Thursday, February 19, 2009

Math helps

Freely Educate has become one of my favorite sites for discovering new and interesting sites and tools for homeschooling. My recent favorite is Khan Academy. They have math videos for a variety of things. Much of it is far more advanced than we are doing right now, but there are a few videos for arithmetic. I pulled up the one on basic addition, and Kiddo was instantly on my lap. That was Sunday. Since then, he has been happily working addition problems using a number line, with no more assistance from me. Do I think we are done with manipulatives? Hardly. I am just happy to see him working so diligently at math problems and gaining confidence.

The video is basically a blackboard where the narrator demonstrates concepts. He is very clear in his instruction, does enough problems to thoroughly explain the material, and is actually somewhat entertaining in the process.

Check out the website, though. Lots and lots of videos. I have only watched the one, but they have calculus, they have linear algebra, trigonometry, everything! They also have a section on banking and money, the credit crisis, and finance. There is even a section on physics! I might spend more time watching videos there than necessary at this point in our homeschooling.....

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