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Algebra 2 Curriculum


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Well I decided that I will be doing my Algebra 2 course without using an online school. I originally planned to go with Saxon Algebra 2 4th edition. After doing a bit more research I have found these other math curriculum's.

 

-Lial's

-Saxon

-Teaching Textbooks

-Fred's

-Math U See

 

Does anybody have any experience with these I am really interested in teaching textbooks.

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I use Lial's and personally it is one of my most favorite books, it has excellent explanations and it does not cost a lot. I am also doing Algebra 2 with Jann in TX who uses this text and teaches in an online course.

 

My second favorite would have to be Teaching Textbooks and LOF together, I would use Teaching Textbooks and then go through LOF to cement in the concepts, that is how I would do it though.

 

The difference is that Lial's is more college level but has the excellent explanations in the books which makes it perfect for high school students. While Teaching Textbooks isn't college level, it is good for those who aren't good with math or just prefer to take things slower. I chose Lial's because I want to work in the medical field and having a solid background in math is a must. Although I know some who have used TT and are doing excellent in Medical School!

 

So it all depends on who you are and your learning style, and what your future career choice will be.:)

 

HTH!!

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I really like Kinetic Books Algebra II. The only real issue with it is that it doesn't have a complete solution manual. Most of the practice problems have immediate feedback with stepped help to walk you through to the answer. The end-of-unit problems only have an answer key for the odd problems (and doing just the odds is plenty).

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@dhudson I was kind of hoping that I would not have to supplement my curriculum because I don't want to have to pay for extra books but I will still look at LOF

 

@LuvingLife I am very interested in the Medical field. I was thinking that I could do Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 and Pre Calculus this year. So I would cover everything get 2 credits and learn all the topics. I am planning on AP Calculas in my 11th grade year so I think that if I do Teaching textbooks this year and do two years of AP Calculus that will be fine. Anymore input on this?

 

@AngieW in Texas I will definitely look into this. May I ask why you like it so much.

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@dhudson I was kind of hoping that I would not have to supplement my curriculum because I don't want to have to pay for extra books but I will still look at LOF

 

@LuvingLife I am very interested in the Medical field. I was thinking that I could do Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 and Pre Calculus this year. So I would cover everything get 2 credits and learn all the topics. I am planning on AP Calculas in my 11th grade year so I think that if I do Teaching textbooks this year and do two years of AP Calculus that will be fine. Anymore input on this?

 

@AngieW in Texas I will definitely look into this. May I ask why you like it so much.

 

Brandigirl,

 

I think that is a good idea, but do take it easy, go through algebra 2 and pre-calc slowly and make sure you understand everything before you jump into calculus, trust me it will pay off in the long run. Also, may I ask what area in the medical field you are looking into? This will help determine whether or not you need to do AP Calculus for two years.

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Trust me I will be going nice and slow using the summer to work also. I wish I new what branch of the medical field I was going into but I am so undecided. I am even kind of considering law. So since I am undecided my goal is to do the maximum in every subject with good grades so that I won't shut out any of my options any more reviews?:001_smile:

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Kinetic Books was very engaging for my two older girls (my youngest won't even consider it because she won't do a math program on the computer). It has simulations that are fun and interesting and really help drive the concept home. It has whiteboard exercises where you manipulate equations and watch what it does to the graph in real-time. My 15yo loves it and thinks it's a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it only goes up to Algebra II right now, so we have to switch for Precalculus. I used Larson's (Chalkdust) with my oldest and didn't think the explanations were good, so I'm going to use Lial's for Precalculus this time.

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I looked over the kinetic books and they seem really good but I don't like the fact that they are all online. I took a course with keystone this year and what saved me was that they included a textbook along with the online course. I do much better with an actual text that I can refer to. But at the same time i learn really well from videos which is why teaching textbooks looked so good to me. It had the videos and they text.

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Regarding Saxon, the 4th edition is algebra II only - no geometry incorporated into it, so it would be appropriate if you have already completed a geometry course. If not, I'd suggest their 3rd edition. We've used Saxon for a few years, so this doesn't apply to us, but I've heard several here mention that it's hard to jump into Saxon after Algebra I. That's part of why I had suggested you start there.

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@Teachin'Mine I know that it is hard to jump into Saxon that's part of the reason are started looking at teaching textbooks.

 

Any other curriculum reviews:tongue_smilie:?

 

I was remembering this post of yours from a previous thread:

 

"Thank You so much I am not familiar with the format of Saxon but I pretty much not familiar with any format of math :D. I have been in public school up until 8th grade and it was math suicide! The teacher covered almost 17 chapters and 1 semester because we had fallen behind in class due to other kids.:glare: I almost died not to mention I missed a month and a half due to an illness. I can honestly say I left that math class not remembering a thing I passed with a B but I didn't truly understand the material. I am probably going with saxon because I am thinking I just need to look at math from a different perspective If I hate it i wont use it again."

 

It's because of what you wrote in the bolded that I suggest going with algebra 1 instead of 2 - no matter which program you decide to use. It's really hard to impossible to do well in algebra 2 if you haven't understood algebra 1. What might be more realistic is to go with a geometry course and do algebra 1 concurrent. You may have understood enough algebra to get by just fine in geometry and you can sure up your algebra 1 skills before moving onto algebra 2 next year.

 

Then again, I may have completely misunderstood your situation, so please disregard all of this if it doesn't apply. :) I hope you get feedback on the other math programs you are considering. :)

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Oh I can see how that was misunderstood. Even though I did not undertand the class I did learn Algebra 1. I taught myself Algebra 1 and some of Algebra 2 over the summer.:001_smile: I was able to do really well so I actually have a good undertsnading of Algebra 1. Thank You so much for your input

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