online homework primary school

Reading & Math for K-5

• Kindergarten
• Learning numbers
• Comparing numbers
• Place Value
• Roman numerals
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Order of operations
• Drills & practice
• Measurement
• Factoring & prime factors
• Proportions
• Shape & geometry
• Data & graphing
• Word problems
• Children's stories
• Leveled stories
• Sight words
• Sentences & passages
• Context clues
• Cause & effect
• Compare & contrast
• Fact vs. fiction
• Fact vs. opinion
• Main idea & details
• Story elements
• Conclusions & inferences
• Sounds & phonics
• Words & vocabulary
• Reading comprehension
• Early writing
• Numbers & counting
• Simple math
• Social skills
• Other activities
• Dolch sight words
• Fry sight words
• Multiple meaning words
• Prefixes & suffixes
• Vocabulary cards
• Other parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Narrative writing
• Opinion writing
• Informative writing
• Cursive alphabet
• Cursive letters
• Cursive letter joins
• Cursive words
• Cursive sentences
• Cursive passages
• Grammar & Writing

Download & Print From Only $1.79

Free Worksheets for Kids

What is K5?

K5 Learning offers free worksheets , flashcards  and inexpensive  workbooks  for kids in kindergarten to grade 5. Become a member  to access additional content and skip ads.

Our members helped us give away millions of worksheets last year.

We provide free educational materials to parents and teachers in over 100 countries. If you can, please consider purchasing a membership ($24/year) to support our efforts.

Members skip ads and access exclusive features.

Learn about member benefits

This content is available to members only.

Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content. Learn More

25 Best Online Learning Platforms for Students & Teachers to Try in 2022

Written by Melanie Arden

• Teacher Resources

• Student and teacher communication platforms
• Game-based learning platforms
• Classroom management platforms
• Online-only virtual learning platforms
• What about eLearning platforms for adults?
• Is there a best virtual classroom platform?

Since early 2020, teachers like you worked tirelessly to ensure students continue their studies without disruption. Despite the challenges everyone faced, your hard work made sure online learning platforms provided a way to keep kids engaged and excited to study! 

As students continue to learn online, virtual learning platforms are a good way to help them:

• Have an effective remote learning experience
• Progress with their studies and receive feedback from teachers
• Learn in a safe environment in line with the school’s privacy policies
• Get more time back for homework and activities instead of traveling to school

We've compiled a variety of online learning platforms to suit the needs of parents and teachers. Keep reading to find out which one is right for you!

Types of virtual learning platforms & examples of each

Communication is key when it comes to ensuring students receive the education they deserve. Interactive video lectures help teachers and students communicate effectively in real time.

Education platforms encourage students to:

• Collaborate 
• Communicate
• Share videos, photos and homework assignments 

To help students learn, you can set up classes, distribute and collect homework assignments.

Plus, virtual platforms give parents the opportunity to take part and supervise their child's progress from home. 

1. FlipGrid

FlipGrid is a conversation-starter enabling students and teachers to share videos about a relevant subject. Starting guides and webinars are available to teach you and your students how to use this unique platform. Best of all, it's free! 

Zoom became the #1 choice for meetings and webinars for its ease and functionality. Why not use this video conferencing tool for online classes, too?

Zoom requires the use of a passcode to take part in real-time video lectures. Not only does this provide a secure learning environment for kids, but it also allows for safe interactions between students and teachers.

Slack is an instant messaging tool that helps you and your students communicate instantly. 

Teachers can set up channels geared toward separate topics, and Slack ensures data is secure so only teachers and students access lessons. Once you create a start hub, students can easily access everything they need for their studies.

Bloomz is a wonderful app that opens communication between parents and teachers. Easily line up parent-teacher conversations, receive class updates and track behavior with this user-friendly platform. Translation is available in over 100 languages to make learning accessible for everyone.

5. ClassDojo

Parents can join their kids in class through any device with this platform. ClassDojo gives students a way to receive praise for their skills, and parents have the option to share happy moments captured in classrooms.

6. Microsoft Teams

Classrooms are a true team environment when teachers and students can swap thoughts and ideas. Microsoft Teams makes it easy for you and your students to work together as you exchange videos, homework assignments and engage in chat conversations.

Game-based learning combines the fun of gaming with learning . Quizzes, badges and points systems coupled with classroom participation make for a joyful way for students to develop problem solving and critical thinking skills

We found four rewarding and helpful platforms to enhance your child's love for learning through games.

1. Prodigy Math Game

Prodigy's adaptive, game-based learning platform can help students fall in love with learning! Prodigy Math Game challenges students to complete questions, earn rewards and battle friends, all while answering curriculum-aligned questions. 

Plus, your free teacher account gives you access to all of Prodigy’s teacher tools. Use them to:

• Align Prodigy with your classroom lessons
• Differentiate math instruction for every student
• Track student progress and deliver in-game assessments

Whether students are learning in the classroom or at home, Prodigy is a great way to keep them engaged as they build math skills.

Nothing gets kids more excited than a good classroom quiz (and a little healthy competition). Kahoot! was created to work with live video conferencing tools such as Zoom, Skype and Google Meet and blends educational games with fun questions to promote learning.

Kahoot! also encourages kids to create their own games and share with other students.

3. Gimkit         

Gimkit Live unleashes clever educational content where students answer questions at their own pace. Each time they answer a question correctly, they receive in-game cash they can re-invest to buy upgrades and power-ups. 

4. Quizlet        

Quizlet uses flashcards and games to make learning more enjoyable. Study modes and sets are suited to each student's learning style, which makes small accomplishments feel like victories.

Quizlet helps kids to learn a variety of subjects, including:

Classroom management platforms are timesaving tools that make learning run smoothly . These ingenious platforms help you time tasks, manage and improve students' behavior and create a respectful and supportive environment.

You can also use these platforms to communicate with parents and enhance educational experiences at school or at home.

1. Google Classroom    

Google Classroom requires the use of a Gmail account to access Classrooms. This platform is fantastic for easy communication, teamwork and sharing homework files. Plus, you can even use Classroom to make a class website and store important resources or information for students. 

2. Buncee     

Buncee is a fun and simple tool that helps students and teachers create course materials, presentations and stories. The platform has over 2,000 templates that allow users to build charts and visual art creations.

Buncee is a multi-purpose, web-based tool for educational, business and personal applications.

As a global learning management system (LMS), EdModo is a collaborative platform that connects teachers, students and parents.

Teachers like you can:

• Support students 
• Distribute quizzes
• Share assignments
• Create posts and messages

Students have a greater chance of reaching their full potential thanks to EdModo's organized class folders and built-in planner. 

Parents may wish to create their own account so they can supervise their child's progress.

4. Edulastic

As a valuable online education tool, Edulastic's high standards help you administer assessments, help students and track their progress. Google Classroom synchronization is available free to use in combination with Edulastic. Students receive the best of both worlds: effective academic resources that are easy to use!  

5. Eduplanet21      

Eduplanet21 recently began allowing teachers and groups to receive a free subscription to use their platform. Developers also released a software module called "Lesson Planner," which helps you to produce and alter lesson plans for remote learning.

The website has great resources for "10 Minute Tuesdays," quick conversations with educators from around the world. Their webinars also offer valuable tips to help educators and students.

6. ClassMax

ClassMax's online education tool shows teachers exactly how to set up the system, so no guessing required. You can create seating charts, monitor behavior and track student progress. It also eliminates the need to use paper, which is an environmental bonus!

When the pandemic forced educators to change the way they deliver lessons, virtual learning platforms became the solution for administering tutorials and sending out learning materials.

There are countless platforms to make studies enjoyable while kids learn from the comfort and safety of their homes, and we found five excellent options for teachers and parents to choose from.

1. Skillshare

Skillshare's vast library of over 20,000 classes earns top honors as one of the best online learning platforms. Courses consist of presentations lasting 20 minutes or less along with a class project.

Skillshare membership levels include:

• A two-month free trial.
• Free membership allowing access to 2,000 classes.
• Premium membership for $15 per month or $99 for a year. You receive access to 20,000+ classes.

Students learn new skills through online courses about productivity, business and creativity. 

2. 3P Learning

3P is a blended software designed for mathematics and literacy. Incorporated gaming elements make learning more fun for students, and 3P's Mathletics program provides activities that help students practice and advance their understanding of mathematics.

Math and literacy subjects are geared toward students ages 3 - 16.

3. Dialpad  

Dialpad, a cloud-based phone system, allows educators to create an online campus and bring all their students together under one 'roof'. Teachers can set up a virtual classroom in seconds, students easily stay connected from any device and all communications are secure thanks to encryption. 

4. Docebo  

Docebo is an amazing collaborative learning platform perfectly suited for student interaction. Kids can take part in active discussions as they would in a physical classroom with a flexible and easy-to-use system.

Course content distribution and management has never been so easy!

Habyts' platform lets teachers and parents take control over students' screens to help kids stay motivated to complete their schoolwork.

Parents can have round-the-clock access to goals and rewards that help their kids remain focused. Use Habyts with your students’ parents to promote healthy learning even when they’re not in the classroom!

There are countless free and low-cost options available to adults who want to learn online. If you would like to upgrade your skills or sign up for professional development training programs, we've got you covered.

Below, you'll find four of our top picks to help you achieve your educational goals.  

1. Coursera  

Coursera has several certificates, degree programs and general courses to give you the tools for success. Learn from top educational institutions and companies like Duke University, Stanford or Google.

Coursera's affordable options include:

• Free courses
• Degree programs such as computer science and MBAs
• Professional certificates in social media or digital marketing 

The impressive list of training programs is available to anyone seeking career advancement.

MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses. An extension of EDx, you'll find free and affordable online courses to transform your career in engineering, data science, computer science, business, management and humanities.

Udemy is a fantastic, low-cost option where you can learn design, web development, marketing, music and countless other subjects. With over 155,000 online courses to choose from, you'll spend hours honing new skills for work or play.

EDx boasts affordable degree programs taught by respected educational institutions like Harvard, Berkeley University and MIT. MicroBachelor and MicroMasters studies enable adults to fast track their career advancement and start less expensive Bachelor and Masters programs.

Adult eLearning platforms are a boon for those wishing to expand their education from the comfort of their home. During the pandemic, these platforms provide extraordinary value without a huge expense.

Well... choosing the best virtual platform depends on several factors :

• What age group are you teaching? 
• How many students do you have in your class? 
• Do you need to set up tutoring spaces for kids who need extra help? 

There are several things to consider before choosing a platform that is right for your students

One of the best ways to determine the right platform for you is to create a list of must-haves . Compare the list against each virtual platform's features and benefits. From there, you'll be able to settle on the best platform for your students.  

Our digital world opens up a staggering number of virtual classrooms to choose from. Each platform has their own unique advantages. Like everything else, there are limitations to consider.

But what happens when virtual classrooms do not meet all student needs? It is important to point out several caveats associated with virtual classrooms:

• Teacher compensation and workload require restructuring
• Students may lose interest in completing homework assignments
• Educators should be mindful of how student data is collected and stored
• Students miss their friends and the social interaction they received at school
• Technological limitations may exist especially for kids from low-income families
• It is not always easy to prevent unwanted visitors from entering a virtual classroom
• Unstable enrollment as restrictions lift and students attend traditional classrooms vs. virtual learning
• Problems with internet access could prevent students from logging into classes and missing important lessons
• Other limitations include length of each session and the number of participants allowed to enter the virtual classroom (this isn't an issue for paid versions of some platforms)

Before choosing a virtual classroom, consider the pros and cons of each platform and how they may influence your students' learning experience. 

There are several wonderful learning options available to educational institutions and teachers. A little research will help you arrive at the best decision for your students!

Virtual learning is changing education

For every state and school district, there are different opinions on the future of virtual learning. Some say it's here to stay while others insist a physical classroom is the best way for kids to learn.

Here are a few key points to consider about the future of virtual classrooms:

• Online courses offer flexibility and accessibility for everyone with internet access
• Several platforms offer an extensive selection of programs and courses catered to different interests
•  Most online learning resources are less expensive than traditional in-person classrooms and lecture halls, making virtual education more affordable

Although it’s hard to predict what online education will look like ten years from now, many online learning resources will be available in the near future. Online studies have become a great way to supplement traditional classroom learning.

Prodigy Math Game blends the adventure of an online game with curriculum-aligned math practice. As students explore the world of Prodigy through their wizard avatars, they’ll encounter skill-building math questions that help them earn rewards and level up.

With your free teacher account, you can align the questions students answer to your lesson plans, differentiate content and track student progress, even while students learn online. Get started today!

Share this article

Table of Contents

Did you know?

Students at one school district mastered 68% more math skills on average when they used Prodigy.

• Create new account
• Reset your password

Register and get FREE resources and activities

Ready to unlock all our resources?

