math question--florida lisa and others.....

[Jodi-FL]

my rising 8th grade dd was homeschooled until last year when dh decided to put everyone in p.s. she did well, took pre-algebra but we've decided to homeschool her from here on out (p.s. wasn't the greener grass dh thought it would be). the bad news...i got rid of all 10+ years of homeschool curriculum.

 

this girl is bright, math comes easy to her although she would much rather be doing art or building stuff.

 

since i'm basically starting over, what math would you recommend? no local co-ops are offering algebra 1, and though i'm no math whiz, dh is an accountant. i could either learn along with her, or get a dvd program. i'd like to keep costs down, though she has 3 brothers coming after her that could use it as well.

 

thx-

jodi now in pa but clueless as to how to change my name

p.s. lisa email or pm message me---

[Sunshine State Sue]

Here are the options I checked out and a few notes that I gathered from lurking here on the hs board:

 

Algebra Choices:

MUS (not so rigorous)

Life of Fred

Foerster’s Algebra 1 (most rigorous) #1 choice so far

Jacob’s Elementary Algebra (cartoons)

Lial’s Introductory Algebra (solid)

Dolciani’s (also rigorous)

NEM (Singapore)

 

 

We used MUS + LoF last year. MUS was easy - too easy, imo. LoF was challenging and didn't really work well with ds's learning style or raging puberty. We're going to use Foerster's this year (8th grade). Probably overkill, but that's the plan.

 

I was able to get Foerster's, Lial's, and Jacob's through ILL. It helped to see them.

 

I don't need DVDs, but I've heard that there are DVDs through Math Without Borders for Foerster's. Chalkdust also gets good reviews.

 

What did you use for math in the elementary years?

[Susan C.]

Ouch, that hurts that you got rid of everything. Add these to your list

 

Teaching Textbooks

BJU Algebra 1 (if you know Algebra, you can use this w/o DVDs, but I liked the DVDs)

Chalkdust (was in previous email but not on the list)

[Jodi-FL]

my oldest two (girls) used mus, one through 11th grade, and one through 9th. neither of them are particularly strong in math, but neither had trouble going right into grade level in public school.

 

with my older son i used teaching textbooks algebra in 8th, he's strong in math, went right into public school geometry and i didn't need to help him a bit.

 

while i liked tt, i really don't want to spend the money since i'm starting over (except for living books, biographies, etc. that we kept) for 4 kids curriculum wise.

 

thanks for the list--a few more things to check out. i hope our library has some of the titles....

j.

[K-FL]

For dvd algebra, add in Math Relief. It's not a lot of bells & whistles, but it's a good, solid program that is re-usable. Unfortunately he doesn't have geometry at this time.

[LoriM]

Don't dismiss Jacobs Elementary Algebra as "cartoons." While there are clever illustrations at the beginning of sections, the math taught is very strong. It is a gentle, inductive approach (where most of the teaching takes place in the problem set), and is a great book for a young, verbal child. I always highly recommend it for 11-13 year old girls who are strong readers, for example. (Not that boys can't do the text, but I have found many of my male students expressing boredom with the amounts of verbal reasoning required to "just get at" the math.)

 

Saxon Algebra 1 wasn't on the list above either...and the new edition of the high school texts in Saxon are very good.

 

HTH,

 

Lori

[MyThreeSons]

I love math, I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering (lots of math!), and I have tutored math, especially Algebra, for over 35 years. When I used Jacobs Elementary Algebra to teach a small group of homeschoolers several years ago, I had several "AHA!!" moments when I truly understood what was going on when I applied certain algebraic principles.

 

For example, there's the old problem "If John can paint the barn in 12 hours by himself, and Joe can paint it in 6 hours by himself, how long will it take them working together?" I know that when I took Algebra, they gave us a formula to use for this type of mixture problem. I memorized the formula, and I used it successfully. Now, however, my old brain can't remember the formula, but I can think my way through the solution, thanks to Jacobs.

 

I would think something like this: John paints 1/12 of the barn each hour, while Joe paints 1/6 of the barn each hour. Together they paint 1/12 + 1/6 or 3/12 = 1/4 of the barn each hour. It would take them 4 hours working together to paint the barn.

 

Being able to understand why, not just memorize how, is better, IMNSHO.

[Sunshine State Sue]

Don't dismiss Jacobs Elementary Algebra as "cartoons."

Oh absolutely! Cartoons are appealing - that's why I noted it. Jacob's is very thorough. I'm glad you pointed that out.

[Catherine]

My eldest ds, now a rising junior, started in eighth at home with Thinkwell, which has a DVD program and online problem sets. My impression-good, but pricey. He actually used the first half of Thinkwell's Intermediate Algebra text. but used the text very little. Could be economized by using the text and DVDs without problem sets. Plus the book covers Algebra two as well.

 

He went to ps, a math\science magnet for ninth grade, took Geometry there. It was not a great course for him, I don't even know what materials they used (teacher pulled together from a number of sources I think). He is not very good with "details"-he's definitely a big-picture guy. I think he's weakest in Geometry, of any of the advanced math topics.

 

He tried to do Algebra 2, Trig and Precalculus all this year and is still finishing this summer. This is because he wants to take Calculus as a junior. Used Lial's for all three and he was unhappy that it's too "nuts and bolts" and not theoretical enough. This child loves math and wants to pursue it as a major or a career, but in truth it's not where his highest natural aptitude is.

 

For my rising seventh grader, we will start algebra in the middle of this year, and I have Foersters. He is very math-intuitive so I think it will work well for him. After that, I have no idea. HTH!

[FloridaLisa]

Hey Jodi!

 

:seeya:

 

I'm sorry you sold all of that only to need it again! We've been using Saxon all along. I did buy LOF Geometry for 2 of my dc this year after hearing such rave reviews on the board. I'm not sure if I'll use it instead of or along with Jacobs. I haven't experimented much with other math programs, so I'm not sure I'm much help there!

 

I'll pm you a bit later today so we can catch up on other matters. Good to see you here again.

Lisa

[Starr]

We've used Jacobs Algebra and Geometry. For the most part dd has been able to learn without much help from me. I did take a break and do a general math review in the middle of Algebra. (No, we don't do all of the problems.)

[Sandra in FL]

you're in Florida, there's also Florida Virtual School for free. We've only done languages on FLVS so maybe others could chime in on the math classes.

 

HTH,

Sandra