For those who have students that scored well on the SAT...

[Mogster]

...what math curriculum did you use, and what was the last level you completed before taking the exam?

[creekland]

TT and Pre Calc along with a little study from Barron's Prep book.

 

BUT this doesn't mean TT will get everyone a good score. My oldest (and middle) sons are math talented. I fully expect an average score from my youngest when he gets there. Math is not his thing and it won't matter which curriculum I choose. His talents lie elsewhere.

 

There is no 'one' best math curriculum. The 'best' one is one that matches your student in that they fully understand the concept, the 'how to do's', and can remember it. For different students there can be different best choices.

[Jane in NC]

...what math curriculum did you use, and what was the last level you completed before taking the exam?

 

Question: what does it mean to score "well"? For some that might be 80th percentile, for others 98th.

 

Agreeing with Creekland. Remember that the SAT supposedly measures college potential--not a knowledge base. I believe that research has demonstrated students can raise their math scores with the proper preparation (whereas the verbal score depends more on a lifetime of reading). I would chose a math curriculum on your end goal for your students, not on a potential (but unproved) correlation to a test score.

 

Jane

[8filltheheart]

I believe that research has demonstrated students can raise their math scores with the proper preparation (whereas the verbal score depends more on a lifetime of reading). I would chose a math curriculum on your end goal for your students, not on a potential (but unproved) correlation to a test score.

 

Jane

 

 

I agree with Jane. My ds's ACT scores (he didn't take the SAT) weren't stellar but they were definitely far above average. He simply isn't a good multiple choice tester. However, put him any advanced math, science, or engineering class and he aces the math.

 

The philosophy of which math program gives the best test score is reminiscent of the ps philosophy of teaching to the test. Is a test score the objective or is a solid understanding of the process itself? the ability to take their math understanding and use it across subjects, in unique situations, apply the concepts in real world problems?

[Beebalm]

We used Saxon. My dd completed Algebra I, II, and Advanced Math and missed only one question on the math portion of the SAT this spring. One tip....when she took the PSAT last fall, almost every math question she missed was geometry. I asked her to review her formulas/proofs/geometry from the Saxon advanced math text before the SAT, and it did the trick. The reason I love Saxon is that is never lets you forget a concept. It continually brings up old concepts. The down side is that it is VERY time-consuming (30 problems daily). The Dive CD's have been really helpful to us too.

[TravelingChris]

My older one did EPGY Algebra, Jacobs Geometry, tried FOerster's ALg 2 trig but didn't go all that far with it, and then did SAxon Advanced Algebra. He probably was only starting using ADvanced ALgebra (which he started more than half way through) when he took his SAT and ACT, He scored in the 700s on the SAT and I don't remember the ACT score but it was fairly good. The main deal is that he was a competent mathy person though not his strongest area. He did it when he was 15.

[coopers5]

And I'm truly not sure what it is worth....but my daughter's ACT math was 34, SAT 720; she had finished the first half of Saxon Adv. math by the time she got those. Was almost done w/second half at the time of that SAT score. Oh, and PSAT last fall was 74, I think. At that time she'd only just begun the second half of the book

(Also had done only Saxon from kindergarten on...)

She's math-minded to a degree (not nearly as much as language) and definitely not math-interested. Did do plenty of prep-work.(likes Princeton books)

The Saxon Adv. Math is a difficult book, but I feel it served us very well. It challenged my kids and they had to work and sweat to get it. Also used D.I.V.E. cds.

She would tell people, though, that it's really a lot of algebra you need to know (for SAT espec.) - and largely, it's being able to get around the "trickiness" factor. Don't "overthink" stuff.

 

HTH.

[Janet in WA]

Saxon here. Our sons had finished the first half of Advanced Math when they took the SAT and ACT. I've always respected their privacy and not revealed their GPA's, test scores, etc. here or anywhere else. But they scored very well, and received scholarships, advanced college placement, etc. based on their scores.

[MomsintheGarden]

My two oldest had completed at least the first 1/3 of Chalkdust Precalculus, and both scored above 700 in math.

 

I *think* a student can do well after completing Algebra II. I believe that test prep is key to the SAT. It is designed to be a tricky, puzzle-type test. Students who are familiar with the types of questions common to the SAT will have a better chance over those who haven't used a prep guide and practiced. Taking timed practice tests is key.

 

I also recommend making the SAT question of the day a part of your student's routine. It's free and helpful.

 

GardenMom

[langfam]

What happened to the rest of this thread? I glanced it this morning, but had to leave. Did they repost the thread somewhere else?

[Jane in NC]

What happened to the rest of this thread? I glanced it this morning, but had to leave. Did they repost the thread somewhere else?

 

There is another math thread (click here) that was active today.

[langfam]

Thanks! My brain is fried from trying to straighten out a cell phone bill.:tongue_smilie:

[kloumc]

We've only ever used Math-U-See and my daughter completed the Pre-Calculus prior to taking the SAT. She scored a 690 on the math, which was high enough that she didn't have to take the placement test for math at the college she is going to. We've had such success with Math-U-See for all of our kids.