Robin in DFW Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 I have the following Pre Algebra programs at my disposable (or can get them easily and cheap) 1. Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra 2. BJU Pre Algebra (previous edition) 3. Lial's Basic College Math 4. Lial's Pre Algebra 5. Saxon 8/7 7. MUS Pre Algebra Now, my ds13 (he just turned 13 and is considered 8th grade) doesn't feel the love for math that my dh and dd feel. He just doesn't like it. It is a necessary evil. We have tried, but not completed, Saxon 8/7 (not thrilled with this one) and Lial's BCM (we are still trudging through this one as we speak). He is a bright kid, loves science, has made great strides with writing and really does just about anything I ask him to do. He's a good kid. Anyway, the Lial's books are great...for me...or my dd17 (senior), but for him it is just too much. He seems to understand the concepts, but the lessons are too long and he can't seem to maintain focus through the whole teaching part. When it comes time to do the problems, he has to ask for additional teaching because he couldn't listen through the whole lesson. This is the only subject that he does this in...I think he needs something with shorter daily teachings. I think if he spent about 40-45 minutes on math each day, he'd be fine. He also doesn't like that the Lial's lessons linger over 2 or 3 days. He likes things very orderly...one lesson a day...check it off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Have you looked at Life of Fred? The books aren't expensive and they are excellent. In addition, the lessons aren't really long and boring the way traditional textbooks can be. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Anyway, the Lial's books are great...for me...or my dd17 (senior), but for him it is just too much. He seems to understand the concepts, but the lessons are too long and he can't seem to maintain focus through the whole teaching part. When it comes time to do the problems, he has to ask for additional teaching because he couldn't listen through the whole lesson. This is the only subject that he does this in...I think he needs something with shorter daily teachings. I think if he spent about 40-45 minutes on math each day, he'd be fine. He also doesn't like that the Lial's lessons linger over 2 or 3 days. He likes things very orderly...one lesson a day...check it off... This is the exact reason I switched my DD to CD prealgebra, but we only do one chapter objective a day, unless it's a review topic. So she does chapter 1, section 1, objective A on the video, then the exercises for that objective. BCM was to overwhelming for her age. I wish I had advice, but I can certainly understand where you are. Is BJU divided into daily lessons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Big CD/Prof Mosely fans here. I can't brag on him enough. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Sigh. I have no advice, I can just say I feel your pain. My "are you sure math is a necessary evil?" dd will be doing Lial's BCM this year. I am hoping those long lessons over 2 days and the problem sets that are longer than she's used to don't bog her down - this is the one she picked after I showed her an array of books, so if this doesn't fly, I don't know what's next. I had her do LOF Pre-Alg/Bio over the summer - this is good review/preview for her, but she said she didn't want to do Fred as her "main" program for Alg and up (when I've heard it can be standalone). For the BCM, are you doing the lessons in a chunk and the problems in a chunk, or are you doing part of the lesson and the associated problems one day, and the rest of the lesson and the rest of the problems the next? The latter way is the way Jann in TX suggested, so I'm going to try that. If I tried to complete the whole lesson before getting to any problems, I think my dd would glaze over. She may do that anyway, but my fingers are still crossed... I know Jann said the DVTs are optional, but I have those as backup as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 This is all we do on day one. On day two he does the odd-numbered problems. If there are a ton, he splits the work over 2 days. So sometimes a lesson takes three days to complete. I think he gets tired of not just finishing a lesson per day. He likes to check off his work. I think the lingering lessons leave him feeling like he didn't complete something...a little ocd, I know...he gets it from me.:tongue_smilie: He really likes that feeling of being "completely" done for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 This is all we do on day one. On day two he does the odd-numbered problems. If there are a ton, he splits the work over 2 days. So sometimes a lesson takes three days to complete. I think he gets tired of not just finishing a lesson per day. He likes to check off his work. I think the lingering lessons leave him feeling like he didn't complete something...a little ocd, I know...he gets it from me.:tongue_smilie: He really likes that feeling of being "completely" done for the day. I can relate to that - I can feel that way too. Jann suggested doing half the lesson (including associated sidebar problems), then doing the odd problems just for that half of the lesson (before each problem set, it refers back to which "examples" in the lesson it covers). Then do the second half of the lesson (and sidebar problems) and the rest of the odd "homework" problems. That still will take you at least 2 days per lesson, but perhaps it would be more managable? At any rate, I spent time going through the book and figuring out where it looked reasonable to split each lesson and assigned associated problems and plopped it all into HST+, so I don't have to figure it out as I go along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted September 3, 2010 Author Share Posted September 3, 2010 but oftentimes the lesson practice covers examples 1 & 4 or 2 & 6...they aren't always consecutive... Also, ds gets bogged down with the content of the word problems, not the math part...what they are about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 I'd use both MUS and TT. Layer them. Both of these program can be completed in less than a typical academic year. They both also have short lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 We started MUS pre algebra a few weeks ago, and it's great. I'm taking it very slowly and we're doing a lesson a week. My daughter is okay at math, but she has NO love for it whatsoever. MUS has been excellent for her. We do the video lesson on Monday with 1 worksheet. Next day is worksheet B and 1/2 of the Honors sheet. Day 3 is worksheet C with the other half of the Honors sheet. Day 4 is a systematic review sheet and Day 5 is the test. It typically takes us less than 30 minutes per day (today it was 10 minutes) and I feel confident that she's "getting" it. And we haven't had a single Math Fight since we switched to MUS. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 (edited) Another option that's pretty cheap is Kinetic Books Prealgebra. The regular version is just $40. The hs version is $80. I don't think what they added to the hs version is worthy of an additional $40. My kids have used KB Algebra I and Algebra II. I have them set a timer for 45 minutes and get to work. At the end of 45 minutes, they can stop right where they are or finish the problem they are working on. That's it. The next day they start where they left off the day before. KB has immediate feedback for most of the problems, so your student can tell pretty quickly whether or not he knows what he's doing. All that said, I would love to use Kinetic Books Prealgebra with my youngest, but she doesn't like math programs that are on the computer. I tried Lial's BCM with her, but it was too visually cluttered. She really does best with black print on white paper, little or no color, and plenty of white space. The only prealgebra program I can think of that fits that bill is MUS. She doesn't want anything to do with videos, but we could skip the videos for the program. I'm going to look through a friend's MUS prealgebra next week and decide if that's what I'm going to do with her or not. Here's what I'm using with her right now: http://www.amazon.com/Kelley-Wingate-Pre-Algebra-Carson-Dellosa/dp/B000F8T2B0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1283534484&sr=8-2 Edited September 3, 2010 by AngieW in Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cschnee Posted September 3, 2010 Share Posted September 3, 2010 Have you looked at Life of Fred? The books aren't expensive and they are excellent. In addition, the lessons aren't really long and boring the way traditional textbooks can be. Heather :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted September 4, 2010 Author Share Posted September 4, 2010 (edited) nt Edited September 8, 2010 by Robin in DFW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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