Sandragood1 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 My ds is finishing up Foerster's Algebra. He has worked through it independently this year, after a rough start with Life of Fred and Aleks Algebra. What would be a good geometry program for a kid who "got" Foerster's Algebra? I'm really looking for a textbook with a solutions manual. Geometry was my favorite math in high school so I think I can handle any problems that come up provided the help requests are occasional and not constant. Discovery Geometry and Jacobs seem popular. He will probably end up going to college for a technical or science degree, so we do need a strong program. Thanks for your suggestions! Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Jacobs is awful. JanninTx uses Holt , I think. Much more clearer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 (edited) We used LoF Algebra in 7th grade. It was not a good fit for ds. Part of that might have had to do with hormones. Part of it had to do with LoF and how verbose it is. Ds worked through Foerster's Algebra in 8th and did very well. In 9th, we tried to use Jacob's Geometry, but it was a disaster. Like LoF, it was verbose. We switched to Discovering Geometry and it worked much better. Ds worked through it mostly on his own. We checked over answers together. I assisted when necessary. DG is more hands-on than most Geometry programs. It is also light on proofs. I bought the student text, teacher text, solution manual, and assessment book. BTW, I have a degree in math, but Geometry was the only math class I detested. Geometry suggestions What are you using for college prep geometry? more... Looking for Geometry Recommendations HTH! Edited June 2, 2011 by Sue in St Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Sue in St Pete, Thanks for your post. I will take a closer look at Discovering Geometry. Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Dd, who loved Foerster's Algebra 1, did not like Jacobs Geometry. We wound up with Teaching Textbooks which satisfied me but does not have a print solutions manual, only an answer key. MUS has a print solution manual but it seems like you're looking for something more challenging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 We used Jacob's (2nd ed.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 We used Jacob's for Algebra and are now in Jacob's for Geometry (2nd ed.). Dd is doing great in the class and likes the way the material is presented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrogMom5 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 We are using Teaching Textbooks. It's not the most rigorous but it does a good enough job in my mind. My ds is heading toward science and math too. Denise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 (edited) Have you heard of the Geometry text by Jurgensen, Brown, Jurgensen? It's published by McDougal Littell and is one of their classics (the first edition seems to have been written in 1990). You can purchase the student text, TM, solution key, and resource book from the publisher. I had planned on using this text with my daughter, who completed Foerster's Algebra 1 last fall. However, as the time got closer I worried that it would be too challenging for her to use without some sort of video or CD-ROM teacher. (She's good at math, but she never wants to take the time to read through the lesson.) Plus, she had some health issues last winter, and I wanted to keep things easy for her. So we used Teaching Textbooks instead. TT worked extremely well -- it's a good program with excellent CD-ROM lessons and thorough explanation of every single problem in the entire text. Now that she has finished Teaching Textbooks, I will have her work through Jurgensen's. I want to be sure geometry is cemented into her mind. As I've compared the two programs, I've noticed that almost every topic in Jurgensen's was also covered quite well in Teaching Textbooks. The TT problems might not have been quite as challenging, but the instruction was excellent. I'm very glad she used TT and feel that she is more than prepared for the Jurgensen materials. P.S. You can find Jurgensen's Geometry on Amazon. There's a "look inside" option, and you can see the table of contents and a number of sample pages. Some of the reviews are kind of hokey, though, especially the ones from disgruntled students who gave the book one star because it was too hard for them. Edited June 3, 2011 by Rebecca VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemMommy Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 We used Jacob's 2nd edition geometry after Foerster's algebra. It was very successful. My son loved the puns and the section C questions (even if we had to read the answers for them to figure them out). There are lots and lots of formal proofs and very few errors. It is presented in a more conversational style. Did LoF fail with your child because it was wordy or because there weren't enough practice problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VBCaroline Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Rebecca wrote: Have you heard of the Geometry text by Jurgensen, Brown, Jurgensen? It's published by McDougal Littell and is one of their classics (the first edition seems to have been written in 1990). You can purchase the student text, TM, solution key, and resource book from the publisher.Just wanted to add that Duke TIP uses this text for their geometry course.http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/159 The course comes with video lessons, interactive exercises, student syllabus with extra explanations and assignments, and tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca VA Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Wow, Caroline! I wish I'd known about this last year! Thanks for mentioning it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 :lurk5: Looking for something to use for ds next year (not this fall, but the following year). