Online gifted math

[Suzannah]

I am thinking of starting a small "homeschool" at the request of several parents of gifted students who are not being challenged at school (I am a gifted certified Master teacher with 5 years of gifted experience, ten years in general and a Master's degree in Education). They said they would rather pay me to work with their kids than send them to a private school where the still may not get the services they need. Ages would range from 8-13, and I would have about 5 kids.

My main issue is math; I simply cannot teach beyond on-level 6th grade math (no pre-algebra for me!!). Any suggestions for a good, online, self-paced math curriculum that would work for gifted students?

Any suggestions in general for this type of plan? I may post another thread asking for more suggestions later, but if you have any potential pros and cons or ideas that would be great!!

[SquibsNCrackers]

www.ALEKS.com

Children can proceed through the material as fast as they like or as slow as they like. If they don't need an explanation of a particular concept they can demonstrate their understanding of it and move forward. The program aims at skill mastery rather than fact accumulation, IMO.

It's not free ($19.95 per mo or approx. $180 per year). It's like an artificially intelligent private tutor, offering individualized instruction, practice and skill assessment.

We like it.

[SquibsNCrackers]

P.s.

You may be able to get a lower price as a "school" user.

[NoHiddenFees]

There are many options, some more spendy than others. I'd be inclined to draw up a menu of choices for the parents and kids and let them choose. Not all are completely online, but distance education should suit your needs as well.

EPGY -- Quite expensive, but if your school district is part of their Schools Program, you should be able to get a substantially discounted rate through them. EPGY will also give tuition reductions for those in financial need. See Hoagies entry on EPGY.

Art of Problem Solving has some intriguing courses.

See also Hoagies Distance Education page for tonnes of other options.

I'd recommend the Life of Fred books. I've previewed the first three and think they'd be an excellent choice for self-study. They cover pre-algebra through calculus. Another option is Teaching Textbooks. Lectures and in-depth solutions for every problem are provided.

The folks on the TAGMAX mailing list will be able to give you more first-hand advice.

[Dar]

We like ALEKS... but... I really don't think it's fair to expect these kids to learn math on their own, or just with the help of a computer program. Even with ALEKS, sometimes Rain needs a real person who understands how numbers work to explain things to her.

Could you hire someone to come in two or three times a week to help the kids with math? Or maybe you could hire a tutor to help you with math? I assume you must have taken and passed college-level math courses, so maybe with some review you'd feel more comfortable teaching it.

Dar

[mom2ponygirl]

EPGY is a good program and there would be tutors to work with via phone and email. However, it is very expensive.

www.artofproblemsolving.com has weekly classes as well as open classroom time and message boards for students from all over to work together on problems. It has the advantage of covering in depth many topics in discrete math that aren't covered very deeply in the standard curriculum. This is great for math gifted kids, so they don't get caught up in just speeding through the standard curriculum, but instead develop a deeper mathematical understanding and problem solving skills. However, you may need to keep some tutoring resources in mind if they are not able to get what they need from the text and classes alone. Most math gifted kids will do fine, but a little back up on a sticky section would be nice.

[eilonwy]

:

Personally, I math... I'd be a lot more worried about history! I'd love to hear more about your school set-up, though, it sounds very cool.

[Suzannah]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

:

Personally, I math... I'd be a lot more worried about history! I'd love to hear more about your school set-up, though, it sounds very cool.

I'd love to hear more about it, too!!! I am in the ideas stage right now; I had someone request it, and I have found there is some definite interest in it, so we'll see what happens.

I am also worried about not having a real-life person to help and am very open to hiring a tutor for kids that need it. I can help to a certain point, but after that I am no good. My focus would be getting kids through middle school from about 3rd grade or higher.

[SquibsNCrackers]

Originally Posted by Dar

We like ALEKS... but... I really don't think it's fair to expect these kids to learn math on their own, or just with the help of a computer program. Even with ALEKS, sometimes Rain needs a real person who understands how numbers work to explain things to her.

Good point! I don't think any program can substitute 100% for a live mentor.

[eilonwy]

It depends on the kid. I'd have been tickled pink with a computer program to learn math. I don't think it's any more outrageous than the assumption that a child could learn to read without outside interference. Every kid is different.

[NoHiddenFees]

Many of these programs provide access to "live people," albeit not face-to-face.

[Dar]

Originally Posted by NoHiddenFees

Many of these programs provide access to "live people," albeit not face-to-face.

I suppose that's true, and that might be enough, especially for an older kid. Maybe I'm just not keeping up with the times... although I guess I also see math as something that takes on a life of its own as kids make connections and apply it to new things, and I'd hope that these "live people" would be able to follow that as well. I suppose it's like a distance learning class, then? Although my sister tried to take a college math class that way and it didn't work out at all, and when I tried to help her over the phone it was really difficult, even when we were both looking at the same problem... but if we'd had some program where she could see what I wrote as I wrote it, maybe...

OTOH, I took college algebra through distance learning before internet, when it was just doing bookwork and mailing it in, and I was fine with it... but it wasn't really a challenging class... so I don't know...

I wouldn't feel comfortable expecting a computer program to teach a kid to read, either, although I know that a lot of software is designed to help in the process... but I don't think there's any real substitute for having a real person there to answer questions and explore connections...

It is interesting to consider all of the possibilities new technology offers, though.

Dar

[Suzannah]

I would definitely take the tactic of applying what they learned to real-life wherever/whenever possible. It would definitely be only one part of a very integrated, individualized program for each child. The "math" part would be learning/extending the skills necessary to complete whatever task they were working on (saving the world? Inventing a teleportation device?<---my child). Nothing should be taught in isolation, in my opinion (and experience); it just doesn't make as much sense, and it doesn't tend to stick with the child.