April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hello Everyone! My older son, a senior, should finish up ChalkDust PreCalc around the end of the semester (hopefully by Christmas, probably by the end of January). I would like him to start calculus 2nd semester. I don't really want to invest in ChalkDust Calculus for a semester course (I will probably call it intro to calc or something like that - any suggestions?), so I am looking for options and ideas. Has anyone used Life of Fred Calculus? I am thinking about a combo of Life of Fred and Thinkwell Calculus. If I were to use the LoF text, should I just order the Thinkwell lecture CDs, or would it be beneficial to get the on-line subscription? If I were to do that, would I need LoF at all? Any thoughts and opinions welcome! Thank you very much in advance! Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 We used Thinkwell for calculus with the online component (excellent, btw) and LoF as a fun read along side the Burger lectures. They are not a perfect match in terms of the sequence of topics and given that the story in LoF requires it to be read in order, I went for Thinkwell as the main program. It turned out to be a successful and fun combination too! Personally, I found the calculus program with Thinkwell to be the best of their math programs in terms of few if any instances when the material in the problems required material not yet learned (as in College Algebra, for instance). You just can't beat Dr, BURger for a thorough and fun course either. If you are comfortable with it, you could get all of Calculus I under your belt in a semester; we managed it. THe second part is significantly more difficult.... Good luck! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Wow! Thanks for your quick reply. How did you manage to get all of Calc 1 done in one semester? I would love to know how you scheduled it! Thanks! Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 I would be tempted to do Chalkdust calculus over a year if your son has the ability, it is the same book that most colleges use. DS had a terrible time taking Calculus 1 & 2 with just a semester for each, he may have passed if he had more time. Taking it over a year exposes you to all of it, and then he can retake at college over a semester to get his speed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hi Susan, I agree - If my son had a year to do calculus, I would be thrilled. But, since he is a senior, he needs to make the best use of the time he has. He may be able to do some studying on his own over the summer, but if he gets another internship his study time will be minimal. I am hoping that a good semester of Calc will give him a jump start for college, since he wants to be an engineer. I know it can be done... Was your son able to redo calculus? Some classes move so fast, I remember the horrors of chemistry at college... Thanks for your thoughts, Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Wow! Thanks for your quick reply. How did you manage to get all of Calc 1 done in one semester? I would love to know how you scheduled it!Thanks! Blessings, April Ds did three lectures a day and the accompanying problems/exercises online. LoF he read on his own at his own pace... He had a demanding precalculus program which helped but I still think you are wise to expose your son to some of the material before college. Given that you have a semester, you could just see where you get to. Burger does an excellent job of explaining the material clearly and it isn't quite the same as being in a live lecture where you can't go back and look again at an explanation! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Thanks, Mary! How long did your son spend on Calculus each day at that pace? I was just over at the Thinkwell site, and I saw that the full calculus has 22 or so chapters, but the calculus that corresponds to the AP Calc AB exam has 13 chapters. Did your son cover 13 chapters or all 22 in a semester? My son is a very diligent and intelligent young man, but he is rather methodical with his math and really likes to be able to ponder things if he has trouble understanding. 13 chapters he may be able to get done, but 22 is highly questionable! Thanks again! Blessings, April PS have you used any of Thinkwell's other courses? If so, how did you like them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 April, Doing the entire Thinkwell program is two full semesters, college level . Getting through Chapter 11 would be all of Calc I - the other two chapters (12,13) are often incorporated into Calc II so you could or could not target completing those. Ds spent about an hour a day on this. The problems go quickly in Calc I, but NOT in Calc II per the Thinkwell table of contents. He completed Cal I in one semester but not that entire program in one semester! We had used the College Algebra from Thinkwell and the Physics (which is terrific). Haven't used others. I saw you post on the Am Gov't and Econ....Have you discovered Hippocampus http://www.hippocampus.org/American%20Government for Am Gov't? We used that with the Wilson book as a one semester course. Worked well. We are doing Econ (Micro and Macro) now with the Teaching Company DVDs and the Ruffin and Gregory book using their online quizzes. I am not a huge fan of TC, myself, but this Econ guy is great! Good luck! I would say your son would have fun doing Thinkwell Calc! Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Thanks for the link to hippocampus, Mary! It looks interesting! Could you tell me about the book you are using for econ and the book you did use for gov't? I am not familiar with them, and ds said he would like to have a book as well as lectures. Thanks mucho! Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 Is there a local cc where he could take the course? That's what my ds did. Got in hs calculus and received credit for it at his university as well. It was well worth the investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLG Posted October 21, 2009 Share Posted October 21, 2009 The Am Gov book we used is a college level book but certainly accessible for hs - Hippocampus even has it as one of their recommended textbooks, I think, in the AP course. Here's site from the publisher for one edition but you could certainly use an older one. http://college.cengage.com/polisci/wilson/am_gov/9e/students/chapterfocus/index.html Econ can be a one semester micro or one semester macro if you only have one semester to work with. Publishers often split these into paperbacks for each semester and have "brief" versions too. We are using the Ruffin and Gregory hardcover combined text. There are a slew of econ books out there but this one is used by PA Homeschoolers for their AP course so I figured I go with that since I found it cheap! Just Google the authors and econ and you will find info as well as the chapter quizzes. (I don't have those bookmarked on this computer, sorry). Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Hi Sandy! I agree that CC would be a great option, and it is one we will consider. However, here in CA, the land of bizarre state politics and policies, our CCs are in a big bind - reduced funding leading to reduced course sessions leading to high school students not having much chance to take classes...but maybe he can get into calculus over the summer, after a semester at home to get him rolling. I can dream! Thanks and blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Hi Susan,I agree - If my son had a year to do calculus, I would be thrilled. But, since he is a senior, he needs to make the best use of the time he has. He may be able to do some studying on his own over the summer, but if he gets another internship his study time will be minimal. I am hoping that a good semester of Calc will give him a jump start for college, since he wants to be an engineer. I know it can be done... Was your son able to redo calculus? Some classes move so fast, I remember the horrors of chemistry at college... Thanks for your thoughts, Blessings, April He changed his major to English :) He took two summer school classes (art and poetry!) to to bring his GPA up, and kept the failing grade. To forgive it, he would have had to retake it, and he didn't want to do that (he had major burn out from the whole ordeal). If you keep taking liberal arts classes to clean up the carnage from math and science classes, then you are not a math/science person :) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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