Upper Level Math Progression

[lexi]

What have you used for middle school and above and how did you like it?

 

I'd love to read lists of what you used for each grade and what type of learner your child was.

 

I'm really overwhelmed with all the choices. We are going to finish RS and then I'm not sure. I don't know if my oldest will be an AoPS type child (although my son might).

 

What works well together and what different publishers have you used to put together a math program?

[ondreeuh]

I've been pretty happy with the Holt Middle School Math 2007 series. I am pretty sure it is the text that Thinkwell courses are based on. Each lesson has free video explanations by Prof. Burger. I bought the resource CD and printed out the worksheets, so my son does not work from the textbook. On the front side he does the homework/practice page, and on the back he does the problem solving page. The homework/practice is computation, while the problem solving is word problems.

 

Course 1 worked very well in 6th grade to pull things together and fill in the gaps my son had from CLE. We use Math Minutes too, and it rounds out the program very nicely. We are doing Course 2 now, and it is so similar to Course 1 so far that I am looking to supplement or switch. Course 3 looks not that much different from Course 2. I think the 1-3 series would be idea from a really struggling student, but most kids can skip a level. From the syllabi I've found from various schools, many use Course 1, Course 2, and then Algebra, and some do 1 & 3 and skip 2.

 

I'm actually looking at Math in Focus. Courses 1 & 2 are similar in scope & sequence to the Holt books, but go deeper and require more problem solving. The MIF Course 3 book looks much more challenging than Holt course 3. It seems to have a good amount of Algebra, which is what I want since we are doing Algebra in 9th grade and I want it to be very successful. So I'm looking at either supplementing Holt 2 with MIF 2, or switching over.

[Momling]

We did SM 6a and b, then switched to Galore Park SYRWL Maths 2 and 3. It was integrated and had a nice combination of arithmetic, geometry, algebra, statistics and probability, and basic trigonometry. I also added in lots of supplementary materials like SM CWP 5&6, Zaccaro, keys to algebra and hands on equations. This combination has really worked well for us and we're now halfway through Foersters algebra 1 with no troubles at all.

[Chrysalis Academy]

In 4th and 5th grade, Shannon did MM as a spine, supplemented with LOF and Zaccaro (among other things)

 

In 6th grade, she did a compressed version of MM6, then the combo of Jousting Armadillos and Zaccaro Real World Algebra (and a bit of Problem Solving Genius), started working on the Alcumus preA list, and tried and decided against AoPS PreA.  This was an awesome combination.  MM provided excellent practice on basic operations, JA was a nice introduction to the discovery method and written in a very engaging style that dd liked a lot.  She really clicked with Zaccaro RWA, too, while she hadn't liked the previous Zaccaro books this much.

 

In 7th grade, she is using Jacobs Algebra and Understanding Geometry, alternating chapters - our version of integrated math.  I plan to take two years to go through Alg 1 plus pre-Geometry plus statistics and probability (still looking for something I like for that).  She's done the first 3 chapters of Jacobs so far, and it's all review.  It's a very gentle and straightforward program, excellent for a younger student, as many here have posted in the past.

 

What kind of a learner is she?  Well, she's not very visuospatial she's very verbal.  She likes figuring things out for herself, so she likes the way that JA and Jacobs lead you to discover deeper things about the math concepts.  But she didn't enjoy the AoPS style of figuring out the concepts via problem solving.  She prefers to have an introduction to the idea so that she has the big picture in mind before she starts working problems.  She loves the challenge of the problems on Alcumus, but only as a review/go deeper kind of thing after she has already learned the basics, she really just flailed with the jump-into-the-deep end method of discovery learning with AoPS.

 

 

[lexi]

So helpful! I think my dd sounds much like your dd, Rose. I'm looking into doing something very similar to your plan.

 

I think JA and the other books in that series would be a good fit. I'm also considering Jacobs Algebra as it looks like her style. I haven't decided on geometry or any math beyond that. I'm not thinking AoPS will be quite what we need and I think Saxon is too far the other way. I needed something more in the middle and I was overwhelmed with other choices.

[Chrysalis Academy]

We loved JA and would have enjoyed continuing with the other books in the series, but I balked at the cost.  It's really expensive for all 3 books and for the TMs! And I already owned Jacobs and so decided to use it instead.  Do be aware that you wouldn't need the other two books in the JA series if you decide to use Jacobs.  The JA series is based on a combination of Jacob's Elementary Algebra and Math a Human Endeavor, so it covers the same ground.

