Emma Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Thought I'd save space and ask 2 questions at the same time. Any opinions on these programs for a 14 yr.old, 9th grade, non sciencey, non mathy girl? She is very, V E R Y, artsy. She definitely isn't going into any science field, and will probably go into an art related field. Any advice or suggestions would be great. BTW, we've tried Saxon (YUCK!) and TT (which she loved until we got to prealgebra and they changed the set up) We're using Life Pac science this yr. and we have a hard time staying awake for it... (yawn.) She's using Sonlight 7 for history/lit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwalizer Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I have no experience with chalkdust, we use videotext. We are currently using Apologia Biology with my 9th grade ds and he is doing well. It is set up very much like a traditional school course, but ds likes the way it is written to the student. The text is hmm, how can I describe it? Conversational. Like the writer is talking to the student. It covers a lot of material, but the concepts are well explained and so it isn't too hard for my non-academic ds. We like VideoText because the solutions manual forces the student to look through the solution and figure out where he went wrong in working a problem instead of explaining it to him like TT. The concepts seem to stick with him better when he has to work harder to understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam L in Mid Tenn Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 This may not be the most popular math on the boards but we've gone back to MUS after a couple of detours. MUS is a good option for anyone I think. Don't discount it at all! And, my kids have all enjoyed the Apologia materials. "Enjoying" the study guides, tests, problem?.. Well maybe not the problems, but they HAVE enjoyed reading the books. Many times they have done extra research because a topic was so interesting. I know not everyone thinks the Apologia books are interesting, but my kids do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 It uses a college textbook and wouldn't be a good choice for someone who struggles with math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 It uses a college textbook and wouldn't be a good choice for someone who struggles with math. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Any suggestions then for a non mathy kid? I'd like something that was self-teaching, since we have 2 youngers that require a lot of my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I'm not mathy (I majored in Literature for a reason), my dd is not mathy but I think that's exactly why Chalkdust *is* a good fit. We watch the lessons, we read the instructions and she works the problems. Granted, it is taking us longer to go through it than it might someone more mathy but I think once we're done with this year she'll get it and we'll move at a regular pace for the other courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Apologia Biology is not math-driven. The key to biology is memorization. Really, any high-school level biology is probably going to require memorization, rather than math skills. You could always add in more hands-on projects such as those on Barb's blog -- search for Harmony Arts and she has a link for her biology/nature studies blog. HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Any suggestions then for a non mathy kid? I'd like something that was self-teaching, since we have 2 youngers that require a lot of my time. Two families I know with creative non-math kids like Teaching Textbooks. I don't like the constant review of TT, it is like Saxon in that regard. Others do like that, so it may be worth a look. For dd, we did BJU Algebra 1 w/dvds and it went very well. DS did Video Text, which we did not like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I have a pianist who has enjoyed and excelled at both courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I'm a fan of Math Relief for algebra. It's worked well for my mathy and non-mathy kids. Mr. Firebaugh is truly gifted in making algebra seem easy, IMHO. You can see a sample video here: http://www.mathrelief.com/ Just one more thing to consider! Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emma Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Would you tell me more about Math Relief? It looks interesting. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Would you tell me more about Math Relief? It looks interesting. Thanks! I posted a long explanation here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=133291&highlight=math+relief&page=2 And if you hunt around the high school board, you'll find others who have had success with MR, too. I don't think I've ever read of someone who didn't get Algebra when using it? Some folks don't like that he just teaches algebra (I and II). But I say, hey, how likely is it that someone will be gifted at teaching everything? Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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