I am looking for recommendations for an online calculus class for my dd. She will be a senior this fall at a very small classical school. She was planning to take Calculus I, but there are only 2 other students who want to take the class, so the school won't offer it. They are open to letting her take an online class and giving credit for that, since they can't offer what she wants. I'm looking for something recorded or on DVD rather than live, because she'll need to access it as her schedule permits. I have several semesters of college calc, but it's been a really long time and I don't think relearning it in order to teach it is going to happen, but I could probably provide some support. I'm looking at Thinkwell, Ask Dr. Callahan, and Derek Owens so far. I don't think the Derek Owens is going to work because from what I can see on the website it's only offered live. Also, I think I prefer a course that lets her work at her own pace, rather than one that has hard and fast deadlines for turning in assignments and may not give her the option of working ahead when that's possible. Thinkwell seems like a pretty good alternative. I'm trying to figure out the differences between Calculus and AP Calculus. It looks like the Calculus course covers more material (two semesters of college calc?) and lists more contact hours. Is is more the equivalent of a year of college calculus? Also, dd isn't sure she likes the idea of having to do all the problems on the computer. I found an old post (~2008) that said that if you didn't enter the answer with exactly the right sequence of keystrokes, it would be counted wrong. We did sign up for their free trial, so we can see how that goes. I've heard good things about the Ask Dr. Callahan geometry DVD's, but I don't know anyone who's used Calculus. She does like the idea of actually having a hard copy of the textbook. Thoughts? Also, she's considering trying the AP Calc AB exam. Would either of these be better prep for that? Thanks for your help!

Yes, I agree that people who aren't experienced with LD's don't often understand what those kids go through. I feel like I am still really learning about what dd needs and appreciating how her dyslexia impacts different areas of her life, especially this year as she's transitioned from homeschool to a bricks & mortar school. I found the same thing when I looked at Hillsdale's website, and it's one of my bigger concerns. A lower student to teacher ratio is a good start, but not the end of the discussion. Well, that's what the visit is for!

I also found this one helpful. http://www.amazon.com/All-American-Colleges-Conservatives-Old-Fashioned-Liberals/dp/1932236880. It's also by ISI.

I'm still really new to the world of accomodations, since we're just now dealing with it with our oldest (dyslexia), so I could be way off-base on this, but the way I read the ADA I'm not sure Hillsdale would be required to accommodate a student since they receive no federal funding. It's one of my big concerns regarding Hillsdale and something we'll be looking into very closely when we visit this summer.

Is the livescribe easy to use? I've been considering something for dd to take to college, but to be honest she's not very good with technology (or very comfortable with it either). But her dyslexia makes listening and taking notes at the same time a challenge, and I think that could be kind of a problem for her in college! :tongue_smilie: I should check to see if they'd let her use something like this next year.

That does help. Baseball season just started, so I'm sure this will intrigue him!

:iagree:I've read LCC, but am more familiar with WTM. We have been dropping/combining subjects from WTM. The Multa idea really strikes a chord with me too.

I've only used grades 3 and 4 (then got dissatisfied, then came back for younger kids). 1) How long generally do you find the lessons take? We do lessons orally, so usually 15-20 minutes. 2) Do you do the lessons 5x per week or less? 3-4 days per week, because I skip most of the writing. 3) Should I buy the worksheets, etc. (I have the TM&student text)? I have the worksheets and use those to replace the written lessons. 4) How do you all "do" the lessons and/or what have you found to work best with your kids? I start with the oral review in the TM, read through the lesson with dc, have them do the lessons in the student book orally, then have them do any worksheets that are available. 5) For those with upper elementary/middleschool kids, how far in R&S do you plan to go before switching to another program or not doing anymore "formal" grammar program? So far only through Grade 4, using Grade 5 for next year. Not sure how far we'll go. 6) Who uses the composition portion, and do you like it? Or do most of you skip it and only use the grammar part? I skip composition and use IEW, although we do sometimes at least talk through the ideas (recently one lesson was on choosing stronger verbs).

What have you used so far? What did you like/not like? I'm not much help here, because I've been all over with science too.

Our oldest daughter is dyslexic, and even though I've been 99% sure of it since she was 7 and accommodating her at home, we recently had her tested, for several reasons. We are trying for SAT accommodations, but we also wanted her to be able to get the extra help she might need at college, so wanted documentation in hand for that. And we felt the documented results would also give her more confidence in advocating for herself. As far as outgrowing disabilities, I think the answer is generally no, the underlying disability is still there. However, with tutoring or training, the student is better able to compensate, often to the extent that the issue is essentially unnoticeable to others. This is based on my reading and experience with dyslexia. I do know that for dyslexia, the hardest thing to remediate is processing speed. Accuracy, yes, but improving reading speed is difficult. Another reason you might want to consider updating the testing is that some places require a current diagnosis, usually in the last 3 years or so.

Ugh. This gives me a knot in the stomach. We have saved some for our kids, but the economy did the same number on their 529 plans as it did on our retirement savings. Dd is working, and should qualify for decent merit aid at the schools she's currently considering, but I'm still worried about how the numbers will all come in.

We are Christian, but not Young Earth, and I found Physical Science very difficult to use. I don't think I'd use it again. My oldest used Biology for a while, and while it wasn't nearly as preachy, she had a lot of trouble with the chatty, conversational style. She had trouble sorting out the author's chatty little asides from the important details. She's dyslexic too, which I think didn't help. But bottom line is that she wanted more of a "just the facts" presentation. YMMV, depending on the child's style. Also, I'm not sure that the Biology was terribly rigorous. Admittedly we didn't finish the book, and it could just be the writing style that's deceptive, but if you have a STEM oriented-kid, you may want to dig into that aspect further.

