Good websites for structured additional (maths) learning?

[Anaxagora]

My ds is in Y7 (ie first year of secondary, so age 11) and doing well, but (a) he's a lazy little toad, a real 'bare minimum' merchant, and (b) the school doesn't exactly overload them with homework, despite the notional presence of a homework timetable. It is a fairly regular occurrence for him to come back with no homework, or something that takes him 10 mins (and I'd have been told if he was lying about that, the school is quite strict about planners being ticked off and signed).

What I'd like (and I know other schools have) is some kind of structured learning website so that on those days when he has no homework I could make him do half an hour of eg maths practice on a site where the work would be appropriately levelled and he'd get feedback.

I know a bit about My Maths, which my older dd uses, but is that just for KS4? I think that works via the school having a subscription, so will ask about it at parents evening, but would be interested to know a bit more about it beforehand.

Otherwise I was thinking of something like Mathletics -- does anyone have experience of this at secondary level, and is it worth the money?

Or any other alternatives, or suggestions of what other schools do in this situation? His school is a perfectly ok school, but not particularly proactive, and he is at the higher end of their ability range (though not outstandingly able) so they're probably not that motivated to kick his little backside. Or not as much as I am, anyway.

Bump?

MyMaths covers Key Stage 3 and 4. You should be able to use your dd login to take a look see. In actual fact I'd not be surprosed to learn your ds might already have a login if he is at the same school. MyMaths is quite good for working through a concept and giving "homework" that can be marked online, but there'd be no way (other than seeing his homework marks) to tell if he'd actually gone through the explanations properly or just flicked through to get the "ticks" to say he'd done it! I don't think it is massively user friendly if you aren't familiar with the curriculum, so I'd probably suggest something like a CGP study and workbook to go alongside as a guide.
you can get free interactive tutorials for most of the year 7 and 8 syllabus [[http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm
here.]] Plus printout online workbooks for the whole syllabus. Not exciting but thorough! I don't have any experience of Mathletics

Sorry trying link again!!
www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mep/default.htm

Thanks for replying, that gives me something to start from ! He isn't at the same school as my dd, so I will find out whether they also have a MyMaths subscription.

Otherwise I may need to do some more research into Mathletics - much as I love him I think him and me working through CGP workbooks would result in strops (him) and hysteria (me). It's not that I can't do the maths, as it were, I just think he'd work better if he has a bit more autonomy and anonymity and I keep back from it a bit.

We do Mathletics and it's brillant in most areas. It's divided by Year Level, but you can move him up or down depending on his confidence (it doesn't say what level you've put them on on their "student").

It has the main practice area is divided into categories and inside there will typically be an "Are you ready" section, several sections underneath that with one kind of question each, and then a longer 'test' at the bottom which is a mix of the above sections. Except for the test, all have a question mark on the side with support.

For straightforward maths stuff, the support is brillant, and breaks it down rather nicely. Occasionally, the support seems very much 'this is how to answer the problem' rather than helping them understand the method behind it, if that makes any sense?

For getting right answers, they get points and enough points you get a certificate for the week (they can only earn one certificate a week, it adds up everything they did over a week into one certificate). It also sends the details to you of what and how they did into an email. Also, they get points to make their avatars unique -- different backgrounds, clothes, glasses, etc. My son had way too much fun with this the other day and made his avatar look like a secret agent (with a suit, dark glasses, the works).

There is also a "problem solving" games section which breaks down the basics further. Both this and the other area is very visually based, lots of graphics. Usually this is great, though occasionally it's a bit off -- for example, the graphics for coins is really hard to see on my computer, I think they make them too small to see, but otherwise the graphics are normally clear and fun. There are also lots of sounds, which you may want to turn the volume down for!

There is also a racing element, Live Mathletics, where they can put themselves in and it will automatically put them in with 2 or 3 others from across the globe and the one who answers the most in the timelimit wins. This is good if your son needs practice and is confident, but may be a knock back if he's the type that needs to take his time. The race also has a 3 strikes and your out system which may also be frusterating.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

I find Conquer Maths to be very good as it breaks down KS3 & 4 by subtopic and has a short online lesson and worksheet for each one. It is ver straightforward and easy to use. My Maths which DD uses in school is a nightmare to navigate. I agree CIMT is brilliant but I was just looking for extra reassurance that DD had covered the relevant topics (her teacher is NQ and can't control the class) rather than teaching from scratch.