AuntPol Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 I found it easy to supplement elementary school but high school is a whole new ball game. I would like to make a reference list that I can use to recommend to parents who want to supplement a weak area (or a weak teacher). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 If my kids do attend the high school next year (decision being made wed after our meeting there) we will be using R&S english and MUS to keep going in math (they are weak in both),. dd14 will continue with lingua latina and start henle to keep going on latin. And then they will just keep reading through the historical fiction I had planned since they have not studied much history in the past. In the high school here that doesn't matter since they have a very ego centric social studies they are required to take all 3 years with no history and no geography which I think is bs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 If my kids do attend the high school next year (decision being made wed after our meeting there) we will be using R&S english and MUS to keep going in math (they are weak in both),. dd14 will continue with lingua latina and start henle to keep going on latin. And then they will just keep reading through the historical fiction I had planned since they have not studied much history in the past. In the high school here that doesn't matter since they have a very ego centric social studies they are required to take all 3 years with no history and no geography which I think is bs. Really what kind of social studies has no history or geography?. I have been very pleased with my daughter's World History -the teacher lectures using Spielvogel as a spine and gives homework based on 100 objects podcasts and a few other articles here and there and usually at least one primary source per unit. They have a map quiz with every single unit. The teacher is big on maps and geography. Every test will have at least one question about how the geography of the area affected religious beliefs, social structure, and economics, etc. They also had to do a 5-7 page research paper on an artifact. They had to read one book about Russia that tied into a field trip. That is the one class I am fully satisfied with.(Yeah I'd prefer to have covered history over 4 years with TOG so we could go deeper but for a one year course, she has found it interesting and the class is rigorous. Math is a mess -It's integrated math which the math teachers hired had not taught (second year for Math 1 and first year for Math 2 and our school is only one doing Math 3 this year!). No text books, no reference materials, the department chair doesn't want to do videos and my daughter's teacher quit and they have a new teacher but she is not a math teacher but a mom of a student (former homeschooler) who is certified as teacher but never really taught in schools nor is her certification in math. This is an EOC class too......... It's hard finding things to help my child with because the EOC questions are at a different level than what they are doing. The thing that my child needs help on is having a variety of problems at this level on a test. She does problems really well in isolation but gets panicked when she has to decide what they want. Oh and English - We have a rigorous but boring teacher and a fun and interesting (but not doing any actual work) . My daughter got the latter. I am working on MSL prep with her and doing some writing work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 It really depends on what state you are in. Common core is changing the game; here there is no curricula for many courses; it's a list of objectives. I googled and ended up finding some decent textbooks and Regent's review books for science. I used Dolciani and Foerster to supplement Regent's Algebra, Geo, and Algebra 2. As always, read more quality lit if the school is lite. Yes! Common Core is making it difficult even for the schools to implement. I keep reading how it's a ploy for the textbook companies but we don't have textbooks in any class!!!! None. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 Really what kind of social studies has no history or geography?. At the high school I attended, those kind of social studies classes were taught by the football coach. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 7, 2014 Share Posted April 7, 2014 To help prepare for the EOC, see if you can get a Coach book. They are published by Triumph Learning are the best collections of EOCT like problems for Georgia. I don't know where you are, but see if they have one for your state. I saw a North Carolina Integrated Math one on the site. ('Cause I want to say you are from NC, but then I might just be making that up. http://www.triumphlearning.com/catalog/product/view/id/25129/s/north-carolina-common-core-coach-algebra-i-coach-jumpstart-practice-test-booklets-north-carolina-ready-eoc-edition-algebra-i-integrated-i/category/25/?SID=8rc2s11nn4oggg2v0rop8qoqm4 (I hope that works. I'm on my phone.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 Yes, I caught that too, but the Regents Review books are by the textbook companies...they and the online test bank are necessary if the teacher is weak or the class is so included that units will be skipped. I think the district is just shoving more costs off on the parents....without access to a review book I would have been out of time in figuring out what units needed to be done over breaks. And given that Regents scores are used for college placement in some stateschools, I really dont think it is fair to short college bound students. Do you have a link -what I am finding seems to be aligned with the traditional path of Algebra, Geometry and Algebra II. Our school does integrated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 7, 2014 Author Share Posted April 7, 2014 To help prepare for the EOC, see if you can get a Coach book. They are published by Triumph Learning are the best collections of EOCT like problems for Georgia. I don't know where you are, but see if they have one for your state. I saw a North Carolina Integrated Math one on the site. ('Cause I want to say you are from NC, but then I might just be making that up. http://www.triumphlearning.com/catalog/product/view/id/25129/s/north-carolina-common-core-coach-algebra-i-coach-jumpstart-practice-test-booklets-north-carolina-ready-eoc-edition-algebra-i-integrated-i/category/25/?SID=8rc2s11nn4oggg2v0rop8qoqm4 (I hope that works. I'm on my phone.) yes -NC looks like you can only buy 5 which would be $199 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 yes -NC looks like you can only buy 5 which would be $199 You could see if your school has