Yes.

Ah, you want it for yourself -- I will admit I was a little confused with your signature :D Allow me to make a recommendation then. If you want to go through math yourself, I think you can choose any college developmental series and just work your way through it. If you choose older editions, you can find them extremely cheaply (+shipping, but still it should be less than 5 bucks per book). For example, Lial's introductory and intermediate algebra -- http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Intermediate-Algebra-4th-Edition/dp/0321575695 -- has 127 used copies from $0.65. (note that the combined books are not what I'd recommend for a first exposure -- they are a little more condensed -- so if you were the type of student who worked very very hard to get a C in high school algebra you might want to get the single-course editions). With these college textbooks, you can buy a "student solutions manual" (make sure to match editions). This will give you completely worked-out solutions to all of the odd-numbered exercises in the textbook. Now these books have a bajillion exercises, so doing all the odds will be more than enough. Here's the manual that matches the textbook I posted starting at $0.56 -- http://www.amazon.com/Student-Solutions-Introductory-Intermediate-Algebra/dp/0321576128/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401661240&sr=8-2&keywords=lial+introductory+and+intermediate+algebra+student+solutions+manual (this is another advantage they have over a book like Ray's). The Lial's are not the only texts out there -- Bittinger, Martin-Gay, Gustafson, and many others are equally good. I've used all of these authors for various levels of mathematics. Any of them should be suitable for a conscientious student. As a suggestion, though -- don't allow yourself to get into the habit of looking at the solutions manual as soon as you get a little bit frustrated. If you get frustrated, work on a different problem and then return to the one that has frustrated you, but do return. If you still can't get it with a second try, then take a sheet of paper, find the solution you want, and cover all but the first line. Then see if you can figure it out with that line for a hint. If you're still stuck, move the sheet of paper down one and look at the second line. And so on. If you have a little more to spend and want more of a challenge, you can also investigate the excellent Art of Problem Solving series. Many adults have reported that they achieved a far greater understanding after working through those. However, some others found them too challenging and/or did not care for the discovery learning aspect. I noted the low-cost resources first because I suspected that one reason you were interested in Ray's was because it was free.

Ha, of course I am.

There are some things I like and some things I don't. I'm going off this book: http://books.google.com/books?id=cj8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA7&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false Pro: He starts off with word problems designed to get students to have an intuitive understanding of variables in linear equations. I feel that a student who had begun with this might be much less likely to, for example, take x + x and write "= x squared". Con: I find the subsequent presentation of the definitions and notation (in lesson I - definitions and notation) absolutely terrible. There are about 50 definitions dumped on the hapless student, with few computational examples and no computational practice to enable them to work on them. Very few students would acquire more than rote learning from this section, and would be very confused as to which definition goes where. I am not really sure how this is supposed to be taught -- if perhaps the definitions were to be interspersed as needed, but I tend to doubt it given the date of the book. Con: The terminology is somewhat antiquated, including the English explanations. For example, when he is explaining how to add similar quantities with like signs, he has written "Add together the coefficients of the several quantities, and to their sum annex the common letter, or letters, prefixing the common sign." Similarly, for adding similar quantities with unlike signs, he has written "Find the sum of the coefficients of the similar positive quantities; also, the sum of the coefficients of the similar negative quantities. Subtract the less sum from the greater; then, to the difference prefix the sign of the greater, and annex the common literal part." Now, these explanations are not WRONG or BAD. But they are written in English which is likely to be unfamiliar to many students, so you will spend a fair amount of time translating. Summary: I think this would make an excellent teacher's resource book for someone who is both good at algebra and slightly outmoded English. It is free, and the explanations are nonstandard, so it would be a good source of further explanations. Furthermore, I believe that going through the introductory section *before* doing a standard algebra class would help a student develop a more intuitive understanding of variables. (Of course, so would doing something like Hands on Equations or Zaccaro's Real World Algebra, and in modern terminology). But the archaic terminology (including not only the English, but also the mathematical) is likely to be a hindrance to a student. I would only recommend this as a supplement.

Up to calculus means 'everything before calculus'.

Man, I hope not. This set of books has always been on my "to buy someday when I have cash" list :/

The publisher was CEMREL, the authors were various, but Robert Exner did a lot of them. Here's some details (you need to scroll down to the late '60s): http://www.imacs.org/about/news/burt-kaufman.html

Is it really independent? If you need independence I'd be more inclined to look at something self-grading like TT. Some people have done adequately after taking MUS but as far as programs go it's definitely one of the weaker ones.

You don't have to do C/P and NT. They are optional extras. You can do intermediate algebra and then precalculus. Or as wapiti said, you can continue with TT and use the problem solving books as a supplement. It might be a good idea, though, to order NT or C/P *now* and have him start over the summer. imo they are both half-credit courses so should be doable in a summer. That way if the AOPS style doesn't work for him, he will know and can choose a standard precalc text. And since they are optional extras, if he doesn't finish the book, no big deal.

