MommyThrice
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Posts posted by MommyThrice
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Several people have suggested Lof, especially since ds is strong in language. I've looked at it and am sure it would drive us both nuts. Too chatty. Ds wants just math in his math book. He has enough trouble finding the heart of word problems. I think Lof would be like one giant word problem to him.
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Another math question... sorry to be such a pain.
We have established the fact that Saxon isn't working for ds. He hasn't retained much of Alg. I, so we're planning to review this summer. I'm considering MUS & Lial. Can I use these together? I love the way MUS really explains the concepts, but I keep reading that it isn't "up to" the same standards as Lials. Does Lial explain the concepts like MUS?
If possible, I would like to have ds take Lial tests (assuming there are tests?) to see what needs work, then watch the MUS lesson, read Lial lesson and work Lial problems. Of course I'm just thinking this through - I don't have either curriculum in front of me right now.
This child will not be a math major - he is very strong in language (and social skills) and wants to be an attorney. Still, I hate to cut him short on math now. He's only 14 and may change his mind. Also, I just did a learning style assessment, and he is very auditory - loves to have someone explain the lesson to him. So he might like the videos.
Could I use MUS and Lial together? At least they seem to both cover one concept at a time. I am so fed-up with the Saxon little-bit-of-this, little-bit-of-that approach. :willy_nilly:
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:bigear: Me too.
I just LOVE your profile picture!
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Many students benifit from seeing the WHOLE concept presented--and have trouble fitting together all of the little increments.
I would not hesitate to switch your son to a more traditional text.
I thought Saxon WAS a traditional text. Does a "traditional text" teach the whole concept at once? How does Lial compare to MUS?
And thanks for the ISBN's. Really helpful!
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How is he doing on the Saxon lesson sets? Does he work all 30 problems, and show every step of his work? Have you had him correct his lessons when he misses problems?
I have him work the odds one day, then evens the next. Still, that takes about 1-1/2 hours per day. He re-works EVERY problem missed and he must show EVERY step... lots of complaining, BTW! :nopity:
He just makes lots of careless mistakes. On today's test he...
(1) calculated the slope upside-down... run/rise... he keeps thinking "x" first.
(2) misread the square root of 5 * x as the square root of 5 * x
(3) missed a negative exponent
(4) miscalculated the distance between two points
And several other careless mistakes.
When we go over his mistakes, he always seems to understand. He's frustrated at his own careless mistakes - just not enough to avoid them. That's why he only does a half lesson per day; I thought it would encourage him to slow down and check his answers.
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I'm confused, are you saying your son will not watch the MUS Algebra 1 DVD but will instead just do the workbook? I wouldn't advise that. MUS isn't MUS without the DVD, and he might look like he knows something but not actually know it so I'd have him watch the DVD even if he can do the problems in the workbook.
The sample lesson seems to have the same explanation in the student book that is taught on the video. I think I could cover it pretty quickly by myself, then have ds explain it to me to be certain, and only watch the videos for the sections he isn't clear about. Looking at the TOC, I have a pretty good idea which concepts he does/does not understand.
Something amazing happens when I have my child "teach" me what he has learned!
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Thanks for all the input. I looked at Chalkdust, too, but the videos were rather long and boring.
I can skip the MUS algebra videos this summer and just have ds work problems for review until he gets to a section where he needs the instruction. I have two younger sons that will use the videos someday.
I do plan to cover geometry next year instead of alg. II. I had Jacobs all ready to go in the fall, but I think I'll love over MUS first.
Thanks again.:001_smile:
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What about Math-U-See (MUS)?
I tried it around 2nd grade and didn't like it at all. I thought the manipulatives were a pain - I was used to explaing math with marbles and toothpicks and legos already. However, I looked at a sample algebra lesson today and I like the way it is explained. Do you need the manipulatives in algebra? (of course, I sold mine!) or can you just look at the drawings in the book?
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We are also using the DIVE CDs; I don't think they help much and he seems to learn best when I teach him. But learning new concepts isn't really the problem. He just seems to forget it if it isn't reviewed enough. Saxon teaches a new concept, then review with only 1-2 problems per lesson, then 5-10 lessons later they build on that concept.
He and I both would like to really learn a new concept, and learn it from all the anges, to really understand it. I want him to understand WHY he solves problems a certain way - not just learn to plug into the algorithm.
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Ds is at the end of Saxon Alg I and just doesn't "get it." He continues to score as low as 70% on some tests (some up to 90% - but he is making way too many mistakes.) I don't know if the problem is Saxon, or him... or me.
I think he needs to spend more time cementing one concept before he moves on to the next. For example, he is still trying to graph coordinates to find the slope or where two lines meet. I've shown him how to do that algebraically, but since he hasn't practiced that enough, he keeps going back to graphing. So, maybe he needs a mastery-type curriculum?
I would like to have him review over the summer. I really like the Khan videos, but he doesn't provide any exercises. I tried to match the Saxon exercises to the videos for review work, but there is no correlation between the sequences of skills taught. Is Khan following a particular curriculum that I can follow along with?
Any other suggestions for summer review? (NOT Saxon)
Ds (14 yo) is frustrated, but - for some strange reason - he wants to move on to Algebra II. He doesn't want to get behind. I think this would be a huge mistake until he has a better grasp on Alg. I.
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...and if I had really thought about it, the two lines intercept where the two x's are equal and the two y's are equal.
