Need to rebuild math skills while still continuing forward

[Hunter's Moon]

Algebra I and II killed me. I still managed to scrape by, but only because I would cram for the tests, spit it out for the test, and then it would all proceed to seep out of my head while I slept.

 

I did wonderfully in Geometry. I barely had to study, it just all "clicked".

 

Last year, I went on to Precalculus because had I been in public school, that is the class I would have been in. I got a B in Algebra II in public school, but I have no idea how because I failed the final. Algebra just doesn't "click" with me. This leads to embarrassing mistakes on my Precalculus and now Calculus work. It is simple things: how to deal with an equation that is absolute (|15-23|), factoring (ugh, I had so much trouble with factoring it got to the point where I hated asking the teacher questions over and over because I felt like an idiot), things to that effect.

 

I need to do Calculus this year, though. I already sent my transcripts to colleges, to my school district, and I also need a 4th math credit. Right now I'm only doing Precalculus review, so no new information is being introduced, but I should be getting everything and I'm not. Some things go back to me not understanding them in Algebra. I am fine with trigonometry, it is the Algebra involved in Precalculus that gets me.

 

So, any suggestions? I can't just drop Calculus and work on review all year.

 

Should I just review difficult topics as they come up? Do a complete review as a separate, on my own time, class for no credit? Other?

 

ETA: Most Algebra I stuff clicks now. I took a CC placement test and scored into their Trigonometry class. I feel like some of it just came with maturing (seeing things more logically) but I still struggle with the more advanced Algebra topics.

[kiana]

I have a copy of this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Algebra-Trigonometry-Students-Calculus/dp/0201669749

 

I have not used it but I have read through it and liked it ...

 

Also it's really cheap used :D

[Susan C.]

You will hit the wall with calculus with weak algebra skills. My ds is a very good student, and he failed calculus in college. (It was awful). I would change what your are taking. What I am doing with dd is Lial's Intermediate Algebra. She did fine with Algebra 2, but I can tell that she crammed a lot of it into her short term memory to do well on the tests. I do know that Lial's Intermediate Algebra is used a lot for Algebra 2, but you will end up in it as remedial in college if you don't pass their placement test. Dd's college of choice has approved this sequence: Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Intermediate Algebra.

 

Dd LOVES the Lial's and it is helping her to really understand algebra on a deeper level, not just memory of facts. Then she can be ready for the college's college algebra course.

[*Jen*]

Have you thought about using Khan Academy videos to help go through topics that you know give you trouble?

[1Togo]

Where do you buy Lial's textbooks and answer keys? What editions are best?

[claire up north]

I just got a used copy of Lial's off Amazon for about $7. I don't think the edition matters much; algebra is algebra is algebra. I do like Lial's general approach more than, say, A Beka, but I can't imagine Lial's 1st ed. will be substantially different in content than Lial's 2nd ed., KWIM?

 

Personally, I think the OP should buy a Lial's book and work through it independently. This is how I would start.

[elfgivas]

Have you thought about using Khan Academy videos to help go through topics that you know give you trouble?

 

 

:iagree: i was just going to post this :001_smile:

[Hunter's Moon]

If I had realized this issue earlier, preferably before I began Precalculus, then I would have had no problem going back and starting over, but now that I'm this far and have already told the schools and school districts, I don't think that would be a smart move.

 

I can't afford the Lial's books right now, even though they are really cheap.

 

I did Khan Academy yesterday with factoring and learned a few things that I hadn't before, so this seems like the best choice for now.

[Teachin'Mine]

Khan Academy is great. Here's another site which might help if you want to see something explained again:

 

http://www.brightstorm.com/math/

[AngieW in Texas]

I recommend going through the Khan Academy and Brightstorm videos. I like Brightstorm better for most topics, but I like Khan Academy better for others. The scientific notation video on Khan Academy was better than on Brightstorm, primarily due to its length. There was a lot more time to go over examples in the Khan Academy video.

 

I would recommend working through just the videos on Khan Academy and Brightstorm for now in all the Algebra II and Precalculus topics that you aren't quite solid on. I'd actually plan to take one week off from everything else to try to get through all of this. It would be sort of like a math boot camp for one week. It won't throw everything else off by too much because you'd only push the other things off by one week. I wouldn't try to advance through the calculus book without shoring up your other math first and you want to do that pretty quickly so you can move on.