Jeana Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hello ladies. I was wanting your opinion of the above Math programs. Which would you recommend for a 9th grade boy and why do you like it? Thanks, Jeana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 No TT? I only ask because I posted a very similar question about two months ago. We had been using Saxon and were desperate to try something else. Tried Lial's. My former math successful child (in grades 1-7) had become less and less successful. :( We switched to TT in sheer desperation about four weeks ago. That was our ticket. She hasn't gotten less than a 94% with the exception of ONE day since then, and it isn't because it's all review. I REALLY was anti-TT. This changed my mind so much that I switched our DD (6th grade) as well.... And I thought I was fairly comfortable teaching math?! BTW, cost inhibitive, yes, but I was able to pick it up used for $100ppd. Money well spent. Just my .02 and please excuse my barging in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted February 21, 2011 Author Share Posted February 21, 2011 No Worries Kelly! My daughter uses TT and I hadn't really considered it as I had heard so many people say it was behind. I guess it doesn't matter if it is good I should just test him into the level he would be at. Thanks for your .02 worth! Will look into that. Jeana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Lials Clear and to the point, plenty of practice, no fluff. Jacobs might be okay, but so far my kids haven't liked how long winded he is. You'd have to hold me at gun point to ever use Saxon again. Even then, I'd put up a fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 You'd have to hold me at gun point to ever use Saxon again. Even then, I'd put up a fight. :iagree: We're using Dociani and love it, but it has no video support. If you need that, I'd suggest Lial or Chalkdust. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyce Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 As previous poster said it is very clear and to the point. My ds had done MUS Alg 1 in 9th grade and he did okay but not at the level I knew he was capable of. Some of the teaching starts to get a little more confusing at high school level, at least that was both my kids feelings. We tried TT for Geometry for son. Yes it is easy to use, especially for the parent, has review etc but by the end of the year he couldn't remember most of the things he was taught even though he had been testing in the 94 % all year. I could really see that when his SAT scores came in. We switched to Lial's after others recommendation and we found what son needed. Explanations were very, very clear. Son could almost do it independently, which was good because I'm not very good with math. Because of our success with it in Alg 2 we also used it for pre-calculus. Ds went to CC after graduating, took mature some and get some basic courses out of the way before transferring to college this fall. He easily tested into Calculus and when he took it he was one of the best in his class and he was finally able to see that he wasn't as bad in math as he thought. Based on our experience I'd definitely recommend Lial's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 My vote is for Saxon. It takes you all the way through Calculus. It's thorough and with built in review there's no need to study for tests. It prepares well for the standardized tests. The geometry is incorporated into the algebra and advanced math texts. Starting algebra 1 in 9th, you can do Calculus in 12th. It makes math fun for some students. It can be used by the student independently. The solutions manuals are excellent. By using one program throughout high school, there shouldn't be any gaps. My dd loves it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 (edited) What Algebra 1 to pick? Really depends on: - your student's learning style - your student's readiness for abstract math concepts of algebra - and your needs (or lack of needs) as far as support/teacher resources Jacobs - concrete in explanation (a "how it is used in real life" example for every single concept) - mastery-based - gentle, incremental, step-by-step lessons - contains humor in presentation, and interesting optional/bonus math puzzlers - built-in review in each lesson - TM has additional example, but not much more explanation for each lesson - the original student text and TM had only answers, no worked-out solutions, but I *think* someone has since published solutions - the original had no video lessons, but Dr. Callahan has since put out a DVD series of lessons for Jacobs Saxon - abstract in presentation - more of a "formula memorization" approach - spiral approach (breaks concepts down into small increments and keeps circling back after a 3-6 lesson gap to add another increment to the concept) - built in review - has TM, with answers and solutions - has DIVE CDs with video lesson instruction and helps - has a "John Saxon's Way" DVD series of lessons/instruction - OR, even more highly rated by homeschoolers, is Art Reed's DVD tutorials for Saxon math Can't personally comment on your other options, but of our own experience, older DS (naturally does well with math, enjoyed Singapore) did very well with Jacobs and enjoyed both the Algebra 1 and Geometry. Younger DS (a visual-spatial learner who really struggles with math and only late in elementary finally "clicked" with MUS) did Jacobs Algebra 1 in 9th, only "kind-of" grasped it, and I had him re-do MUS Algebra 1 in the first half of 10th grade, which helped the Algebra mostly click into place. Neither DS connected with Saxon -- too abstract, too many concepts in each lesson, and too scattered for younger DS. Broken into too many tiny bits spread out too far, and way too much review for older DS. However, many families find Saxon works great, especially if they've used it all along. We did NOT find Jacobs at all chatty, as did above poster. Perhaps they found it chatty because he took a paragraph or two to include the real-life examples and explain it? If you have an abstract thinker, or a "just the facts ma'am" kind of learner, or a math-minded student, then Jacobs could certainly seem chatty, even though his explanations never took more than a page or two as I recall... And as another poster above said, Math-U-See DOES get a bit more confusing in the high school grades -- not