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So, y the y coordinate of ANY point on the line? And x is the x coordinate of that same point? But b is the where y actually intercepts the axis? NOW I know why b is called b, so it isn't confused with y.
Y'all are so helpful!!! :)
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Yes. Since y = -x + 3 AND y = -2, and they are the same y, -x + 3 = -2.
Another way to work it is if you subtract the first equation from the second, you get y-y = -2 - (-x + 3).
How did you know the two y's were the same? What exactly does "y" stand for? I know m=slope, x=x-intercept, and b=y-intercept. What is y?
I THOUGHT I understood algebra!
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Can this be solved without graphing?
y = -x+3
y = -2
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The book by Mary Daly has great examples - if you ds can learn that way - but I did not like the workbook.
My favorite resourse is Rod & Staff. The 7th grade book covers all the diagramming you would ever need. Or, you could just buy the Rod and Staff handbook and teach directly from that if you're comfortable with it.
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I could not possibly live with an outside schedule like that!
I have outside plans only three days / week (one day music lessons for 12yo ds & 14yo ds) and one day for speech and debate. The third day is my 10yo ds's music lesson - the older two stay home and work on school. This is all we can manage... and it does not include doctors, dentist, orthodontist, errands, etc...
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So, maybe all 3 in one room is my problem!?!
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I am starting to think about next year and looking for a change... and hoping to end the "chit-chat" that happen every time I leave the room. I have 3 boys - 9th, 8th & 6th - with VERY SHORT attention spans when I'm not standing guard over them.
Where do your kids do their school work? What works for you?
At the kitchen table?
In their rooms?
In a school room?
All together in one room or far apart?
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I know I'm repeating myself, but I can't say enough about speech & debate. Not only has my ds learned to speak well, but he has learned to THINK well. And to think "on his feet" - quickly.
As I was planning out his high school, I was researching the various writing skills he would need to accomplish. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that he already had proficiency in all of them because of speech & debate. He has written expository speeches, narratives, persuasives (lots of those!) and even a research paper (which did quite well in competition). All by 8th grade.
This is a child that doesn't like to write - but writing speeches is a whole different matter to him. He didn't even know he was doing a research paper when he wrote his speech on Swiss Army Knives, but it was all there - including an MLA formatted bibliography.
I highly recommend it!
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For something like the grammar' date=' when I'm correcting it with my daughter and I see she's getting a lot wrong, I'll have her stop and go over all her answers before she gives them to me. It's usually that she didn't understand the directions or something, and a lot of the learning is in correcting what's wrong.[/quote']
Yes, this has worked well for us. I usually just draw a red line and tell him I haven't graded anything below it. Please go back and make sure you're happy with your answers before I finish grading. However, frequently when he has missed so many - maybe it's a coincidence - it is also so sloppy that I can't read it. If that's the case, I make him copy it over. Twice it was as bad, or worse, the second time around. Those two times, I tore the paper up and put it in the trash can. He had to start all over again. :001_huh: I know that sounds awful, but he knew what I was expecting from him.
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I told her they were using easy problems to teach the skill of adding -4 to each side, and the problems were going to get harder, and she didn't want to learn that skill on harder problems.
I've heard myself say that about a million times!
Also, I need to ask (and I am ducking), are you correcting an enormous amount of work because it is the end of the year? And now, when the kid is ready for summer, he is expected to go back and fix all of it?
Nope. I correct it every day. In fact, he is not "finished" with him math until it is graded (by him) corrections made and shown to me. But he's getting 3 or 4 incorrect out of only HALF a Saxon lesson per day.
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So, if you make them re-take a test, do you do it the next day?
I let him write longer essays on the computer, but short single paragraph responses to history questions are handwritten. He will need this skill for the SAT essay.
He had a very poignant lesson in handwriting last week. At our regionals speech & debate tournament - in the quarter finals round - his partner was cross-examining the other team from my son's notes. About half-way through he had to pause and say, "I can read my partner's handwriting!" He listened to THAT criticism.
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nearly every assignment is "redoing" the assignment before, so while the students initially complain, they do learn that editing is part of the process, and a significant portion of the grade. You might start assigning "rough draft 1," "rough draft 2" and "final paper" on MWF of a week, instead of allowing him to submit his first work for credit.
Lori
I do this already. I just think he should proof his own rough draft before he gives it to me. He won't catch all the mistakes and style problems on his own, that's why we edit papers together, but he ought to be able to catch missing words!
Copywork from the algebra solutions manual... now that is an idea.;)
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OH one thing that REALLY helped..... several times this year INSTEAD of giving a different assignment, I've just counted the BAD grade and said, "Oh lookie.... This D on this math paper is really going to hurt your average... In real life you won't be able to re do everything.... You have to live with your actions.... So you've got to live with this D.... Next time, do your best." And THAT has probably helped the most!
That doesn't work with mine; he just wants to know if he is free to go play or work on debate. I don't think he has the concept of grades, yet.. at least at home. He's very concerned about grades in his outside biology class, and he's making an A.
He feels like a failure in math already - I hate to reinforce that. Honestly, his problem is careless, sloppy work. I'm okay with the fact that math isn't his strongest subject, but I can't accept the carelessness. And I know he would get more problems correct if (1) he didn't skip steps and (2) he could read his own writing!
MUS & Lial
in High School and Self-Education Board
Posted
I'm looking online right now. I need the text (Introductory Algebra) and the Student Solutions Manual, right? Is that all?