Chrysalis Academy Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I'm trying to evaluate Geometry options for a student who will finish Algebra 1 some time this winter. She is using (and loves) the Arbor School Algebra books. The features she especially likes are that these books are addressed to the student, in a conversational manner, and they include guided discovery. They don't expect you to derive everything yourself - not as into-the-deep-end as AoPS - but they also don't spoon feed you a bunch of formulas and have you solve pages of similar problems. This seems to be a sweet spot for this child. So, I'm looking for something similar for Geometry. The search led me to the A Fresh Approach series. Reading the reviews, looking at the TOC and samples, this looks like it would be a great fit for dd. What I'm looking for are reviews from users - likes & dislikes - from anyone who may have used the Geometry or the Algebra 2 books. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Following Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 13, 2015 Author Share Posted November 13, 2015 Bumping. I ordered Geometry, but I'm still interested in hearing from anybody who has used it or Algebra 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted November 13, 2015 Share Posted November 13, 2015 The Arbor Jousting Armadillo series was written by users of Jacobs Algebra. I'd guess that if you want a similar style, perhaps try Jacobs Geometry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Yes, that's the obvious answer. I even emailed the author of JA and that's what he has used in the past (unsurprisingly). But dd didn't love Jacobs Algebra when we tried to use it. I really like Jacobs and find it very readable, but she had trouble because there were gaps between the lesson and the problem sets that she couldn't always bridge. I think if I were teaching the class via daily lessons, or we were doing video lessons, Jacobs would be fine, but she really enjoys self-teaching math (with me as coach, cruise director, and chief assessment officer) and would like to continue. Meaning, she likes to read the book, do the problems, and figure it out. She likes to check her answers and figure out what she did wrong. She really likes and thrives on taking responsibility for her math learning, an attitude I have worked hard for 3 years to cultivate, so I really want to support it with a text she can continue to work with in this manner. We both liked the sample chapter of A Fresh Approach and found it very readable. We have a ton of potential supplements, both online and paper and pencil. I think we'll give it a go. With Jacobs as a backup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Sounds good - We're using Jacobs this year. I'm working alongside my daughter because I haven't done geometry since I was 14 and don't remember much. You're right that there is a gap between the instruction part and the exercise part of the lesson but we just boldly dive in and I've found that the exercises guide you through the point. I didn't think it'd work well for us, but I was wrong. I'm pretty impressed by the book. I'm sure lots of other books (including a fresh approach) can get there too. Hopefully it'll be a great fit for her! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Sounds good - We're using Jacobs this year. I'm working alongside my daughter because I haven't done geometry since I was 14 and don't remember much. You're right that there is a gap between the instruction part and the exercise part of the lesson but we just boldly dive in and I've found that the exercises guide you through the point. I didn't think it'd work well for us, but I was wrong. I'm pretty impressed by the book. I'm sure lots of other books (including a fresh approach) can get there too. Hopefully it'll be a great fit for her! Momling, which edition of Jacobs are you using? I've read about version differences till my eyes cross and still don't know which is "best." The only one I've actually laid eyes on is the first edition, because my library has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 My Geometry book arrived today. Wow, what a monster book! But I really like the look of it. I think it's exactly what I wanted, in terms of a book written directly to the student, complete explanations, plenty of practice, lots of logic and proof-writing. It looks like a worktext, not a glossy high school text book. Well, it is a worktext, although I am not going to have her write in it. Hmm, actually, it looks very scary. Much more thorough than other things I've looked at. Yikes. And tons of proofs!!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 My Geometry book arrived today. Wow, what a monster book! But I really like the look of it. I think it's exactly what I wanted, in terms of a book written directly to the student, complete explanations, plenty of practice, lots of logic and proof-writing. It looks like a worktext, not a glossy high school text book. Well, it is a worktext, although I am not going to have her write in it. Hmm, actually, it looks very scary. Much more thorough than other things I've looked at. Yikes. And tons of proofs!!! Hi Rose, I know this is an old post. But I am curious how things worked out for you using A Fresh Approach for Geometry? Did you end up using it? If so, how difficult was it for you to teach? How were the proofs to teach and grade? Thanks, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 Hi Derek, Actually it is still sitting untouched on my shelf! After much agonizing, we decided to go with Videotext and his recommendation is to complete Videotext Algebra (which covers Alg 1 & Alg 2) before doing Geometry. We're working through that this year and it's going so well that we're planning on doing VT's Geometry next year. So I may not end up using this big ol' Geometry book after all. Let me know if you want to buy it. ;) Seriously, sorry I can't be of more help. It did fit the bill of what I was looking for, certainly, but VT has the bonus of someone else teaching it - so Shannon can learn and I can review together. It take a lot of pressure off of me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Thanks, Rose. The last post was such a cliffhanger I wanted to know how the story ended! ;) Well, I guess the story is still being written at least in part since you haven't begun Geometry yet. I have many great math books I've also purchased sitting on our shelves which have never really been opened for use...yet. I consider them references and with two younger children, who knows what we'll end up using when its their turn. That's interesting that you went with Videotext after taking many of the road less traveled options including Arbor School books, etc... At one point it sounded like you were going to try AoPS. Or maybe you did? We don't hear much about Videotext on the forum anymore. So in a way its like something retro. :001_smile: The main thing is its working for your daughter and that's what really counts. I wonder if there is some overlap after the other math she's done prior? I'm a strong proponent of spending more time on algebra building a strong foundation for upper level math. It sounds like that may be what you're doing using these different methods/tools/approaches. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted December 31, 2016 Author Share Posted December 31, 2016 I completely agree with you about spending whatever time it takes to get Algebra solid, which is one of the reasons why we decided to do VT from the beginning, even though she had already covered the Algebra 1 material using the Arbor books. I don't regret it, her Algebra 1 is rock solid and she's having no trouble with the new concepts. We did go through the first couple of modules very quickly because a lot of material was repeated, but it was presented in a different way, so conceptually, that the explanation sometimes felt new even if the problems were recognized and she knew a way to solve them. A big issue I had wanted to address was word problems, she was struggling with those. But the method for solving them that VT teaches has been fantastic and she's doing great with word problems, too now. It was definitely the right choice for us. I did consider AoPS, I have both the PreA and the Intro to Algebra text. I was having a bad case of "the best" envy, but it became clear that it wasn't going to be a good fit. Mostly because although Shannon is very good at math, she doesn't want to spend any more time on it than she has to, it's a get 'er done subject for her so that she can move on to the things she enjoys. I've done a better job this year accepting the student that I have and tailoring her classes to her interests. Not everything can be done at the most intense, in depth level and it wasn't going to be worth it to try and do math that way for her, she has different passions. So it goes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) I completely agree with you about spending whatever time it takes to get Algebra solid, which is one of the reasons why we decided to do VT from the beginning, even though she had already covered the Algebra 1 material using the Arbor books. I don't regret it, her Algebra 1 is rock solid and she's having no trouble with the new concepts. We did go through the first couple of modules very quickly because a lot of material was repeated, but it was presented in a different way, so conceptually, that the explanation sometimes felt new even if the problems were recognized and she knew a way to solve them. A big issue I had wanted to address was word problems, she was struggling with those. But the method for solving them that VT teaches has been fantastic and she's doing great with word problems, too now. It was definitely the right choice for us. I did consider AoPS, I have both the PreA and the Intro to Algebra text. I was having a bad case of "the best" envy, but it became clear that it wasn't going to be a good fit. Mostly because although Shannon is very good at math, she doesn't want to spend any more time on it than she has to, it's a get 'er done subject for her so that she can move on to the things she enjoys. I've done a better job this year accepting the student that I have and tailoring her classes to her interests. Not everything can be done at the most intense, in depth level and it wasn't going to be worth it to try and do math that way for her, she has different passions. So it goes. Rose, thanks for sharing your journey including the self-realizations along the way. It seems like we as parents have the opportunity to learn as much about ourselves through this process as we do our own children, maybe more..? I can really relate to the bad case of the 'best envy' as I'm sure others can as well. The notion that not every subject has to the most intense is actually liberating. It allows us the freedom to explore areas in more depth that fit our child's interests, passion and bent. If they are so busy spending countless hours on assignment they have very little interest in, it dilutes the time they could be spending in areas of greater interest. And that's hard for me to say as a 'Math' lover. While it might sound somewhat strange, I feel like our children are growing up together (even if virtually) as we move through these various stages of development. The WTMF brings so many of us together who share similar goals, challenges, dreams, frustrations, etc... We all want the best for our children. So its nice when we can hear others' thoughts on things we're going through. Its perhaps even more interesting to watch us as parents grow through this journey as well. Edited January 5, 2017 by dereksurfs 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Oh, I agree! There are people here I've "known" since our kids were 9 year olds together. I'm so glad to have so many friends to share this journey with! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuff Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I see so many people posting about Videotext lately! We bought mod 1 at convention, bug when I try to make sense of it, it's just not computing. I can't easily figure out which quiz I need to print out or where everything on the computer is that we're supposed to be doing. I know I could call and they'd help, but I want it to just make sense. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 I see so many people posting about Videotext lately! We bought mod 1 at convention, bug when I try to make sense of it, it's just not computing. I can't easily figure out which quiz I need to print out or where everything on the computer is that we're supposed to be doing. I know I could call and they'd help, but I want it to just make sense. Yes, I agree it can be a little tricky to navigate at first, but we figured it out. It was worth the hassle for us. I wish it were easier, but once you get your head around the way it's numbered and laid out, you can find what you need. I recommend printing out a copy of the S&S for guidance. I also print out all the quizzes and tests when dd starts a new unit, and put them in a binder for her so that they are right there when she's ready for them. Everything else we use the online modules for, but it's easier to have the quizzes printed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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