Why Khan Academy Is Amazing for Your Family

Do your kids need help in school? Khan Academy is an amazing FREE resource to help kids better understand hard subjects.

If you and your kids are not using Khan Academy yet, it’s time to take a look.  The Khan Academy is an amazing free website, chockful of educational video tutorials and interactive exercises.

The Khan Academy’s mission is…changing education for the better by providing a free world-class education to anyone anywhere.” 

It was started by Sal Khan, quite accidentally.  He made some YouTube videos of himself teaching calculus to send to his cousins, so they could understand their studies better.

He was caught off guard when his cousins told him that they preferred his videos over him teaching them directly. 

He then began receiving comments on YouTube from people all over the world who found his video very helpful.

Sal Khan realized he was onto something.  In school, once the instruction is done, it’s done.  Either you took good notes or you didn’t. 

Perhaps it wasn’t a good day and you didn’t feel like taking notes.  You could get notes from a friend, but you can’t re-watch how the teacher explained something on the board.

Taking this insight, Sal Khan created the Khan Academy to give students all over the world the opportunity to learn school subjects on their own timing and rewatch videos as many times as they wish.

Today, Khan Academy has grown to a 150+ person non-profit organization.  Over 15 million people use Khan Academy on a monthly basis.

Khan Academy

High School

As a high school student, my daughter used Khan Academy quite a bit this past year and even more so during the end of the school year during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.

During distance learning, her calculus teacher assigned videos to watch each week.  Students’ accounts were linked up to his so he could see the progress they were making.

The teacher would then assign tests, which were already a part of Khan academy.  He would receive everyone’s grade when they were done.  All of this was free for the students and the teacher.

The Khan Academy has a TON of classes available for high school students and all students.  They are all self-paced and free.

AP

Khan Academy has gone a step further and they offer “course” to help students study for the AP classes.  Currently, Khan Academy offers:

• AP Calculus AB
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Statistics
• AP Physics 1
• AP Physics 2
• AP Biology
• AP Chemistry
• AP Computer Science Principles
• AP US History
• AP World History
• AP US Government & Politics
• AP Art History
• AP Macroeconomics
• AP Microeconomics

While there are more AP classes than what’s offered at Khan, this list covers the most popular AP classes.

Khan Academy offers more than AP classes for high school students.  Most of these classes are offered without the AP focus as well, to help all students.

Additional classes include…

• Electrical engineering
• Health and medicine
• Computer animation
• Cosmology and astrology
• Storytelling
• Finance and capital markets
• and more

There’s a lot of video content and explanation behind each of these subjects.

SAT

But wait, there’s more!  The Khan Academy can also help students study for the SAT‘s. 

My daughter has been using Khan Academy to study for her SAT for the past year and finds it helpful. 

She said Khan Academy definitely helped her prepare for the test.

The Khan Academy gives tips and techniques for the test as well as thorough teaching of the types of content kids will find on the SAT. 

Khan even provides online tests to help students assess their strengths and weaknesses and then personalizes content for them based on their results.

More Standardized Tests

The Khan Academy offers additional test preparation classes than just the SAT’s and AP’s.  

Other tests include:

• LSAT (to be a lawyer)
• PRAXIS Core math (teaching)
• PRAXIS Core reading (teaching)
• PRAXIS Core writing (teaching)
• MCAT (medical)
• NCLEX-RN (medical)
• GMAT (business school)
• IIT JEE (test in India)

What I love about studying for tests like SAT and PRAXI is that Khan helps you with a schedule and helps you to plan out your days of study, leading up to a test.  

You feel more accountable to the timetable Khan sets up for you.  And Khan tracks your progress along the way.  

I am currently studying to take the CSET, a prerequisite to getting a teaching credential.

Although Khan Academy does not have a CSET preparation course, I am using the PRAXIS courses to prepare. 

PRAXIS is used for most of the US, CSET is specialized to California.

Using Khan Academy has greatly increased my motivation to study.  I literally spend hours studying each day.  

And since I use it on my computer, I can save my screenshots or use the Microsoft Clipping Tool to snip problems I am having trouble with to paste in OneNote to review later.

It is so much simpler.

I am also using the general Chemistry, Biology, History, and Art History courses to study for other parts of CSET. 

The videos are interesting and I do often rewind certain videos to ensure I can grasp the content being taught.

All Grade Levels

What about your preschooler?  2nd grader?  8th grader?  Yep, there are classes for them too.

In fact, Khan created a fun learning-based app for Android and Apple called Khan Academy Kids for preschoolers to first graders to make learning easier for younger kids.

Want to keep your kids fresh during the Summer months?  Khan offers math “Getting Ready” courses for all grades.

Kids can learn about math concepts ahead of starting a new grade to better prepare them for what’s to come.

There’s nothing like a physical tutor to help your kids through difficult classes.  Often times, we as parents, can’t help. 

The Khan Academy offers the benefits of nearly having a tutor without the cost, making it an affordable solution for all students.

A Mom’s Perspective

Whether you’re looking to…

• lessen the “Summer Slide”
• help your young child learn simple math or words
• help your kids (or yourself) prepare for a standardized test
• or simply want to provide additional educational resources for your children when they are taking a difficult class

Khan is available for you, 24 hours a day.

Honestly, I didn’t know a lot about what Khan Academy could do until I started using it to study for the CSET. 

I am using Khan Academy in addition to my CSET study books to better understand and retain knowledge on many subjects.

It’s amazing the amount of time and resources the Khan has spent to make education available to all.

Not only do they focus on making videos but most courses have problems written out and tests you along the way to ensure you understand what is being taught.

If you haven’t visited the Khan Academy lately, take a look. 

You may not have a need right now, but down the road, you will know what is easily available to you and your children.

Remember, the Khan Academy is only as good as the effort put into reviewing and studying the educational content. 

You may need to incentivize your kids with rewards once they pass certain tests or sections.

I am much more appreciative of what Khan Academy provides now that I am using it.  Give it a try.

If you’re looking for additional educational resources, give IXL a try.  My 8th grader has learned a lot from studying IXL.