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Ask HN: Something like Khan Academy but full curriculum for grade schoolers?
Khan Academy continually gets held up as a great resource for online courses across the age spectrum for math related subjects. With the continuing pandemic continuing to grow in the US and schools not really sure how to handle things, the GF and I are looking into other options.
Is there a recommended resource that gives unbiased (as possible) reviews for middle school (7-8th grade) curriculum? Searching these days really doesn't bring up quality, just options one has to comb through.
- niekmaas 6y agoPerhaps aimed at a lower age group, but I think https://www.e-learningforkids.org/ https://www.e-learningforkids.org/ should also be mentioned. They provide free primary school education for all kids. Currently mostly focused on math though.
- webwanderings 6y agoGreat resource. Glad to have stumbled upon it.
- MattGaiser 6y agoThis would be an excellent open source project for those outside the software space.
- mathnmusic 6y agoThis is one of the things I'm trying to solve for at https://learnawesome.org https://learnawesome.org . And yes, it is open-source. Need more users to start contributing though.
- rglullis 6y agoThat's a beautiful site. What is using ActivityPub for?
- mathnmusic 6y agoIf I am a user on LearnAwesome, you can subscribe to my book/course reviews and learning activity on any ActivityPub client like Mastodon, without ever signing up on LearnAwesome website itself.
- hobofan 6y agoIf it's open source, then why do you have to login to see a sylabus?
- mathnmusic 6y agoI wanted to encourage people to join and start contributing to the repository. Started a discussion on this question here: https://github.com/learn-awesome/learn/issues/79#issuecomment-656849674 https://github.com/learn-awesome/learn/issues/79#issuecommen... Feel free to suggest more ideas to make it a vibrant learning community.
- philipps 6y ago“ Your first topic will be free of cost.“ This doesn’t sound like the project is fundamentally committed to open source.
- mathnmusic 6y agoCan you point out where it says this? I need to correct this with s/topic/course as all the content and code is available for free and licensed as AGPL. Even API access is available to build alternative clients. This is supposed to refer to "courses" which are structured, project-based peer groups where mentors spend time to evaluate your projects and answer your questions. By compensating them for their time, we can get really high-quality mentors for 1-1 feedback on your learning projects. The unstructured peer groups (in the Slack channel) are and will remain completely free.
- rhema 6y agoI would check in with a local homeschooling Facebook group for 1-on-1 support. We've been homeschooling our kids. The 7 and 9 year old use Kahn Academy for math, which works really well. They also have grammar options they have started. My opinion is that a "complete" education through 8th grade is a nebulous goal. Reading, writing, math, history, art, life experiences, etc. are important.
- cheez 6y agoAlso homeschooling, also not trying to compete with academics for "complete" education. I try to make sure all aspects of the person are engaged: - Creativity - Intelligence - Athleticism - Philosophizing - Failing well (edit: aka encouraging ambitious goals) - Exposure to novel things Kids direct themselves, I help them find resources and help them stay on track. For example, to think (philosophize) well, you need history. But not just the history from the perspective of the victors. Not just what is "accepted" truth. We read history books that are not really covered in curriculum (Mongols, Islam, China, India). We cover religions. We watch Ancient Aliens and talk about what obvious explanations they are missing. But I would have never gone down this path for them had I not stopped going to high school myself, because it was a fucking nightmare.
- idoh 6y agoI have been looking for this as well. So far Khan Academy has been brilliant in remote math curriculum, in fact my children are learning math faster in Khan Academy than with IRL instruction. If there was something equivalent for writing I'd be over the moon happy.
- actfrench 6y agoFor composition, try https://bravewriter.com/ https://bravewriter.com/ For handwriting, try https://www.lwtears.com/ https://www.lwtears.com/
- cvhashim 6y agoI’m not sure about a full course. But I have a younger sibling going into 8th grade. He’s been doing learning on IXL to supplement his education this summer. It offers different subjects like math, language/literature, science etc. He’ll do that for 2-3 hours on weekdays.
