I'd like dd to rediscover her love of math - recommendations needed!

[Sarah CB]

Dd did Singapore math, then Russian Math 6, then eventually quite a bit of NEM 1 and 2. Last year she worked with a tutor, going through some of NEM 2 while completing her Math 10 and writing the provincial exam. This year she did an online course for Math 11. She hated it. And it took hours every day. Math was her favourite subject until this year.

 

One thing she identified was that in her online course it was all about the formulas and not so much about the understanding behind it. She struggled quite a bit because she didn't understand what was going on, whereas when she did Singapore she had a real grasp of the concepts and she did really well.

 

I am struggling because I can't be the facilitator at this level. She needs to use a curriculum that has enough teacher supports for me. I don't know what I'm doing :)

 

I'd like to find a curriculum that is similar to Singapore. It needs to develop a solid understanding of the concepts. There need to be enough teacher helps (clear explanations, solutions, maybe even teaching tips, etc.) to get me through it. Dd wants to like math again.

 

Math 11 is about an Algebra 2 level (and includes quite a bit of geometry).

 

Thanks.

[FrogMom5]

I think about this a lot because my ds also needs the "why" of math. You might use something like the Math W/out Borders (Foerster) or Chalkdust (Larson?) dvds and then have a Dolciani text for dd just to read. I am thinking of doing math this way for my ds so that he gets an explaination behind the formulas.

 

Like many on this board, I can't teach math beyond Alg.I and Geometry so can't use the Dolciani texts; there is no support for them. But, maybe they will provide enough of a conceptual explaination to go with the dvd instruction on Math w/out Borders to satisfy him. He won't understand the math without the concepts behind it.

 

I hope you get better answers than mine. So far, this is all I can come up with.

 

Denise

[Nissi]

Perhaps you should look into Art of Problem Solving texts and online courses. http://www.artofproblemsolving.com

[dirty ethel rackham]

I was just going to say that. My son got bogged down with NEM (he finished 1 & 2.) He is really liking AoPS - both the text and the class. The class does move kind of quickly, but my son doesn't feel overwhelmed.

[DebbS]

We are doing Singapore NEM but from the research I've done on Art of Problem Solving, it may be just the thing for her. I emailed AoPS and got a reply from Richard Rusczyk himself! I questioned where AoPS would work well for a child who used Singapore Math. He answered that the Singapore math students come to AoPS quite prepared. Although we are sticking with NEM this year, I am considering moving to AoPS for next year. My daughter started on NEM 1 last year and my son, who is transferring from a more standard math program with Algebra I is doing some of the geometry in NEM 2 and then all of NEM 3A and 3B. If it looks like the transition is not working for my son, we'll be moving to AoPS right away.

[regentrude]

I recommend Art of Problem Solving, too. It's about understanding the math, not just drill and memorization.

the website has pretests, so you could find out what level to use.

regentrude

[Mary in GA]

This may not be helpful at all. For my ds at that stage it was like the alg and trig were the "dirty work." He hated it. It was a total pain. He got to calculus and then loved math again. He saw how all these things fit together. You know you have a nerd for a son when he comes home from class and tells Dad about all the "cool" things he learned in calc.

 

Maybe there are curricula that can hold interest and inspire at that level, but imho a lot of it is just hard work even if you do have the "why" presented. Many concepts and ideas won't come together until the student does calculus. Even if some texts explain where it is all going, you just don't really see it until later.

 

We used Foerster's for alg 1 and 2. Then did Jacob's for geometry. Next some of Foerster's calc then on to joint enrollment. I can't teach above alg 1 very well. We are blessed dh can do all upper level math and science.

 

Blessings and good luck finding a solution. It really is hard.

 

Mary

[Kathy in Richmond]

Yet another recommendation to look into Art of Problem Solving.:001_smile:

 

My kids are what I'd call math-intuitive, and they were math-lovers in their early years (Miquon and Singapore were big hits here). Both of them completed many of the AoPS courses (online and textbooks) over their middle and high school years, and they retained their great love for all things mathematical (one minored in math in college and one is about to go off to university as a math major).

 

The AoPS approach is a bit different. Most texts present some new topic, give example problems, and then have the student practice similar problems for homework. AoPS instead starts with a little background, then delves into a challenging problem or two and asks the student to THINK. Ideas and theory are developed and synthesized through lots of such in-depth problem-solving. And the books were enjoyable and intriguing for my kids to work through - not dry or dull at all. The online classes were also a hit here, though they move quite fast and your student must be the type that doesn't get too fazed by that.

 

AoPS also covers discrete math topics like number theory, counting and probability, and advanced geometry with full courses and/or texts. These areas are practically neglected in standard curricula, and they're lots of fun! My daughter probably wouldn't have decided to major in math if not for her exposure to these fields - she doesn't care much for analysis - i.e. what the usual calculus track leads to.

 

Each text has a companion solution manual which is quite complete with solutions to all the problems in the text. There aren't teacher helps per se, but we've found that we didn't need them. Instead of 'teaching' the course to the kids, I worked through the courses side by side with them (sometimes with the help of the online classes). When we both got stuck on a particular problem, we'd take a peek at the solutions manual. If you take an online class, the students can also ask questions on their discussion boards.

 

My kids also enjoyed the community on AoPS - the forums, blogs, games, math contest community, etc. They made quite a few good friends there, and loved it so much that they both currently work part-time for AoPS as TA's and graders (I know I often sound like an advertisement for them; we've been really satisfied customers;)) .

 

~Kathy