I think another trip through algebra might be beneficial, and I agree with your reasoning for doing TT and starting in the summer. I think I *would* go ahead and start geometry in the fall -- because with a kid who forgets easily, you're not going to want to take a year of just geometry and then go to algebra 2 -- she'll have forgotten so much. I like the idea of finishing alg 1 while working on geom.

He'd be missing all of the algebra part of precalc, which is covered in the intermediate algebra AOPS textbook. If you look at TT precalc, they spend about 5 chapters on functions, logarithmic/exponential functions, rational functions, polynomial functions, etc. This is not in AOPS precalc.

I have enough chicken fat to make enough gravy to take a bath -- frequent sales on chicken will do that :D

+eleventy billion. I also fry my eggs in chicken fat from roasting leg quarters, though. It's also delicious.

That's why I toss them when I realize they don't work instead of putting them back in the cup :P

Also much too far for their teachers, who in many cases were computationally proficient but lacked the theoretical understanding necessary to really teach this properly. I actually think a lot of these curricula could have worked much better than they did, had the elementary teachers understood what they were going after. The same problem appears in current conceptual curricula. (This is not intended as a slam on teachers in general, rather on the implementation of these curricula).

I wonder why she's subtracting 70 twice instead of 140 once? This is how I do division without a calculator and always has been. I actually got moved out of the advanced math class in school (before we started homeschooling) because I didn't like long division (it didn't make sense, until I took algebra and learned polynomial long division -- when I suddenly realized -- this is what they were trying to teach me before! just the x's were all 10s before!). The only difference is that I actually write it out as a series of fractions. So my scratch work would look like: 165/7 = 140/7 + 25/7 = 20 + 21/7 + 4/7 = 20 + 3 + 4/7 = 23 and 4/7.

wtf, how do they learn to do it in algebra then?

If she truly wants it, yeah, but have her read over your shoulder while you check the college acceptance list for just this year as well :P

I had to look for a bit to find this, but the ITBS website says:

I understood that they're marked as jr/sr high because you begin with general science and physical science in jr high, and that to complete AP courses students would need to double-up in science -- i.e. take two courses in the same year. This is totally doable and many PS students do this. A sample schedule for such a student who wants to complete all AP courses could look like: 9th: bio 10th: chem, adv bio 11th: phys, adv chem 12th: adv phys I have never seen a website that indicated that the biology, chemistry, and physics courses were considered middle school level. They are supposed to follow either apologia's general/physical science or another middle school science. An accelerated student who plans to complete bio/chem/phys in 6th grade should be in algebra by 6th. Most students will not be ready for chemistry after only pre-algebra, even if the only math required is linear equations. Their problem-solving skills are just not there yet -- they have not understood the math thoroughly enough to be able to apply it in novel equations.

Yes, this is also a good point. If you don't start Algebra until late fall, I'd use something else that is also a solid choice (Jacobs springs to mind, but there are many options) so that you can get through it.

Honestly I think your second plan would prepare them reasonably well for dual enrollment in 10th grade. After alg 2 they should be able to place into college algebra (by reviewing if necessary) and precalc, leaving senior year for calculus if they desire a STEM major. They should also be ready to do any of the standard science sequences (except physics, even algebra-based physics usually requires trigonometry). If you're going to try APs before 11th grade I'd strongly recommend first trying the ones that cover only a single semester of college, such as geography, psychology, environmental science -- rather than the ones

You won't have the math to do Apologia's first chemistry/physics courses in 7th/8th grades as both of them require algebra. Also, these *are* high school level courses. Unless your child really is ready for high school at 11, they are probably not the best middle school courses. ETA: EndofOrdinary's child is significantly advanced (I believe he's doing pre-algebra in 4th, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) so his plan is ambitious but realistic. That doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good idea for your child to emulate it. Doing a high school science course in 8th grade would be realistic -- but it's rare for a child to be ready for high school science 2 years before they're ready for high school math.

The principal comment I have on mathematics is that he might end up placing into developmental math at the CC if he hasn't done algebra since 9th grade. A whole year without algebra is a long time at those grades. I'd be more inclined to swap algebra 2 and geometry so that he goes to the CC with the algebra fresh, or do both concurrently on an every-other-day schedule. Also, TT's algebra 2 is not as strong as some, but it is not just algebra 1. With respect to science, am I correct in that you're considering (after your second schedule) doing AP biology in 8th grade? There are very few students who could handle college-level sciences starting in 8th grade. I think either of your science schedules could work -- if you go ahead and start general science, you have a little leeway built in so that if your student needs to slow down and take 3 years to do 2 books, you're still on track for your first schedule.

I wouldn't skip problems, but if you run out of time (i.e. if you get to October and she still hasn't finished) you could postpone the probability/statistics chapters and start on algebra instead -- that should give her plenty of time to finish enough algebra to compete with peers in PS. If she does do that, though, I'd try to get her to go back for those chapters later -- like the summer after algebra -- I think that knowledge is useful for everyday life as well as in math class, but it isn't directly required for algebra.