- dsr_ 6y agoAs far as I can tell, the Math IXL system was designed to make people hate math. Open-answer questions rarely specify the answer format, and will thus accept only one of 0.5, 0.50, .5, 1/2, 4/8 ... etc while rejecting all the rest. Then the next question will not keep the same format. Points for correct answers add to your score, but not linearly; points for incorrect answers subtract from your score, but not linearly. Endlessly frustrating.
- geephroh 6y agoI..am..so..with..you. IXL is absolute garbage, as should be expected from any Pearson product. And the morons at Seattle Public Schools are dumping money into that dumpster fire like it's going out of style.
- bookdrop 6y agoIXL engineer here. We're not a Pearson product.
- bookdrop 6y agoIXL engineer here. My comments express my opinions, not those of my employer, etc etc. We don't try to be unfair; we're trying to make math fun. Please send a note to help@ixl.com if you run into questions that silently require a too-specific answer format, and we'll fix it.
- dsr_ 6y agoNo. It's absolutely pervasive, it was required as part of my son's school curriculum, and you've lost me permanently as any kind of customer. I have also been assured by the math department that they will not be continuing the use of IXL products when they finish their curriculum revamp. Your product is terrible and anyone who likes math could have told you it was terrible from using it for 30 minutes.
- gmoore 6y agohttps://www.k12.com/ https://www.k12.com/
- SrslyJosh 6y agoWe tried this and had to drop it after ~4 months because it was painful to run it as a parent and boring AF for our son. It's designed to keep kids and parents busy for ~8 hours a day, because their customers are online charter schools, not homeschooling parents. These online charters get paid based on attendance, so it's in their interest to have kids occupied all day every day. Please, do not ever use K12. It's terrible.
- codingdave 6y agoWe've tried a bit of homeschooling over the years, and there is an important difference between what looks good to parents and covers the required standards, etc.... vs. what actually engages our children and makes them satisfied with their educational experience. We never tried K12, but I recommend that the kids be involved in selecting what tools to use, as they are the ones who have to use it every day.
- ParatusPlayer1 6y agoNot quite what you are asking for, but there is a great tool called Kickstand (www.kickstandsystems.com)that is in use in a number of districts that allows curriculum to be aligned with standards and organized in a defined scope and sequence. At the core of the systems is a big standards aligned curriculum library. The system will deliver content to a student and then assess them on that content. Based on the result of the assessment the system can deliver new resources for remediation or allow the student to move ahead at their own pace. Content is managed by the district and allows content ratings by students and instructors. This is really where learning technology needs to go to enable individualized instruction in online settings at scale. Full disclosure: I wrote the first version of the Kickstand product about 5-6 yrs ago
- gregd 6y agoWe homeschool our children and we also help run a homeschool academy. A lot of the kids love Outschool.
- localhost 6y agoMy wife is thinking about teaching on Outschool. What has been your experience with Outschool teachers, and what were the criteria for choosing a teacher?
- gregd 6y agoAll of the kids in our Academy have reported nothing but positive experiences with Outschool and really enjoy the courses. It's the first place we all look when augmenting their schooling outside of our Academy. If any of the various teachers had been bad, we would have heard about it. I can't speak to the selection criteria, only the perspective of students.
