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Choosing 7th grade math--PreAlgebra


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This year has been my ds's first year to HS (6th grade). I chose to use R&S 6 math because my goal was to consolidate and master basic math and fill in any ps math holes. It has gone well, and R&S has my fulfilled my original purpose nicely.

 

For 7th, though, I am wavering on direction. I wish to use an online academy for math and am considering these:

 

WTM Academy--1 PreAlgebra course is Saxon 1/2 (would move to Saxon Algebra in 8th)

1 is AOPS (unsure what would follow)

Wilson Hill Academy--Dociani PreAlgebra text (I assume WH moves to Dociani Alg 1 )

Memoria Press Online Academy--College of the Redwoods text (move to Foerster for Algebra 1)

 

He is a good math student, prefers to do things mentally (and does well this way) and hates writing out steps. I have been lax with requiring problems written out. This is simply because ps went overboard with having to write out Every. Single. Thing. It killed his love of math. I presume that he will need to begin to get in a better habit in 7th grade of writing out his work so he can do Algebra in 8th. He does not love math, but is naturally good at it.

 

Any suggestions? I am one who sticks with a choice once made (especially when paying for an online class), thus I will drive myself insane till I decide.

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I really liked Lial for pre-algebra for my daughter. You can get the books used on Amazon for next to nothing.

 

Another source for online math classes is www.myhomeschoolmathclass.com. Jann is a member here. My dd has been taking geometry with Jann this year, and we've been very happy. I just registered her for Algebra 2 for next year.

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After I wrote this post I realized that you were asking about online classes.  I don't have any advice to offer in regards to that but I do agree with the others that writing down work is essential.  I would carefully review each of the offerings to see if any of the classes require it.  I know a lot of people are moving on to online math classes starting in middle school.  Do people feel that is important?  Is it worth it?  I often thought that I would do the same with Algebra 1 but I am so pleased with how this year is going that I'm thinking we'll just keep plugging away at it.

 

Here is my original post:

 

We started PreAlg here this year (my son is in 6th) with the intent of taking it slowly and backing up when we needed review of concepts.

 

We are using AoPS and my prime focus with using this text is to get my son to write out what is going on in his head.  This has made the whole process of math much more difficult for him but I believe that it is essential.  There have been several times where he has said, "OK, now I understand why you want me to write out the process." Though, this hasn't been necessarily easy for him to accept, especially in the beginning.  All of his work is done in a composition book with graph lined pages. 

 

My son is good at math but I didn't feel like he was mastering the topics so I did have him start writing out index cards and I would quiz him on the topics which helped out tremendously. 

 

I recently picked up a copy of Lial's prealgebra so that I could have some additional practice, when necessary.  A traditional text is soooooo different.  The best way I can explain it is that   AoPS is conceptual and Lial's (and I'm sure other traditional textbooks) are practical.  With Lial, a lot of the processing can be done in the student's head because it starts out as just a one or two step process.  AoPS is more theoretical and demands a stepwise approach and putting the steps down on paper for most of the answers.

 

In the end I feel that this two-prong approach will work very well for us.  I strongly feel that writing out the problems and the work is essential to further math work and will be important in the science as well.  I look at his math comp book like a math lab notebook.  It needs to be set up in a way that it's easy to refer back to the work done in the past and it needs to make sense.  If my son forgets how to do a problem when he's at the back of the chapter, I tell him to look at his previous work.  This is starting to make sense to him.  I am viewing this year of math as setting the foundation for how to organize his future work in math and the sciences.  So, in my mind, he's not just learnign preAlg but learning a study skill as well. 

 

Some students might not need the hybrid approach but I am very happy that I picked up Lial's text and student solution manual.  We'll continue to work our way through both.

 

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Thanks for the replies. I've gleaned a little from each one. Why do I want to go to a live online class? He is the only one I am hs'ing (sibs are in ps HS and one in college), and I just realy feel he needs to be accountable to someone other than mom. I am not good at explaining math. Dad is, but Dad works out of town a great deal. Also, my son does not push himself and needs pushed.

 

I've ordered used copies of Lial's and Dolciani PreAlg (thanks for the suggestion, ErinE). I want a mastery approach with good word problems. R&S fit the bill on the mastery, but I wish there were more complex word problems.

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Thanks for the replies. I've gleaned a little from each one. Why do I want to go to a live online class? He is the only one I am hs'ing (sibs are in ps HS and one in college), and I just realy feel he needs to be accountable to someone other than mom. I am not good at explaining math. Dad is, but Dad works out of town a great deal. Also, my son does not push himself and needs pushed.

 

I've ordered used copies of Lial's and Dolciani PreAlg (thanks for the suggestion, ErinE). I want a mastery approach with good word problems. R&S fit the bill on the mastery, but I wish there were more complex word problems.

 

I researched MM and realized that ds would have trouble with that program because PreA topics are covered in the earlier grades of MM. I want a PreA that assumes no prior knowledge of exponents, order of operations, etc.

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