Online math programs or books for elementary aged kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We supplement with Singapore math and it's nice that it basically follows the public school curriculum. I'll have my kids do more problems in a unit if they need the practice and fewer when the find a unit to be easy.

We found that Beast Academy was good for providing enrichment for things they had already had introduced, but didn't teach basics in a robust enough way. Now they learn the basics from Singapore math and stretch themselves with Beast.

Can you elaborate on wht you mean that BA doesn't teach basics in robust way? I was under the impression that this was one of the selling points? I don't know what Singapore math is or where to access it. More tips appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader has been working through grade 2 math on Khan Academy but finding some of the units are a bit too brief. Would like to try others. Suggestions? I've heard about Beast Academy but not sure how it compares to other options? Also interested in book recommendations. We have some Kumon books but they are worksheets without instruction.

Here's what you need to know:

Kumon: Bad.
Beast Academy: Amazing.
Everything Else: Somewhere in between.

Why is Kumon bad? the worksheets? But those have their place, no?

Also, what's amazing about BA? My understanding is that it's very gamified but maybe my impression is wrong? I don't want my kid to go through life needing everything to be games in order to be able to learn anything.

What is everything else and have you tried it?

Regarding Kumon, it's probably bad in a dangerous way for most kids. It forces them to do drills by rote and doesn't stop until their interest is completely killed. I mean it's not really any better than Kuta software worksheets (yes Kuta is a company that generates math worksheets and yes, FCPS has paid them so that teachers can print worksheets filled with math questions generated by the computer, and.. yes of course this is a terrible way to teach math to children, those paying attention to their children's math homework have likely stumbled upon Kuta worksheets if they've been paying attention). Kumon may have its place but you need to be hyper aware of when it's too much for kids because once their interest is killed, they're never engaged again.

Thanks. I'm not trying to be contrarian, just curious and trying to understand. Why do Kumon or other worksheets "kill interest"? Isn't it important to consolidate knowledge and practice for fluency? They can use them as needed. Of course you wouldn't sit there and give your kid worksheets all day, but practice is critical. I'm guessing BA makes it more fun but there has to be practice there too?

[Anonymous]

Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

[Anonymous]

Bedtime Math
Sideways Arithmetic from Wayside School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Thanks. I'm not trying to be contrarian, just curious and trying to understand. Why do Kumon or other worksheets "kill interest"? Isn't it important to consolidate knowledge and practice for fluency? They can use them as needed. Of course you wouldn't sit there and give your kid worksheets all day, but practice is critical. I'm guessing BA makes it more fun but there has to be practice there too?

DP. To me it's just a matter of using the right tool for the right kid. If a kid needs a lot of repetition to build fluency, Kumon is the right answer. If a kid catches on quickly and doesn't need much rote repetition, Kumon would be torture. BA is the right tool if the kid is very strong in math and requires very little repetition or practice. It is insufficient for kids who need more repetition to build fluency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

Since they put them on computers a lot of the time, I've taught my kid to surreptitiously work on Alcumus problems instead of ST Math.

[Anonymous]

Regarding Kumon, it's probably bad in a dangerous way for most kids. It forces them to do drills by rote and doesn't stop until their interest is completely killed. I mean it's not really any better than Kuta software worksheets (yes Kuta is a company that generates math worksheets and yes, FCPS has paid them so that teachers can print worksheets filled with math questions generated by the computer, and.. yes of course this is a terrible way to teach math to children, those paying attention to their children's math homework have likely stumbled upon Kuta worksheets if they've been paying attention). Kumon may have its place but you need to be hyper aware of when it's too much for kids because once their interest is killed, they're never engaged again.

Thanks. I'm not trying to be contrarian, just curious and trying to understand. Why do Kumon or other worksheets "kill interest"? Isn't it important to consolidate knowledge and practice for fluency? They can use them as needed. Of course you wouldn't sit there and give your kid worksheets all day, but practice is critical. I'm guessing BA makes it more fun but there has to be practice there too?

You are correct, practice is important but critical thinking, problem solving, and just having interesting problems to explore/think about even more important. But all Kumon does is drills, pages and pages of them, in fact books with nothing other than worksheets. I've heard they also time kids on them, their teachers don't really teach anything other than checking/correcting their answers, and they do not allow them to pass to the next 'level' if they cannot do them fast enough.. further elevating their stress. I would definitely be very cautious exposing kids to that type of learning methodology. (Honestly if they need some drills, it's very easy to print some at home for free, or even buy a Kumon book on Amazon to see what it's really like).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

Since they put them on computers a lot of the time, I've taught my kid to surreptitiously work on Alcumus problems instead of ST Math.

What is ST Math? Is Alcumus another platform that you have to pay for yourself? Looks like it's linked to AOPs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

Since they put them on computers a lot of the time, I've taught my kid to surreptitiously work on Alcumus problems instead of ST Math.

What is ST Math? Is Alcumus another platform that you have to pay for yourself? Looks like it's linked to AOPs?

Alcumus is a large database of math problems freely accessible via the AoPS website. Note that the level of difficulty starts at a prealgebra level and up, so it would not be usable by the overwhelming majority of elementary school students.
ST math is a computer tool that FCPS bought and uses for elementary kids as part of their math screen time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

Since they put them on computers a lot of the time, I've taught my kid to surreptitiously work on Alcumus problems instead of ST Math.

What is ST Math? Is Alcumus another platform that you have to pay for yourself? Looks like it's linked to AOPs?

Alcumus is a large database of math problems freely accessible via the AoPS website. Note that the level of difficulty starts at a prealgebra level and up, so it would not be usable by the overwhelming majority of elementary school students.
ST math is a computer tool that FCPS bought and uses for elementary kids as part of their math screen time.

Thanks! Great to know about this free resource.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

If you have the type of kid capable of moving far above grade level using BA, then that kid was always destined to be bored in school math class. Even if he didn't know the material in advance, the school math pace would be torturously slow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I'm looking at BA offerings and I'm torn about what to do about books and placement, as I've been exposing him to stuff that spans different grade levels. A lot of level 1 looks too easy but some might be good to practice/review. I think he'd place somewhere in level 2 but has tackled things covered in 3 and 4. So what books to order if any? And I'm assuming the annual membership allows one to move at their own pace?

In that case, you should do the online platform. He could start at 2, move quickly through the material that he already knows, and spend more time with the stuff he hasn't yet seen when he reaches 3 and 4.

Thanks, I'll do that. I like supporting him to keep learning, but I do wonder what then happens when he's very far ahead. What do your kids do in class? Do they get differentiated instruction?

I mean what do they do in math class at school to avoid boredom.

If you have the type of kid capable of moving far above grade level using BA, then that kid was always destined to be bored in school math class. Even if he didn't know the material in advance, the school math pace would be torturously slow.

Honestly, I don't think my kid is particularly special. I just take the time to teach him stuff and he learns. He's not super fast or anything. But once he learns something we go to the next thing. I was pretty surprised to learn they don't teach multiplication until 3rd grade. Like, what the heck are they doing in the meantime? And why not teach this way earlier?