I believe scores will be available after April 30th for students who did not take the writing. Add two weeks if you took writing.

I'm still fussing about whether to drop Jacobs Algebra for ds 14. It worked beautifully for dd, but guess what? They're different kids! I've been reading up on old Algebra posts, and have been reminded that Jacobs tends to be more chatty, even described as liberal-artsy, and, because there is less explanation given in the text, expects the student to learn through doing the practice problems. Perfect fit for dd, who is an artsy girl through and through, and learns best in context and by actually working through a problem. Ds on the other hand has been complaining that there's not enough explanation, they just expect you to start doing problems. Duh! So now I'm considering switching to Foerster's to finish out Algebra 1. Am I crazy? :glare: Does it matter which edition I get? Is there something else I'm missing. (And yes, I was just on a couple other threads ruminating over AoPS too, but I think I've convinced myself that's a more drastic change than I want to make.) Thanks

FWIW, I had a hard time with The Hobbit the first time I read it. It just seemed endless, and I hated how Tolkein would ramble off and spend a page and ahalf describing a hillside. Then I read LOTR and fell in love. If she's not a fantasy fan though, it's going to be tougher. I agree that the characters in LOTR kind of grab you and pull you in more than those in The Hobbit; they're just more..likeable.. for lack of a better word.

Thanks Julie. I'll look at Math Relief too. I'm not quite sure what's going on. I think one thing that would help is seeing more real world relevance. He frequently asks what Algebra is really good for. Um, all that math and science stuff he's interested in? Catapults maybe, physics....... The problems just don't seem relevant to him.

Thanks, this does help. I guess I hadn't realize the AoPS books could be covered in such a short time. One thing I'm not entirely clear on - does the Introduction to Algebra book contain the information covered in both the Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 courses? Also, do you have to enroll in the courses, or is it possible to buy the books and do the course yourself?

Well, I ended up filing an online incident report with ACT and decided to call the guidance office at the high school where dd took the test, just to give the woman in charge a heads up, since I'm sure ACT will be contacting her. I'm not all wild and crazy about it or anything, mostly I was surprised because everything is supposed to be so uniform. I'm sure dd will end up either taking the ACT again or more likely focusing on SAT, so it wasn't a make or break deal for her, but I do feel bad for the other kids in the room. The extra few minutes may have made a big difference for some of them.

I posted in the recent Art of Problem Solving thread, but thought maybe I should start a new one too. My 14 yo ds has hit a wall recently with Algebra (Jacobs). He's always been very intuitive in his approach to math, but has hated long problem sets (said they were boring, and he already understood how to work the problems). We did Singapore Primary, and he seemed to do very well. He's the kid I thought of as being "mathy". But, lately he's been struggling with Algebra. At first I thought it was just that it's harder and he's not used to having to work at math. It's not that he isn't persistent - he'll troubleshoot other projects for hours to get them right. But the post in the other thread about intuitive vs. concrete approaches to math, got me thinking that maybe that's not it. Then a very wise friend sent me this article on math education and teaching kids how to attack problems vs how to do computations and now I'm really questioning my approach with this child. We're over half-way though the Jacobs, I think it's a solid program, and part of me hates to change to a new book now; but what we're doing clearly isn't working (he says he hates math and he's no good at it), so I'm open to suggestions. I've been considering AoPS, but don't know if I could switch at this point, or if I'd have to start all over with Algebra I. Part of my brain says just finish the Jacobs, but if that leaves him without a good foundation, it's really going to cause trouble later. Ugh! I would really appreciate some perspective.

Wow! This sounds just like my son. Thanks, I'll look for the other thread. It was algebraic long division that just blew up his world. I had him watch some of the Khan Academy lectures too, thinking he just needed a differenct approach, but it really didn't seem to help. He just couldn't seem to get hold of the basic concept of why he was doing what he was doing and it bothered him.

I've been considering switching math curriculums for my older son, who has hit a wall with Algebra this year (Jacobs). He's always been very intuitive with math, but he always hated long problem sets (he says they're boring). But he'll spend hours trouble-shooting programs with his NXT robot. Lately he insists he hates math and he's no good at it, and I'm at my wits' end. So that leaves me trying to decide if we gut it out and finish Jacobs (we're in Ch 10 - Factoring), or restart Algebra with a different program (AoPS or something else). For those of you who've used AoPS, does it sound like a good fit for this boy? Is it something we could pick up in the middle of Algebra I, or would we have to start over? Thanks for your input.

Dd thought the science section on Saturday was very difficult, but it's alway her worst section. She's now prepping for the SAT, and based on practice tests thinks she'll do much better than the ACT. As a 10th grader, you can easily look at it as a practice test, but you may also want to look at the SAT. Some kids do markedly better on one than the other.

At a private HS in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Thanks for digging that out. I had considered calling the high school where she took the test just to let them know as well, but wasn't sure if that was approriate. Realistically she probably won't end up using this set of scores anyway, since she just never scores well on the science section and plans to take the SAT in June, so I'm not all that concerned about how it will impact her score. I just sort of thought the high school should know, since they supplied the proctors.

I used Jacobs with dd. She does well at math, but doesn't love it either. I liked the Algebra reviews included at the end of the chapters. It has made Algebra II easier for her. She started at a classical school last fall for jr year and said she thinks she has a much better math background than most of the other kids at her school, FWIW. ETA: Somewhere on this list I found a suggested syllabus for Jacobs. I'm sorry, I'm not good at searching old threads, but if I find it I'll link to it. Poor dd, I made her do every last problem for about the first half of the book!