Are you saying that you can't access their material because you don't have the software needed to open the .zip files? If so... I thought that Windows XP/Vista/7 have built-in capability to open .zip files? In case I'm mistaken, there is free software to open and extract from .zip files. I use 7zip (http://www.7-zip.org/) because it's also available for 64-bit Windows -- I want to have less 32-bit software on my computer. (The modern operating systems -- Windows Vista/7, OS X, Linux, etc. -- are available in 64-bit.) I mention all of this because if you need/want this software, you have to download the right version, depending on your operating system. 69

Right you are! "Eumyang" is the Korean word for yin-yang. The same site I linked (BTW, I am in no way affiliated with the site) also teaches you how to count to 1,023 with your fingers (http://www.intuitor.com/counting/index.html), by letting each finger represent a binary digit. Be careful when trying this, because the representation of 4, 128, and 132 may be considered offensive to some. ^o^ 69 ^.^

In 6th grade math I first learned about bases (base 5 and base 12). Computers talk to each other in base 2 (binary), but in the field of computer science uses of base 8 (octal) and base 16 (hexadecimal) are also common. There's even a website that promotes the use of hexadecimal (http://www.intuitor.com/hex/), even to the point of proposing changing the way we tell time (click the Hexclock link on the bottom of the site I linked)! I don't know about changing the way we tell time, but a reason they state that we should use hexadecimal instead of decimal makes some sense: in visual perception, it's easier to divide a line segment into sixteen pieces than to divide into ten pieces. I suggest you try the segment divider experiment here to see what they're getting at: http://www.intuitor.com/hex/switch.html 69

IME this is not true. I teach math at a private HS, and I simply cannot grade every single homework assignment I assign. It's physically impossible. I will spot-check every HW, and I will also collect certain assignments, but there's just not enough time in the day. I go home, and if I'm not grading, I will be preparing the next day's lessons, writing emails to parents, writing arrangements to songs (I also direct a very small orchestra at school) and starting next week, I will be attending grad classes so that I can be recertified. This past month I've been getting a lot less sleep on average. There were also interim reports to write, preparations for the spring concert, making up exam review guides, doing notebook checks, and writing up the final exams. Sorry if I sound irritated, but I didn't like reading the above comment at all. 69

If I were homeschooling I'd do a year of earth science, with some astronomy thrown in. That way, the student would get exposure to all of the major branches of science. I teach at a private high school, and our requirements are 4 years of math and 3 years of science. Before, for math, it used to be that students had to take math for 4 years and get 3 credits. That was a major pain, obviously, because there were a number of seniors who after getting their 3 credits would don't do any work in their senior math class, fail, and still could graduate. While I do not disagree with you here, I'm guessing that there is this push for Algebra I in 8th grade because other countries do it? Like Japan and Germany, for instance? I read this in a journal article about math education in Japan (Thomas Hudson, Japan: A Different Model of Mathematics Education; this was written in 1999): 69

Oh, for that, you can go to Pearson's website. But I'll copy & paste the table of contents here. Again, this is the 4th (most recent) edition: R. Review of Basic Concepts. Sets. Real Numbers and Their Properties. Polynomials. Factoring Polynomials. Rational Expressions. Rational Exponents. Radical Expressions. 1. Equations and Inequalities. Linear Equations. Applications and Modeling with Linear Equations. Complex Numbers. Quadratic Equations. Applications and Modeling with Quadratic Equations. Other Types of Equations and Applications. Inequalities. Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities. 2. Graphs and Functions. Rectangular Coordinates and Graphs. Circles. Functions. Linear Functions. Equations of Lines; Curve Fitting. Graphs of Basic Functions. Graphing Techniques. Function Operations and Composition. 3. Polynomial and Rational Functions. Quadratic Functions and Models. Synthetic Division. Zeros of Polynomial Functions. Polynomial Functions: Graphs, Applications, and Models. Rational Functions: Graphs, Applications, and Models. Variation. 4. Inverse, Exponential, and Logarithmic Functions. Inverse Functions. Exponential Functions. Logarithmic Functions. Evaluating Logarithms and the Change-of-Base Theorem. Exponential and Logarithmic Equations. Applications and Models of Exponential Growth and Decay. 5. Trigonometric Functions. Angles. Trigonometric Functions. Evaluating Trigonometric Functions. Solving Right Triangles. 6. The Circular Functions and Their Graphs. Radian Measure. The Unit Circle and Circular Functions. Graphs of the Sine and Cosine Functions. Translations of the Graphs of the Sine and Cosine Functions. Graphs of the Tangent, Cotangent, Secant, and Cosecant Functions. Harmonic Motion. 7. Trigonometric Identities and Equations. Fundamental Identities. Verifying Trigonometric Identities. Sum and Difference Identities. Double-Angle and Half-Angle Identities. Inverse Circular Functions. Trigonometric Equations. Equations Involving Inverse Trigonometric Functions. 8. Applications of Trigonometry. The Law of Sines. The Law of Cosines. Vectors, Operations, and the Dot Product. Applications of Vectors. Trigonometric (Polar) Form of Complex Numbers; Products and Quotients. DeMoivre's Theorem; Powers and Roots of Complex Numbers. Polar Equations and Graphs. Parametric Equations, Graphs, and Applications. 9. Systems and Matrices. Systems of Linear Equations. Matrix Solution of Linear Systems. Determinant Solution of Linear Systems. Partial Fractions. Nonlinear Systems of Equations. Systems of Inequalities and Linear Programming. Properties of Matrices. Matrix Inverses. 10. Analytic Geometry. Parabolas. Ellipses. Hyperbolas. Summary of the Conic Sections. 11. Further Topics in Algebra. Sequences and Series. Arithmetic Sequences and Series. Geometric Sequences and Series. The Binomial Theorem. Mathematical Induction. Counting Theory. Basics of Probability. Appendix A. Polar Form of Conic Sections. Appendix B. Rotation of Axes. Appendix C: Geometry Formulas. Glossary. Solutions to Selected Exercises. Answers to Selected Exercises. Index of Applications. Index. 69

