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Algebra 2 or Geometry after Algebra 1?


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I see a lot of advice for taking Geometry after Alg 1 instead of Alg 2 because of the SAT/ACT testing. But doesn't the student lose their algebra base if they have that break? It seems to me you would continue with alg 2 so that there is no break. Any advice?:bigear:

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A good Geometry program will USE and reinforce basic Algebra 1.

Most Algebra 2 texts integrate some sort of review.

 

If Algebra 2 is completed AFTER Algebra 1 and BEFORE Geometry the students will have more than one year to FORGET the Algebra 2 concepts... and most Pre-Calc texts offer little if any review--most just jump right in!

 

I personally took Geometry after Algebra 2 and it put me at a SERIOUS DISADVANTAGE when I started Pre-Calc... I would not want any student to go through what I did.

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It's best to review a bit of Algebra I as the student works through Geometry. Our program has a little review of Algebra I built into their Geometry course but I plan to add a bit more using a Lial's text.

 

Plus, I think most Algebra II courses will start with a review of Algebra I. If the students stays up to speed, this could be skipped or run through quickly.

 

Pegasus

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I don't know from experience but I wanted to add that our school district just changed to Alg I, Alg II, Geometry. Don't know if that's going to be a new trend??

 

Some of the PS around here do that, too, but as a fellow math teacher/tutor, I completely agree with Jann -- the best sequence is Alg I, Geo, Alg II.

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Guest Cheryl in SoCal

We are doing Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry because that's what the authors of Art of Problem Solving and Life of Fred recommend.

 

Since my students will complete Geometry before they take the PSAT and SAT/ACT it won't cause them any problems testing. If they weren't going to be done in time I'd probably do Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time.

 

We'll be using AoPS Intro to Algebra (the 2nd half of the book is what they use to teach Algebra 2) and/or LoF Advanced Algebra while we do Geometry for additional depth, mastery, and review so forgetting Algebra 2 while taking Geometry before Pre-Calculus won't be an issue either.

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All three told me, in no uncertain terms, to do Alg 1, Geometry, Alg 2, Trig, Calc. Geomtry uses Alg 1. Trig uses Alg 2. It's better to have them in this order for the student to understand the next math.

 

Right after that, they all three told me they would help if I ran into problems. One of these three is my dh, the principal of our school so I gave what he said more weight. :)

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After stewing about this, I finally decided to do geometry first because there is usually some algebra review built into geometry texts (Jacobs, for example) and algebra II texts assume that the student has had a year long break and reviews accordingly. Precalculus texts do not assume the long break.

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