12 of the best home learning websites for kids

Using websites to support home learning

The pandemic had a huge impact on learning at home and increased the amount of incredible educational help online.   It can be difficult, however, to sift through the thousands of online learning resources to find the right ones for your child.   ‘It’s worth taking some time to look at what a particular website is offering,’ says Bobby Seagull, maths teacher, half of BBC duo Monkman and Seagull , and spokesperson for Explore Learning.    ‘Is it linked to the school curriculum , or does it offer tangential but interesting learning? Both are good and can complement each other.'   As well as keeping up the momentum with maths and English, it’s important to support your child's learning in different ways, including creative subjects, physical activity and learning through play.   ‘Children need a variety of subjects to help them develop a broader appreciation of the wonderful world of knowledge out there,’ Bobby explains. ‘This is a chance for them to learn new things that they might not have done before.’   Tapping into diverse resources – from worksheets to tutorials to YouTube videos – will also keep your child engaged so they don’t lose interest in learning.

Need a little help? 

It’s important to give our kids lots of different learning experiences, but we also need to help them keep moving with literacy and maths. Lots of families will also be preparing for their child to take the 11+ in the autumn: we've rounded up the latest information about revised 11+ dates in each area.   While some of us may have grown in confidence with home learning, others might still feel out of their comfort zone when supporting their children with maths and English. This is where online tutoring can help.   ‘Using an online tutor can help take the pressure off you by giving your child time with someone who’s knowledgeable in a particular area,’ explains Charlotte Gater, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning. ‘It will give your child the chance to be stretched in a subject that they excel in, or develop in an area they find more challenging.’   Online tutoring isn’t passive learning, where your child sits at a screen and is expected to work through endless questions and tasks. Rather, it calls on them to be engaged and independent  (as well as offering you the reassurance that they are working through a structured set of resources).   ‘When we’re teaching a new concept, we get children to teach it back to us, so we know they understand,’ says Charlotte.   ‘We focus a lot on how children are learning, not just what they’re learning, and establishing these great learning habits allows them to embrace learning in any scenario.’   Whether your child is preparing for entrance exams or home learning, one-to-one online tutoring is a great way to provide structure and help them focus on key skills, but you can supplement it with online resources to make learning fun and varied.   To help you out, we’ve rounded up our 12 favourite online resources that’ll keep your child’s learning on track.

Best for reading scheme books

Oxford Owl eBook Library

If your child's progress with their school  reading scheme has declined, you can get them back on track thanks to the brilliant ebooks from leading educational publisher Oxford University Press.   The virtual library is stocked with books for primary school children of all reading levels, including books from reading schemes like Biff and Chip and Read Write Inc Phonics. There are also books for independent reading.   Once you’ve registered, you can search by age, reading level, book type and series to find the best titles to help your child make progress with their reading at home.

Best for one-to-one tuition

Explore Learning: Explore at Home

Explore Learning is renowned for helping children aged 4-14 learn through its Explore at Home one-to-one tutoring: brilliant if your child needs a little help to get back on track, or is preparing for the 11+ or other important exam.   When you sign up for Explore at Home, your child’s personal expert tutor will devise a bespoke programme tailored to their age and stage, aligned with the primary curriculum.   Your child will have a weekly one-to-one online session with a qualified centre tutor (the sessions can be delivered from any device, including mobile and tablets); learning will happen through a split screen and feedback will be provided to both you and your child at the end.   Your child’s progress is tracked so their tutor can identify their strengths and weaknesses and support them with the areas they find difficult, plus they'll have unlimited online access to an individualised online learning programme, with downloadable educational resources and worksheets, so they can work on their maths and English skills from home. Explore Learning is offering a free trial of Explore at Home so you can decide if it would be right for you and your child.

Best for demystifying primary school jargon

TheSchoolRun.com

One of the trickiest things about supporting your child’s home learning is making sense of what they’re learning at school. Many of the terms they use are unfamiliar ( fronted adverbials , anyone?), which is where TheSchoolRun comes in.   The comprehensive primary school glossaries – English , grammar, maths , science and computing – explain every bit of terminology you need to know, with examples, step-by-step explanations and teachers’ tips to help you support your child.   We also have hundreds of free Homework Gnome resources to help your child with all those primary school history, geography, science and RE topics, each packed with facts, trivia, images, videos and links to further info: just what you need if your child has been given a homework project and doesn’t know where to start.

Best for book recommendations

Whether your child is happiest with their nose in a book or needs encouragement to read , Toppsta is packed with inspiring ideas to support reading for pleasure.   The website is full of book recommendations for children aged 0 to 14, with reader reviews , book lists for different ages, stages and subjects, featured books, giveaways and inspiring ideas to help your child enjoy reading.

Best for library lovers

Your local library

If you have a library card, you can borrow a vast range of children’s and young adult ebooks and audiobooks from your local library to read or listen to on a tablet or phone using apps like Libby , Borrowbox , PressReader and rbdigital . Visit your library’s website to find out which app it uses.   You can also access a wide range of online reference books to support your child’s homework projects, as well as newspapers and magazines to give them a grounding in reading non-fiction and current affairs .

Best for daily lessons

BBC Bitesize

BBC Bitesize has a huge range of online lessons in English and maths, tailored to your child’s key stage. You can use these to supplement what your child is learning at school, or to keep them learning if they're off school for any reason.   There are also videos, quizzes and podcasts to make learning fun, plus educational programmes on iPlayer and the red button.  

Best for maths games

Children learn best if they’re enjoying themselves, which is why we love Topmarks: a website full of fantastic maths games for children aged three to 14.   The games are grouped by age, and you can also pick a particular category for your child to focus on, like place value , money maths , shapes and problem-solving. Games include Place Value Basketball, Rocket Rounding, and Number Patterns.   Many of the games are tablet-friendly, while others use Flash and so need to be played on a computer or laptop. There are also parents’ resources to give you ideas for improving your child’s maths skills, for example learning through cooking.

Best coding website

Blockly Games

Blockly Games introduces children to the basics of computer coding through interactive games.   Blockly is a programming language that works by stacking blocks together, a bit like a jigsaw. These blocks are used to create chunks of code that can then be converted into professional text code.   Blockly Games helps children get to grips with coding through games, puzzles and activities like making an animated character, writing instructions for a maze, and composing music using simple commands. This helps them understand key principles of coding like sequences, conditionals and loops.

Best for play ideas

Make Time 2 Play

Learning isn’t all about sitting at the table with pencil and paper; there’s a lot that kids can learn through play, too. Why not have a look at Make Time 2 Play? It has over 450 play ideas for primary school children and younger that can be played online or downloaded to a tablet or phone. You can search by age, the number of children participating, the duration of the game and the particular benefits.   There’s a great selection of activities including arts and crafts, physical challenges and imaginative play, many of which you can do in the home and garden.

Best for KS3

Home Learning Timetable

It’s natural to feel daunted if you’re supporting a secondary school child ’s learning at home, especially if they've just started Year 7 and are facing a bigger homework workload than they're used to. Every day, Home Learning Timetable links to three online lessons on websites like YouTube and TED-Ed, covering key curriculum areas like maths and science plus optional subjects like media studies.   You can access previous days’ learning activities, so there’s no obligation to do every lesson every day, and there’s an emphasis on fun, with quizzes, TV programmes and practical challenges alongside more structured lessons.   If you or your child finds a great learning resource online, you can submit it to the website to be considered for inclusion. 

Best search engine

Keeping kids safe online is a priority for every parent, especially as a few wrong clicks could lead them to seriously unsuitable content.   Kiddle is a search engine for children that’s designed to ensure they can search safely. Search results are filtered to make sure they’re age-appropriate, and websites written especially for children are top of the listings.   Most results are illustrated with a thumbnail picture to help your child understand what they’re about, and the site is written in a large, child-friendly font for ease of reading.

Best for broadening horizons

TED is renowned for its short, informative and powerful talks on a huge range of subjects – and TED-Ed is its youth and education initiative, bringing new ideas to children from primary age up.   Short animations that spark ideas are TED-Ed’s bread and butter, with collaborations from teachers, designers, journalists, science writers and historians, covering subjects as diverse as the immune system, the myths behind the Chinese Zodiac, and materials science.   Register with the website to receive engaging learning ideas by email, grouped by age, across curriculum and non-curriculum areas from maths, literature and language to health and psychology.

Best for investigation and curiosity

Looking to encourage a little scientific curiosity in your child? Wonderlab+ is the Science Museum Group’s free learning website that brings science to life through creative and fun experiments and games. It is fun, playful and educational. 

Learn about how things work, conduct experiments, explore space and go on interactive missions to solve mysterious problems. 

The graphics are really engaging and the website is easy for kids to navigate, with facts and information written in in a way that is easily accessible. 

This article is a paid collaboration between TheSchoolRun and Explore Learning.

Boost Your Child's Learning Today!

• Start your child on a tailored learning programme
• Maths & English resources delivered each week to your dashboard
• Keep your child's learning on tracks

Give your child a headstart

• FREE articles & expert information
• FREE resources & activities
• FREE homework help

More like this

Top 4 Online Homework Platforms

Schools and teachers are increasingly going online to find tools that can assist you in the classroom. However, due to the fast-paced educational technology space, it has become difficult to identify the best learning tools. We’ve therefore composed the top 4 online homework and revision platforms for primary and secondary schools.

1. Seneca Learning & Revision

Seneca is used by 5 million+ KS3, KS4, GCSE and A level students. Several neuroscience principles are baked into the platform’s algorithm that showcases and repeats questions in a way that lets students learn two times faster compared to standard revision guides. The repetition happens with calculated intervals to help students memorise the subject better. The learning platform does not only increase the students' engagement but has also scientifically proven to let students learn two times faster.

Create a free Seneca account

The benefits of Seneca are:

• The platform is free to use for students and teachers
• Covers 1000+ KS2, KS3, GCSE and A Level courses across all exam boards
• A free teacher platform with assignments and study insights
• Proven to let students learn 2x faster ( source )
• Increased study engagement due to the engaging learning modules

2. Show my Homework

An online homework calendar that includes all the assignment information such as descriptions, deadlines, and attachments for students. It’s quite an easy way for you to schedule homework and for students to manage their submission. By linking Seneca’s study platform in the assignment description you can easily guide your students to their assignment page. This is the link you can use to link any assignment from ShowMyHomework to Seneca: https://app.senecalearning.com/dashboard/classes/assignments

3. Google Classroom

The best parts of the Google product are its convenience and that it’s completely for free. Google promotes a very clear vision of providing free educational services without showing any ads nor gathering or using student data. When using Google Classroom you’ll instantly see that you and your students will use much less paperwork as everything can be easily stored and shared on the Drive. You can log into Seneca with your Google Classroom email address as well as combine Google Classroom and Seneca by inviting your students into your Seneca class via the student invite option.

GCSEpod is targeted for GCSE students. At the core of the platform lie 3-5 minute bursts of audio-visual learning in which subject knowledge specialists cover specific topics. These videos are named “Pods” and cover every exam board at KS4 level. In contrast to Seneca, GCSEpod only offers subscriptions starting at £200 annually. Around 1300 schools are using GCSEpod making it the smallest platform of the four.

• Your school
• Get mobile app
• Evidence Seneca works
• Revision Notes
• Free CPD courses
• Definitions
• Certified teaching resources
• Mental health & wellbeing
• Find tutors
• Become a tutor
• Privacy - UK
• Privacy - DE + AT
• Privacy - ES
• Privacy - FR
• Privacy - IT
• [email protected]
• Help & FAQs
• A Level Courses
• A Level Biology Revision
• A Level Business Revision
• A Level Chemistry Revision
• A Level Physics Revision
• A Level Economics Revision
• A Level English Language Revision
• A Level English Literature Revision
• A Level Geography Revision
• A Level History Revision
• A Level Political Studies Revision
• A Level Psychology Revision
• A Level Sociology Revision
• A Level Maths Revision
• GCSE Courses
• GCSE Biology Revision
• GCSE Business Revision
• GCSE Chemistry Revision
• GCSE Physics Revision
• GCSE Combined Science Revision
• GCSE Computer Science Revision
• GCSE Design Technology Revision
• GCSE English Language Revision
• GCSE English Literature Revision
• GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition Revision
• GCSE French Revision
• GCSE Geography Revision
• GCSE German Revision
• GCSE History Revision
• GCSE Maths Revision
• GCSE Media Studies Revision
• GCSE Music Revision
• GCSE Physical Education Revision
• GCSE Religious Studies Revision
• GCSE Sociology Revision
• GCSE Spanish Revision
• KS3 Courses
• KS3 English Revision
• KS3 French Revision
• KS3 Spanish Revision
• KS3 Geography Revision
• KS3 History Revision
• KS3 Maths Revision
• KS3 Science Revision
• KS2 Courses
• KS2 Computing
• KS2 English
• KS2 Geography
• KS2 History
• KS2 Science

Choose your region

17 Best Online Elementary School Options

Prisma is only one part of a growing online learning ecosystem. In this post, we’ll dive into the options for your K-5th grade learner.

Until recently, online school was seen as a poor substitute for in-person learning. Ten years ago, most families would never choose an online elementary school experience.

Times have changed.

Today, many families want an escape from the lifestyle mandated by the traditional school system. No more over-scheduled days capped off by nights of homework stress. Homeschooling or online learning offers more flexible schedules, for world travel or simply quality time.

