-easy and grabbing an early 5 demystifies APs in general.   I think it's a good idea to set up your student for success with a first AP win.  

I think if you 13 year old has strong EF skills and is self-aware enough to be able to seek help, you can DIY it with Khan.  Be sure to get a College Board audit so you can access their AP classroom and Question Bank for more practice problems and other resources.  There is another active thread on the High School board on this topic now.   

[daijobu]

Coincidentally, a podcast I really like, Tests and the Rest, is dropping a week's worth of AP content and interviews.  

[NittanyJen]

On 4/2/2023 at 2:25 AM, Plagefille said:

We have only used Khan as a supplement, but I would say it is not enough. We are doing AP Stats this year and Khan did not go through every topic that the textbook did and the Khan questions were easier. Maybe if you were just trying to pass the test it may work, but not to get a high score.

We are just using AP approved textbooks and it has worked well so far.

I would add . . . AP Stats is such a valuable course on content, that it’s worth doing right— to actually learn and explore, rather than just putting a notch in the scoreboard.

 

[Sebastian (a lady)]

On 4/1/2023 at 11:14 PM, TrustAndLove said:

I have a 13 yrs old needs some challenges. And her current school does not provide AP. The only online, free AP preparation classes I can find is Khan. And the program is flexible enough that she can work in her own pace and time. Has anyone have any experience with using Khan only then taking AP exams? Are those Khan classes itself sufficient for the AP exams? Thanks!

Have you already investigated where your student would take the AP exams? If their school doesn't offer the courses, they probably won't schedule the exam either. 

And while there are some AP courses that some students take as freshmen, there are other ways to bump up academic challenge level. 

[El...]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:38 PM, daijobu said:

Coincidentally, a podcast I really like, Tests and the Rest, is dropping a week's worth of AP content and interviews.  

Thanks for this podcast recommendation! I've learned a lot from just a few episodes. The one about college viability was also very interesting. 

[turkeypotpie]

We're doing AP Bio this year. We didn't use Khan but have worked through the Campbell textbook. To align with AP, we found these YouTube series very useful:

- Bozeman science has excellent and short videos with good depth on virtually every topic

- The Amoeba Sisters has wonderfully entertaining and short demonstrations of key terminology for a 'first pass' look at a topic, or a quick reminder shown in an engaging way

- HeyNow Science is an AP Bio teacher with extensive playlists directly aligned with the AP Bio structure

- AP Bio Penguins has a website with TONS of free material including an incredibly comprehensive test prep manual 

- And finally, a YouTube called "Carrera" has a series of unit reviews done in sort of an informal Khan-Academy-like format from a student's perspective who had excellent teachers and success in his courses. AP Bio Penguin had mentioned several times that her own students love Carrera's videos.

Get access to College Board's AP Classroom website by getting approval for your homeschool course as soon as possible. It is always valuable to have access to their huge question database and unit exams that looks like the test itself! While College Board does have short videos on every single section and subsection, the teachers tend not to be very engaging and the powerpoints are sparse and formulaic. They do, however, directly demonstrate how to work through actual AP questions at the end of each AP Daily video, which is somewhat helpful to engage how to approach college board thinking. Each unit also has extensive documentation with what topics should be covered, so you could simply use that as a guideline for any other resources you find to make sure you aren't missing any topics. 

[Kristini2]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:38 PM, NittanyJen said:

I would add . . . AP Stats is such a valuable course on content, that it’s worth doing right— to actually learn and explore, rather than just putting a notch in the scoreboard.

 

This is slightly off topic, but you have a recommendation for a good stats course that is self-paced and could be started now? I agree it is an important topic, but also one my 16-yo would like to start now, instead of the fall because of a time intensive extracurricular during the school year.

[Likaly]

My kid is taking stat, ab, and Phys 1—books and textbooks; Khan is okay, but after AP-approved textbooks with 1500+ pages each. I would never believe in Khan without books. FR questions are impossible to solve without good preparation and reading, and two-minute videos for fun would not help on the exam.