As already mentioned' date=' the Geometry book is not McDougal Littell. It's from Prentice Hall (or I should say Pearson). I remember reading a review on the Algebra 1 book from the same series and it was a rather negative review. They do. Here's a link for the DVT that corresponds to the most recent edition (4th ed.), though I'm not sure you'll be able to get to it:http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Video-Lectures-on-CD-for-College-Algebra-and-TrigonometryPrecalculus-4E/9780321529299.page On another note, I have access to Coursesmart, which is where teachers have access to electronic copies of books for evaluation purposes. It's funny that the OP is asking about Lial's Precalculus because I was approved to view it on my Coursesmart account just last month. Unfortunately there is no way for me to send a file or link so that the OP could access it -- that's not exactly legal. If the OP has a question on the book I could look it up, I guess. 69

A number of posters here use Foerster's for Algebra 2. The author himself (Jacobs) recommends this. 69

I remember reading an article many years ago about year-round schools. Students still attended for 180 days, but the days are more spread out. One popular example was the 45-15 plan, where students attend for 45 days and then get 3 weeks off, for each of the four seasons. Christmas break, Easter break, and federal holidays are still in the calendar. Maybe that's something to consider so that you'll have something to do during the summer. Sometimes I wish that all schools are year-round; however, I do realize that there are problems implementing this. 69

No, all of the versions of Larson's Calculus (except for the Multivariable version) contain the chapter on Conics, Parametric Equations, and Polar Coordinates. You can check Cengage's website to see the table of contents of each version. I'm not a fan of a one-year calculus course culminating into the BC test. Taking two years (both shortened, since the exams are given in early May), sounds right to me. There are plenty of schools and school districts that I've seen where Calculus was split into two years. (The school where I teach does this, although we haven't offered the BC course in a while.) And few even split it into three (!), with multivariable as the 3rd year. 69

:confused1: But equation 2 has x and z... 69

That's odd -- I was able to find the table of contents and sample pages for the Singapore books here: Book 3A http://www.singaporemath.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NEMT3A&Show=TechSpecs Book 3B http://www.singaporemath.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NEMT3B&Show=TechSpecs Book 4A http://www.singaporemath.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NEMT4A&Show=TechSpecs Book 4B http://www.singaporemath.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NEMT4B&Show=TechSpecs If you were referring to the Saxon math books, then I would agree: I couldn't find similar info on their website. 69

Another vote for Lial. The Pearson textbook catalog touts the Foerster as "perfect for Honors classes" IIRC. The Larson (which is the text for Chalkdust) I have examined, and I think it would appeal to the stronger math students than the not-so-strong ones. Lial works for both mathy and non-mathy students. It is self-teaching (in that the examples are well explained) and it does have an optional video component (DVT). 69

Science can be divided into five broad branches: physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. In a four-year high school, I would spend a year each in the first 3 branches and lump the last 2 into a year long "earth/space science" course. As for order, I haven't decided. If the student is advanced enough mathematically you could consider the "Physics First" route: 09: Physics 10: Chemistry 11: Biology 12: Earth/Space Science I've read through a lot of high school course catalogs, and some schools/school systems specify a sequence different from the above: 09: Earth/Space Science 10: Biology 11: Chemistry 12: Physics OR... 09: Biology 10: Chemistry 11: Physics 12: Earth/Space Science One Science magnet high school requires double-period science for the first 2 years and then more advanced electives and/or AP for the remaining 2 years. So students get a year's worth of science condensed into a semester. The sequence is a little different than the "Physics First" sequence above: 09: Physics (sem 1), Chemistry (sem 2) 10: Earth/Space Science (sem 1), Biology (sem 2) I'm sure you can find more sequences. 69

This is probably not a popular opinion, but I think it's kind of good that students in Korea spend more time in schools and hagwons and little time on social life -- less time for them to get in trouble. I am not saying, however, that all Korean students are model students -- there are problems with cheating, bullying, high school gangs and the like. 69 P.S. I am a Korean-American.

