Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Front Row vs Khan Academy for math

Hello
Can anyone please provide information about the Front Row math program? What do you think of it compared to Khan Academy? Both are listed as resources for DD's class. Thank you.

My DD9 loves Khan Academy. It is slightly gamified and she really likes earning energy points and badges as she progresses through the lessons. Also, she is motivated to log in and learn something every day so she doesn't mess up her "streak".

I hadn't heard of Front Row before you mentioned it so I made myself an account and looked it over for a few minutes. I think Front Row looks specifically geared towards younger kids since it has a cartoon interface, with opportunities to earn stars and unlock later lessons. I think my daughter would like Front Row's kid-style interface better than Khan's.

Khan does a good job of adapting to DD's ability. If she gets a few problems correct, then the lesson is considered "mastered". If she doesn't, then she has to keep practicing it until she can do five problems in a row correctly. I did not have time to see how well Front Row does this same sort of adaptive learning. They do start out with a pre-test so the students start at the correct spot, but I'm not sure if it changes the number of problems assigned.

The biggest problem I see with Front Row is that it doesn't seem have nearly the depth or breadth of lessons that Khan academy does. Front Row ends at 8th grade. Khan goes all the way through differential equations and includes computer programing and science courses. I watched a video tutorial on comparing fractions on both sites and felt like the explanation on Khan was much more better.

Since no one else seems to have used both of them, I suggest you make accounts on both. Compare a few lessons, have your child try them out and then report back and let us know what you discover.

Our school tried Front Row for a year, and the kids seemed to like it, except when it gave wrong answers or didn't count a correct answer, which irritated them to no end. From what I recall, it also didn't flow as easily to the next topic, and it topped out at a certain point in depth (I'm thinking ours topped at grade 5 at the time).

DC have enjoyed the reward system of Khan more, and it takes them into territory they might not know and have to hit the 'I don't know this yet' button once in a blue moon. Front Row seemed more like what I've read about IXL, though it did have instruction videos, it came across as more practice oriented.

A benefit of Front Row is that the teacher could track the progress of the students, though they could also login at home to work during free time.

DS4 likes the very basic math in Front Row, likes unlocking the characters in Khan Academy, but enjoys the material in ixl.com the best. We haven't paid for a membership in ixl so we are only doi g the free content.

My son's school uses front row as in class differentiation. It does a pretty good job adapting to the right level. My son is motivated by the reward system of getting coins to buy stuff for the cute pig. I think it's pretty useful as practice to make sure concepts are mastered.

I don't think it is good for learning new material Basically they play a video and then start giving practice questions. The quality of the video is inferior to kahn academy and other sources. My son learns the new material somewhere else and then do the problems in front row.

I think front row has good alignment with common core if you care about that.