- Toyentrepreneur 6y agoI've done a lot of research on this topic, the short answer to your question is https://artofproblemsolving.com/ https://artofproblemsolving.com/ But during my research I came across the idea of "Computational Math/Thinking" which throws away the entire concept of learning Math/Science in the normal order Pre Algebra > Algebra I > Geometry > Algebra II > Trig > etc It takes more of a real life problem solving approach, which I understand isn't exactly innovative in and of itself but prioritizes using the computer for the calculation part of math. Of course the process of using a pencil and paper to calculate an equation in probably 90% of the work in traditional curriculum. When you outsource this tedious part to software (like you would in real life) that leaves room for setting up bigger problems that literally cannot be calculated by hand. https://www.computerbasedmath.org/ https://www.computerbasedmath.org/ is a great resource for more info on this "computational" education
- justinpombrio 6y agoAlso along these lines is the Bootstrap curriculum: https://www.bootstrapworld.org/ https://www.bootstrapworld.org/
- westurner 6y agoK12 CS Framework (ACM, Code.org, [...]) https://k12cs.org/ https://k12cs.org/ Computing Curricula 2020 (ACM, IEEE,) http://www.cc2020.net/ http://www.cc2020.net/ Official SAT Practice (College Board, Khan Academy) https://www.khanacademy.org/sat https://www.khanacademy.org/sat http://wrdrd.github.io/docs/consulting/software-development#computer-science-curricula http://wrdrd.github.io/docs/consulting/software-development#... (TODO: add link to cc2020 draft) Programmer Competency Matrix: http://sijinjoseph.com/programmer-competency-matrix/ http://sijinjoseph.com/programmer-competency-matrix/ , https://competency-checklist.appspot.com/ https://competency-checklist.appspot.com/ , https://github.com/hltbra/programmer-competency-checklist https://github.com/hltbra/programmer-competency-checklist Re: Computational thinking https://westurner.github.io/hnlog/#comment-15454421 https://westurner.github.io/hnlog/#comment-15454421 Coding Interview University: https://github.com/jwasham/coding-interview-university https://github.com/jwasham/coding-interview-university
- organicfigs 6y agoIXL Learning https://www.ixl.com/ https://www.ixl.com/
- krsmith35 6y agoPrenda (YC S19) has a full curriculum with support and tools for the parents, k-8. More info here: https://prendaschool.com/prenda-family https://prendaschool.com/prenda-family
- codingdave 6y ago> While we believe in the power of microchools I'm forgiving of typos and such things, but as you are marketing a school, you might want to check your spelling.
- tmaly 6y agoEd Hirsh Jr has these guides What Your ___ grader needs to know. I know I have seen it up to 6th grade, but I am not sure if there is a version for 7th and 8th. My daughter uses ixl.com at school and it covers all the way up to 12th grade. Its is essentially adaptive learning. So this is good for doing practice problems. All the topics listed there are ones kids are expected to know for the respective grade level. So you could use this as a map. I have also been supplementing her education with workbooks. I have a few other ideas to make some practical learning lessons with electronics and chemistry. We already do Scratch programming.
- csa 6y agoI have a love-hate relationship with the Hirsch books: 1. Much (all?) of the content covers topics that are useful to know, imho. 2. The whole idea of just spamming content is an incredibly reductionist approach to education. There is much more to learn out there. 3. Hirsch’s approaches to cultural literacy are tough for some folks to follow. On the surface, it sounds very oppressive. A slightly deeper look would say that it is a realist approach. A deep academic look would say that it misses a lot of what is probably possible in education and is focused on looking back rather than looking forward. I do recommend folks check out his books and see if it floats your boat, but I also recommend that they don’t assume that they are complete as is in terms of what kids actually need to learn and know.
- actfrench 6y agoI'm a teacher with 15 years of experience and an edtech entrepreneur. I've reviewed thousands of secular homeschool programs for accuracy and quality. We're working on developing unbiased reviews of all of our favorites, but here are a few great all-in-one programs to get you started. All mastery-based, all secular and aligned with state standards. In general, these also combine hands-on projects with online learning, involve little to no prep time and minimal parent involvement in learning, with some element of personalization. Critical Thinking Co https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/criticalthinkingco https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/criticalthinkingco Oak Meadow https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/oakmeadow https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/oakmeadow Time4Learning https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/time4learning https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/time4learning Moving Beyond the Page https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/moving-beyond-the-page https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/moving-beyond-the-page It's usually good to supplement with a math program, if your child is gifted or has special needs. Here is a review I wrote on what I consider to be the best math programs out there for parents doing learning from home. https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/the-best-math-programs-for-home-educators https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/the-best-math-programs-... And here are my 50 favorites:) https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/50favorites https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/50favorites I would also be happy to give free advice to you (or any family reading this) for your particular situation. Feel free to reach out to me via my website if you'd like more personalized recommendations and we can find a time to chat:) https://www.modulo.app/ https://www.modulo.app/
- GillBates666 6y agoThanks for all the info. We are thinking of home schooling over the virtual learning for my 5 year old son. It sucks to think of skipping kindergarten, but this zoom environment is not conducive to kids, at all. Way to much overhead for parents as well. I could easily get my kid up to speed and well past the learning goals stated on my local school's web site.
