Dear Parents and Guardians,
Summer is here, and students are looking forward to enjoying free time with family and friends. Some of you have asked if there are activities or programs available for students who would like to practice or brush up on their math skills. Research has shown that students can lose as much as 2.6 months of math learning over the summer months, and spending some time engaging in math activities can prevent this loss without being overly burdensome. Below are a few recommendations that can help ward off learning loss.
1. Integrate math into everyday activities: An effective and fun way to keep students' math knowledge from fading is to find math in everyday activities. Cooking, sports, banking, earning money for chores, or driving to vacation locations can all be opportunities for engaging mathematical thinking. Games are another way to keep math active. Yahtzee, Connect 4, Monopoly, Mastermind, CodeMasters, and Set engage skills logic, pattern recognition, categorizing, and building.
2. Khan Academy: Khan Academy is a free online resource that provides instruction videos and animations and practice problems for every grade level. Signing up for an account will allow students to save and track their progress. Students can select the topics they want to work on or allow the program to create a pathway for them through the material.
3. ALEKS Online: ALEKS is an online math learning environment that customizes a student's learning path based on an initial assessment and ongoing progress. The topics and problems are presented to students at the optimal point for learning. Periodically, ALEKS presents students with assessments to check their understanding of the content they learned, and as they progress, students will be able to see what skills and concepts they have mastered and what concepts and skills remain to be covered. Subscriptions can be purchased at a monthly, six-month, or yearly rate. A family discount is also available.
4. Thinkwell: Thinkwell is an online program that is used by Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and several home school organizations. The program consists of short, one - three minute videos and animations explaining concepts and procedures and problems sets that are automatically scored, providing immediate feedback to students. This program has a fee for a 12-month subscription.
5. CK12: CK12 is a no-cost resource that offers a math curriculum through an interactive textbook. It is supported by adaptive practice activities and PLIX (Play, Learn, Interact, Explore). Student progress can be stored when students login. Similar to Khan Academy, students can select the topics they want to work on or allow the program to create a pathway for them through the material.
Best Regards,
Amanda