math moms- Is this a good choice for Geometry

[choirfarm]

I went to the curriculum store in the nearby town ( well an hour away). I looked at and bought a used BJU Geometry text for 50 bucks. For that 50 dollars I got the student text, 2 teacher texts, test/ quiz book, test/quiz answer key. If for some reason, the hive thinks this is an awful choice, I will just sell it back and recoup my money. That seemed like a good price for all of that.

Ok. What I like about BJU- The concepts seem to be in a logical progression. The text is simple and not nearly as confusing as the HEATH text is. It is much simpler. He hasn’t seen it, but this seems MUCH easier to read on your own than the Heath. I still might teach the material first. A lot of this book will be review. That said, I’m sure it will show me where his holes are. The teacher’s edition is very helpful. It has tips and common areas where students get confused. I will not need the videos. Very simple.

Cons- One of the reasons I have avoided any BJU products like the plague is the sledgehammer presentation of Christianity. I am a strong Christian, but the Geometry and Scripture section in each chapter is really stretching it. Do we really need to prove that Geometry can be found in the Bible? My son is going to roll his eyes at the heavy-handedness.

The main concern I have, which may not be a concern is how much lighter it is than Chalkdust. I learned (by studying the BJU book) that analytical geometry is the intersection of algebra and Geometry. The BJU book has one small section in each chapter. That’s it. The Heath book is FILLED with tons of analytical Geometry in every chapter. In the BJU book it has and A section for practice that are easy (much like the check for understanding in the Heath book), B that are harder and then a few C that are meant to be challenging. The majority of the Heath book contains the C like problems.

I guess my goals for my son are these: For us to survive Geometry without killing each other, for him to have a good grasp of the basics of Geometry, to do well on the Geometry section of standardized tests.

Here is a comparison of one chapter of the Chalkdust Heath book with what is in BJU. I would love any comments from you mathy moms.

3.1

Parallel, Perpendicular, and Oblique lines

Theorem: Transitivity of Parallel Lines

Theorem: Property of Perpendicular lines

Some of this is in BJU chapter 2

3.2

Solving systems of linear equations

Finding an equation of a line ( slope intercept form)) – sometimes given points and writing equations, sometimes given equations and writing points, determining whether lines are parallel and perpendicular from the equation or given points and having to write equation to determine that

WOW. Difference in BJU is striking. On in the middle of chapter 4 it explains what slope is and then has 4 problems with points to find the slope and then 2 graphs to write the explanation.. Chapter 6 has an analytical section on finding the equation of the line passing through a point and having a slope and then 5 problems to practice. Another one in chapter 13 where it just talks about how to tell if a line is perpendicular to the line by using the slope.

3.3

Contrapositives

Laws of Logic ( BJU has an entire chapter on Preparing for proofs. Chalkdust seems to piecemeal it. Conditional statements are in 2.4, contrapositives here, syles of proof in 3.4. BJU covers all of this in their chapter 5)

3.4

Styles of Proofs: paragraph, flow and two-column - Having to write each style BJU- chapter 5. BUT only 2 column proofs are used. No mention of flow and two column in the entire book.

3.5 Properties of Parallel Lines

Angles formed by transversals: corresponding, alternate interior, alternate exterior, and consecutive interior as well as all the theorems that go with them. BJU 6.4

3.6 Proving Lines are Parallel Converse of above theorems, constructing parallel

The proof information is in 6.4, but there is no construction.

3.7 Vectors

Writing a vector as an ordered pair, sum of vectors, dot product of vectors

One sentence explaining what they are and how some people confuse them with rays and that they won’t be covered in this course.

[choirfarm]

Cons- One of the reasons I have avoided any BJU products like the plague is the sledgehammer presentation of Christianity. I am a strong Christian, but the Geometry and Scripture section in each chapter is really stretching it. Do we really need to prove that Geometry can be found in the Bible? My son is going to roll his eyes at the heavy-handedness.

 

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Grin.. he just looked at the book and was really rolling his eyes. MOM, there is a scripture on every page! I don't really think that God has anything to do with Geometry!!! Now the dude down below ( with hands as horns on his head) may! :lol:

After I stopped laughing, I said. Now God is a God of order and this is our way of making sense of the way he did it. He said, "Yes, I know that, MOM."

