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MarkT

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Everything posted by MarkT

  1. I totally agree with you the AoPS approach is quite different. My son's charter school uses Saxon (newer edition) for Algebra and Geometry. So he has learned the bite size approach and it is sometimes hard for me to get him to read the text when he gets stuck, he just looks for a similar problem/solution. I have the AoPS Intro Algebra text and want to use it as a summer refresher for my son prior to Algebra 2 at some area high school. Any tips on getting him to embrace the AoPS way? Since he has seen most of the topics already is that good or bad? He is very capable but not the most driven student. thanks
  2. Charters are mostly non-controversial in AZ. 1) Maybe a few PS Elementary schools shutdown because of an overall lower PS enrollments. They are more popular at the K-8 level because the extracurricular activities at that age are parent funded anyways but later on a lot of kids want to go to the regular high schools for the sports, band, drama club, etc which the charter schools really can't afford because of their size. 2) That is why they get less money per pupil (and that is the correct posture). My gifted son goes to a charter where the additional costs are almost zero. My special-needs son goes to regular public school. The charter school rules and regs could never be followed by my IEP son. He requires a one on one aide to get through each day without hurting himself or others. What's disappointing is that more specialty charters don't exist such as for Arts and Music. A friend of mine has a daughter who is gifted in music but not so much in other areas. She did not do well at my son's accelerated charter. She would have been more motivated to study her history lessons if it also meant losing the individual music studies program such as piano (this course does not exist). They withdrew her.
  3. Does your college also offer Calculus based Physics for the STEM majors? We called the algebra based class "Physics for Poets".
  4. Totally agree most of the people visiting WTM have above average children (is this Lake Wobegon) and use that perspective. I grew up in NYS when it had a superior education system. The "let's make the US mediocre" folks moved in and starting dumbing down stuff. The regent exams are not totally broken now because they mostly grade the better students like the old days but use some kind of bonus point system for those who would have failed miserably in the past and now can squeak by. In the old days, those students ended up going to the BOCES (voc-tech) and getting the non-regents diploma. They learned a trade and were employable. Today they would waste their money studying some 2nd rate major at a 3rd rate college because they were patted on the back along the way to feel good about themselves.
  5. Yes and luckily in AZ we have school choice and my son is now going to a charter for 7th and 8th grade. His 6th grade math in the regular PS was unchallenging and they spent most of the year drilling for the state test at the end of the year. The charter does some of that too because that is how they grade the schools in AZ. I hate "teaching to the test". Please educate my child.
  6. I included a link above in another post that says that those states are not truly aligned. The Wash Post article quotes that Common Core wants four years of math for high school to be college ready. Which is great for STEM majors but does not fit all. So a gifted writer that struggles with math can't be "college ready" without passing Algebra 2? (I have a horrible time adding links with Internet Explorer I probably should switch)
  7. that document is out of date 2007 - before CC adoption - an updated version would be interesting
  8. go with 2. Be sure to get the topics covered in the PS for their Algebra 2 course. My nephew took this sequence he finds Geo easy after Algebra 2.
  9. Are there any Common Core aligned states that do not require Algebra 2 for regular HS graduation? AZ does: www.azed.gov/hsgraduation/ They do have an exception clause. Not sure if PARCC testing requires Algebra 2.
  10. I agree with your post but Common Core wants everybody to take Algebra 2. Texas is not Common Core aligned. By later High School years students need to be in a "track" that will help them be successful in life (hopefully with something that they have some passion for). Algebra 2 is not necessary for all.
  11. Not that I am big fan of online based learning but curious if anyone has tried Solaro. www.solaro.com
  12. My son used Saxon Algebra I (4th edition) last year at his charter school which is well mapped to most state Algebra I standards, That course covered all the equivalent material in AoPS "Introduction to Algebra" except for chapters 12, 19, 20, 22. Saxon of course does not cover it in depth like AoPS so not one to one. It also covered probability and stats topics. Do you care to match your state standard or not? If so all the standards are moving towards more integrated courses with topics which are covered in other AoPS books. I am planning on using AoPS as a refresher for my son over the summer to prep him for AZ Algebra 2.
  13. My 8th grade son goes to a public charter (2nd year there) here in AZ. He has separate classes in English (primarily early HS level grammar, some writing) and Literature (reading the classics and doing analysis essays, etc). It was a primary reason I chose that school over others. He also has: HS Geometry 8th grade science Art Gifted class American History
  14. Wow take the free tuition but make sure he takes Calc I in college.
  15. Hey I remembered that someone did that already for the 3rd edition: http://toddheffley.com/wordpress/?p=2905 also saw this: http://saxonmathtutorhero.weebly.com/saxon-algebra-1.html keep us posted on what you ended up doing.
  16. Do you have a nearby community college that has an Engineering Science program (transfer program)? Have him start there. If he is not good at math have him take Calculus I there even if he took it in HS. He will learn soon enough whether he wants to keep going. College is a time of finding out about yourself independent of your parents. Electrical Engineering is pretty much all math. Industrial Engineering uses more of statistics, etc. Information Systems is NOT Engineering at all but is "STEM".
  17. another reference http://algebra1teachers.com/semester-1.html She has assessments you could ask for as well.
  18. 1) You could try to follow the Saxon Algebra lesson sequencing with the Khan videos and use their home-school tests. 2) Locate an Algebra text that follows a similar topic sequence to Khan and use the chapter tests from that which you can sometimes find online. Maybe use a CK12 text?
  19. Another possible option to consider: Does your university have a transfer credit program with a local community college? In my area they have a self-paced College Algebra class that the university will take as credit. Sometimes these classes are available online as well.
  20. This is an "implementation" problem. Common Core was rushed into existence instead of using many years to phase it in so the schools are drained of funds.
  21. 1) NYS came up with "Regents with Honors with Advanced Designation" to replace Regents vs Non-Regents. The more things change the more the stay the same. 2) Total fallacy - you need to actually look at those other countries. Finland for example eventually tracks the students into the university bound versus not. Their students taking higher math (Pre-calc, calculus) in high school are in similar proportion to the USA. One of the problems of the USA is low expectations for their children. Early tracking is bad.
  22. 1) It was meant to be an extreme comparison. Not all students can legitimately complete Algebra 2 and fully understand it sorry. 2) This is absurd, of course a handicap is not a "god given talent". I have one gifted child (tested) and one severely autistic (non-verbal) child. They both have different needs.
  23. Everybody with their sound bites so they can get their fifteen minutes of fame. First of all CC was designed as a one size fits all program (not really a good thing). No matter what the rhetoric about STEM to help sell it, I believe that CC Math is a baseline college prep program that must have follow on math classes which almost every state in the union also realizes. We all have god given talents and a school standard can't change that. Should the high school basketball team have to make a spot for my child if he can't hit the broadside of a barn. Should we spend a lot of money to get my child so he can make 25% of his baskets? The intent of the CC math standards are fine but some of the implementations are horrible especially at the Elementary school level.
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