[lexi]

We loved JA and would have enjoyed continuing with the other books in the series, but I balked at the cost.  It's really expensive for all 3 books and for the TMs! And I already owned Jacobs and so decided to use it instead.  Do be aware that you wouldn't need the other two books in the JA series if you decide to use Jacobs.  The JA series is based on a combination of Jacob's Elementary Algebra and Math a Human Endeavor, so it covers the same ground.

 

Ahh! Ok! 

 

So here is what I'm thinking........

 

3rd grade - RS D

4th grade - RS E

5th grade - RS Geometry (with Fractions - is that something you do in addition to the other levels? I'm still confused on this)

6th grade - JA - maybe one other in the series or maybe some Zaccaro like you suggested

7th grade - Jacobs

8th grade - something for geometry maybe? or maybe more algebra.....

 

She does MM for practice alongside RS.

 

My dd does not like to jump into problem solving without some explanation. She likes RS because she likes to be able to see how to solve the problem. She likes to learn more through reading things on her own or seeing examples of things. She is more of a logical thinker and likes things that are more straight forward. I think AoPS will frustrate her.  She's not a particularly mathy kiddo but has done well with RS and made tremendous progress and it has boosted her self-esteem.

 

I know I do not need to plan out our entire math program now. And I know I'll change my mind a million times. However, I would like to have some idea of where we're headed. I'm not a mathy person myself and so I'd like to purchase some resources that will potentially work for her so I can begin to practice.

 

[hornblower]

We did Singapore & then went into Chalkdust.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm not familiar with RS - my only thought about the progression you have listed is that you will definitely want to continue reviewing all the operations with fractions, decimals and percents, including ratio and proportion problems, in 5th grade alongside Geometry in order to be ready to tackle JA in 6th grade.  It teaches Integers (in a very cool way) but it assumes knowledge of all the other operations, and that the student is ready to start using the operations in problems with variables.  And I think most 5th/6th graders need to hit these concepts more than once before they stick! So you might plan some review of that before you start JA - this was how we used MM6, just to reinforce the operations with numbers before starting to do the operations with variables.

 

My logic with doing the combo of Alg 1 w/ Jacobs and Understanding Geometry for two years is so that both will be learned very well, with no rushing, and that there will be no chance to forget either!  My dd is naturally better at Algebra than Geometry, it seems.  So my tentative plan is this two-year sequence of Alg1+ pre-Geometry, and then in 9th and 10th, to combine Alg2& "regular" Geometry over two years.  This way they will both be fresh for PSAT/SAT.  Although like you, I'm planning far ahead at this point! Things might change.

[crazyforlatin]

I appreciate Zaccaro RWA the more we use AOPS. I see problems in the latter that are in the former (obviously that has to be the case but RWA's difficult problems are right up there with AOPS). The only downside to RWA is that he doesn't explain in detail - he just shows you the solution. But he provides about 10 practice questions per level, and I think there are either 3 or 4 levels per chapter. Huge font, cute-looking characters, and great introduction in each chapter.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I'm glad to hear you say that, crazyforlatin.  My sense was that ZRWA has problems that are plenty difficult, comparable to AoPS, but somehow the whole book is just so much more approachable for Shannon! She has really enjoyed using it.  I think partly the fact that it has progressively more difficult questions helps a lot - you can work your way up to the really hard ones, not just get gobsmacked with them.

[Soror]

We were doing RS+ BA and I had planned on doing it at least through to their Algebra but ds did not take that idea and we didn't make it all the way through E. 

 

We started BA alongside RS and then went solely to BA, which isn't the best either and now we are using BA with a slew of other resources. I've got Jacob's MHE right now as I think Jacob's will be a good fit and MHE was cheap enough to try out.

 

At this point I plan on trying to finish through BA-5 as I'm optimistic that the schedule *IS* going to get better and we will be able to do that by the end of next year. On the maybe list to try is Zaccaroo's RWA and maybe some of JA's books alongside the BA books next year, depending on how we like MHE, since the JA books are Jacob's inspired.

 

As of right now I think we'll be rolling into Jacob's Algebra as I just don't know if AoPS Algebra is right for us, even though we are enjoying BA, we also have moments of frustration and hearing other people's reviews I don't know if it will be the best fit.

