Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Online Math??

We just got it. (DCs haven't started using it yet.)

The SSA can change the setting to "gifted" (this applies to K-7 Math only, not LA/Wr or Alg).

But another setting that I'm guessing will speed things up is (for each subject) in "Session Settings" have "Review exercises* (0-15)" set to 0, so you don't have to start each session with a bunch of review exercises (unless you want to). The "Math races" are optional. You can set (session) "Duration* (10-300)" to 300.

Sorry! Just seeing this. I emailed the admin.

I'm not sure exactly what the "Review exercises* (0-15)" setting does. I think maybe it mixes in some review exercises (from an earlier topic, not the current one) randomly with the current topic exercises. So this setting adjust how much that happens.

Since the original topic addresses a 6 y.o. and I was responding with my personal experience regarding my 6 y.o. I think that Khan Academy is a fine, free resource to introduce topics to kids. I especially like that it isn't just exercises, but also instruction. And so far, through 4th grade math, it has been quite helpful.

I don't necessarily have "experts" at my disposal, but as my son progresses, I hope to find better access to more knowledgeable people. Part of the reason we decided to home school is that public school teachers are rarely experts in the various fields they are asked to teach. For now, I find it useful to have introductions to topics to suss out his interests. Then we can find the resources for the deeper dives.

I'm curious about EPGY since they don't offer a demo or free-trial (that I can find). Other than it being a bit dry, does the material seem thorough and well-plotted? Are there better, more rigorous resources out there for history and other topics?

Yes, EPGY OE Math K-7 is very 'thorough and well-plotted' (which is rare), and somewhat 'dry' (no 'dancing bears'), which worked just fine for our DC. The only piece of entertainment is 'computational races' at the beginning of every lesson (which may be skipped). The lectures used to be read by an older gentleman, a Stanford professor, the creator of EPGY.

The 'gifted' setting reduces the repetition noticeably, and switching it on helped at the time.

I was not aware of the 'review exercises control'; your SSA should know about this.

You may move your child's grade placement by 1/2 grade up or down at any time (without asking SSA). This is particularly useful. (EPGY's guideline is that ideally your child should be getting about 70-80% problems correct. This has been discussed on this forum earlier as related to counteracting perfectionism.)

We tried several other well-known online math programs at the time - none were particularly useful. (DC was about 7, but had decent math skills.) DC uses AOPS now and the plan is to use all that AOPS has to offer.

Thanks! I emailed them myself last week and they helped me.

glad to hear that EPGY is working for your son. Just wanted to add my voice to the Dreambox vote - both my older boys are enjoying it. Nathan just "graduated" to the big kid setting and was so excited that he spent most of today doing Dreambox. He loved the old setting too - loved the adventures. But he likes that he is working in the same way as his big brother.

I love that Dreambox gives such clear reporting - making it easy for me to keep a portfolio of completed work for in case we ever get asked to show this for homeschooling.

I think from here we will most likely go to AOPS as/when we need more. EPGY is just too expensive for us (silly exchange rate!)

Thanks, arlen1. I hadn't heard of AOPS before, but looks interesting.