Teaching high school math in homeschool can be a challenge and it can be pricey! Here’s why we’ve decided to use Khan Academy Algebra 2 in our homeschool. In addition to being completely free, it provides a lot of flexibility and ease of use. The short video lessons are perfect for all types of learners. Let me tell you why we decided to use Khan Academy Algebra 2, the pros & cons, and how it fits into our homeschool high school plan.
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Most homeschool parents know that it can be difficult to find a great math curriculum for the high school years. If you want the ability to ask questions and consult with a math teacher, you’ll pay for that perk. If you’re trying to cover math on a shoestring budget, you may regret your cheap choice.
But with Khan Academy math courses, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of scaffolding, automated explanations for wrong answers, and easy-to-understand videos that come with a price tag of zero! It’s actually quite amazing for homeschool families.
Why Consider Khan Academy for Algebra 2
Our homeschool math journey with five kids has gone on a predictable route until the high school years. We still use and love (and recommend!) BJU Press Math at least from K-6, or even K-8. We just purchase the student work text or textbook and then the teacher’s edition for the answer keys.
But by the time I had several kids in the high school years, I wasn’t able to clone myself enough or jump into Algebra 2 or Geometry every week or so and remember how to do the problems. We tried various math programs through the years with some success but not glowing reviews.
For student #4 in high school, we finally took the plunge with Khan Academy for Geometry last year and it seemed to be a better fit. So we’ve continued on with it for Algebra 2.
When I used to have multiple kids taking upper level math courses, I could justify a large “family pricing” purchase for math curriculum. But with only one student needing these video courses this year, I didn’t want to pay multiple hundreds of dollars. So, since Khan Academy was free, it definitely was a selling factor for us. Now, I realize not everything that is free is of the same quality. But you will find Khan Academy at least as good as – or better – than most of the video math curriculum out there on the homeschool market.
Another reason Khan Academy Algebra 2 works so well for us is the flexible structure of being self-paced and video-based. The videos are short. So your student is able to work through the videos and problems as they master the content. They work at their own pace and aim for mastery. This makes it great for independent learners.
It also includes built-in quizzes and progress tracking, so you and your student both know how they are doing at any moment.
How We Structure Algebra 2 with Khan Academy
Khan Academy Algebra 2 isn’t set up like a typical math program with 180 lessons. Instead, there are units and then skills within those units. If you want to divide up the work, you could certainly make a schedule based on 180 days of school. We just work on it for roughly 45 minutes to 1 hour per day to cover our state’s 990 hours requirement for each year of high school.
The typical lesson flow looks like this: watch video → take notes → do practice problems
After some trial and error, we realized that teens need to take detailed notes of the problems as they watch the lesson videos. And the more color they use, probably the better! The instructor uses color on the video to show different steps, and when my son started doing this in his own notebook, he understood the content better and was able to master the skills.
In the end, your student will produce their own “math textbook” through the notes they take on the video lessons.
After watching the video and taking notes, your student will have a chance to answer some questions or work some problems based on the video content and skill. If they get answers wrong, it will explain where to go back and relearn a skill.
Your student can retake quizzes, which is a good thing. You want them to master the skill, not just go on to the next lesson with partial understanding! I really appreciate this built-in feature.
There are 2-3 quizzes per unit and a unit test at the end.
At any point, your student can see his progress on his side bar. It will show whether the skill was mastered, proficient, familiar, attempted, or not started. You will also see this information on the parent dashboard.
Pros and Cons for Homeschool Families
Here are the pros and cons of using Khan Academy for Algebra 2, or any other high school math course.
Pros:
- Cost-effective: You can’t beat free! But unlike some free curriculum that is sub-par, you’ll find Khan Academy really could charge for their courses. They’re that good.
- Flexible and self-paced: Your student doesn’t need to feel behind. They’ll work at their own pace and master the content before moving on. They can do as many or as little lessons as needed each day.
- Great for visual learners: The video lessons are easy to understand and perfect for your visual learners, especially with the various colors the instructor uses on the screen. If you add in note taking with color, your student will be more successful.
Cons:
- Less hands-on and minimal teacher interaction: Of course, you won’t have the ability to ask a live teacher questions. But most homeschoolers don’t have that ability anyway, unless it’s asking mom or dad!
- No printed workbook or textbook: We’ve found a way around this issue by having our student produced his own “textbook” as he goes by taking color-coded notes from the videos. The problems are all done on the screen, so you won’t have a record of those either.
- Need a grade on the transcript: There isn’t necessarily a percentage grade that you can easily see for your student. So, you can decide how you want to figure out the grade for the transcript. My suggestion would be to use the unit tests and average a grade from there.
Tips for Success
Here’s why we recommend Khan Academy Algebra 2 and a few tips for success:
- Short lessons
- Works well with block scheduling or traditional scheduling – not divided into “180 lessons” like a standard textbook might be
- Easy to understand – the instructor is excellent!
- The website includes “notes” and explanations, especially if you get something wrong
- The key to using Khan in high school especially is to have your student “take notes” with colored pens/pencils so they have a written record of everything they’re being taught in this course to go back and look at. This becomes their textbook. Plus using more senses is better than just reading a math textbook.
- It’s FREE
Listen to HWM 307. Here’s Our Experience with Khan Academy Algebra 2
coming soon!
On episode 307 of the Homeschool with Moxie Podcast, I’ll walk you through our experience this year using Khan Academy Algebra 2 in our homeschool high school.
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