Other families are rejecting the “one-size-fits-all” approach of the traditional system. At-home learning is completely personalized, putting parents in the driver's seat. And there are more curriculum and program options available than ever.

We built Prisma because of this fact: 60% of today’s elementary students will grow up to do jobs that haven’t been invented yet. Our online school prepares kids to thrive in a rapidly changing future, while getting them to love learning.

And we’re only one part of a growing online learning ecosystem. In this post, we’ll dive into the options for your K-5th grade learner.

Types of Online Learning Options

If you’re new to researching online options, the terminology can be confusing at first. What’s the difference between homeschool and online school? Are all online schools accredited? Does being an online school mean there are teachers?

Homeschool vs. Online School

Homeschooling is when the parent takes on the responsibility of educating their child. Online schooling, on the other hand, is like enrollment in an in-person school, only virtual.

The reality isn’t always so black and white. Many families use online programs or schools to supplement homeschooling. At Prisma, we offer a Parent-Coach program as a kind of mix between online school and homeschool.

Most online learning options fall into one of the four categories below:

• Online curriculum: Interactive digital lessons, like printed homeschool curriculum, but online. These options aren't accredited, because only schools can be accredited. (Yes, there’s no such thing as accredited curriculum!) Examples: IXL , BrainPop , Khan Academy
• Online classes: Live, online courses taught by a teacher kids enroll in on a case by case basis. Often used for subjects homeschool parents would rather not teach themselves, or as electives. Examples: Outschool , CocoCoders
• Self-paced online school: Online curriculum, packaged together into an accredited full-time school experience. Students complete assignments by working through digital modules at their own pace. Examples: Laurel Springs , Acellus
• Online school with live teaching: The most complete option. Like in-person school, with a mix of independent work and live classes. Public, private, and charter options. Examples: Prisma , K12

Sign up for more research-backed guides in your inbox

• Prisma is an accredited, project-based, online program for grades 4-12.
• Our personalized curriculum builds love of learning and prepares kids to thrive.
• Our middle school , high school , and parent-coach programs provide 1:1 coaching and supportive peer cohorts .

Questions to Consider When Selecting an Online Elementary School Program

• Where do you most need support in online learning? Are you brand new to at-home learning and looking for a full solution? Or a pro homeschooler seeking help on a few subjects or peer and teacher interaction for your child?
• What is your budget? Need a tuition-free option or can you spring for a high-quality private program?
• How flexible should the schedule be? Elementary students need structure in their days. Some families want an online program to provide this structure. Others want something more self-paced so they can build the weekly schedule themselves.
• What are your child’s current academic abilities? Can they read, write, and do math on grade level? Unsure? Consider looking for an online assessment , and use the data to help you evaluate programs.
• Accreditation or not? Accreditation is important to some parents, but is ultimately a personal choice. Many homeschoolers who don't attend accredited programs still receive a high-quality education!

What Makes Online Learning for Primary School Kids High-Quality?

It’s tempting to select the easiest, most affordable online curriculum and call it a day. But elementary students have particular learning needs to consider.

Be smart about screen time, especially for K-1st grade.

“Screen time” is often demonized, but not all screen time is created equal . There are countless benefits to high-quality online learning. But young children shouldn’t be plopped down in front of a computer for hours on end. Elementary kids also don’t need to do more than a few hours of academic coursework per day. They should learn through play, hands-on projects, and moving their bodies. Look for a program with off-screen activities, or enough flexibility to allow for your own.

Supplement self-paced learning with support and interaction.

Self-paced programs can be convenient and affordable. But beware: little minds will tire of repetitive online lessons. Kids also should practice applying knowledge to tasks beyond multiple choice questions. Consider only using self-paced curriculum for some subjects, and supplement with hands-on projects. Or, sit beside your child. Discussing the content can deepen engagement in their self-paced lessons.

Incorporate social-emotional learning.

Social-emotional skills are a major component of the traditional elementary school experience. Covering math and science is just one part of the equation. Don't omit skills like making friends, managing emotions, and speaking to a group. If the program you choose doesn’t include this, it’s your job to provide it at home.

The takeaway? Don't expect any online program to deliver a comprehensive, whole-child elementary education. So much of learning at this age is about play, socialization, and exploration. So prepare to supplement, especially if you choose a more basic program.

Even with Live Teachers, Be Ready to Support Your Child

Some 4th or 5th grade students may be able to work independently. Most elementary students need significant support managing time and staying focused .

In a traditional in-person learning environment, the teacher supervises all work. Online programs won’t provide this level of oversight. The benefits of personalized learning can be worth it! But be ready to support independent work, and ensure your child participates in classes. At Prisma , we find elementary school parents spend the most time sitting with their child. By middle school, many kids are flying solo.

Best Virtual Schools For Grades K-5 By Type

Online schools with live teaching.

Want your learner to enroll in a full online program with live classes? Like in-person schools, tuition-free public and private online schools are available . Online private schools tend to offer more live teacher support and engaging curriculum. Your choice depends on your budget and needs.

If your elementary school student is in 4th or 5th grade , check out Prisma!

Prisma is a Cognia-accredited online private school for kids in grades 4-12. We use hands-on, project-based curriculum to build love of learning and academic skills.

Each small cohort of Prisma learners is led by a learning coach. Coaches are certified teachers who support learners 1:1. They also lead daily, live workshops, in topics from Literacy to Collaborative Problem Solving.

Prisma’s fun, active community helps kids make lasting friendships. Kids bond with an intentionally-matched peer cohort in daily standups. They also join extracurriculars, from Art to Prisma News to Songwriting.

Other Live Online School Options

• Explore online public school for your state through K12 or Connections Academy . Not every online public school has live teaching. The amount of interaction and program quality varies widely by district.
• ASU Prep Digital : Online program for K-5 with traditional curriculum
• Brilliant Microschools : Online K-12 microschools with emphasis on special education. ( I recently did a podcast with their founder! )
• You may have online charter schools in your state, which vary in approach and can be found by Googling.

Self-Paced Online Schools

Self-paced programs without live teaching can be less engaging, especially for elementary schoolers. But these options remain popular due to their flexibility and lower price tags.

• Acellus Academy : Accredited video-based programs for grades K-5
• Forest Trail Academy : No-frills, accredited K-5 modules with assessments included
• IVLA (International Virtual Learning Academy): Mostly self-paced K-5 program. Does include twice-monthly “homeroom” with classmates, and some opportunities for live teacher support.
• Laurel Springs : Like the option above, Laurel Springs mostly uses self-paced curriculum. Teachers do grade work and are available in "help rooms."

Online Classes

Looking for live teaching but don’t need a full online school experience? One-off online courses can support with advanced subjects, or serve as electives in your child’s interest areas.

• Outschool : Massive online class marketplace. Options from Reading to Art to Entrepreneurship for kids of all ages. Quality varies by teacher, so check reviews!
• Kubrio : Innovative platform of teacher-led “quests” for kids ages 8-18. Topics include Public Speaking, 3D Printing, and Filmmaking.
• Bridgeway Academy : A range of custom K-12 options, including self-paced and live courses.
• Dozens of companies offer online classes in specialized subjects . For instance, Prisma partners with CocoCoders to offer coding for kids ages 6-12.

Online Curriculum

Prefer to homeschool rather than enrolling in a full-time online school? You can incorporate online curriculum in your homeschool planning.

• ABCMouse : Solid choice for littlest learners. Intended for kids ages 2-8, and best for the younger end of that range.
• IXL : Not the most engaging, but covers many standards. Also includes excellent assessment tools. Great as a supplement to your main curriculum.
• Time4Learning : Popular option with mix of online and printable activities. Mixed reviews on engagement.
• Miacademy : Gamified, video-driven platform for grades K-8 with some interactive elements. Better reviews for younger ages than older.

Remember, elementary students should do a mix of online and hands-on, play-based learning. Most online programs work best as one part of a well-rounded at-home education. Or, try a program like Prisma , for a whole-child approach to virtual learning.

More Online Education Resources

8 Most Popular Online Homeschool Programs

Best Online Middle Schools

Best Online High Schools

Project-Based Online School: How It Works

Online School for Gifted Students

Join our community of families all over the world doing school differently.

Want to learn more about how Prisma can empower your child to thrive?

More from our blog

Recommendations.

Prisma Newsletter

Did you know MyMaths can save teachers up to 5 hours per week?

A MyMaths impact study found 100% of teachers saw a time-saving benefit from MyMaths, with most seeing a reduction in time spent planning and marking homework, allowing them to focus more time on interventions, one-to-one teaching and other tasks.

Find out how MyMaths can save you time with a free trial .

Your experience, our expertise

MyMaths was created by teachers, for teachers and their students. We are constantly listening and evolving, so we can focus on what matters to you.

MyMaths can be used flexibly alongside existing resources and curriculum materials; we’ve mapped our content to popular UK schemes and curricula, such as White Rose Maths.

Limitless homework practice

With new questions generated each time students launch their homework, MyMaths students will never run out of practice!

You’re in control

A no-fuss solution that lets you stay in control. With our on-hand educational consultants and support site there if you need them, you can be confident MyMaths works for your teaching.

Complete curriculum coverage

Whole school coverage.

MyMaths provides complete curriculum coverage; our Primary school subscription is available for KS1 to KS3, with our Secondary subscription covering KS2 right up to A Level. Perfect for your whole school!

MyMaths in action

Diane Axford from Cumnor Primary School talks through how teachers at her school use MyMaths to set and track pupils’ work online, and why parents and pupils love using MyMaths at home.

It's pretty hard to beat really […] There's not another package like it for the price that it's offered at. I'm a big big fan and will be using again and again. Connor McKenna, Teacher at Ralph Allen School

Impact study

To what extent does using mymaths save teachers time.

An impact study was undertaken to understand ‘To what extent does using MyMaths save teachers time?’ It included interviews with 22 teachers across Primary and Secondary schools in England. The time they reported saving varied from 15 minutes to 5 hours a week, with the average saving being around 2 hours a week.

An impact study is research that investigates a particular change or outcome that a product or service has on the group of people it is intended to help or benefit.

Learn more about the impact study

Ready to try MyMaths?

1-to-1 VS Group Grinds

1-to-1 grinds can be booked at a time and date of your choosing, subject to availability. Each grind is €39.99, lasts 50 minutes, and is done via Zoom. These are private grinds between your child and their tutor. You can book multiple 1-to-1 grinds in one go on our scheduling page. Group Grinds are run at the same time each week, use the Search bar to choose a subject and class, and the day and time of the class will be shown below. Group grinds are a 50 minute class, and are paid for as a weekly subscription of €24.99 per week.

Online Primary School Grinds

We help busy parents take the stress out of children's education. Connect with highly-qualified primary school teachers and book online grinds at a time that suits you.

The Benefits of Learning With Us

Convenience.

All grinds take place online via video link, allowing children to learn from the comfort of their own home. Learn when you want, where you want.

High Quality Teachers

All our tutors are qualified Irish primary school teachers with a track record of delivering excellent grades for the pupils in their classrooms.

Revision Videos

Short revision videos are sent after each group lesson. These can help pupils prepare for upcoming tests and complete their homework.

Enjoyable Learning Experience

Our tutors use a combination of fun educational games and activities to create an enjoyable learning experience for our pupils.

All grinds take place online allowing children to learn from home. Learn when you want, where you want.

All our tutors are qualified Irish primary school teachers with a record of delivering excellent grades.

Revision videos are sent to pupils to help prepare for upcoming tests and complete their homework.

Tutors use a combination of educational games and activities to create an enjoyable learning experience.

Book Grinds

1-to-1 grinds can be booked at a time and date of your choosing. Available for all subjects and classes. 50 minute Zoom class @ €24.99

1-to-1 Grinds

Group Grinds

1st Year Maths Grinds

6th class english grinds, 5th class english grinds, 6th class maths grinds, 6th class irish grinds, 5th class maths grinds, 5th class irish grinds, 4th class maths grinds.

There are no grinds available for your selection - please try again. Group grinds are only available for 4th class and above.

How Our Program Works

At Primary School Online we provide 1-to-1 & group online grinds to primary school pupils throughout Ireland. Our experienced Primary School Teachers connect with their students via Zoom and assist with any aspect of the curriculum. We offer once-off grinds to help your child with topics they find challenging and also provide long term subject-specific support. We take the protection and privacy of your child seriously. All of our tutors are Garda vetted. Group Grinds are run in a way that prevents children from talking to each other; they can only communicate with the tutor. We adhere to all GDPR best practices.

Book Grinds Online

Our booking calendar makes it easy to view available times with a teacher of your choice. You can view available classes by selecting a teacher or class year and choosing from the available dates and times. You can schedule a recurring class for the same time and day each week, or book multiple classes at different dates and times in the future.

Online Grinds

50 minutes of dedicated, tailored tuition from one of our qualified primary school teachers. Max of 6 pupils in each class.