- actfrench 6y agoHappy to help. For littler kids, definitely check out: Blossom and Root for a more nature-based/hands-on program https://blossomandroot.com/ https://blossomandroot.com/ Torchlight. https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/torchlight https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/torchlight Also Khan App Kids of course https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/khan-app-kids https://www.modulo.app/all-resources/khan-app-kids I think that there are ways to do meaningful social interaction online, but not in the way it's being handled in most places. I think that for this to be successful academics and socialization need to be compartmentalized. We should use zoom for activities like cooking, give kids the opportunity to talk about their day, discuss current events and share feelings, but not for lectures on academic subjects - and these group zooms should be short. There's a big need for innovation in this space, but it's not impossible to create meaningful social interactions online for kids. Alexis Buckley (who is also our is doing incredible work fostering social interactions online with Early Childhood Matters and the Little School. Definitely check out her classes. http://www.earlychildhoodmatters.org/ http://www.earlychildhoodmatters.org/ As you said, there are so many great tools for learning and little evidence that leaning on academics in the early years is even that important (look at the Finnish education system that doesn't start until age 7). However, the in-person social interaction is the tricky part. We're generally recommending that families focus on building healthy social attachments with their own kids. That's the first and most important bond. And if you have a good relationship with your child, a healthy attachment, that will extend to a group setting. This kind of socialization can also be done by buddying with one other family that's rigorously practicing social distancing. Socialization does not have to happen in a huge group to be impactful. Happy to chat with you more if I can be of any help whatsoever.
- aok1425 6y agoMaybe junilearning.com?
- lanecwagner 6y agoI'm actively building a solution for programming related content, with the goal being that courses feel like games: https://qvault.io https://qvault.io
- intrepidhero 6y agohttps://cathyduffyreviews.com/ https://cathyduffyreviews.com/ is a resource that my wife likes for curriculum reviews.
- 2pointsomone 6y agoLook at EngageNY curriculum (which is really EL Education, Public Consulting Group, Eureka Math, Illustrative Math and a couple of other providers put together). It is pretty excellent, and free! You can also find curriculum from these individual providers separately. Then, visit OpenUpResources. Same theme. EdReports.org has curriculum reviewed to align with Common Core. The above are mostly limited to ELA and Math, for Science, there is OpenSciEd, SCALE/SFUSD Middle School Curriculum, and Mystery Science, for Civics there is Annenberg Classroom, and rest of the social studies, I know some effort is going on, but can't quite remember where the curriculum might be. The reason I know these is because I run opencurriculum.org (YC W14), and we are trying to bring this information under one roof.
- cynicalloner 6y agoI'm an engineer at Illustrative Mathematics. Here's what I know: Eureka Math is derived from EngageNY. Illustrative Mathematics is an openly licensed, freely available curriculum which was developed independently from EngageNY. You can learn more about it at http://curriculum.illustrativemathematics.org http://curriculum.illustrativemathematics.org.
- 2pointsomone 6y agoThank you for the wonderful work you do, cynicalloner!
- cynicalloner 6y agoThanks! Cynical I may be but I do love our mission at IM. And I'll just leave this here because at work we were all laughing our heads off about it. We joked about hiring the author to write practice problems for us. ;-) https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-broken-lives-behind-the-illustrative-math-word-problems https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-broken-lives-behind-....
- mahaganapati 6y agoGirlfriend and you have children together? You should get married :)
- bityard 6y agoI couldn't imagine a less off-topic and unwelcome comment if I tried.