 

Of course all of this is subject to change and tweaking :)

[regentrude]

we have used AoPS since 6th grade (DS) and 7th grade(DD). Could not wish for anything better for my kids.

[lexi]

Hmmmm......where do you plan to go after Jacobs? Will you use the geometry curriculum from him?

 

Do you think it's feasible to use Jacobs in 7th grade (at whatever pace we need)?

 

I do like the idea of doing that plus a geometry program over two years. Had never thought of that!  Will have to keep thinking..........

[SilverMoon]

DC #1 ~ hyper, struggled with math in lower-mid elementary, he got over the hurdles but never lost the bad taste for math in general

He used:

-Rod and Staff (very successful)

-Lial's BCM (crashed and burned), we used some of Dolciani/Khan/this-'n-that to reinforce pre-alg

-Jacobs Elementary Algebra - made it halfway before we backed up to...

-MUS combined alg/geo (older, oop), he's halfway through and thriving - We'll follow this with select parts of Jacobs that MUS didn't get to before going to MUS alg 2.

 

DC #2 ~ thinks math is fun and likes seeing it from as many viewpoints as possible. She used a hodgepodge all through elementary (traditional and non, spiral and mastery), often doing two very different books simultaneously. She used Foerster's alg very successfully. We have Serra's Discovering Geometry, but she's making noise about wanting AoPS geometry instead. (She highly approves of little brother's AoPS prealg.)

 

DC #3 ~ Technical, literal thinker. Builder, tinkerer. Took to math intuitively and has always been a strong math student, though there were times he didn't particularly like it.

-He started primarily with Rod and Staff, which worked great. Until he was so far ahead that his 8yo hand couldn't keep up with with the appropriate level textbook.

-Horizons workbooks next. Great course. He thrived. This past summer he discovered the fun of algebra and wanted more of it than Horizons 6 had. He did some Keys to Algebra and other random supplements and...

-started AoPS prealg. It was love at first lesson.

-Next? We're taking this on a year to year basis. He lives and breathes STEM, so we'll definitely keep him in the stronger options. (I fully expect to have to outsource his math in high school.)

[Chrysalis Academy]

Hmmmm......where do you plan to go after Jacobs? Will you use the geometry curriculum from him?

 

Do you think it's feasible to use Jacobs in 7th grade (at whatever pace we need)?

 

I do like the idea of doing that plus a geometry program over two years. Had never thought of that!  Will have to keep thinking..........

 

We are using Jacobs in 7th.  It's doable so far!

 

I think we'll use his Geometry, as we like his Algebra.  I think we'll use Foerster's for Alg 2 - that's what he suggests to follow.

[lexi]

We are using Jacobs in 7th.  It's doable so far!

 

I think we'll use his Geometry, as we like his Algebra.  I think we'll use Foerster's for Alg 2 - that's what he suggests to follow.

 

Good to know!

 

Are you using the geometry program from Critical Thinking Co alongside it? Or what geometry are you using with it?

 

I've heard of Foerster's and have started to look at that a little. I've also heard of Lial's.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yes, the CTC book Understanding Geometry is what I'm calling "Pre-Geometry" that we'll cover in middle school.  Then for high school geometry I'm planning on using Jacob's text.

 

Foerster's Algebra 2 is what Harold Jacobs recommends to follow his Elementary Algebra program.  It gets great reviews.

 

I'm kind of enjoying being on a math path that looks straightforward! So I'm kind of staying focused on these (excellent) resources and trying not to look around too much, KWIM?  I obsessed about math for the last couple of years.  Now I want to turn my obsessing-energy to other topics and just follow the path in math.  Hope springs eternal, anyway!  ;)  :D

[lexi]

I'm in the obsessing stage. Whew!

 

So where do you buy jacob's? Used on Amazon?

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yep, that's what I did.  

[Kareni]

What have you used for middle school and above and how did you like it?

 

 

We began homeschooling in 7th grade.  That year, I cobbled together library resources since we were on a strict budget.  We used books such as Math the Easy Way.  If I had had it at hand, I would have used Margaret Lial's Basic College Math or her PreAlgebra book.