At Primary School Online we provide 1-to-1 & group online grinds to primary school pupils throughout Ireland. Our experienced Primary School Teachers connect with their students via Zoom and assist with any aspect of the curriculum. We offer once-off grinds to help your child with topics they find challenging and also provide long term subject-specific support.

Our Teachers

Customer Testimonials

Weekly newsletter, delivering one high-impact educational tip every saturday morning..

Join 510+ parents in getting one actionable tip to improve your child's confidence and grades in school.

Ready to get started?

English for primary school children (6-12 years)

Poptropica English:  offers a unique combination of beautiful digital materials and fun online activities, songs and games, creating a world of excitement and adventure that children do not want to leave.

The unique game Poptropica English Island Adventure allows students to learn by playing in a fun digital environment with famous characters from their online learning materials. Learning is so extended beyond the book that students are exposed to English as they enjoy.

Map of the ESITY courses for primary school children

Development of language skills

Development of self-study skills

Preparation before class

Video (3-25 minutes).

Learning key knowledge before learning from different types of videos.

Online class with a tutor

Individual or group online lessons (25 minutes).

Quality international teachers bring pure English in the online classroom. They teach children by playing to talk more.

Summary after class

Online homework (5-20 minutes).

Online homework to consolidate the key knowledge of the lesson.

I found this company who are doing live video interactive online courses with books, videos and even the adventure game on mobile phone. We were afraid about efficiency of online language training, however I was amazed how boys are taken by the style of the courses. And its not really costly cca 6-7 EUR per 25min (ideal timeframe for kids to focus).

We have tried several teaching companies, but since i am a linguist myself, i may be more demanding and have always had reservations. that is why i appreciate this approach where the child really learns for 25 minutes and learns almost everything in class. activities change quickly and the child does not have time to get bored., my daughter (8 years old) likes children's elements, while the teenager (11) likes that the teacher was fun. i also like the videos as preparation for the lesson, or worksheets as tasks after the lesson and especially that they are systematically taught gradually according to the textbook (some teachers do not want to work with books and then learning is unsystematic)., experience a fully english environment with a tutor from abroad, live interaction privately or within a small group, the opportunity to have a pure english pronunciation, to perceive multiculturalism..

Learning exclusively in a foreign language imitates the environment of learning the mother tongue.

International teachers lead children into an environment similar to learning their mother tongue. It is pure English naturally rich in knowledge.

Children learn faster than at a later age. Therefore, more and more parents are asking their children to learn a foreign language well. Take the opportunity to teach English to your child in the comfort of your home or anywhere else.

Advanced settings

You can customize your cookie preferences here. Enable or disable the following categories and save your selection.

• Teach Early Years
• Teach Primary
• Teach Secondary

• New for Schools

Home > Teach Primary Interactive

Maths Made Easy online

• Key Stage: KS1, KS2
• Contact: Send email | Visit Website
• Share this:

Try a free 60 day trial of the new online whole school maths homework service

AN ONLINE HOMEWORK SERVICE THAT ENGAGES PUPILS AND PARENTS

Developed with Carol Vorderman and Pearson , Maths Made Easy delivers an online learning environment with weekly maths homeworks created to allow pupils of every ability level to practise their key maths skills, embed them, and most importantly enjoy learning them.

Powered by Carol Vorderman’s themathsfactor.com, Maths Made Easy is designed to make setting and marking homework quick and easy so you can spend time on what you do best, teaching. The service is built around an interactive platform that allows you to set homeworks for any number of classes in a school, have them completed by your pupils and automatically marked.

A typical homework consists of:

• An introductory video presented by Carol Vorderman
• A warm-up game or practice activity
• A marked and timed activity

Quick, easy and fun The system has been designed to make accessing and completing homework straightforward and fun for your pupils, whilst also helping you to manage and monitor their work quickly and efficiently.

With an intuitive ‘drag and drop’ interface, intelligent pupil import facility, and powerful search and sorting tools, Maths Made Easy will work with you to provide fun homeworks that complement your planning.

Engaging parents and guardians Maths Made Easy also gives parents the opportunity to interact with their children’s learning like never before.

With individual logins parents can track the progress of their child’s homework results, explore each activity in detail and even have a go at a version of the activities for themselves. What’s more they can do all of this whenever and wherever they like. This key feature of the service is intended to aid the connection between parents and guardians and the exercises their children bring home, so they better understand how the maths is being taught.

Complementary services The homework service is complemented by the highly popular Made Easy workbook series , authored by Carol Vorderman to provide more homework help across Maths, English and Science. Parents and guardians can also access maths tuition all year round from Carol’s online service, themathsfactor.com . This online maths school provides a collection of lessons and resources within a one-to-one structured tuition system, allowing each child to progress at his or her pace. What is more Carol’s personal video tuition is something that pupils will be familiar and comfortable with from the Maths Made Easy home work service.

The service is available on an annual whole-school subscription basis, and schools can take out a 60 day free trial.

To sign up for your free 60 day trial of Maths Made Easy simply visit www.pearsonprimary.co.uk/mathsmadeeasy or call 0845 313 8888

You may also be interested in...

• Download your free digital copy of the brand new January issue of Teach Primary now
• Teach Primary Awards 2019 Finalists Announced
• Oxford University Press celebrate double victory
• Free resources for teaching film in primary schools
• National Curriculum Key Stage 2 assessments reveal increased attainment in primaries

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy & Cookies Policy.

Tried & Tested

Power Maths – A Child-Centred, ‘Can-Do’ Mastery Teaching Programme for KS1 and KS2

Category: Maths

Fit To Dance Schools From Disney On Ice

Category: Other

‘S!ng Sensational’ And ‘A King Is Born’ – Two Fun New Musical Masterpieces That Children Will Love

Category: Music

Product review: Schofield & Sims Fractions, Decimals & Percentages

See all Tried & Tested products

Recommended for you...

WIN a full day Tudor experience

Sumdog – Product Review

Ace-English

Personalised Christmas Cards & Calendars for Businesses from Festive Collection

After School

Are you ready for the new SEN Code of Practice?

Follow us on Twitter @teachprimary :

Share teach primary:.

Home | Tried & Tested | Interactive | Book Reviews | Resources | News | Hot Products | Advertising Contact Us | Primary Resources | Primary Teaching Resources | Privacy Policy

Copyright 2024 Artichoke Media Ltd

Registered in England and Wales No 14769147 | Registered Office Address: Jubilee House, 92 Lincoln Road, Peterborough, PE1 2SN

Elementary Algebra

(12 reviews)

John Redden, College of the Sequoias

Copyright Year: 2011

ISBN 13: 9781453300923

Publisher: Saylor Foundation

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Loretta Waldroupe, Math Specialist, Cowley Community College on 5/14/21

Our college uses the same textbook for Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. This book is missing some of the Intermediate Algebra content that we cover. However, as just an Elementary Algebra book I feel the book covers all the necessary material.... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Our college uses the same textbook for Elementary and Intermediate Algebra. This book is missing some of the Intermediate Algebra content that we cover. However, as just an Elementary Algebra book I feel the book covers all the necessary material. There is no glossary/index which I feel would be very helpful.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The accuracy depends on the version you use. In the PDF version the fractions are not displayed correctly. They do appear correctly in the online version. However, for those students who prefer the physical version of the text this could create some issues.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The thing with math is the concept does not change. Even in updated versions of book the content stays the same. The only thing they change is updating some word problems to more current data. So, I feel the relevance of the book is excellent and is not something that will change quickly like some subjects do.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is clear and easy to understand. I love the key take-aways idea. The graphs are nice and clear. I feel for clarity purposes some of the inconsistencies between the online and PDF versions should be take care of. The explanation are clear and easy to understand. This is important for this level of math student.

Consistency rating: 4

For the most part the consistency of the book is good. There are some places that need fixed where the equation is sometimes quite a bit smaller than the text in the PDF version. This occurs even if it is right next to the text and could be a hindrance to some students. Other than that I like the consistency.

Modularity rating: 4

I love how the book is broken down into short sections. The graphs are big enough to actually see without feeling like you need a magnifying glass to read the points on the graph.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the book is great. I feel it covers the topics in a good order making sure they build on a solid foundation. I really like the odd answers being at the end of the section so that you do not have to keep flipping to the back of the book to check your answers. There are a good variety of questions to choose from and the teacher can choose some with the answers given so the student knows if they are right and some without so that the teacher knows the student is actually working out the problems and not just giving answers.

Interface rating: 4

I did not have any problems with navigating through the textbook. The table of contents made it easy to navigate to whatever section I wanted to go to. I like the idea of getting there quickly and efficiently. I wish there was a glossary/index to help the student find the page of certain terms more quickly.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

I found several errors in the PDF version of the text. Fractions were displayed correctly and would look like a whole number instead of a fraction. This can cause confusion for the students.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I did not see any issues with the cultural relevance of the book.

I feel if the PDF version did not have the grammatical errors it would be a good text for any Elementary Algebra student.

Reviewed by Jesna Nissam, Instructor, Hawaii Community College on 3/18/21

Online Version: A great book for the beginners in Algebra. Provides a very clear picture of the common elementary algebra contents. Also covers few intermediate algebra contents needed for the students of that stage. The exercise set is well... read more

Online Version: A great book for the beginners in Algebra. Provides a very clear picture of the common elementary algebra contents. Also covers few intermediate algebra contents needed for the students of that stage. The exercise set is well defined and legible. There is no glossary but the table of content is available in orderly manner. I like the way how the examples are presented in a very simple and clear manner.

With regard to PDF version the table of content is not given, there are plenty symbolic errors seen in the text book specially in the radical section.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Good accuracy is seen in the online version of the book. But I found few error specifically in the radical section when I downloaded the book in PDF format and figured out the roots in the question is not clearly located. Specially for the students who like a hard copy of textbook for their reference, it will be difficult for them to understand the questions.

The relevancy of book is good. The contents for elementary algebra and the method of solving will remain the same for years to come. The word problems are also presented in a simple layman's language so that its easier for students to understand which should be good for years to come.

Clarity rating: 3

For online users the clarity is good. The presentation is simple, legible and easy to understand. For PDF users the clarity of mathematical symbols should be taken care of.

Consistency rating: 5

I like the consistency of this book. Each chapter starts with learning objectives, there are boxes for cautions, video solutions are available , tips are given based on the topics required and the chapter ends with key takeaways.

Modularity rating: 3

For online access of the book: Modularity is a strong point of this book. The chapters are broken into easily accessible sections. For PDF version there is no content of table given.

For online access: The book is organized in very clear order. A teacher has an option to choose good range of questions based on the difficulty level.

Interface rating: 3

There are lots of inconsistencies seen on the PDF version of the book. A teacher using this book should give clear guidance on using the online version and should make the students aware of the errors seen in the PDF version.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical error seen.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

For a diverse classroom some of cultural related questions can help students get a better understanding.

Overall this is a good book. The book is organized in a very neat manner with a lot examples and exercise questions. I would not hesitate using this book as my textbook for the class if relevant changes are made in the PDF version such as including the table of content and fixing the symbolic errors.

Reviewed by Said Raki, Mathematics Instructor, NTCC on 4/27/20

The book gives students a good insight about pre-Algebra concepts. I gave is a five because of the breaking down of the problems and the use of the colors to reach the visual learners. There is no glossary, but a table is given. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book gives students a good insight about pre-Algebra concepts. I gave is a five because of the breaking down of the problems and the use of the colors to reach the visual learners. There is no glossary, but a table is given.

Looking at the examples, and exercises given to students for practice, the book is accurate. I did not find any errors. I cannot say that the book is culturally sensitive. The book is not as diverse as our today classrooms.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The longevity of the bool is good. The topics will be still good many years to come. It won't be a lot of changes. The use of certain symbols like the radical could more clear at times so student will not make mistakes reading them.

Clarity rating: 5

The vocabulary use is clear and easy to understand for student of that age group.

The book is consistent all the way. I gave a high rating for that.

Modularity rating: 5

The book is split in good and easy to read parts. It makes is easy for teachers and students as well.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book is well organized. There is a linearity in the topics studied and I can see a logical follow up. The only minor point, is a small review before starting the new chapter so the students can rely on the previous chapters for better understanding.

There is inconsistencies on the PDF version of the book. The book is using different platform to display content (like math symbols) which are not clear on the PDF version of the book, It is always better to tell the audience which platform to use for better reading.

I did not see or encounter any grammatical errors even though I did not read every sentence in the book.

I did not see any relevance of cultural insensitivity, but looking at the diversity of our classrooms, the book should add some cultural items to help the minority students understand the topics using their cultural background.

The book has a lot of potential to it. There is a need for cultural sensitivity on the mathematical topics, and also raising the bar to help some advance students get a head, and get more challenged.

Reviewed by Bill Diss, Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/2/18

The book is very comprehensive. There is a table of contents but no glossary. read more

The book is very comprehensive. There is a table of contents but no glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I did not see any errors.

The book's relevance/Longevity is one of the strongest features. The book does not have that much text, which is very good for fast learning and reading. Additionally the efficient use of text results in short worded problems. The worded problems do not have a great deal of special names of people or places or events, thus they appear to be applicable to many groups and should be pertinent for many years.