 

He is so much like me in many ways. Sometimes I think people try to hard to see God in 2 + 4. He is everywhere. I don't know how to explain it, but it just rubs me the wrong way.... It is like God is looking down and saying, " You are trying WAY too hard. Just enjoy my creation!"

Edited December 23, 2011 by choirfarm

[ccm]

My daughter used some of the BJU textbooks through high school and last year she used the Geometry textbook. I don't have the book in front of me, but I don't remember a scripture or mention of God on every page, just at the beginning and end of each chapter. It could be skipped fairly easily, if desired. But I know what you mean...;)

 

The BJU Geometry book was a good fit for my daughter. We used the DVD instruction along with the text which helped a lot. I'm glad we have Geometry over and done.

[higginszoo]

I remember a time way back when where BJU was one of the gold standards of homeschool math. I don't think that they've slackened off their program any, so I think that you should be fine.

[choirfarm]

I remember a time way back when where BJU was one of the gold standards of homeschool math. I don't think that they've slackened off their program any, so I think that you should be fine.

 

Thanks. I think we will be ok, but would like any other thoughts.

[choirfarm]

My daughter used some of the BJU textbooks through high school and last year she used the Geometry textbook. I don't have the book in front of me, but I don't remember a scripture or mention of God on every page, just at the beginning and end of each chapter. It could be skipped fairly easily, if desired. But I know what you mean...;)

 

Well there are two long scriptures in the intro. 1.3 "Likewise, there is a starting place fo Christian doctrine. There are certain things that the believer mucst accept as truth although he may not fully understnd them.... then it goes into Bible inerrancy and Jesus' blood as salvation.

 

1.5 "Our sysemt must be consistent. God demants consistency:we are not to be hypocrits.... 2 LONG paragraphs...

 

2 pages on Euclid with thoughts on how Christians or the Bible would clarify his beliefs.

 

2 pages of Geometry and Scripture with exercises with tons of scriptures and how they apply.

 

I just wanted to put this down in case someone is searching BJU geometry. It won't keep us from using it, but it is quite pervasive.

[Lolly]

Dd used it last year. It is a good solid program. You stop noticing the scripture references very quickly. :001_smile:

[Susan C.]

You can skip the Bible references. We did the dvd program and it was perfect, not too hard, not too easy. We did not do all of the problems. We rarely did any C level, and on the harder lessons, were only assigned A problems. Proofs on tests were similar to the ones we studied, no surprises. And you don't have to do all of the proof, there were some steps filled in, and one point each for each step and theorum/postulate filled in. Our tests were not the test packet, they came with the dvds.

 

After trying Chalkdust, I felt that BJU had a good grasp on what level of geometry was reasonable for a teen.

[choirfarm]

You can skip the Bible references. We did the dvd program and it was perfect, not too hard, not too easy. We did not do all of the problems. We rarely did any C level, and on the harder lessons, were only assigned A problems. Proofs on tests were similar to the ones we studied, no surprises. And you don't have to do all of the proof, there were some steps filled in, and one point each for each step and theorum/postulate filled in. Our tests were not the test packet, they came with the dvds.

 

After trying Chalkdust, I felt that BJU had a good grasp on what level of geometry was reasonable for a teen.

 

Thanks. I had no idea about how hard the Chalkdust Geometry was. To be honest, my oldest just did it himself and I graded it. If he did a proof differently, but I understood what he did, I gave him credit. He made an A and finished it by March of that year. He did it all himself. So when I tried to teach my middle one, I was just floored by how hard it was...

Edited December 27, 2011 by choirfarm

[bugs]

Sometimes I think people try to hard to see God in 2 + 4. He is everywhere. I don't know how to explain it, but it just rubs me the wrong way.... It is like God is looking down and saying, " You are trying WAY too hard. Just enjoy my creation!"

 

THis is how I feel about the Scripture part in this Geometry. I let her read it if she wants but I don't focus on this.

