Suggestions for Algebra 2, please...

[distancia]

Hi, all. I've posted here before and received some good pointers but our situation has changed and now I need fresh input for my daughter, age 17.5.

 

Back in December 2009 she became ill in public school and had to leave. She had just completed her first semester of Algebra 2, on a computer program called PLATO, and she got a B. Also, she had just taken her SATs and scored a 500 in Math (English was 700s). Through January she couldn't do much work, but I did have her continue to do exercises out of workbooks, here and there, for 10 minutes a day. In February she came down with mono and she was so, so tired...again, I had her working 15 or 20 minutes a day, and she could grasp what she was doing at the time, but there was no retention, she would just sleep afterwards

 

Somewhere in March? I bought Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2, thinking she could refresh from the beginning and quickly advance to where she left off. It worked for about 2 weeks and then D became frustrated because she "knew" a lot of this stuff--although some of it she didn't. Also, it was so wordy! We went away (Spring Break) and when we came back she had typhoid poisoning, and she was ill again. She tried ALEKS on computer and hated the format, said she couldn't concentrate on the way it was written.

 

After that she said "to heck with it" and just decided to start taking CLEP exams to get college credit through testing. So she began studying for College Mathematics CLEP (pretty easy) using a Peterson's review guide and InstaCert. She was doing great and was ready to test in early July, but then she began 3 other college courses online and had to set math aside. But she will return to it, refresh, and take that CLEP test in September.

 

NOW the problem is that D has decided she wants to go into the hard sciences and she is going to need a clear concept of math. Not just the memorizing of patterns and formulas--which is how she and the majority of non-math majors can get by---but a deeper understanding of math as a tool, not a chore.

 

Her learning style is such that she does poorly with: lots of color photos and graphics (typical public school textbooks), too many off-topic commentaries( Life of Fred and Standard Deviants), monotone voices, female voices, and long dreary explanations--she is NOT someone who reads a recipe through completely before preparing a meal! She does not like to be given three paragraphs of instruction before being presented with a problem. She prefers to see the problem, and have one sentence take her through each step of solving the problem. Impatient!

 

She DOES DO WELL with computer programs that explain each step and the WHY of the step; precise explanations with no scholarly jargon; CDs and DVDs with a pleasant male speaker who talks about a specific process for a short (3-7 minutes) time yet explains why he is doing every single step ("remember, we always use a blah blah blah whenever we blah blah blah because the blah blah blah property tells us that x is 1, although we don't see the number 1"). She doesn't mind workbooks and she prefers to know that there is a step-by-step solution (which is why I though TT would be so good for her).

 

I am dreading her going into College Algebra (or Intermediate Algebra at our local CC) because she will absolutely fail in a classroom setting that meets for 3 hours once a week, with a disorganized female instructor and an 800+ page textbook full of politically correct verbiage and photos...

 

Any suggestions? I was going to buy the DIVE CDs and the Harold Jacobs Algebra books but then I thought, there may be something even better, and many heads--yours--are better than my swirling one.

Edited July 3, 2010 by distancia

[AngieW in Texas]

Jacobs only has Algebra I, so that won't work for you.

 

I would try the trial for Kinetic Books Algebra II. I really like their programs.

http://www.kineticbooks.com/support/algebratrial.php

[3andme]

Take a look at Videotext Algebra. It's an online video but each segment is only 5 to 10 minutes and very to the point. The presenter has a pleasent and clear voice and speaks very precisely. The videos also move back and forth between the presenter and visual representations of the topic. Each segment has a worksheet to accompany it.

 

The only issue you might have with this program is figuring out where to start as it does not specifically break out Algebra II.

[distancia]

Thank you both SO much. I am looking at both of these programs--pretending I am the student--and I like what I see.

Next step is to sit down with daughter and have her go through them a bit.

Edited July 4, 2010 by distancia

[3andme]

Just thought I'd mention that if your dd really liked Plato Algebra, you can purchase the full blown Plato suite of HS products incl. Algebra from Homeschool Buyers Coop. It is $299 for one year. If you only want Algebra, you might also try contacting KY Virtual Campus K1-12. They let homeschoolers enroll in the individual Plato courses.

[distancia]

Thanks--I will call KY on Tuesday. You jogged my memory about something...and through one link to the next I discovered that Plato is also being used for College Algebra (and higher) in some of the community colleges here in our state. To me, Plato is far, far superior to a once-a-week class and an oversized textbook. So anytime in the future that she needs to take a college math class I am going to first consider an online course that utilizes Plato.

[distancia]

Just want to mention that D looked at VideoText, Kinetics, and Singapore math. She liked Singapore the best, it had the least "fluff". All she wants to see if formulas and simple one-sentence directions.

 

BTW, I was reading on an ADD forum (my daughter has ADD) that these ADD kids love Plato because it doesn't have "all the fluff".