First of all, this isn't directly on point since you mention specifically algebra and beyond, but I'll offer it up all the same.
DS has been on Aleks for a year and a half. Started with third grade math and is now on 6th grade.
He loves filling in his pie. The visual representation of how much he needs to learn helps motivate him.
There is explanation available to the child where needed, but they can skip it. Personally, I'm okay with that. However, he still have regular math at school, so ALEKS is for fun. If you are doing it as a substitute for math, you might want to lay down some rules about requiring work to be written on paper etc.
They pull in lots of geometry - which is very cool. DS loves that. He has gotten exposure to so much that he not have seen for years to come (in theory).
You definitely want to draw a line about when to move up. I told DS that he could shoot for 100%, but if he made 95 or higher on the ending assessment three times, I would move him up. Perfection is really a waste of time on the elementary school work as so much builds on what was covered in the previous level. YOu get a second shot to master it.
He mostly works alone, but sometimes needs prodding to write his work down so that he doesn't make careless errors.
Our reason for doing it was to try to get to algebra ASAP. The deal is, they throw so much interesting and challenging materail into the lower levels that it is taking longer than I expected. However, as long as he is getting the challenge he needs, that is all the better, in my book anyway.
Hope this helps....
For what it is worth, given his happiness with the program, I have considered doing it myself for some of the accounting/bookeeping topics. It is really a great program.
Mary