 

I bought this program almost exactly as you did. It's been 30+ years since I took Geometry so I can't remember everything. It does seem as though the book goes into a lot of details on definitions, and then the proofs (dd just finished ch. 4 so she's not too involved yet) tend to be quite intricate. But like I said, it has been forever, so I can't remember all the nitpicky particulars I had to provide on proofs.

 

I really hadn't looked at too many other programs so I can't compare. My daughter is average mathy kid and she's squeeking by with a B average.

[Susan C.]

Thanks. I had no idea about how hard the Chalkdust Geometry was. To be honest, my oldest just did it himself and I graded it. If he did a proof differently, but I understood what he did, I gave him credit. He made an A and finished it by March of that year. He did it all himself. So when I tried to teach my middle one, I was just floored by how hard it was...

 

Same thing happened to us, I owned it from ds. What is funny, ds didn't have much trouble doing Chalkdust, but he isn't math/science type. CD about killed dd (and me).

[Chris in PA]

I have looked at this for my ds next year. My fear of using BJU upper level math is the lack of a solutions manual. Are there solutions to the problems in the TM or just answers?

 

Thanks for the help!

[Susan C.]

I have looked at this for my ds next year. My fear of using BJU upper level math is the lack of a solutions manual. Are there solutions to the problems in the TM or just answers?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

There are solutions in the teacher's manual.

[Chris in PA]

There are solutions in the teacher's manual.

 

Thanks!

[krstbrwn]

We are using Chalkdust Geometry. This is my third child and the third textbook I've used :). I must say, I LOVE this textbook compared to the other two I've used. It does the best job of explaining the concepts and gives excellent practice in cementing them. It also incorporates Algebra 1 concepts so they are not forgotten. We have Dana Moseley's CD's to accompany the textbook, and if my son has a hard time grasping the concept we watch him to reenforce it. We don't have to watch the DVD very often, but this may be because this is my third time through with Geometry. I ought to have a pretty good grasp on it by now!

[Lolly]

I have looked at this for my ds next year. My fear of using BJU upper level math is the lack of a solutions manual. Are there solutions to the problems in the TM or just answers?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

There are solutions, but you have to keep in mind that there may be more than one correct way to arrive at a solution. I find that is the worst problem for upper level maths; there may be multiple ways to arrive at the answer!

[Melissa in CA]

After attempting Chalkdust Algebra with an average math student, I decided CD just moves too quickly for us. Each DVD lesson is packed with info, and my ds started to struggle mightily. I loved the instruction, how Mosley explained things, but too fast is just too fast. We then tried Lials but the pages were visually overwhelming with too many concepts/examples per lesson and ds began to panic (somewhat similar to CD). BJU Alg 1 has been a MUCH BETTER fit. No panic, just comprehension. I have every intention of moving him right in to BJU's Geometry next year.

 

I know here on the boards there is such an atmosphere of raising the bar for high school students by using college-y texts. The peer pressure can seem overwhelming in that regard, and we can feel like we are not giving our student a good education unless they are using the "best" (whatever THAT may be). But not every student needs to use a college-type Algebra or Geometry. What we need to do as parents is make sure we are giving our student a text they can grasp and understand. One that challenges them, but doesn't overwhelm them. For some that will be Chalkdust or lials, but others will thrive on BJU, Saxon, or the like.

 

Anyhow, like someone else mentioned, BJU has always been a solid high school curriculum. It's a high school curriculum though, not college. It is written to prepare a high school student for college, and I personally believe it does that nicely.

 

So all that to say, I wouldn't fret. :) BJU is a good curriculum, and as long as it's able to speak to your student, it will be a great choice. ;)

[bearnpurple]

I purchase a very similar set of BJU Geometry for my ds. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to buy/lease DVDs. Do you think this will be doable for my ds who is a struggler in math? Another type of videos we can use for this program?

 

We used Lial's for Algebra I and he did B average. I looked at Jacob's but it seems a bit much for him plus a bit costly.

 

I like the fact that BJU has 3 different tracts and you pick the tract that fits them best. BUT if we need to change curriculum, I would consider it.....I have heard MUS is good but not sure if Mr. Demme's methods are understandable starting in high school if we didn't use his previous materials....

 

Thanks for any input!