Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Post your K-5 online math mini-reviews!

Most of the information out there on the K-5 online math options for accelerated learners is a bit dated.

Please, if you feel like it, write a few sentences about your experiences this year with...

Redbird Mathematics: Advanced Edition
Dreambox
Khan Academy
Aleks
or...?

Thanks! This would be of great interest to me and I'm sure others in the community!

-Ul.H

DD8 used Khan Academy in school for acceleration and at home for fun. I found it helpful in that she had easy access to additional explanations when needed and could quickly "master" skills that she already knew. It seems like it would be ideal used to supplement instruction.

She just started the programming tutorials on Khan Academy last night and, after working 3 hours straight, is in love.

We used low tech SG maths books until the end of 5th grade in their curriculum.

We then tried the Lure of the Labyrinth for fun.

Next the AoPS Pre-Algebra I & II while DD was a whole grade accelerated 4th grader.

Did the AoPS Algebra I (part I) so far and the Intro to Python during 5th grade.

Also tried Dreambox which DD found too boring.

SG Math was great no fluff - stuck to the basics and executed excellently.

First in Math was a hit until my DD ran out of incentives.

Khan Academy is OK and I applaud the guy for doing it but things are a bit simple.

Overall AoPS is the clear winner so far.

Lure of the Labyrinth helped DD make the transition from pure arithmetic to pre-_algebraic problem solving.

Great thread idea.

I registered DS3.5 for a trial of Dreambox two weeks ago after hearing good things about it here. He enjoyed the first round of an activity when it was novel, but he found it far too repetitive to enjoy it. It moves at about 10% of the pace it would, ideally. We won't be subscribing.

(As a contrast, DS does enjoy cherry picking problems out of the Singapore Math standards edition textbooks.)

I registered DD (who was 3 at the time) as a Kindergardener on Dreambox at first and the repetitiveness was a big pain so I had them erase the account and then I re-registered her as a 2nd grader but she still got tired of it nonetheless. I like the program though but no buy-in from the child.

She much prefers DragonBox apps.

I am still waiting for Beast Academy 2nd grade but I think we might have to start at 3rd grade. It is also really expensive.

My kids love the DragonBox apps, but do not see any connection with actual algebra/geometry at all. My favorite math game app is Wuzzit Trouble, which works addition/multiples in a puzzle environment.

Playful Minds: Math is a curriculum app, like Dreambox. It is not adaptive, but has a fixed sequence of tasks. Kids earn tokens and spend them on dressing their avatars. It's less flexible than Dreambox, but it's also much less expensive and doesn't require a subscription, and it doesn't overstress the basic concepts. DD loved it the summer she was 5; she worked almost all the way through it on an international trip.

DD8 found Dreambox useful and entertaining when she was in K and working at a 1st/2nd grade level. Now she is trying to bring her account up to date with her current working level; she is partway through the 3rd grade curriculum. It's worth the free trial to see if your kid likes it.

Pros: Its virtual manipulatives and overall curriculum were good for place value and doublings. She liked the cutesy playground feel to it, which drove me nuts, but whatever. Now she works on it because it's a school account, so she can use it to prove to her teacher that she is actually ahead.

Cons: It's somewhat repetitive and slow. It teaches related concepts in a similar way, but doesn't let kids whiz through more quickly on the second or third very closely related topic. If you get bored and quit before the exercise is over, it loses your whole progress for the task and you have to start over next time (tasks should take around 5 minutes each). Twice, now, the environment has changed on us in ways that DD doesn't like, and the company has not been particularly responsive about why. It's set up to teach the deep concepts behind basic math like addition or place value, but doesn't have a problem solving component to stretch the kids who already get number concepts. If we were homeschooling I would find it to be an incomplete curriculum in that way.

Yeah, we did the multiple level thing, too. While he generally enjoyed the first of each activity, he was still of the mindset that it was a one-and-done deal. It was a game I probably would have loved as a 3 year old, so I can see how temperament drives taste here.

(Temperament context aside 1: I remember some crappy DOS mad math game I played obsessively around 4. If you completed something absurd like 50 problems in under 90 seconds, an animated video of a raccoon walking through different scenes would progress by 1/4 inch each pass. Man, that was crack for my kiddie brain! "Come on, raccoon, reach for that manhole cover...! Gah, another turn to reach it?! Oh well, here we go again." Lather, rinse, repeat. I can see my parents rubbing their hands together when they saw it in action, haha!)

(Unrelated aside 2: Ditto on Beast. Remember: it's less expensive than therapy! I had rather hoped the grade 2 curriculum would be out in time for DS, but it seems not, unless we do a victory lap. IDK?)

Another vote that Dreambox is too repetitive. He cruised through grade 2 and then just refused to do more.

He likes pages from Singapore Math textbook here and there. Enjoying Life of Fred Apples for the story, but is way past the math in the book. We'll probably catch up one of these days.

Dragonbox is fun, but he isn't driven to play it.

Khan was ok when w tried it, but not a huge hit. Probably just too simple.

We've been stalling to start Beast Academy from 2nd grade, but realistically should just jump in at 3rd grade. I think he is doing3rd grade math now, but I heard Beast was as if you are working a year ahead and I'm not looking to challenge his math at age 4.5. Maybe after we finish the first set of Fred.

For drill for the early addition facts for the young set, if you have a kid who likes mazes, I recommend a book called Addition Adventures published by MindWare.

DD8 currently uses Khan Academy (along with Beast Academy). She generally enjoys KA, but dislikes the videos. Because she won't watch the videos, it's not as stand-alone as I had hoped it would be. I like being able to track what she's having trouble with. She likes collecting badges and seeing her overall progress.

DD also plays Prodigy about once a week; it's for drilling math facts and reviewing basic arithmetic as far as I can tell. She likes the adventure game aspect.

DS9 watches the AoPS videos, but instead of the online class we are working through the book on our own.

DS did DreamBox last year and found it too repetitive. He enjoyed it at first, but eventually it was too much of a drag. We didn't use it as a full curriculum, but as a supplement (with Life of Fred). This was over a year ago, so not a current review.

Ds10 hates tenmarks and only did it because school used it as homework assigning hundreds of problems a week...they are nuts. Almost done (3 days)