opinions sought on the best math books for college prep math

[beachmom]

Hi, everyone! My oldest in soon to be in the realm of algebra and I wanted to get some opinions here. What, in your opinion, are the best books/programs for the college prep math sequence (Alg 1, Alg 2, Geometry, Pre-Cal, and Cal 1)? I am planninng to teach this myself, but I am willing to consider a DVD/computer program if you think it is superior.

[Gwen in VA]

I have a couple of questions for you to consider --

 

1)l How much time do you plan on being able to help the student?

 

2) Do you want a basically self-teaching curriculum?

 

3) Do you have a strong math background and/or are you willing to work through the materials with the student, learning the material as you go?

 

The answers to these questions will help narrow down suggestions for good math programs!

[Laura K (NC)]

(and this is only based on the ones I've seen)

 

I like Saxon 87 a great deal as a pre-Alg. program, and I think the Dive CD really makes the program. I did not like Saxon Algebra 1/2 at all.

 

I bought Lial's, Foerster, and Jacob's Alg. 1 books. My initial choice was Jacobs, but then I kept admiring the way that Foerster did word problems, then I admired the way that Foerster was laid out. Now I think Foerster is the superior program of the three and we have switched completely over. I also have bought Chalkdust (20 bucks... couldn't pass it up) and I might look at that one for my second son only because it has a video component, and my 2nd son needs more help than my other two boys. I have been working Foerster along with my oldest son, though, and doing the problems along with him, and there are only a few word problems that I just can't get. My husband is an engineer and he helps with those. I wish I could get my hands on a solution manual.

 

So I love Foerster. I plan to use Jacob's Geometry 2nd ed. with my son next year but I can't make a worthwhile comment on that yet.

 

A big part of my oldest son's math success this year is that I check his work every day and I read over the lesson and summarize it briefly for him before I assign him his daily work. In the past I was assuming math was a self-running system, but I don't have any kids who can run a system like math for themselves. This was a major breakthrough in our homeschooling, though it seems like common sense.

[beachmom]

I have a couple of questions for you to consider --

 

1)l How much time do you plan on being able to help the student?

 

2) Do you want a basically self-teaching curriculum?

 

3) Do you have a strong math background and/or are you willing to work through the materials with the student, learning the material as you go?

 

The answers to these questions will help narrow down suggestions for good math programs!

1. I hope to have the time each day, say 1.5 hours, to do this. He is currently doing well with math.

2. I don't necessarily want a self-teaching program unless it is superior to my instruction. If the self-teaching program is better, I want to use it.

3. I have a decent math background so I should be ahead of him. I might have to review a few things here and there.

 

Thanks for your help!

[Sharon in MD]

And I also pretty much try to stay on top of the math...working through the lesson or at least pre-viewing it and sometimes, admittedly, catching up. I don't always check ds's work, but he does go through the solutions manual to check it if I don't, before going on to the next lesson.

 

We used Jacobs for Al I and Geometry and have used Foerster since then. I personally chose Jacobs over Foerster for Al I because it was a bit more approachable for me and I thought my son would really like the humor or the cartoons he has included at the beginning of each new chapter. He also uses some funny character names in the word problems. Foerster seemed a little less friendly for my then 8th grader. But, I can tell you that I did sit down and compare them chapter by chapter and they are extremely similar in approach. As Laura said, Foerster does go a bit farther and deeper, but I didn't personally feel that we needed that for Al I. Foerster is often cited as an honors Al I course. (as are his other texts).

 

We did play around with Thinkwell for a while in Al II to compare it to Foerster. We liked Ed Burger, but were not as impressed with the problem sets...too repetitive and not deep enough. So, I would consider buying a subscription to Hotmath or something like that if I just wanted the Burger lectures to supplement something. I do use them sometimes for myself if I'm not sure I've got a concept.