copies. Triumph Learning has sent me several samples in the past few years as department chair. Since I'm in GA, I don't think I could get them to send me a North Carolina sample. But email your math dept. Chair and ask if she has access to one for you to borrow. A problem with looking at integrated math from another state is tha each state might combine the standards in a different way. Even with Common Core, for high school we can combine standards in different ways over the three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted April 8, 2014 Share Posted April 8, 2014 Really what kind of social studies has no history or geography? Here in Alberta social studies is all about Canada and globalization. Frankly I find it too egocentric, the information is good. It is good to learn about Canada's place in the world, imports/exports, yada yada but it is not enough imo for a high school level. I had planned to hs right through graduation so we had not done much history before (at the kids behest) with the plan to go the full rotation through high school, but if they go to public they will not get it there. The English program the gov't says they have to do is fine again BUT it does not cover grammar at all. When I took English in university and college (2 different levels) that was the number 1 complaint of the teachers, students did not know grammar coming into post secondary (it is sort of taught in grade 4-6 and no more after that). We had to study grammar every Friday for the full semester college english just to get everyone up to a proper level. I want my kids to finish high school with that understanding. Math is integrated here, always has been but it seems every 3 years the gov't changes the math. Since the kids are already weak in math they would have needed the extra practice but the newest math they have going on really would have confused them so I am glad we would continue that at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntPol Posted April 8, 2014 Author Share Posted April 8, 2014 You could see if your school has copies. Triumph Learning has sent me several samples in the past few years as department chair. Since I'm in GA, I don't think I could get them to send me a North Carolina sample. But email your math dept. Chair and ask if she has access to one for you to borrow. A problem with looking at integrated math from another state is tha each state might combine the standards in a different way. Even with Common Core, for high school we can combine standards in different ways over the three years. The school has no text books and no budget for text books. There is no curriculum, pacing guide, nothing. Each teacher makes it up as they go along and this teacher is not even a math teacher. It's the first year of the school. We were required to buy ipads so they could download textbooks since there are not lockers. Not one single class has a downloaded textbook. Not one. The music classes have a few aps but it's basically a $500 composition book. Anyway, the math chair thinks the greatest thing for students is to hear him lecture but won't video tape his lectures because he's wants to be open to randomness or something like that.. This is his first year teaching high school (college professor). Brilliant man. Sweetest man you will ever meet. Really good at explaining math. Cares deeply about the students -is there for tutoring daily even for students who not in his class but I don't think he quite gets the parental concerns or that some kids might need something at home. I'm not quite sure if he has even looked at the EOC or if he quite understands the importance of it? He didn't like the teacher who left mid year because she was too concerned with the test (and probably why she left as most of the kids are going to fail). My daughter knows all the math as she had Algebra 1 in homeschool so class is 85% review. For her, it's the level of questioning that the EOC has, her need of confidence in her readiness and practice seeing multiple types of problems -oh and how to use the scientific calculator. I don't believe the new teacher knows how to use them and I certainly don't. The only thing I can seem to find online is last year's released test which we've already gone over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 ....and how to use the scientific calculator. I don't believe the new teacher knows how to use them and I certainly don't. The only thing I can seem to find online is last year's released test which we've already gone over. Scientific calc or graphing calc? NY does have a few questions requiring graphing calc on the Regents exam for Integrated Alg 1. Looks like a graphic calculator is needed for the Integrated Math exam. Page 3 of 3 in link has the requirements. Page 2 of 3 have list of calculators that are not allowed http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/policyoperations/assessbriefs/assessbriefcalcreq.pdf "The following list includes calculators not permitted for use on North Carolina assessments. This list is NOT all-inclusive. If the school system test coordinator believes calculator brands other than those listed below may need to be restricted, the he or she must contact the regional accountability coordinator (RAC) for confirmation before excluding them. • Texas Instruments: All models that begin with TI-89 or TI-92; Voyage 200; N-Spire CAS • Hewlett-Packard: hp 48GII and all model numbers that begin with hp 40G, hp 49G, or hp 50G • Casio: Algebra fx 2.0, ClassPad 300, and all model numbers that begin with CFX- 9970G" The Miller Levine Biology Macaw book on the ipad's ibook is nice. ETA: NC approved math textbook list has Core-Plus Mathematics Course by Glencoe/McGraw Hill listed for Integrated Math Student Guide 142 pages pdf http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0078615216/444608/1cpsg2.pdf Parent resource page http://www.wmich.edu/cpmp/parentresource2/index.html A teacher's webpage with chapters uploaded http://ephsmath.weebly.com/coreplus-mathematics-course-1.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 I don't really afterschool because of weak areas, but rather for richness and coverage, so I'm not sure if my recommendations are much use. Nothing we use is 'schoolish', which is an overriding factor for me. Maths: Life of Fred English: Michael Clay Thompson's books History: Van Loon's Story of Mankind and later The Penguin History of the World Geography: Trail Guide to World Geography Science: Hakim's The Story of Science We don't work on everything at the same time, and history and science are intended to be slow, steady reads of a couple of pages a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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