 

After that year, my daughter did the following:

 

8th grade: Lial's Beginning Algebra

9th grade: Harold Jacobs' Geometry (2nd edition)

10th grade: Lial's Intermediate Algebra

11th grade: College Algebra and Trigonometry at the local community college using Sullivan's Precalculus

12th grade: AP Statistics through PA Homeschoolers

 

Regards,

Kareni

[lexi]

Does anyone know the major differences between Lial's and Foerster's?

[SilverMoon]

Foerster is a bit more challenging than Lial, and the word problems are great. If you're familiar with older pop culture some of the word problems are a hoot.

 

Lial has a busier presentation, and a lot more problems. I wouldn't recommend it for hyper/easily distractable kids based on the page business alone..

[lexi]

Foerster is a bit more challenging than Lial, and the word problems are great. If you're familiar with older pop culture some of the word problems are a hoot.

 

Lial has a busier presentation, and a lot more problems. I wouldn't recommend it for hyper/easily distractable kids based on the page business alone..

 

I like the Foerster has great word problems. That's important to me.

 

I don't think a busier presentation would bother my oldest. She likes color and isn't easily distracted. It would be a disaster for my son but my dd might actually like some color on her math pages.

 

Decisions.......though it's not like I have to decide today!

[SilverMoon]

You can find older editions of both for dirt cheap to preview before deciding. :)

 

Fwiw, in both authors my DD only did odds or evens, but all of the word problems. We did not follow the review schedule in the Foerster TM, but some posters found it helpful. DD really did like the Lial book (pre-alg). After that Foerster's more plain format bugged her at first, but it grew on her. DS couldn't get over the Lial format and he spent some time in Dolciani before moving to Jacobs.

[Lots of boys]

I am watching this thread too. My oldest is in 5th right now doing CLE 5. We have worked through both MM and CLE from the beginning. We will follow CLE into 6th and love the spiral for my ds. I am really stuck where to go after that. We have Lials BCM and beginning and intermediate Algebra but I haven't thought about Geometry at all.

 

Watching with interest!

[Mystie]

Listening in....We're happy with MUS so far and my 6th grader is cruising through. I'm thinking we'll get as far as we can in MUS through 7th, maybe 8th, then switch. But I need something with an online course or DVDs - I am the literature/writing/English-major teacher and don't want to teach math! :)

[foxbridgeacademy]

DS- MM from 3rd-5th  we did the series that isn't by grade level(prior to that I just taught him without a curriculum)

        Then TT7 followed by Power Basics Algebra.

         This year (8th grade) we are using Keys to Geometry which I'm probably going to ditch in favor of Power Basics (this is just an intro to Geometry year) and we are also giving A Fresh Approach Algebra a try (start Monday).

We'll do a full on proof heavy Geometry and a light Alg 2 next year followed by 1 semester to shore up Alg 2 skills (10th grade) then he can take a math class at CC either College Alg or Pre-Calc, whichever he tests into..... that's the plan anyway...  I told him yesterday that if he gets tired of the pace we can always slow down.  

 

ETA: In there somewhere we tried Lial's, twice.  It was just to busy for DS.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We use Dolciani Mathematic. Ds #3 is in Course 2. The two courses together cover pre-algebra as well as some geometry and probability. I reall like the books.

 

For algebra we will either use an older Dolciani or AOPS.

 

My older kids did AOPS for algebra and geometry. My oldest then moved to a community college for pre-calculus.

[momto2Cs]

For my ds13, who learns best by both reading and doing, we're using Jacobs Elementary Algebra right now. I plan to follow this up with Jacobs Geometry, then probably Foerster's for Algebra 2. After that, I am not sure yet.

 

My dd11, more of a visual and auditory learner, is currently using Math Mammoth. I think in 8th grade (two years from now), I may have her try Jacobs too since it is written in such a straightforward and friendly manner. Then, if that works, she'll go the same route as ds for upper level math. If not, I will have to come up with a new plan!

[lexi]

Thanks for all the ideas! Call me crazy but I'm excited about math.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

This thread is making my head spin a bit but I've been thinking about this too. My oldest is in 5th and doing SM 4a. We also just started BA and are really liking it so far.

 

I'm trying to figure out what to do in middle school for math and science so I can get the books and start working through them myself. I didn't have any problems with math when I was in high school but it's been a while. We used BJU but I want to use something different for my kids. I've thought about AOPS since everyone raves about it but I'm also a little intimidated by it. Why does math have to be so hard? The other subjects are so much easier to figure out!