The book is very clear. Diagrams are simple. There is a lot of space. The explanations are very clear and the wording is very efficient.

The book is very consistent. The outline of each chapter and topics are very consistent between chapters.

The book is very modular and each chapter is broken up into short manageable sections that are easily accessed by clicking in the table of contents.

The organization, structure and flow are well designed. Objectives are first shown, some introductory text and then some great examples are finally presented. At the end of each section, there are many problems. The odd answers are also at the end of the sections and this allows students to quickly verify answers and not look in other books or all over the book for answers.

Interface rating: 5

Navigation is very easy and the charts and images are simple but powerful.

Grammar is fine.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The simple explanations and efficient wording of worded problems appear to have the effect that there should not be any offensive problems for certain races, etc.

I thought the book was one of the better introductory algebra books. The examples and methods are very clear and simple. I think the book is especially useful for ESL users.

Reviewed by Wendy Rawlinson, Mathematics Instructor, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

This book provides very clear and comprehensive coverage of the usual Elementary Algebra topics, as well as some Intermediate Algebra material. The book provides plenty of examples and very robust, well-constructed exercise sets. The author has... read more

This book provides very clear and comprehensive coverage of the usual Elementary Algebra topics, as well as some Intermediate Algebra material. The book provides plenty of examples and very robust, well-constructed exercise sets. The author has gone the extra mile to include special notes, cautions, and even some alternate solutions to examples.

There is no index or glossary, which is a significant problem. While navigating the book to simply review it, I spent a lot of time searching (scrolling) for specific topics. One example of this is, when the AC method is discussed in section 6.3, the text says “…using the AC method described previously.” Finding where it had been “…described previously” wasn’t trivial (especially since I think the logical place to introduce it was IN section 6.3, as opposed to earlier). I expect that the lack of an index could deter students from using the book as a resource, and may inhibit learning the material.

The embedded videos are a very useful feature. Students benefit greatly from easy access to videos that demonstrate and reinforce the material, and care has been taken to choose appropriate videos. However, there were no videos linked for certain topics that I think would specifically call for them (one example: students often struggle mightily with the AC method, but I couldn’t find a linked video demonstrating the technique). If I were using this text for my class, I would likely supplement with additional videos for my students.

Overall, this is a good, comprehensive book for Elementary Algebra.

In reviewing the book, I saw very few content errors. Care has been taken to use proper vocabulary, to show appropriate mathematical processes, and to address common student errors.

The main “accuracy” issues are with notation use and variation depending on the application/browser used.

With algebra content, longevity isn’t as big an issue as with some other disciplines. This book’s content will still be “current” many years from now. If, by chance, groundbreaking algebraic methods or strategies come into fashion, this book could be easily edited to incorporate them.

Examples and exercises are fairly factual and generic. By avoiding "real world" contexts and references, they are somewhat insulated from becoming outdated. The downside to this approach is that problem introductions are a bit dry and potentially hard for students to relate to.

In section 1.5, there are some pie charts based on 2009 data. If those graphics (or others) make the book feel outdated at some point, it could be easily updated with newer data from the cited source.

Clarity rating: 1

The clarity of this book seems in line with most other mainstream elementary algebra books. The very nice use of color and graphics is effective and helps with readability.

Some of the notation and examples may be a bit advanced and confusing for this level of student (for example: the description of factoring by trial and error uses p, q, m, and n, in addition to the expression’s variable, x).

Additionally, while searching for particular videos, I found it difficult to scroll through quickly and find the video links. I would like to see video links offset by a color or special graphic for clarity and ease of use.

Consistency rating: 3

There is a very nice, consistent structure throughout the book. Sections begin with numbered “Learning Objectives”, and end with “Key Takeaways”. Also consistent throughout the text are the “Incorrect vs. Correct” examples, the “Notes”, and the “Try This!” features.

Consistent use of colored boxes for various features makes scanning for important, “key” features easy. For example, blue boxes make finding exercise sets fast and easy.

Depending on how the book is being accessed, there can be significant variation in how notation is used, even from one exercise to the next. I experienced inconsistencies between browsers, and between the pdf versus online version.

One example is exponents. Sometimes they are superscripted, sometimes the “^” is used, and sometimes the exponent simply follows the base – making “3 squared” appear as 32.

Another example is the placement of the radical symbol. Sometimes it was written correctly, and other times the radical symbol was typed after the radicand.

The inconsistency (and inaccuracy) are very problematic, and would certainly need to be addressed before I would feel comfortable using this book.

The consistent structure used within each section would earn a rating of "5" from me. But the other major inconsistencies mentioned lower my ranking.

Chapters and sections are numbered, but then those numbers aren't referenced in the online version's table of contents. And, even though each section begins with a chapter and section number, the pdf version does not provide a table of contents, at all.

The advantages of having each chapter and section numbered would include the ability to explicitly list the content, by number, in a table of contents. I am confused as to why this wasn't done, but suppose it wouldn't be a big job to edit that information in, if desired. The disadvantages of having each section numbered is that it complicates re-ordering content.

The book is somewhat self-referential (example, “… as described earlier …”), but lacks an index. This would make re-ordering or omitting sections a bit more complicated, and would likely necessitate significant editing.

One nice feature is the sub-sections (objectives) of each section. The topics are bite-sized, and are compatible with spreading a section over multiple class meetings and/or re-ordering material to suit a particular course.

The book’s organization is fairly traditional, and it could work really well for a conventional series of algebra courses. There is some material introduced earlier than usual (square roots, for example), but that approach improves the modularity of the material.

Overall, the organization of material makes sense.

Interface rating: 2

This is the area in which the book stumbles, somewhat. Depending on which browser or format I used, the notation and fonts were pretty wildly inconsistent and sometimes totally meaningless.

I was using a Mac, and viewed the book using both Chrome and Safari. I also downloaded the pdf to view on my laptop.

In Chrome, the exercise sets at the end of each section were virtually empty of content. In Safari, I was able to view the problem sets.

In Chrome, many of the mathematical expressions and equations were simply missing from the body of the text. In Safari, they showed up okay.

Neither browser allowed me to view videos by simply clicking on “click to see video”. On Chrome, I had to right-click and view in a separate tab. In Safari, I never was able to figure out how to view the videos.

The font size varied dramatically, even within single problem sets. Further, fraction bars were often missing, making the content unreadable.

If students encounter any or all of these issues, it could certainly be a significant barrier to their learning. There did not seem to be one application through which I could access the full, correct version of the book.

In general, I like this book. But I would need to figure out how to provide students with a reliably correct version of it before using it for a course.

The book's English grammar is good and mostly at an appropriate reading level. The statement of the examples and exercises tends to be a bit dry, but the grammar appears to be correct.

Most of the examples and word problems in this text are very factual and seem to intentionally avoid the common, “real world” set-up, hence avoiding most cultural context and references. However, in the “Applications of Linear Systems” section, the “Topic Exercises” use the following set of Anglo-sounding names: Mary, Sally, Joe, Millicent, Jerry, James, John, Dennis, Billy. I would prefer to see more cultural variety represented in this simple way. Another example: In the “Order of Operations” section, the word problems reference Mary, Joe, Margaret, Bill, Audry, Mark, and Janet. (And, Mark and Janet are traveling home for Thanksgiving.) While I didn't encounter anything that I consider "offensive", I think some opportunities were missed, and this book could have been made to feel more inclusive.

Overall, I like this book.

I would absolutely consider using it in my courses, with some edits and notational corrections.

Reviewed by Kristin Lassonde, Mathematics Faculty, Klamath Community College on 8/21/16

The book covers almost every topic one might use in the course and many topics which are frequently covered in the next course. Small lacking in comprehensiveness might be a treatments of simple absolute value equations or inequalities. Another... read more

The book covers almost every topic one might use in the course and many topics which are frequently covered in the next course. Small lacking in comprehensiveness might be a treatments of simple absolute value equations or inequalities. Another small lacking is the absence of a 'review' chapter or appendix which is typical for this level of a course.

Although almost all of the content is accurate, I scored this category lower (3 of 5) due to numerous 'errors' in the text, which are frequently typesetting errors. However, a typesetting error becomes a math error when it makes the math incorrect. For instance, in section 1.1 the answer to number 16. in the "TOPIC EXERCISES" is the square root of 7. While accurate in Firefox, this answer doesn't display at all using Google Chrome (an issue to be dealt with later in interface) and the typesetting is reversed in the PDF version showing the square root after the 7. This type of error provides in a sense inaccurate information to students and several errors of this type are common throughout the text. If these were resolved, I would raise my rating here to 4 or 5, depending on if any other errors were left at that point.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 1

While the math content will never be obsolete as long as we require this style of algebraic learning in school, the text itself is currently obsolete merely based on the fact that it does not meet accessibility guidelines of the Federal government. As such, the way the laws are currently written, it is my understanding that using the text in a course, even as a resource, is not allowable by the Federal government (unless equitable accessible materials are also provided).

Similarly for accuracy (above), while much all of the content is clear, I scored this category lower (3 of 5) due to numerous typesetting errors which will cause students to not find the content clear. These same type of issues, as described above in the accuracy section, provide unclear information to students and several issues of this type are common throughout the text. Additionally unclear are the lack of accessible content due to the missing alt tags on numerous images throughout the text, which frequently contain all the steps for solving a particular problem type. As such, students using a screen reader will be unable to view any of these steps. If these types of issues were resolved, I would raise my rating here to 4 or 5, depending on other clarity issues that may still exist.

The book is mostly consistent throughout, however, there are some minor inconsistencies such as the use of variables. For instance, in many sections the book will use x, y, a, b all throughout, and then in the homework Greek letters like alpha and beta appear. This is literally a new alphabet and should probably be discussed somewhere in the book (at least the preface or an appendix since this is not a prerequisite for the book).

The text is pretty easy to divide into smaller reading sections, and reorganization should be fairly easy for most teachers, but certain sections will be challenging to reorder due to some implicit self-references.

The topics in the text are mostly presented in a logical and clear fashion. The discussion on absolute value seems disjointed between the first chapter and then 8 and 9, and it seems to overly assume that the student has studied and comprehended everything in 8 prior to studying 9 (which is frequently not the case in basic algebra courses), specifically in reference to taking the square root of both sides of an equation and the result of an absolute value. Additionally, while the subsections are numbered in the text, they are not listed in the table of contents and it is also difficult to determine which section you are in while in the midst of the text.

Interface rating: 1

The text has significant interface issues, including the following. First, the PDF version of the book does not display content correctly. The PDF version of the book needs to be significantly revised or it should be removed from the site so that users can focus on the web-based version, which is more accurate. However, in the web-based version, many problems still exist. For instance, some of the mathematical expressions are coded using MathML, which is not supported on numerous common web browsers including Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. With this in mind, at minimum the book should specify at least in the preface, which browser is recommended for best compatibility. Further, many items throughout the book are images without an alt tag provided, making them completely unreadable to screen-readers and difficult to navigate for students using mobile devices. Additionally, there are "Video Solution" links provided which include embedded YouTube videos using a Flash-player embedding. Using Flash Player is outdated, and results in videos not playing in mobile browsers or browsers where Flash Player is not installed or blocked, which includes an increasing number of browsers. Modern embedded features should be used, which would include the use of HTML5 videos. Finally, the videos provided are not properly subtitled, again as required by Federal accessibility standards.

Although I have not read every sentence in the book, all of the grammar I saw seems to be correct.

The text is not particularly insensitive to specific races or ethnicities that I am aware of, however, with a lack of emphasis placed on Federal accessibility standards, the text is not sensitive to students from different backgrounds who require implementation of the accessibility guidelines.

This book has a lot of potential and I hope to see improvements in the future! As mentioned by another reviewer, at minimum, this book can be used right now as a reference/problem bank for the instructor.

Reviewed by John Salisbury, Mathematics Instructor, Rogue Community College on 8/21/16

The book covers all usual topics in an elementary algebra text book, commencing with integers and continuing through linear expressions, linear equations and inequalities, systems of linear equations, and other topics. The book concludes with a... read more

The book covers all usual topics in an elementary algebra text book, commencing with integers and continuing through linear expressions, linear equations and inequalities, systems of linear equations, and other topics. The book concludes with a nice treatment of the solution of quadratic equations with the quadratic formula and introduces complex numbers. The treatment of factoring using guess and check and the ac-method, factoring by grouping, and special products is thorough and well presented. Any student who was taught from this book and covered all chapters would have a good grounding in the subject matter.

There is no glossary, index or table of contents, which does detract from an otherwise comprehensive book.

I found no biases in the book. I found one misspelling but the book is well written and edited and substantially error-free. I found the presentation of the material to be objective and clear.

The subject of algebra is timeless, so there should be no short-term problem with relevance or longevity. There a numerous graphs which present current statistics and trends, but it would not be difficult to update these as the years go by. For example, the number of Americans over 65 or a period of recent years is presented. This could be made more current easily. Regular later editions of this book could be published to update the material in the years to come.