 

Our plan is to send ds to the local CC for calculus next year, but we are going to do an intro to it here at home this spring first. We are finished with precalc and so we think we should go ahead a give it a whirl in hopes that we will prep him a bit more.

 

By the way, if you go with Foerster, he recommends that you only use his Al II/trig book that Prentice Hall publishes, for Al II and not for trig. Foerster suggested to us that we should move to the Key Press texts for Trig and beyond because they are newer and teach the student how to use the graphers and other technology (if you can afford it!). We didn't buy all the other software and we have not had time for it anyway, so I'm glad I didn't.

 

HTH

[LisaNY]

I wish I could get my hands on a solution manual.

 

So I love Foerster. I plan to use Jacob's Geometry 2nd ed. with my son next year but I can't make a worthwhile comment on that yet.

 

A big part of my oldest son's math success this year is that I check his work every day and I read over the lesson and summarize it briefly for him before I assign him his daily work. In the past I was assuming math was a self-running system, but I don't have any kids who can run a system like math for themselves. This was a major breakthrough in our homeschooling, though it seems like common sense.

 

Laura, there is a solution's manual available, but yikes! It's pricey! ($70)

 

I agree with you about working with your dc on math. It has made all the difference for me to work alongside my dc. Then I know exactly how to correct errors in thinking before they snowball. :)

[Jane in NC]

What, in your opinion, are the best books/programs for the college prep math sequence (Alg 1, Alg 2, Geometry, Pre-Cal, and Cal 1)?

 

Well, dear beachmom, your question has no easy answer since what works best for one student may not be the best for another.

 

As a graduate of the Dolciani School of Mathematical Indoctrination, my answer to your question is obvious. But finding teachers' manuals for the old Dolciani texts that I prefer is apparently a challenge, which eliminates these texts from many a homeschoolers short list unless one is a mathophile.

 

Secondly, I truly believe that you have to think about the ultimate outcome you desire for your student. If you view mathematics as a series of algorithms that students master, this might influence your choices. If you are interested in teaching and learning about proof and rigor, then you should go on another path. Most homeschooling parents consider the question of ultimate outcome with respect to geometry. Some desire students to know practical geometry only and decide to skip the subject. Others do a combination of practical with constructions and proofs, choosing a typical text like Jacobs. My son's geometry weighed heavily on proofs and constructions, with some algebraic calculations thrown in for relief. He did not travel the purely axiomatic route, but he did read some Euclid

 

As a third point, the sequence that you suggest is not necessarily the best sequence for all college bound students. If my child were drawn to nursing or psychology, I might want to offer statistics as opposed to Calculus. There is a mistaken notion in the culture that science people are "mathy" while artsy or "soft science" people are not. If I had a child who wished to study law or government, I would lay it on terms of a rigorous, axiomatic geometry course, coupled with many years of Latin. Just because a child is not going to be an engineer does not imply that a child should study watered down mathmatics!

 

Does your library have any math texts on their shelves? I would borrow a stack or buy a stack at a library book sale so that you can spend a few hours examining them. This might help you see some of the differences in texts. A stroll through a homeschool book fair is also useful.

 

Good luck,

Jane

[Gwen in VA]

I love Jane's answer! So I will only add what we have used --

 

Algebra 1 -- Dolciani

Algebra 2 -- Dolciani

Geometry -- Jurgensen, Brown, & Jurgensen

Pre-calculus -- Advanced Mathematics by Brown

 

My kids have basically taught themselves, but dh and I have had to step in and solve some of the REALLY weird problems. This set of books has provided an excellent foundation for my kids -- strong test scores and both have done well in calculus.

[Kareni]

Here is what worked for my teen.

 

Lial's Beginning Algebra

Jacobs' Geometry

Lial's Intermediate Algebra (for Algebra 2)

 

After using those texts, she placed into College Algebra at the Community College and did well. She's currently taking Trig. The CC here uses Sullivan's Pre-Caluculus text for both classes.

 

Regards,

Kareni