I just heard about this and thought you guys might like it

[DammitJanet]

Khan Academy. It is a free internet based school that is totally awesome. Well maybe school isnt exactly the word for it. You cant get a diploma from it but you can get an awesome education. The Gates foundation and Google fund it plus the guy who produces it is who knows how smart! its amazing.

I have heard about it before but lost the name and then I saw it tonite on dateline or 20/20 not sure which and I was like...yes! its at . http://www.khanacademy.org

It starts out with simple basic 1+1 and goes up to calculus and history and all kinds of things

 

[keista]

WAY COOL! Maybe I can finally try and get my head wrapped around trig!

Yes, school is totally wrong to describe it. I'd call it a k-12 tutorial video library!

 

[HaoZi]

If you have a Roku there's a Khan Academy channel there, too.

 

[DammitJanet]

I dont have roku but I have wii

 

[DammitJanet]

Speaking of trig.

Tony is so damned convinced he doesnt know algebra. Completely. Its like he has this mental block about the word. He can do geometry without issues. He can do math in his head that just astounds me. I know he is doing algebra but he isnt realizing he is putting a x there in his mind.

Im gonna have him start at the pre algebra portion and get to start getting a bit harder...maybe have it go into some of the harder things and see how well he really can do....then go show him the geometry he does daily and how hard that is too. lol

 

[keista]

Funny you should say that. Son has an issue with Algebra too. He's got a solid A in geometry right now, and you can't do geometry without algebra. And it's not that he can't do it. He got really high marks on the state test last year, but you just say that word - ALGEBRA and he starts to twitch! He was coming home ranting that they had to use ALGEBRA in science. I had to convince him that it was NOT that type of math, simply a scientific formula. After repeating that for an hour, he'd be OK and go do it.

WTH is it with ALGEBRA? I thought it was easy. Trig, now that's another story.

 

[InsaneCdn]

i had to convince him that it was not that type of math, simply a scientific formula.

Ummm.... Keista... Now there's an oxymoronic statement!
In fact, that's one of the best short-form descriptions of Algebra that I've seen in years.

Algebra isn't complicated math... it is simply a scientific formula.

But I promise I will not tell your son that.

(Yes, I found algebra easy - and trig hard)

 

[Star*]

Merci beacoup! Gracias!

 

[Mattsmom277]

I had read an article about a year or so ago about similar things set up with Yale and I think MIT and Harvard. You dont' get the diploma but you can take the classes online for free. Neato!

 

[flutterby]

I've used Kahn Academy this year with difficult child. What did we do when we didn't understand how to do a math problem in school? Oh, yeah, we asked the teacher and got help instead of "I don't know what to tell you then". Yes, that is what difficult child's sped math teacher tells her. Her other teachers are much better, but this is her SpEd Interventionist AND her math teacher and math is her weakest subject. So, now she brings her work home and I teach it to her - with the help of Kahn Academy when I can't remember how to do it.

Really, though, my problem is only with that one teacher. All of her other teachers are wonderful.

 

[DammitJanet]

I think this guy is brilliant. I am going to see if I can get Cory to do some of the developmental stuff or the California end of grade tests and some of the history and other subjects because then he will be ready for the GED. I havent actually looked around enough to see if they have an English section because that really is his poorest area. He is rather good in math even though he hasnt sat in a classroom for a complete length of time since 5th grade.

 

[Kathy813]

Janet,

Here are two more wonderful sites for math tutorials that I use all of the time:

www.brightstorm.com (also has science tutorials)

www.patrickjmt.com

My students love them.

~Kathy