The language is simple straightforward and presented clearly. The terms are well defined. The presentation is not highly rigorous. There are almost no proofs or demonstrations of the truth of what is being presented, but this is not a higher level book so that does not really detract from the overall presentation. .

Terms are presented consistently and clearly. A glossary would be helpful to absolutely be able to check how the author defines and views the terms that he uses.

Sections and subsections of the book are presented in bite-sized chunks that would not overwhelm a student who has math anxiety or little previous experience with math. One way in which the book is thorough and distinctive is in the sheer number of problems. A teacher using this book would have numerous options in choosing easy or difficult problems to do. The lack of a table of contents or an index would definitely make looking up specific topics in the book problematic.

There are no problems here. The book builds nicely on beginning concepts and progresses logically.

The lack of the usual apparatus of a textbook (table of contents, glossary, index, etc.) make navigation in the book very difficult. Also, there are equations where the spacing is bad, at least in the pdf format that I read. These could be cleaned up in any final edition.

I found the text to be clear and almost entirely free from grammatical mistakes.

The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive. (Very few algebra books would be, I would think). I did notice that the names used in word problems are a little old fashioned, e.g., Mary, and maybe in a later edition more contemporary names could be introduced.

There were excellent suggestions for historical research that would be a great stimulant to further learning and study by an interested student. It would be helpful if there were more provocative and interesting problems and questions for gifted students to mull over

Reviewed by Berri Hsiao, Faculty, Lane Community College on 8/21/16

This book is the most comprehensive Algebra textbook that I have seen as an OER material. The book covers sections and topics that are appropriate for the math 60-65 sequence at the community college level that I teach. The sequence in which the... read more

This book is the most comprehensive Algebra textbook that I have seen as an OER material. The book covers sections and topics that are appropriate for the math 60-65 sequence at the community college level that I teach. The sequence in which the topics appear is very appropriate for the level of audience. The book almost could be used in math 95 (Intermediate Algebra) as well, except a few more advanced topics such as introduction of basic function notations and logarithms. The exercise sets are large enough for instructors to choose from and for students to gain practice from. I am impressed by the learning objectives as well as the sample review exercises and sample exams at the end of each chapter. It is a thoughtful book that includes many key features that I find useful: key take-aways, discussion board topics, note section, video solutions, and incorrect v.s. correct way of solving a problem side by side. The book itself is very comparable to a traditional textbook that I have seen in its layout and organizations. The only things I do not see are some kind of online homework system for instant feedback that can be used in an online course format and an index (or glossary) at the end of the book. The answers to the even-number problems of the sample tests are also not listed but maybe it’s stored somewhere else for instructors to find that I’m not aware of.

Notations and explanations seem fairly accurate in this book, although I did not do a detailed line-by-line reading to check if there errors to the solutions. The book also includes notations not commonly mentioned in a traditional textbook, for computer programming purposes or on a calculator.

The book seems comparable to other textbooks that I have seen in its relevance and I could see it being useful for a long while. The concepts covered in the book are not going to change so it’s not an issue for a long-term usage. The real-life applications provided in the book are general enough that changes would not be necessary. I believe the nature of the licensing allows easily adaptability for an instructor to include other examples as one sees fit.

The book has good clarity overall and is very readable to students at this level, except in a few places. For example, in section 1.2 (adding and subtracting integers) good explanations are provided for how to add two integers. However, how to subtract two integers are is not presented, yet it is referenced in an addition problem of two integers that involves the second number being negative. This section would be so much clearer to the students and robust if subtracting integers is introduced in the same way as adding, with the visuals of the number line and clear examples provided.

The book has really good consistency throughout sections and chapters. The flow is consistent and clear in each section in terms of how concepts are introduced. The author uses consistent terminology as in most other textbooks. The only problem in consistency that I see is in the exercise sets and answers. For examples, fractions and radical notations are not always displayed using the same format and font sizes appear to be inconsistent as well. But this is more of an 'interface' problem.

he book is fairly useful in its modularity except in a few places where references to materials covered in the previous section(s) are mentioned. For example, in factoring trinomials with leading coefficient being not 1, the AC method is referred as ‘described before’ but it is not listed as to where ‘before’ is. It does not hurt (actually would be more helpful) to have this method listed again in this section as this is where the method is really needed.

This is a strong aspect of the book in my opinion. Every section starts with learning objectives, followed by definitions and appropriate vocabulary, and easy to follow examples and steps are provided before students reach the practice exercises at the end of the section. I particular enjoy the visual layouts, colors, and useful information such as common mistakes listed in a way that is visually clear and pleasing fashion.

This area is the weakest aspect of the book. I read the book in different formats to find that the online format in Chrome is not compatible in many places – various mathematical symbols are simply missing as well as entire exercise sets not showing up. It can create confusion to the students. Using Safari on a Mac works fairly well, but I was not able to view the videos in Chrome or Safari. The only way to view the video for me is to right click in Chrome and choose “open link using a different tab or window”. Viewing the book using the PDF version is not helpful, especially when it comes to mathematical symbols being not readable or lost. The font sizes are not consistent either. This is surprising to me as I was expecting the PDF version to be the best in preserving the formatting for the students. I think providing the URL address to let students know that videos do exist could be helpful in the PDF version.

I did not notice any grammatical error. The language used in the book is clear and appropriate to the level of students.

The book does not have as many culturally inclusive examples as other traditional textbooks. However, I could understand that the level of mathematical concepts are mostly algebraic and perhaps requires a little more work to write examples that include cultural relevance. It certainly would be beneficial to incorporate more culturally diverse examples for our diverse student population.

Overall, it is a well written book and I really like the formats and the flow of the book. I'm hoping to adopt this book for my algebra courses so viewing it from this perspective, I would have to figure out how to make the interface of the book much more friendly and usable to the students. I am happy to see that the quality of this book is quite good and I hope to find useful online tutorial and homework systems that can be incorporated to make this book a more complete one to use in an online format.

Reviewed by Harmony Richman, Mathematics Instructor, Dakota College at Bottineau on 1/7/16

The book covers a wide variety of topics, in detail that I cover in my current Algebra Prep 1, Algebra Prep 2 and Algebra Prep 3 course. Each course is 8 weeks long so could use the text to use over the entire semester and half that is needed. A... read more

The book covers a wide variety of topics, in detail that I cover in my current Algebra Prep 1, Algebra Prep 2 and Algebra Prep 3 course. Each course is 8 weeks long so could use the text to use over the entire semester and half that is needed. A very good comprehensive book to help prepare students in all aspects who need to brush up on their skills before attempting College Algebra. Although there were some areas where topics delved a little more deeply than students may be ready for; however, an instructor could easily pick and choose what they feel their students need.

The book appears accurate throughout the chapters. The book uses color to determine step by step guidance which is extremely important to help my students follow along more easily while working on their own.

The charts/graphs were up to date and could easily be updated as needed. They also appeared relevant in today's society with topics students may have an interest in.

All terminology was used appropriately and accurately among the book. The one area that seemed a little stand-offish is the step by step guides, I feel it's important for students in an Algebra Prep course to understand why we are doing what we are doing, not just a simple memorization of steps. If a student can understand the why they are more apt to retaining vs. remembering a bunch of steps to get there.

Each section started off with the section title, then the "Learning Objectives." The Learning Objectives at some points seem to be a little vocab advanced for the topics covered; however, with instructor guidance can be followed nicely. The Learning Objectives are followed by step by step instructions with examples and "Try this!" problems. At the end of every section there is a Key Takeaway portion which leads into multiple topic exercises and solutions.

Each unit and subsection of each unit is broken down in such a way that as a teacher teaching 3 different 8 week courses, I could pick and choose what I need to cover for each course to meet the objectives easily.

There were some instances where I personally would rearrange some topics simply based on what I know about my students and their needs, but overall the structure is fairly logical.

Maybe it's just the online PDF version, but I'm struggling with the fraction section as many of the problems in the homework sets and within the lesson portion the fractions don't have fraction bars. For example the problem asked to reduce 105300, but there was no fraction bar to indicate what was what fraction. As you continued down the page you see through the work through portion that it should have been 105/300. The only indication that you are working with fractions is the numbers appear in smaller text than the other numbers not represented in fractional form. When we hit the radical section, it appears the radical symbol comes after the number so it is unclear to a student what they may have to do or it's stated as "square root 36" this is also would be confusing to my students especially.

I did not notice any grammatical errors throughout the text.

Although the book did use a variety of occupations, social standing, and students. There was a lot of "a man," "a woman," "a student." I felt that the book slightly lacked a variety of races and ethnicities.

I particularly liked the length of practice questions at the end of each section and the variety of difficulty level, specifically the discussion board topic questions to encourage writing/researching/reading within mathematics.

Reviewed by Mel Taylor, Mathematics Faculty, Ridgewater College, Willmar, Minnesota on 6/10/15

The text covers all areas of Elementary Algebra appropriately and covers some areas of Intermediate Algebra. There is so much material in this text that it could not possibly be covered in one semester. Of course since this text is open source, an... read more

The text covers all areas of Elementary Algebra appropriately and covers some areas of Intermediate Algebra. There is so much material in this text that it could not possibly be covered in one semester. Of course since this text is open source, an instructor could pick and choose what he/she would like to cover and simply not use the rest. For example, exponents, square root and the Pythagorean Theorem all occur in Chapter 1. Rational expressions and radicals appear in Chapters 7 and 8. Solving quadratic equations, graphing parabolas and completing the square occur in the last chapter. There is no index or glossary that I could see. Therefore I had to page through the whole text to see where everything was located. All areas of Elementary Algebra that are normally covered did occur somewhere in the text but a person would need to search for it. The part of the text that I liked the most was the excellent problem bank. There is a wide variety of problems, both rote problems and many application problems. I certainly would use this textbook as a resource for problem bank alone if nothing else.

The book seems accurate in all the material that is presented. The concepts are presented step-by-step in an easy to follow flow. Common mistakes were also shown side by side the correct mathematical steps. There was one case that parenthesis was used where it would have been more appropriate to use the multiplication sign. Other than that, the text seemed pretty error-free and unbiased.

The material seemed up- to- date as far as the application problems. The application problems would be easy to update when needed.

The text was easy to follow as far as understanding. However, I think that some concepts, like square roots and the use of exponents in the first chapter were out of the correct order that they should be. There were many references to use of technology and instructions of how to use that technology. The main problem that I saw was the order in which some of the concepts were introduced and used.

The text was very consistent in it's framework. Each section start.ed out with Learning Objectives, followed by the material. The material contained a variety of examples explained in great detail. At the end of each section came the Key Takeaways, followed by the Topic Exercises. The problem bank for most sections was huge with some excellent application problems. The answers for the problem bank then followed. Each chapter contained a Review along with a Review Problem Bank. Lastly came a Sample Exam along with the solutions to the Sample Exam.

The text could easily by divided and reorganized and I would certainly suggest doing so. I also would suggest dropping some concepts that fit better into an Intermediate Algebra text. There is no way that an instructor could cover all this material in one semester. We need to remember that students taking this course have probably not had success in high school and/or have been out of the classroom for so long that some concepts need to be introduced slowly and not rushed through.

This seems to be a bit of a problem as exponents and square roots normally do not come in the first chapter of an Elementary Algebra textbook to the extent that they were used here. Basic exponent usage and simple square roots are more common in the first chapter. However, an instructor certainly could again pick and choose what they want to use. Otherwise, the logic of other topics seemed to follow the order of other Elementary textbooks.

There is a major problem here with type size in the problem bank. Some problems were easy to read and some problems were in so small a type size that they were hard to make out. Also, when writing fractions the "/" in the fraction of say 1/4 did not come out, all I could see was 1 4. This certainly needs to be fixed as students would not understand at all what the problem was. Also the radical sign came after the number, so it would be 144, square root symbol. Now, this may not show up on everyone's computer like this, but if it was this way on my computer, it would be on someone else's also.

The mathematical terminology was correctly used and did not contain any grammatical errors.

The application problems seemed to be culturally relative and diverse. A variety of names, occupations and locations made the problems seem relevant to a variety of cultures.

I would say that the best part of this text was the use of Learning Objectives, Key Takeaways and the large problem bank. I think the variety of problems in the problem bank were great. The Application problems in particular were well done.

Reviewed by Laurence Stone, Math Instructor, Dakota County Technical College on 6/10/15

Presently (March 2015) the book has neither table of contents nor index. I had to build my own table of contents by hand before I could settle down to review this book. This, of course, makes a score of 5 impossible. Actually, the book is... read more

Presently (March 2015) the book has neither table of contents nor index. I had to build my own table of contents by hand before I could settle down to review this book. This, of course, makes a score of 5 impossible. Actually, the book is riddled with so many typesetting errors it is unusable (by students) in its present form. Hopefully this can be remedied soon, because the book has the potential to serve as an excellent reference text.

All of the usual sections are here: real numbers, solving linear equations and inequalities, factoring polynomials, radicals and rational exponents, quadratic equations and graphs. The treatment is thorough and precise, with plenty of warnings about common mistakes, and large exercise sets with answers to the odds provided.

