Precalculus before AP Calc....HELP!!

[nynyny]

Can anyone lead me to a site that clearly lays out what should be covered in Precalculus?

 

Although we have used Chalkdust successfully through Alg. 2, I enrolled my daughter in an online Precalculus class (to remain unnamed) and want to make sure the correct concepts are being covered. She plans to take AP Calculus next year.

 

I expected the class to start out with review, but here it is November and she is not assigned much homework and spends less time on this class than any other. I expected it to be very challenging and work intensive, and so far, it is not. She says the majority of the class time is spent reviewing Alg 2 concepts and many kids still don't get the basics of logarithms, as if they didn't take Algebra 2.

 

I have spoken to the teacher, who assures me she is on track for AP Calculus. But I'm still not sure...

 

TIA

Edited November 1, 2011 by nynyny

[Musicmom]

Dd did Thinkwell Precalculus and it seemed pretty thorough. You could take a look at what they cover here:

 

http://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/pre-calculus

 

Scroll down to the Table of Contents, which will give you a more comprehensive picture than just the course description.

[Teachin'Mine]

Regardless of what text you decide to use, it sounds like the class she's in is not on her level and a lot of time is being wasted as she waits for the others to catch up. Would they let her drop this class and refund the tuition? Then you'd be free to use Chalkdust or any other program and she'll probably be ahead of the game vs being held back in her current class. JMO.

 

ETA: Another way to evaluate what's happening in the class is to ask for the course syllabus, if you don't have it already, and see if this algebra 2 review is built into that, or if extra time is being taken because the other students aren't well prepared. If it's just part of the class and the whole pre-calculus course will be covered, then it may be okay, but if this review is taking time away from the usual topics, then I'd definitely want to drop the class.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Teachin'Mine

[nynyny]

Dd did Thinkwell Precalculus and it seemed pretty thorough. You could take a look at what they cover here:

 

http://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/pre-calculus

 

Scroll down to the Table of Contents, which will give you a more comprehensive picture than just the course description.

 

Yes, this is just what I am looking for! Thank you!

 

What did your daughter do when she became stuck at some concept?

 

Thanks.

[nynyny]

Regardless of what text you decide to use' date=' it sounds like the class she's in is not on her level and a lot of time is being wasted as she waits for the others to catch up. Would they let her drop this class and refund the tuition? Then you'd be free to use Chalkdust or any other program and she'll probably be ahead of the game vs being held back in her current class. JMO.

 

ETA: Another way to evaluate what's happening in the class is to ask for the course syllabus, if you don't have it already, and see if this algebra 2 review is built into that, or if extra time is being taken because the other students aren't well prepared. If it's just part of the class and the whole pre-calculus course will be covered, then it may be okay, but if this review is taking time away from the usual topics, then I'd definitely want to drop the class.[/quote']

 

Very good advice. Thank you!

 

The course syllabus is very generic...not at all helpful.

We do have the cheap Chalkdust DVDs for Precalculus, so I think I'll try to integrate these into the course for now.

 

Thanks so much for answering!

[moki4]

Our dd spends 1.5-2h 5-6 d per week (minimum) and she uses mcdougal-littel (chalkdust book). She spends 30 min taking notes, and then completes the work. She just checks with her tutor once per week to ensure all is going well. Gosh, I think your suspicions are warranted. Pre- calc is advanced and at the least should be reviewed daily. Did you say which online program? I was speaking w a high school math teacher last week who basically said "there really isn't such thing as precalculus". She further explained that it's a lot of review before calc. I don't really know if this is correct, but could it be that pre-calc isn't standardized?

[nynyny]

Our dd spends 1.5-2h 5-6 d per week (minimum) and she uses mcdougal-littel (chalkdust book). She spends 30 min taking notes, and then completes the work. She just checks with her tutor once per week to ensure all is going well. Gosh, I think your suspicions are warranted. Pre- calc is advanced and at the least should be reviewed daily. Did you say which online program? I was speaking w a high school math teacher last week who basically said "there really isn't such thing as precalculus". She further explained that it's a lot of review before calc. I don't really know if this is correct, but could it be that pre-calc isn't standardized?

 

Yes, I think there is a lot of variation for precalc. In the past years I could easily check our progress on many NYS sites for algebra, geometry and algebra 2. Each year I felt confident we were usually ahead of the game with the Chalkdust curriculum.

 

I thought I'd try a live class for Precalc, but think I've made a mistake when I see how much time your daughter is spending each day with Chalkdust.

 

Thanks for your perspective. I appreciate it!

[Amy1k]

I have a my son's high school pre-cal book in front of me right now. I can tell you the chapters, but that's all I've got. His counsellor told me it is the absolute most difficult math class they offer at the high school he attends. He'll chose between AP Statistics and AP Calculus for his junior year. All of these classes are way above MY head. ;)

[nynyny]

Thanks Amy

I sent you a pm