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Have you heard of the Geometry text by Jurgensen, Brown, Jurgensen? It's published by McDougal Littell and is one of their classics (the first edition seems to have been written in 1990). You can purchase the student text, TM, solution key, and resource book from the publisher. I had planned on using this text with my daughter, who completed Foerster's Algebra 1 last fall. However, as the time got closer I worried that it would be too challenging for her to use without some sort of video or CD-ROM teacher. (She's good at math, but she never wants to take the time to read through the lesson.) Plus, she had some health issues last winter, and I wanted to keep things easy for her. So we used Teaching Textbooks instead. TT worked extremely well -- it's a good program with excellent CD-ROM lessons and thorough explanation of every single problem in the entire text. Now that she has finished Teaching Textbooks, I will have her work through Jurgensen's. I want to be sure geometry is cemented into her mind. As I've compared the two programs, I've noticed that almost every topic in Jurgensen's was also covered quite well in Teaching Textbooks. The TT problems might not have been quite as challenging, but the instruction was excellent. I'm very glad she used TT and feel that she is more than prepared for the Jurgensen materials. P.S. You can find Jurgensen's Geometry on Amazon. There's a "look inside" option, and you can see the table of contents and a number of sample pages. Some of the reviews are kind of hokey, though, especially the ones from disgruntled students who gave the book one star because it was too hard for them. The Jurgensen Brown Jurgensen text is the one we used. It is challenging. You can make it less challenging by only doing a and half of the b problems. We did a, b and some c. :tongue_smilie: I like to take full advantage of a book, so we usually start at the beginning and finish when we get to the end. This is probably not the best approach for this text. But the foundation they get in Euclidean geometry is awesome. It really teaches them to think of how to go about proving it and then plot the steps and find the appropriate supports. Having a math teacher available to call for help would be awesome, but it can be done independently. I was very glad when this course was done. :tongue_smilie: But in hindsight, I'm glad we did it. (memory fades eventually) :) For someone looking for something less rigorous, I'd suggest looking at Saxon geometry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandragood1 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Thanks to everyone for their responses. I'm going to look at the options you presented. I heading to a conference next weekend and I hope to be able to put hands-on to some of these texts. LoF didn't work because ds just wanted to read it, not do it. He really liked it, but didn't really learn the math. I may get LoF geometry as a nice overview for him. It may eventually be just the thing for dd. Sandra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Thanks to everyone for their responses. I'm going to look at the options you presented. I heading to a conference next weekend and I hope to be able to put hands-on to some of these texts. LoF didn't work because ds just wanted to read it, not do it. He really liked it, but didn't really learn the math. I may get LoF geometry as a nice overview for him. It may eventually be just the thing for dd. Sandra Sandra, your original post could have been written by me, so happy to find it searching!! I just was looking today, I had viewed a copy of Jacob's and did not like it, saw two others did not like those...finally settled on the more recent Abeka Geometry....I wished I had bought the copy of Jurgensen's when I saw it last fall, but missed my chance (local used books store)...I like the layout of Abeka, no fluffy stuff and seems to be straightforward. We also have LOF but found it lacked the problems we needed and there were gaps that I did not want to take the time to fill in...I keep wishing Foerster had made a Geometry text!! Any clue what HE recommends?? Maybe I'll google that! :) Thanks for starting the thread! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, by G.D. Chakerian, Calvin D. Crabill, and Sherman K. Stein. Has anyone used this? This is used by mathwithoutborders..may try to check it out.. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Janice H spoke highly of it [Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, by G.D. Chakerian, Calvin D. Crabill, and Sherman K. Stein.] in this thread. Regards, Kareni Edited June 10, 2011 by Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ma23peas Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Janice H spoke highly of it [Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, by G.D. Chakerian, Calvin D. Crabill, and Sherman K. Stein.] in this thread. Regards, Kareni Thank you! I bought it last night on Amazon! I'll do a combo of this and Abeka...when I do Math I actually use two books..one as the core and one for additional problems so that they have a good shot at comprehension regardless of the source...I think I'll use this one as my core and Abeka for extra enforcing... Thanks! Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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