momofgals Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Background: Dd completed TT Alg.1 & 2, and TT Geometry with good understanding. As a 10th grader she did terrific (30) on her ACT (with writing) composite, but her lowest score was in the math section (26). On the PSAT her composite (215) was also brought down by her math (65). This year I switched her over to Chalkdust Pre-Calculus, and she had a steep learning curve when it came to the use of the graphing calculator. She is usually able to grasp the concepts, but it seems to take her so long to work them correctly. I assign her problems according to CD's recommendation (every fourth problem or so), but it still seems to take forever for her to finish a lesson. Tonight she had a meltdown b/c she is just finishing up chapter two. She is behind b/c it took her so long to learn the graphing calculator, plus I had her do some SAT review before taking the PSAT. I know that I have read that this course can take 1 1/2 years, but at this rate she will be working for longer than that. It was our plan for her to take a Statistics course in 12th grade, either AP or at the local cc, and she would thereby be done with her general math course requirement for college. She has no plans to major in either science or math in college, so I'm wondering if I can shorten the Chalkdust Pre-Calculus course in any way. Or is there something else I can do to help her? We are in a small town, and I know of a tutor who lives about 40 minutes away and could meet with her weekly, but I don't know if that will help her in the daily grind. I know that part of the frustration is that hard work pays off big dividends for her in all her other subjects, whereas in math she is constantly trying to catch up. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I think "precalculus" is sort of a catchall name for courses that cover a grab-bag of various topics that weren't caught in earlier courses but that the author thinks are important for either general math knowledge and/or for calculus success. My impression is that there is great variation in topics covered in precalc courses. Given that, I'd guess that EVEN IF your dd plans on calculus at some point, there'd STILL likely be things you could drop out of the precalc w/o suffering too much later. Soooo, maybe you could go through her syllabus and compare it to a handful of OTHER precalc syllabuses/TOCs and just choose some chapters to drop that aren't included in all the other programs? Just a thought. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I recommend you hire a tutor to meet with her regularly. A real person with lots of math experience can do a great job of streamlining the work she's doing without shortchanging her. Nothing is more frustrating than teaching yourself math, even with a good book, and having no one to bounce questions off of. When I was working on my graduate degree in statistics, I was the ONLY grad student in stats in the state of Alaska (LOL), and so my math courses were great--I had other students in the math courses. But my stat courses made me CRAZY, because I had no way to set up a "study session" and talk through problem solutions. I had to wait for my professors to be available to have a conversation. In your daughter's case, with no classroom setting, she at least needs to have conversations with a tutor and to see problems solved in front of her rapidly and smoothly by someone with experience. It will help her see the patterns and move more quickly through the processes required. By the way, those ACT scores are quite respectable, even in math. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 TT prepares students for 'standardized tests' but it is not up to level as far as pre-requisites for the 'next course'. TT's Algebra 2 covers less than half of what is covered in Chalkdust's Algebra 2 program. You would have to work TT's Pre-Calc course to cover the rest of the 'normal' Algebra 2 concepts... and then the student would still have most of the concepts taught in CD Pre-Calc to learn... CD's Pre-Calc book is not advanced--it is NORMAL---as Pre-Calc is a college level math. If you want to continue with the CD program you will most likely need to find your dd a good tutor who can fill in the gaps. If your DD will not be taking higher maths in college then she can skip the 'Trigonometry' sections in the text--completing the "College Algebra" (Algebra 3) requirement that many college programs have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
April in CA Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hello! My son moved into CD PreCalc from TT Alg 2, and we were also confronted with a steep learning curve. He spent a lot of time in the P chapter, which covered some of the concepts that other programs might have exposed him to in Alg 2. Math just takes a long time at this level. My son is taking a year and a half to do the course, which will leave us a semester to do an intro to Calc. I am okay with this. It is vitally important, in my opinion, to really get the concepts and the methods at this level in order to be successful in calculus. Perhaps this is not alot of practical help, but I hope you feel encouraged! Blessings, April Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofgals Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Do you think it is better to change what I have on her transcript? If we won't finish Pre-calculus until the end of the first semester of her 12th grade, then I can't list it on her transcript for 11th grade, can I? Instead of 9th - Algebra II 10th - Geometry 11th - Pre-calculus 12th - Statistics should I list math credits as 9th - Algebra I 10th - Geometry 11th - Algebra II 12 - Pre-Calculus & Statistics? Or, should it be 9th - Algebra II 10th - Geometry 11th - College Algebra 12th - Trigonometry & Statistics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmom Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 I agree with other posts that suggest finding a tutor. What about an online tutor? Can you find someone that is available via email to answer questions? Do you currently have any resources for increasing familiarity with graphing calculators? Your dd may be expected to use one in college (even in College Algebra) so learning about it now may save time later. As for the transcript question, I prefer the first course list you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74Heaven Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) wrong post - started new thread Edited January 11, 2010 by 74Heaven started new thread; my error Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofgals Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Thank you to all who replied to this thread. I'm still uncertain as to what is "necessary" for her to glean out of the text. It's been so long since I studied this level of math, that I am very little help to her. I never used a graphing calculator, and purchasing the book "Graphing Calculators for Dummies" was something I waited too long to do. I'm waiting to hear from the tutor and hoping that she can work through email or chat on an as-needed basis. I still wonder if any other posters/readers of this thread can comment on my questions about the transcript. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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