My only concern (aside from the many typesetting errors) is with graphing. Although straight lines and parabolas are covered thoroughly, I see hardly any examples of other kinds of graphs. Instructors who like to showcase a broader array of patterns (such as exponential growth) early in a student's graphing experience will need to supplement.

Mathematical ideas are everywhere most carefully stated, with only one exception that I found. On page 4 it reads: "When studying mathematics, we focus on special sets of numbers. The set of natural (or counting) numbers is combined with zero." What, always? It goes on to define the whole numbers as the natural numbers combined with zero, which of course is the intent of the paragraph, but due to some typographical error or whatever it doesn't quite begin right.

"At the moment" this material seems timeless.

Ideas are stated precisely, as in any other mainstream math text. This could make it an excellent, authoritative reference.

For most beginning students, however, precision and lucidity are two different things. Consider, for example, this Key Takeaway for section 6.3: "If a trinomial of the form ax^2 + bx + c factors into a product of two binomials, then the coefficient of the middle term will be the sum of certain products of factors of the first and last terms." I realize it's not a super-advanced sentence; nonetheless, most of my elementary algebra students would struggle to understand what is being said.

Then again, most examples and so on are quite clear about "do this, then do this, but don't do this." At the risk of making math seem like a collection of memorized steps, it does clearly show what needs to be done. But the overall narrative behind the examples is not the best fit for my students, so I cannot give a perfect rating for "clarity/lucid and accessible prose."

Excellent overall, in the presentation of facts. No complaints there.

I was, however, hoping for a tighter correspondence between the stated learning objectives and the review questions/questions on the sample exams. Just to pick section 9.5, graphing parabolas: finding the maximum/minimum earns a subtitle in this section, and related questions appear in the review and on the sample exam, but it is not one of the stated objectives. Also: one of the stated objectives is to find the vertex by completing the square, but this specific objective is not measured in the review questions or the sample test. Students are asked to find the vertex, certainly, but are not asked to complete the square.

This book is as "modular" as any other math text I've seen, in the sense that one could skip certain sections towards the ends of the chapters if one felt crunched for time, or even come back to cover them at a later time. But if modularity is considered a strength, I see no reason why this book should score more points than any other.

One non-modular aspect: students will see examples involving functions at the ends of many sections. The instructor could choose to ignore them, of course, but would not have a way to hide them from students' view.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

I already mentioned it's missing its table of contents. Other structural problems: section 4.1 is presented twice, on page 539 and again on page 560; section 4.3 is presented twice, on page 594 and again on page 611. Chapter 10 is not really a chapter but a short appendix with some area and volume formulas. Chapter 7 is missing its title. Many sections (if not most) begin at the bottom of a page.

The typesetting issues are so numerous that the text is actually unusable in its present form (for students, anyway). Fraction bars are missing, exponents are not superscripted, sometimes the radical symbol follows instead of preceding its contents, etc.

Obviously, these errors are "minor" in the sense that it shouldn't take too many days for someone to clean them up. Hopefully this is in progress even as I write this review.

But my next question would be: where are the embedded video examples promised in the preface? Are these also under construction? The .pdf file I was able to download contains no such links or otherwise. It is impossible to assign a high score when I haven't had the chance to see all that is promised.

Looking at the print version, I do like the ordering of topics well enough. None of the chapters have any motivating introductions, though; adding some would be a nice touch.

The only viewing option I have in March 2015 is to download the .pdf file. I tried reading it on screen, but ended up printing it out (4 pages per sheet, double-sided, some trees were spared) to write this review. As mentioned above, I have not been able to view any embedded videos, as promised in the book's preface.

If this were meant to be a print reference, then I might be able to give a high score once the many typesetting issues are resolved; if it is meant to be more than that, then I haven't had a chance to see what it will be.

It's not the grammar but the typesetting that hurts, as described elsewhere.

I see no issues here.

I went back and reread the preface. It says this book makes no assumption of prior algebra experience, though it certainly assumes a high proficiency in reading. I also saw, in the section on negative exponents, that it assumes a certain familiarity with the dimensional analysis method of converting units.

It also says this is "by far the best elementary algebra textbook offered under the creative commons license." Well, as described above, the typesetting still needs major cleaning up. With that done, however, I do expect this text could serve as an excellent reference… but then there is the question of whether it will have any embedded videos, and how good those will be.

It claims modularity, but I'm not seeing how this book is any more or less modular than any other math text.

It says it stresses the importance of paper/pencil practice, but I'm not sure what this is referring to. I do remember the author saying that learning to factor polynomials takes a lot of practice and patience, but I don't recall any specific exhortations to write out steps by hand.

Obviously this is a work in progress, and I have not seen the final product. Perhaps the author is fishing for some early feedback. Well, I'd say it's a great start, but later reviews will have to trump mine.

Reviewed by D Bobzien, Mathematics Instructor, Central Lakes College on 6/10/15

The textbook covers all of the chosen topics very thoroughly. read more

The textbook covers all of the chosen topics very thoroughly.

The math is correct and what it should be.

This book writes math problems using the traditional notation as well as textual notation, so it can be emailed and communicated electronically without a special keyboard or software. This was the first time I have seen this. This is just one example of how I feel the textbook is current but yet has staying power. I can see it being reused for quite a while.

the book is written so it is easily understood. I felt it was a bit wordy but since it was clear I could deal with that. I also think a few more pictures would enhance the experience.

Even with modular chapters I found the book to be fairly consistent.

Chapters can be skipped and it does not hurt the future lessons.

This textbook presents topics in the same order as all other books I have used. This is the organization I would use.

I had only one issue with the textbook's navigation.

I did not catch any grammar issues--but then grammar is not my forte.

It is hard to be culturally insensitive in math. I saw no problems with this textbook.

I like the Key Takeaways and Tips charts the author used. I will probably adopt this book for my Fall 2015 class. I will add comments or re-review this textbook after that.

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Real Numbers and Their Operations
• Chapter 2: Linear Equations and Inequalities
• Chapter 3: Graphing Lines
• Chapter 4: Solving Linear Systems
• Chapter 5: Polynomials and Their Operations
• Chapter 6: Factoring and Solving by Factoring
• Chapter 7: Rational Expressions and Equations
• Chapter 8: Radical Expressions and Equations
• Chapter 9: Solving Quadratic Equations and Graphing Parabolas
• Chapter 10: Appendix: Geometric Figures

Ancillary Material

About the book.

It is essential to lay a solid foundation in mathematics if a student is to be competitive in today's global market. The importance of algebra, in particular, cannot be overstated, as it is the basis of all mathematical modeling used in applications found in all disciplines. Traditionally, the study of algebra is separated into a two parts, elementary algebra and intermediate algebra. This textbook, Elementary Algebra, is the first part, written in a clear and concise manner, making no assumption of prior algebra experience. It carefully guides students from the basics to the more advanced techniques required to be successful in the next course.

This text is, by far, the best elementary algebra textbook offered under a Creative Commons license. It is written in such a way as to maintain maximum flexibility and usability. A modular format was carefully integrated into the design. For example, certain topics, like functions, can be covered or omitted without compromising the overall flow of the text. An introduction of square roots in Chapter 1 is another example that allows for instructors wishing to include the quadratic formula early to do so. Topics such as these are carefully included to enhance the flexibility throughout. This textbook will effectively enable traditional or nontraditional approaches to elementary algebra. This, in addition to robust and diverse exercise sets, provides the base for an excellent individualized textbook instructors can use free of needless edition changes and excessive costs! A few other differences are highlighted below:

• Equivalent mathematical notation using standard text found on a keyboard
• A variety of applications and word problems included in most exercise sets
• Clearly enumerated steps found in context within carefully chosen examples
• Alternative methods and notation, modularly integrated, where appropriate
• Video examples available, in context, within the online version of the textbook
• Robust and diverse exercise sets with discussion board questions
• Key words and key takeaways summarizing each section

This text employs an early-and-often approach to real-world applications, laying the foundation for students to translate problems described in words into mathematical equations. It also clearly lays out the steps required to build the skills needed to solve these equations and interpret the results. With robust and diverse exercise sets, students have the opportunity to solve plenty of practice problems. In addition to embedded video examples and other online learning resources, the importance of practice with pencil and paper is stressed. This text respects the traditional approaches to algebra pedagogy while enhancing it with the technology available today. In addition, textual notation is introduced as a means to communicate solutions electronically throughout the text. While it is important to obtain the skills to solve problems correctly, it is just as important to communicate those solutions with others effectively in the modern era of instant communications.

About the Contributors

John Redden earned his degrees at California State University–Northridge and Glendale Community College. He is now a professor of mathematics at the College of the Sequoias, located in Visalia, California. With over a decade of experience working with students to develop their algebra skills, he knows just where they struggle and how to present complex techniques in more understandable ways. His student-friendly and commonsense approach carries over to his writing of Elementary Algebra and various other open-source learning resources.

Contribute to this Page

Teaching, transformed.

Key Stage 2 teaching, learning and exam preparation, all from one online platform. Best of all: Atom School is free for schools to use .

Free for schools

Industry-leading resources

Adaptive technology

Automated marking

Atom School supports teaching and learning at:

All-through independent schools

Book a demo

Prep schools

Primary schools

Supporting your school’s curriculum.

Industry-leading resources mapped to the national curriculum and senior school entrance exams. Inspire your pupils with interactive questions, video tutorials and helpsheets.

National curriculum coverage

Punctuation

Comprehension

Reasoning coverage

Verbal reasoning

Words and wordplay

Patterns and function

Non-verbal reasoning

Streamline your workload

Homework and lesson activities

Set differentiated homework at the click of a button. Create activities to use as starters, tasks and plenaries. Everything is automatically marked for you.

Differentiated work

Let our smart, adaptive technology differentiate your pupils’ work for you. Your pupils will see tailored content, helping to boost confidence.

Data to make a difference

Data insights in real time for individuals, classes and year groups. Spot trends at a glance and adapt interventions with ease.

Practice and progress tests with unrivalled data insights (optional paid feature)

Exam preparation

Targeted revision for ISEB Common Pre-Tests, CEM Select, CAT4, GL grammar, and the entrance exams of over 60 independent senior schools.

Assess progress

Actionable insights

The all-in-one teaching, learning and exam preparation platform

The atom school difference.

Every day is a school day

We continually engage with educational research to provide you with industry-leading, pedagogically-sound resources.

Inspired by teachers

Shape your favourite features and have a say in what we introduce next. We work collaboratively with our schools, bringing their ideas and feedback to life.

Personal support

Every school’s context and culture is unique. Just like our adaptive algorithm, we tailor our support to your school.

Trusted by over 1,000 schools

Dulwich Prep School

“From the smart algorithm that adapts to the individual student’s level to the engaging content and navigable layout, this represents a giant leap in online learning.”

Mark Scholey, Deputy Head

The King's C of E Primary School School

“We now have the same level of insight on homework attainment as we do for exams. It just saves so much time, and the content is really engaging so students enjoy their homework more.”

Kate, Teacher

GEMS Wellington School Qatar

“This is a no-brainer in regards to reducing teacher workload and significantly increasing teacher insight and satisfaction.”

Chris Robinson, Digital Transformation Coordinator

Atom School is designed for children in Years 3-6 (ages 7-11).

Book your demo today, save time tomorrow.

Begin your journey with atom.

Free Resources

Atom Learning Ltd. is registered and incorporated in England and Wales. Company Registration Number: 10867907 VAT number: 316903508 Copyright Atom Learning Ltd. All rights reserved.

• Melissa Barnard T e a c h e r € 0,19 pm
• Alaa Rashwan I e n j o y t e a c h i n g . € 0,40 pm
• Khristi Sunnasy T e a c h i n g € 1,13 pm
• Dalya Salman T u t o r , H e a l t h c a r e € 0,53 pm
• Pelin C. E S L t u t o r / t e a c h e r € 0,50 pm
• aquillah muhammad T e a c h i n g . € 0,25 pm

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

What we know about online learning and the homework gap amid the pandemic

America’s K-12 students are returning to classrooms this fall after 18 months of virtual learning at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some students who lacked the home internet connectivity needed to finish schoolwork during this time – an experience often called the “ homework gap ” – may continue to feel the effects this school year.

Here is what Pew Research Center surveys found about the students most likely to be affected by the homework gap and their experiences learning from home.

Children across the United States are returning to physical classrooms this fall after 18 months at home, raising questions about how digital disparities at home will affect the existing homework gap between certain groups of students.

Methodology for each Pew Research Center poll can be found at the links in the post.

With the exception of the 2018 survey, everyone who took part in the surveys is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

The 2018 data on U.S. teens comes from a Center poll of 743 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 conducted March 7 to April 10, 2018, using the NORC AmeriSpeak panel. AmeriSpeak is a nationally representative, probability-based panel of the U.S. household population. Randomly selected U.S. households are sampled with a known, nonzero probability of selection from the NORC National Frame, and then contacted by U.S. mail, telephone or face-to-face interviewers. Read more details about the NORC AmeriSpeak panel methodology .