every single concept or complexity of concept is explained on the video lessons, so that DID "throw" our younger DS, as we started with the MUS Algebra 1 in 9th, then switched to the Jacobs. However, I think it might have been a case of he just wasn't fully ready in 9th grade for the abstract math concepts of Algebra, whatever we would have used... When we came back to MUS Algebra 1 in 10th grade younger DS did great with it, and we never noticed any "gaps" in the MUS explanations the second round... (Exposure from Jacobs the previous year, perhaps??) And while it's always nice to be able to have a series that will take you all the way through your high school math, I think that some students really need more hand-holding for the first few years of high school math than others, and if that is the case, far better to go with something that really WORKS for them and connects for them for the first year or two, and then have to switch to something else when it will probably matter less and they have had more time for brain development of abstract reasoning required for the higher maths. JMO! 😉 Other ideas: - I have not looked at Lial's myself, but from all I've read, it is a traditional, straight-forward, standard textbook - you might also look at Foerster's Algebra 1 -- also a straight-forward standard textbook highly recommended by others on this board - Kinetic Books Algebra 1 has gotten good reviews from some on this board; an on-line program with a very visual approach - Singapore's New Elementary -- or -- New Syllabus mathseries -- a fantastic approach for math/science minded students, and it really teaches math-thinking and problem-solving; it used to be that there was not much in the way of teacher resources, making this a difficult choice for many families to implement -- I believe there are more helps out there now; also, some people do not like that the topics are not laid out in the standard American progression; see this chart, or this older thread for the match up with American math progression - DVD options of Chalkdust, Videotext, Math-U-See, or Teaching Text; people seem to have a love it or hate it reaction to any of these; Teaching Text Algebra 2 really does NOT cover all the topics needed for a standard Algebra 2 credit, but as long as you don't mind also doing the first half of the Pre-Calc course, that wouldn't be a problem BEST of luck in finding what works best for YOUR family! 🙂 Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited January 22, 2019 by Lori D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 I like Jacobs, but I like Kinetic Books better. I wouldn't use Saxon at gunpoint. Jacobs is a solid course and my oldest dd worked through it independently with no problems. She just read the book and did the problems and then I checked them. I think there were maybe 3 lessons in the whole book that she asked me to explain. Jacobs is set up with 4 sets of problems in each lesson. Set 1 problems are always review, so I always assigned them (usually just 3 problems). Set 2 and Set 3 problems are identical, but have different numbers, so the 1st problem in set 2 is exactly like the 1st problem in set 3, but has different numbers. I assigned set 3 rather than set 2 because the answers to set 2 were in the back of the textbook and I found it annoying to have to flip back and forth. The answers to sets 1, 3, and 4 were in the teacher book. Set 4 is a brainteaser and I know some people use them for extra credit. When your student misses a problem in set 2 or 3, you can show her how to work it and then assign the identical problem in the other set so you'll know she knows how to do it. Kinetic Books came out with their Algebra I program just in time for my middle dd. She wasn't sure about using a computer-based program at first, but she wasn't sure about Jacobs either, so she started off doing both programs (each program is complete by itself, but my dd was a very young 7th grader, so I wanted her to spend 2 years in algebra I anyway). At first the immediate feedback in Kinetic Books bothered her, but as she got used to the program, that became what she liked best about. She didn't do an entire page of problems incorrectly because the program told her after each practice problem whether she was right or not. It also had an option to step you through the problem to the answer on most of them, so she could see where she went wrong. There are paper&pencil problems in KB also. These are the end-of-unit problems. I look at these pages as quizzes. There is an answer key only for the odds (but assigning just the odds is plenty, sometimes I assigned every-other-odd). Kinetic Books Algebra I covers everything that is in Jacobs and then goes a bit further on some of the topics, going all the way to systems of 3 equations with 3 unknowns and optimizing systems of equations with inequalities for example. Kinetic Books now has Prealgebra, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. I've only used Algebra I and Algebra II. I would have my younges working in Kinetic Books Prealgebra right now, but she won't have anything to do with a program that's on the computer. Something you should consider is that there is a 30-day money-back guarantee with the hs version of Kinetic Books. I have only used the regular version (hs version was first offered after I already bought Algebra II). http://www.kineticbooks.com -- regular version http://homeschool.kineticbooks.com/ -- homeschool version Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinRTX Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I agree with Saxon. I have taken two all the way through Calculus and the third through Advanced Math (different goals in college). All three did well on the SAT test. One majored in EE with no problems, the next in Information Technology with no problems, and the third is planning on Nursing as a major. Saxon is solid and none of mine had had any problems with any other text (we do other texts in the summer for review). Have your child look at the text and let her decide. Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeana Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Wow! Thanks so much for the details that each of you have given to me to think about. I will go away and asess each of them and have my child choose out of my top 3 choices from all of your suggestions. I cant' thank you enough. Jeana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Another vote for Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Another vote for Saxon here. It's been the only program that has worked for DD. I also like that there are multiple instruction CDs/videos to choose from - Saxon Teacher, DIVE, John Saxon and Art Reed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuvingLife Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I vote for Lial's!! I have been using their program so far and I enjoy doing math now. It is amazing, and has really saved my life. My mom is debating whether or not I should give Saxon a try, but I prefer Lial's and I would like to stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 Well, I vote for Chalkdust. My eldest used it all the way through Pre-Cal and loved it. She understood everything to the point of being able to help her friends, I have one in Alg.I and one in Pre-Alg. this year. The main draw for us is Dana Mosely's teaching via DVD. He is a fantastic teacher and doesn't only teach how to do the problem, but why and how to *think* mathematically. We have free support through CD, but honestly, we have rarely had a question that reviewing a lesson didn't answer. CD's lifetime warranty on their product is also good. I have had a couple of dvd's that just quit working and they were replaced, no questions asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbalogh Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Well, I vote for Chalkdust. My eldest used it all the way through Pre-Cal and loved it. She understood everything to the point of being able to help her friends, I have one in Alg.I and one in Pre-Alg. this year. The main draw for us is Dana Mosely's teaching via DVD. He is a fantastic teacher and doesn't only teach how to do the problem, but why and how to *think* mathematically. We have free support through CD, but honestly, we have rarely had a question that reviewing a lesson didn't answer. CD's lifetime warranty on their product is also good. I have had a couple of dvd's that just quit working and they were replaced, no questions asked. Hi, KnitWit (I feel bady calling you that! lol) I looked into Chalkdust primarily because of how awesome Dana Mosely's teaching is supposed to be but when I looked at who the teacher was for Algebra I, it wasn't Mr. Mosely but another guy. Do you have a set where Mr. Mosely is the teacher for Alg 1? Thanks, Cynthia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi, KnitWit (I feel bady calling you that! lol) I looked into Chalkdust primarily because of how awesome Dana Mosely's teaching is supposed to be but when I looked at who the teacher was for Algebra I, it wasn't Mr. Mosely but another guy. Do you have a set where Mr. Mosely is the teacher for Alg 1? Thanks, Cynthia Where did you see that? I just looked on the Chalkdust website — the demo video for Alg 1 is Dana Mosely, and he is pictured on the cover of the DVDs on the Algebra I page. (And FYI this thread is several years old.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I agree with Lori, the answer depends on you and your ds not on our opinions. All of the programs you are considering are solid. All of them will prepare your ds for college math. There is not a win/lose in your pick except the win of the best fit for your family and the loss if your ds really doesn't learn well from one particular style. Do you want video based? If so, you want CD or Saxon. Have you used Saxon before? Do you like it or hate it? It is polarizing. Those who do well with it, do well. The rest of us hate it, passionately. I used Lial's with my kids. It is solid, clear, easy to understand with plenty of practice and lots of examples. It was a good fit here and I felt like my non-mathy kids got a solid Algebra foundation from it. We looked at Jacobs and I liked it, but my kids didn't like the presentation. Consider the style of the programs you have used in the past. What has worked what hasn't? Narrow your choices and let your ds pick if you are less than certain in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Do you have a set where Mr. Mosely is the teacher for Alg 1? I've got good news. The Dana Mosely videos are posted online at this textbook's website: http://www.algebrawithinreach.com/ea6e/content/instructional-videos/chapter-1-2/section-1/introduction-to-real-numbers/ Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnitWit Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi, KnitWit (I feel bady calling you that! lol) I looked into Chalkdust primarily because of how awesome Dana Mosely's teaching is supposed to be but when I looked at who the teacher was for Algebra I, it wasn't Mr. Mosely but another guy. Do you have a set where Mr. Mosely is the teacher for Alg 1? Thanks, Cynthia Dana Mosely is the instructor on all of our courses. I purchased mine directly from Chalkdust. They are an excellent company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 The Dana Mosely videos are posted online at this textbook's website: http://www.algebrawi...o-real-numbers/ We're using Dociani and love it, but it has no video support. If you need that, I'd suggest Lial or Chalkdust. Has anyone mapped these free Algebra videos against the Dolciani or Lial Algebra 1 text books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 We are using Lial's this year for Alg 1. Last spring, I bought used copies of Lials, Foersters, and Jacobs from Amazon. I owned Teaching Textbooks already. We spread the 4 books out and spent a few hours over a week comparing them. I liked Jacobs but he preferred Lials. So I returned the 2 he didn't like and we went with Lials. He is a B student - not excelling, but working through the book methodically. Maybe another book would have been "better", but the really owns his work, kwim? I think that is invaluable. I plan to do the same with Geometry soon. So, if you can, see if you can get them all at home to compare them. It might really help you both make a good decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Our daughter used Lial's for Algebra I and II. She used Jacobs' 2nd edition for Geometry. That worked well for her. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakia Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I like Lial's for all the reasons already mentioned, but I haven't seen the others you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.