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Need some advice! Derek Owens for Algebra


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So we are one month into the new school year, and I am ready to chuck my current algebra plan for my 8th grade dd.  After looking over several texts, I went with Lial's for Algebra I since the explanations in the text seemed so clear to me.  Things started out fine when I started dd in it last spring, but she is now requiring more hand holding this year (and I already have too many hands to hold around here in other subjects!).  I think she is also overwhelmed by the lengthy text and tons of problems in each section.  Even just assigning the odds and breaking up the lesson over a couple of days is not helping.  I think she needs to move into something that has an instructor actually teaching the material and perhaps a different presentation than Lial's.  She does okay in math, but she has always been my language arts kid so I would definitely not describe her as "mathy."

 

In looking at online courses, I keep coming back to Derek Owens.  I like his presentation of the material and the fact that he grades the homework.  I guess I'm just wondering:

 

1)  How often do students submit homework?  How lengthy are the homework sets?

 

2)  He says on the web site that scanned images of the graded homework are returned.  I thought I read somewhere that you receive a grade for homework but not any indication which problems were incorrect?  I wonder if that is still the case though since I would imagine the scanned image of the returned homework would indicate which problems were incorrect? 

 

3)  Although he doesn't require you to buy the text, is it possibly still a good idea so that students could have additional practice problems?

 

I really appreciate any advice you have to offer.  This particular dd is feeling very stressed with her large workload this year, and I really need to find some ways to ease the burden a bit for her!

 

Diane

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My 8th grader just started with DO after we have tried a number of other programs.  The program is self-paced, homework is submitted when he is ready to do so.  His first homework came back and every problem had a check mark; I assume if a problem were incorrect it would be indicated in some way.  Whether it is good idea to have more practice problems depends on your child, there are between 7 and 12 on each homework and about that many on the practice sheets.  So far mine doesn't need more than that but I imagine that when it come to factoring polynomials he will.

 

 

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We've used Derek Owens for a few courses and are very pleased. The course is self-paced, so you can decide how you want to send in the work. We've done it immediately at times, but we've also kind of waited to Friday and then sent in the work that was completed.

 

The scanned homework will be marked by him, so your student will see what she got wrong and he's pretty good at showing where the student made a mistake. On a couple of occasions, my son did so bad on the homework, he linked up another video to watch and offered him another opportunity to redo the homework. The feedback on assignments is usually 1-2 days, and if you have questions regarding the assignments, you e-mail him and he usually responded within 1-2 days as well. My son finished the course in 6 months, but he does offer a suggested syllabus to follow. You have 9-10 months to finish the course.

 

We didn't purchase the text for algebra and my son did great without it.

 

My son liked that the videos were clear and easy to understand and that it was self-paced. And he keeps a transcript for the child, which I liked.

 

HTH

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My twin 8th graders are doing Algebra I (and Physical Science) with Derek Owens this year. They just started at the beginning of September, so we don't have that much experience although they're ahead in the syllabus/schedule because they do like math.

 

The boys watch the lesson video online, take notes in the notebook/workbook, do a set of problems in the workbook, check their answers against the answer sheet online, and then do a set of homework problems which they hand in to be graded. So far, they scan their completed homework assignments every couple of days. As pp mentioned, it's usually a 1-2 day turnaround time to get their graded homework assignments back. At the end of the unit, they take the chapter test and scan & send that in.

 

It's been going very well. The boys find the video lectures very clear and easy to follow. They have to take CA's algebra I test this year, to get credit for it, and we usually do the SAT-10 test, too, so I'll be interested in seeing how they do. The class seems to follow the Dolciani Algebra text's topics very closely, so I'm expecting them to do well as that's a strong text.

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Many thanks to all of you for your responses!  Based on your positive experiences, I now have it narrowed down to this or Tablet Class.  Going to poke around Tablet Class a bit to examine the program and then have dd watch the online videos for both programs to see which one she "clicks" with.  I just want this decision made so we can move forward!

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  • 1 year later...

I just realized how old this post is; sorry about that.  It came up in one of my searches.  Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Your reply makes me wonder 2 things: 1) It's often said Dolciani is best used by parents with a firm grasp on algebra.  Would the D.O. class be a good substitute in a case where the parent is learning alongside the student?  2) Do they use something different for Alg. II?

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Under "textbook" on the website:

 

http://www.derekowens.com/course_info_algebra2.php

 

I can't speak to the classes- I just happened to have the book on my desk when you asked. I do find his videos to be very clear.

 

A benefit of an older post like this is that you can look at the signatures for those who posted then and see what they are using now. Some seem to have stayed with DO.

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I just realized how old this post is; sorry about that.  It came up in one of my searches.  Thanks for taking the time to answer.

 

Your reply makes me wonder 2 things: 1) It's often said Dolciani is best used by parents with a firm grasp on algebra.  Would the D.O. class be a good substitute in a case where the parent is learning alongside the student?  2) Do they use something different for Alg. II?

 

Hi,

 

The workbooks and homework are based upon the Dolciani book (Algebra 1) and a Larson book (Algebra 2), but the textbooks are not needed.  Mr. Owens does a fabulous job of teaching, but I have only used the pre-algebra and Algebra 1 so far.  I did buy a used copy of the Dolciani book for Algebra 1 just in case I felt like we needed more help, but my DD is over halfway through the Algebra 1 course and we have not needed to use the book at all.  We will be continuing with DO next year as well.

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