Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Users and potential user of K12

The www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org is looking into offering the entire course catalog from K12 in a group buy. They are looking for interest, so I though some here might want to check it out and express interest if this is something you are using independently or might be considering using.

Could someone tell me about K12 as used by gifted child in school. I am referring to individual classes purchased not the home school program. My DS in 3rd Grade may benefit from an online course at school to replace the slow pace of regular classes. The first priority would be to have him do independent Math. I'm looking for something that can generate reports for teachers, very easy independent use for student, not too much repetitions so a fast learner could move on after mastery and meet state requirements so he could get a grade and credit.

I have also heard Alex is good but I'm thinking that is only Math? It might be best to get into a program that offers a variety of subjects so if we want more he is already familiar with the program.

At that level, K12 assumes parental or teacher involvement - and the tracking just shows lessons completed - nothing like Aleks or EPGY. I wonder if you'd want to look into www.time4learning.com , which covers all subjects and is done independently. DS loves it. Might not be fair to the other kids though - they might want to do it, too.

I've used various K12 courses over the years with my gifted son. To use them successfully with him, I need to be sure the level is high enough and then I need to get rid of the busywork. K12 is notorious for the inclusion of lots of worksheets that are fairly inane. However the core elements of their program--literature, science, and history (we've never used the math, art, or music)--are solid. I think there are better choices for gifted kids than K12 for the grammar, spelling, and composition strands of language arts, though.

There is a yahoo group dedicated to people using K12 with gifted students.