- maxeonyx 6y agoHow about this one. I think you meant to say "I couldn't imagine a more off-topic and unwelcome [...]"
- mahaganapati 6y agoI guess you haven't read the comments on Hacker News very much before
- vulcan01 6y agoI realise that your child isn't there yet, but once they reach high school, I'd recommend that you introduce them to edX, where there are tons of courses on practically everything, taught by college professors. It can help them expand their knowledge in areas they're interested in that aren't in the standard school curricula. It's pretty awesome (high school student here). https://www.edx.org https://www.edx.org
- jbanfill 6y agock12.com has a full range of textbooks available at no cost
- elxavicio 6y agoNot for grade schoolers, but I just started this program (https://busytoddler.com/ https://busytoddler.com/) for my 3-year-old. Gives you a lot of ideas and a specific schedule to follow which helps a lot!
- j45 6y agoYes, there is a lot like this out there. The question I would have for you is what state are you looking for? Thanks.
- notRobot 6y agoCrash course: https://youtube.com/user/crashcourse/playlists https://youtube.com/user/crashcourse/playlists
- edu-marian 6y agoWhat's your opinion on educational games?
- homeschooldad 6y agoYou might find https://JoinPrisma.com https://JoinPrisma.com to be an interesting option if you’re looking for both curriculum and the support of a qualified teacher.
- underwear 6y agoMy kids go to a microschool in Washington DC. They are developing a full curriculum with the idea that you learn from the resources around you (specific to your town city). They have developed an APP with weekly menus for the kids. During COVID thay crushed it, kids 4 ids learned more in three months than they have in a year. great for travel too www.mysaschool.org
- dc2019 6y agoMy kids are younger than yours, so I can't say too much about curriculum for grades 7/8. But having spent quite a bit of time in homeschooling groups during the lockdown (we are not homeschooling but had to supplement), I've noticed these curriculums get discussed a lot. For language arts: Michael Clay Thompson (we are using this), Brave Writer, IEW. For maths, Beast Academy or Art of Problem Solving for your kids (we are also using this, huge fan, great for full-time homeschooling or after school supplements in my opinion), Saxon Maths (mixed reviews). Science takes more sifting since quite a few are religious. I noted all the programs I came across (mostly through mentions in homeschooling groups) in a list in case it's interesting to anyone (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/132lzqsfGzUvo7iPGrvBNiTh3fR9riULQ8K_gMJK7p8k/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/132lzqsfGzUvo7iPGrvBN...), do filter for subject and age to get the relevant entries. It's work in progress so excuse the mess.
- pathikritb 6y agoStudents (pre-junior / senior year of high school for simplicity) need active role models in school and at home for appropriate overall development. The role models are typically teachers in school and parents at home. That students are struggling to engage with digital content during home quarantine is expected. The good news is that students will adapt to digital content with time (within twelve months as a simple estimate), as unlike adults, they are more likely to normalize their behavior towards this environment and make it the routine for their education. The bad news is that no digital curriculum alone can replicate the classroom learning environment (even with its obvious systematic flaws) because mastery of learning content is a function of the learning environment as much as individual student motivation (until these students become independent learners). So parents homeschooling their children need to become more active role models for their children. The positive of this situation is that educated and empathetic parents can do a much better job of developing a secure environment for children than a classroom with thirty students and a cacophony of technology. The long-term mission for homeschooling parents is to develop “self-directed learners”, and the first step is understanding, practicing, and celebrating “metacognition”. I will share this link, for core science experiential learning lessons, primarily for middle school students, which may complement textbook content, associated with the concepts: https://science60.com/homeschooling https://science60.com/homeschooling Good teachers and motivated parents can make any learning content work, from traditional textbooks to Khan Academy lessons.
- meeshmercer 6y agoI agree that Khan Academy is great for math. For a full middle school (and high school) accredited curriculum, you might check out Apex Learning Virtual School https://www.apexlearningvs.com https://www.apexlearningvs.com. They offer live teaching and tutoring support, self-paced learning and a flexible schedule.