This week, I want to pass along a great online math resource: Khan Academy. You may remember me mentioning them a few weeks ago. Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization on a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. They offer math tutorial courses by grade level, from kindergarten through high school, and by specific subjects ranging from Arithmetic to AP®︎ Calculus.
Established in 2008, their subjects span beyond Math to include Chemistry, Health & Medicine, Science & Engineering, Arts & Humanities, Test Prep, Computing, Economics, Finance, and College & Career Prep, so there is truly something for everyone. I encourage you to utilize this free service, and to keep a lookout for some of the hidden gems within the programming like courses on coding, computer animation, the home buying process, capital markets and other out of the box life and career skills.
You can add your child to your account, which will give them the opportunity to monitor their own progress as you both set goals and determine rewards along their learning journey. You can even ‘play’ right alongside your child and model for them how to stick with challenges as they occur and how fun and rewarding learning can be.
Khan Academy even provides coaching tips for parents assisting their children with math studies, which is a resource I wish my parents had back when I was learning math!
If your child doesn’t need immediate homework help, you might want to make a game out of picking topics to delve into. A great place I recommend to start is the Growth Mindset course, with includes activities and videos for students grades elementary through high school. The content was developed in partnership with PERTS, a Stanford center that builds on the research done by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.. Dweck is the premier researcher on the concept of growth mindset and “the science behind the idea that ‘You can learn anything’.” (Check out her books here.)
If your child is in high school, you may want to peruse the available interviews with entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, Angela Ahrendts, the Former CEO of Burberry and Former senior vice president of Retail at Apple, or Beth Schmidt, the Founder of Wishbone.org. They offer a lot of great anecdotes about learning and career inspiration.
Overall, I think Khan Academy is a resource you should explore with your child and see if it’s the right fit for your needs. There is both an app available on iTunes and Google Play, so you can even get a screen addict to give it a go. 😉
Have you already tried out Khan Academy? How was your experience? Or do you have another favorite educational resource you’d like me to feature? Let me know in the comments below.