Perhaps this is what you read? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1066609&postcount=10 69

Uhm, not all posters here are ladies... :lol: 69

I forgot where I read this, but I think these are what the letters in "AB" and "BC" mean: A topics refer to concepts in Precalculus B topics refer to differential and integral calculus C topics include sequences & series, an intro to differential equations, and some analytic geometry (polar coordinates, parametric equations, vectors) D topics would include multivariable calculus. (Of course there is no "D", but it was conjectured that "D" would have been used if AP were to include multivariable calculus topics. Some high schools would offer a multivariable calculus course and call it "AP Calculus CD" or "AP Calculus D." ) 69

Why? I'm not attacking you or anything, but some students are not ready to take Precalculus in their junior year. I think Jann in TX mentioned it, and I've seen it first hand with my Precalculus students. Above anything else, before taking Calculus, one should be comfortable in working with algebra and trig. Too many students are rushing to take Calculus, only to falter because of their weak algebra or trig skills. I don't know of your situation (except you mentioned a "C" in Algebra II?), so you may be different. You may want to consider spreading Precalculus into two years, one for "College Algebra" and one for "Trigonometry." I swear, the Precalculus textbooks today seem bigger than they used to be, with more topics packed in. Also, there are a number of colleges where Precalculus is spread into two semesters. I know that this is not a perfect equivalency, but a semester college course = a year high school course. I kind of wish that my school offers a two-year Precalculus option. Anyway, just food for thought. 69

Close -- it's 0-618-73665-4. I know, because I have one. ;) The Larson Algebra 2 (2007) is what our school uses in our Algebra 2 classes (I teach math at a private high school). 69

If you haven't done so already, check out the FAQ page at Singapore Math's website here: http://www.singaporemath.com/FAQ_Secondary_Math_s/16.htm 69

WRT Teaching Textbooks, someone said that some of the topics are actually Algebra II topics, and given that you're taking Honors Algebra II now, I'm not sure TT would be a good fit for you. I've seen recommendations for Lial's Precalculus. Search the boards to read the posts. There are also DVT's (digital video tutor) available for this book if you need that kind of support. 69

Lial may work for you. They are thorough with step-by-step examples. They also have a video component (DVT = digital video tutor). There are a number of versions -- the paperback editions are usually recommended here. These can be used with both math-y and non-math-y kids. I'm sure that despite this program it didn't work with someone's child. Try searching through the forums. If you end up using Lial a possible sequence would be this: Pre-Algebra - Lial's BCM (Basic College Mathematics) Algebra 1 - Lial's Introductory Algebra Geometry - something else (while Lial has a Geometry book, I've read that it's not as good) Algebra 2 - Lial's Intermediate Algebra Pre-Calculus - Lial's Precalculus or another book (I like Larson myself) Good luck. 69

Sorry to resurrect this thread. My biggest problem with the Lial books 'Developmental' series is that they are paperback. I just don't like large paperback textbooks. They don't last in my experience (torn pages, doggy-ears, split bindings, etc.). Fortunately the Introductory Algebra and Intermediate Algebra books are available in hardback too. Now, to confuse everyone further, I am not talking about Lial's other developmental series, where one book is entitled Beginning Algebra and the other also Intermediate Algebra. These two are currently in the 10th edition, copyright 2008. (The ISBN numbers are 0321437268 and 0321557646 respectively.) No, I'm talking about the paperback (currently 9th) editions, in hardback form, listed as "HS Binding" in the Pearson school book catalog. (Only these two in the paperback Developmental series are available in hardback. The others, like BCM, are only available in paperback, AFAIK.) I have the hardback-version-of-the-paperback-editions (if that makes sense ;)) for both Introductory Algebra and Intermediate Algebra, 9th edition, because I'm a math teacher by trade (I'm not even a parent!) and I was looking for new Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 textbooks. I'm allowed to get free examination copies. I can see why the homeschooling parents here like these books so much. If there are anyone here who are interested in getting the hardback versions of the paperback Introductory Algebra and Intermediate Algebra, here are the ISBN numbers for the 9th edition: 0-13-136096-5 Introductory Algebra, 9th Edition (HS Binding) 0-13-136095-7 Intermediate Algebra, 9th Edition (HS Binding) I've read that a number of posters recommend getting the 8th edition because usually they're cheaper. Well, the 8th edition of Introductory Algebra and Intermediate Algebra are also available in hardback, but the titles on the front cover are simply Algebra 1 and Algebra 2. The pictures on the covers are the same. 0-321-29224-3 Algebra 1, 8th Edition (HS Binding) 0-321-29223-5 Algebra 2, 8th Edition (HS Binding) Of course, the problem with these books is that they may not be cheap. Finally, if you need ISBN's of the supplemental materials that go with these books listed above, you can view the Pearson school book catalog for Math here: http://www.pearsonschool.com/live/customer_central/catalogs/MathCat/ The 9th edition is listed on page 47, and the 8th edition is listed on page 76. Good luck! 69

:001_huh: Although I have seen this too, from what I have read in high school and college catalogs, it's more often the case that Trigonometry is considered a part of Pre-Calculus. Pre-Calculus = College Algebra + Trigonometry. A number of colleges offer Pre-Calculus in a two-semester version (usually one for College Algebra and one for Trigonometry) and a one-semester version. 69