Around nine-in-ten U.S. parents with K-12 children at home (93%) said their children have had some online instruction since the coronavirus outbreak began in February 2020, and 30% of these parents said it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet as an educational tool, according to an April 2021 Pew Research Center survey .

Gaps existed for certain groups of parents. For example, parents with lower and middle incomes (36% and 29%, respectively) were more likely to report that this was very or somewhat difficult, compared with just 18% of parents with higher incomes.

This challenge was also prevalent for parents in certain types of communities – 39% of rural residents and 33% of urban residents said they have had at least some difficulty, compared with 23% of suburban residents.

Around a third of parents with children whose schools were closed during the pandemic (34%) said that their child encountered at least one technology-related obstacle to completing their schoolwork during that time. In the April 2021 survey, the Center asked parents of K-12 children whose schools had closed at some point about whether their children had faced three technology-related obstacles. Around a quarter of parents (27%) said their children had to do schoolwork on a cellphone, 16% said their child was unable to complete schoolwork because of a lack of computer access at home, and another 14% said their child had to use public Wi-Fi to finish schoolwork because there was no reliable connection at home.

Parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed amid COVID-19 were more likely to say their children faced technology-related obstacles while learning from home. Nearly half of these parents (46%) said their child faced at least one of the three obstacles to learning asked about in the survey, compared with 31% of parents with midrange incomes and 18% of parents with higher incomes.

Of the three obstacles asked about in the survey, parents with lower incomes were most likely to say that their child had to do their schoolwork on a cellphone (37%). About a quarter said their child was unable to complete their schoolwork because they did not have computer access at home (25%), or that they had to use public Wi-Fi because they did not have a reliable internet connection at home (23%).

A Center survey conducted in April 2020 found that, at that time, 59% of parents with lower incomes who had children engaged in remote learning said their children would likely face at least one of the obstacles asked about in the 2021 survey.

A year into the outbreak, an increasing share of U.S. adults said that K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork at home during the pandemic. About half of all adults (49%) said this in the spring 2021 survey, up 12 percentage points from a year earlier. An additional 37% of adults said that schools should provide these resources only to students whose families cannot afford them, and just 13% said schools do not have this responsibility.

While larger shares of both political parties in April 2021 said K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide computers to all students in order to help them complete schoolwork at home, there was a 15-point change among Republicans: 43% of Republicans and those who lean to the Republican Party said K-12 schools have this responsibility, compared with 28% last April. In the 2021 survey, 22% of Republicans also said schools do not have this responsibility at all, compared with 6% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.

Even before the pandemic, Black teens and those living in lower-income households were more likely than other groups to report trouble completing homework assignments because they did not have reliable technology access. Nearly one-in-five teens ages 13 to 17 (17%) said they are often or sometimes unable to complete homework assignments because they do not have reliable access to a computer or internet connection, a 2018 Center survey of U.S. teens found.

One-quarter of Black teens said they were at least sometimes unable to complete their homework due to a lack of digital access, including 13% who said this happened to them often. Just 4% of White teens and 6% of Hispanic teens said this often happened to them. (There were not enough Asian respondents in the survey sample to be broken out into a separate analysis.)

A wide gap also existed by income level: 24% of teens whose annual family income was less than $30,000 said the lack of a dependable computer or internet connection often or sometimes prohibited them from finishing their homework, but that share dropped to 9% among teens who lived in households earning $75,000 or more a year.

• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• COVID-19 & Technology
• Digital Divide
• Education & Learning Online

Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center .

How Americans View the Coronavirus, COVID-19 Vaccines Amid Declining Levels of Concern

Online religious services appeal to many americans, but going in person remains more popular, about a third of u.s. workers who can work from home now do so all the time, how the pandemic has affected attendance at u.s. religious services, mental health and the pandemic: what u.s. surveys have found, most popular.

901 E St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20004 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It does not take policy positions. The Center conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, computational social science research and other data-driven research. Pew Research Center is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts , its primary funder.

© 2024 Pew Research Center

Welcome to the New School Year!

Nationally accredited, christian & classical. affordable & accredited..

Daily online classes with teachers who care.

Logos Online School provides a Christ-centered, classical education for grades 7 through 12 that's both affordable and accredited.

Christian -  Logos Online School supports parents in their biblical responsibility to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.       

Classical - The classical philosophy of education uses the children’s God-given strengths at each stage of growth to help them learn. The result is a graduate who knows what they believe and why, and can positively impact the community around them.

Affordable -  No extra fees for diploma-track students and honors classes. Full-time tuition is only $2,613 per year, and “a la carte” classes are $710.

Accredited -  Logos Online School is nationally accredited through the National Association of Private Schools. We are also an approved NCAA educational institution.

Relationships -  Classes meet online daily, Monday through Thursday, with outstanding teachers who take a personal interest in your student. Connections are made with friends that last for years.

We're here to help!

At Logos Online School, we are fully committed to our students and their families. Our administrators are available to assist you five days a week to help with advising, college prep, and any other questions you have.

We are now in our second year of participation in Logos Online classes for our boys.  We certainly appreciate the four days per week class schedule as it takes some pressure off of us in our busy homeschooling schedule.  However, what is most important to us is the quality of the teachers.  They love the subject material, relate well to the students, and they are skilled at teaching.  It all culminates in our boys enjoying learning and seeing Christ's lordship over every field of study. John P., LOS Parent

I love the honesty and unapologetic love for Christ this school has. Its principles are rich and the education it provides is outstanding. The teachers have a genuine love for their students, and the class atmosphere is relaxed and professional. I have made so many wonderful friends through this school, to whom I will be forever grateful. Shelby C., LOS Graduate

We're one month into our second year at Logos Online School. We are thrilled (again!) with the content, conversation, and critical thinking present in our 12th and 8th graders' classes. Bonus: It all spills over into good discussions at our dinner table. It is Christ-honoring education that's leading our children in tenacious thankfulness. 'For the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.' Lisa R., LOS Parent

This partnership with LOS is better than we even imagined. My boys are loving all of their classes and are challenged, but not overwhelmed. The staff and teachers are so loving and Christlike. It is apparent that they truly care about their students. I was especially touched by the very thoughtful message Mr. Harlow sent my son after he broke his arm. We are looking forward to enrolling our third child next year! Danielle H., LOS Parent

Logos is the best educational experience I’ve ever had! I’ve been challenged in ways I didn’t expect. The courses are both rigorous and exciting. Having a variety of teachers adds a traditional school feeling beyond my homeschool experience. The student interaction and discussions far exceed my experience in public school. The Christ-centered, classical education of Logos has changed the way I approach problem-solving, giving me a completely different way of thinking that will support me throughout every aspect of my life.  Peter V., LOS Graduate

LOS has provided opportunities for rich discourse with other students directed by teachers who seek to ground all learning in the truth of Scripture. We have been very happy with prompt and responsive help from both teachers and administration when needed. LOS provides a solid classical Christian education in a well-organized four day week. We have especially appreciated this as one of our goals was to have the freedom to travel while  maintaining a program of vigorous study. Angel W., LOS Parent

Add customer reviews and testimonials to showcase your store’s happy customers. Author's name

Britain's youngest knife murderer - 'drill' videos in school and trouble 'always kicking off'

The boy was “mixed up” in the local drug scene and associating with older teens while still in primary school, before killing student Shawn Seesahai

• 14:00, 27 Sep 2024
• Updated 14:15, 27 Sep 2024

‌Britain's youngest knife murderer was involved with violent gangs when he was just nine-years-old.

The boy was “mixed up” in the local drug scene and associating with older teens while still in primary school. The horrified parent of one classmate said the boy watched ‘drill’ videos promoting violent crime in primary school.

He later carried out a horrific machete attack with a fellow 12-year-old on tragic student Shawn Seesahai. The two youngsters brutally attacked the defenceless 19-year-old in a Wolverhampton park last November.

Shaun’s skull was broken after he was kicked, punched and stamped on before being knifed in the heart. The boys are Britain’s youngest murderers since the death of tragic toddler James Bulger in Liverpool in 1993. The pair are also the country’s youngest-ever knife killers.

He was hooked on ‘drill’ videos - where masked and hooded rappers boast on camera of committing violent crimes. A classmate’s parent told the Mirror how they feared for their child’s safety being around the feral yob.

“You shouldn’t be worried about sending your kid to primary school, but that’s how it was back then,” they said. “I thought he was just acting the hard man, but it turned out he was actually in a gang and hanging around with all sorts.

“He didn’t often turn up to school but when he did there was always trouble kicking off. I wasn’t at all surprised to hear he’d gone on to kill someone, he was completely off the rails even before that.”

The murder horrified detectives found chilling pictures of knives on his mobile phone. His trial heard he idolised the drill rapper SJ - whose real name is Jayden O’Neill-Crichlow.

O’Neill-Crichlow is serving a life sentence for a machete murder in Wood Green, North London, in 2019. Another local said they had to install barbed wire and metal shutters on their home to keep the boy out. Shawn had travelled to the UK from the Caribbean island of Anguilla to have cataract surgery and further his education.

He was sitting on a bench when he was confronted by the two 12-year-olds for no reason and attacked. After the murder the boy obsessed with drill videos washed the machete with bleach in a bid to destroy evidence. He later revealed: “I heard it on music videos when they mention it, bleaching it.”

The youngster told detectives he bought the fearsome weapon for £40 off a “friend of a friend” because he thought it was “cool”. He told jurors he thought owning a knife would “be cool and make people scared”. During the trial the boy, who was allowed to play with a ‘fidget spinner’ in court, tried to blame his co-accused.

But the family and friends of the other 12-year-old insisted he was led astray by his “more streetwise” pal. One relative said: “He wasn’t an angel, but he also wasn’t a cold-blooded gangster like the other lad was. If he hadn’t met that lad then he wouldn’t be facing years behind bars, I’m convinced of that.”

MORE ON James Bulger Education Schools Life sentence Murder trial Social workers Crime Knife crime

Get email updates with the day's biggest stories.

Join our information morning to find out how ISM students enter the world's best universities.

• Entry Requirements
• Tuition Fees
• Financial Incentives
• Rosinka International Residential Compound

Early Years

• How We Teach
• Collaborations
• Health and Wellbeing
• International Award
• Visits and Trips
• Social purpose
• Discover more
• Parent Portal
• Parent Essentials
• Enquire now

academic excellence

achieving academic excellence

At ISM, your child will benefit from a world-class British education and the highest standards of teaching and learning.

At every stage of their education, your child will be supported and challenged to achieve excellence. They will also enjoy learning opportunities – in and outside of the classroom – that match their interests and goals. Our outstanding teachers form a community that provides the care they’ll need to flourish as an individual, too.

Our all-encompassing educational approach ensures ISM is the most successful British curriculum school in Moscow. Year-on-year, our hard-working students’ outstanding exam results take them to first-choice, top 100 universities in the UK, Europe, the US, and Asia.

• Early years

OUR CURRICULA

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

English National Curriculum

English national curriculum, including igcses.

A TYPICAL DAY AT ISM

Starting the day with play

Forest School

Experiential learning

Showcasing skills

Fun in the sun (and snow!)

Practical projects

Music maestros

On the move

Learning never stops

Every day is different

Thrilling discoveries

Taking a trip

Sporting superstars

Pursuing passions

Follow your own path

Preparing for university

Global citizens

Doing what you love

Our stats speak for themselves.

TEACHING YOUR CHILD TO SUCCEED

LEARNING FROM THE BEST

Outstanding teachers make outstanding schools, which is why we only recruit the best. Our staff are UK qualified (or equivalent) and have a wealth of experience in British and international schools. Most importantly, all our Primary and core subject teachers are native English-speakers, which is unique in Moscow.

Many of our exceptional educators have a Master’s degree or a PhD, too. In small class sizes – with a teacher-student ratio of one to eight – they will use their expertise to get to know how your child learns best, as well as tailoring learning to their passions, strengths, and ambitions for the future. This includes nurturing your child’s personal growth, as well as making sure they achieve academically.

EDUCATION FOR ALL

BROADENING OUR STUDENTS' HORIZONS

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE AT ISM

At ISM, your child will embrace learning beyond the classroom. Whatever their passion, we offer meaningful activities, exciting adventures, and a myriad of clubs that will nurture their curiosity, creativity, and talents.

Want to hear from us?

By joining our mailing list, we can keep you up to date with any future newsletters, events and announcements from our family of 80+ premium schools.

Krylatskoe Campus:  + 7 (499) 922 44 00 Rosinka Campus: + 7 (499) 922 44 05  

Admissions:   [email protected]

Krylatskoe Campus Krylatskaya Ulitsa 12 Krylatskoe Moscow 121552 Rosinka Campus Building 41 IRC Rosinka Krasnogorsky region Moscow rural 143442

• About Nord Anglia
• About Our School
• ISM Online Uniform Shop
• Krylatskoe LC and Rosinka Primary Local Website
• Rosinka EYFS Local Website
• Krylatskoe Upper Campus Local Website
• Our Global Network

We use cookies to improve your online experiences. To learn more and choose your cookies options, please refer to our  cookie policy .