Khan Academy

Last September I blogged about the Khan Academy, an amazing web resource for students, consisting of hundreds of teaching videos for subjects including algebra, geometry, physics, basic math, biology, chemistry, finance, etc. They were featured on 60 Minutes and other media because of the remarkable quality of the teaching and the consistently excellent results experienced by students who use them -- and the fact that the site's founder, Salman Khan -- did all this for free. Khan Academy started out as Sal making a few algebra videos for his cousins and has grown to over 2,100 videos and 100 self-paced exercises and assessments. It's remarkable.

Once again, I strongly urge you and your middle school and high school students to check out Khan Academy and try one of the short videos. I found myself fascinated by one of the lessons on geometry -- a course I never took in high school.

I'm told that some RHS teachers are suggesting that kids explore the Khan Academy offerings as additional homework help or to delve deeper into concepts. High school kids seem to like the short lessons, and there's just something "right" about the way the teacher presents and explains the material. The district website now has a link to Khan Academy on the Curriculum & Instruction page, under "Internet Resources for Parents, Teachers & Students.". Click here.