Jacobs Algebra

[Yolanda in Mass]

Hello all,

 

I have used Jacobs with 2 kids now and I fail to see why this is so highly regarded. My engineer husband taught my older son 3 years ago, while I am teaching our younger son now. Since I have forgotten all the algebra my transcript says I had, I am learning this material rather than just reviewing. I read the material and do all the work that I will then assign to my son. Any questions are answered by my husband prior to teaching my son. Basically I create a solutions manual for my son since there is none for this book. My problem with this book is that it's like a collection of examples with insufficient explanations. Without my husband, there is no way I could learn the material in this book. I have used other texts at times for clarification that was nonexistent in Jacobs. And don't get me started on the stories and examples he uses to introduce concepts - oy, vey; I want to yell at the book, "Get to the point!".

 

All this to say that I keep reading all these accolades about Jacobs and I keep asking myself, why? Clearly there is some fine subtlety to this book that completely escapes me.

 

Sorry to go on so long. Let me say, the BC and Peanuts cartoons in the book are great!

 

TIA,

 

Yolanda

[frogpond1]

a better book for those who don't need a solutions manual and aren't having to learn it themselves. For me it makes perfect sense, but different people have different needs. That said, perhaps Dr. Callahan's DVDs would help since he just released them this year. http://www.askdrcallahan.com

 

I think the approach is quite straightforward and I like the review, multiple test forms per chapter and the review vocabulary at the end of each chapter.

 

The thing with teaching is that the curriculum has to work well with the teacher to really work well. I think the teacher is more important than the curriculum and the two need to really flow together. What works really well for me doesn't work at all with my friends often times. That is the danger of just using the boards to help you choose curriculum. Hope you find one that works better for you.

[Lori D.]

We've used both Jacobs Algebra and Jacobs Geometry with no problems and in fact quite enjoyed both. Perhaps Jacobs fits our learning style well?But for a more straightforward approach with every problem worked on the DVD, what about Teaching Textbook?

 

See it at: http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

 

A friend successfully used Video Text Algebra with her high school boys, which also has a video/DVD lesson component. See it at: http://www.videotext.com/

 

BEST of luck finding what works for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

[langfam]

We didn't like Jacob's either. Not our style. Wish we had used Foerster's this year.

[EKS]

My son and I really like Jacobs (we are almost finished with it). The stories in the beginning of the lessons are fun and sometimes quite interesting. People are always saying that he is wordy but I find the lessons to be short and to the point; the bulk of the learning is in the problem sets. I like that he actually extends the lessons in the problem sets and that he has created the problem sets so that the student can see a pattern or differences between similar looking problems. I like the review sets and that instead of just reviewing the material that over time they actually get more complicated and even use material just learned in a novel way.

[Yolanda in Mass]

The thing with teaching is that the curriculum has to work well with the teacher to really work well. I think the teacher is more important than the curriculum and the two need to really flow together. What works really well for me doesn't work at all with my friends often times. That is the danger of just using the boards to help you choose curriculum. Hope you find one that works better for you.

You would think I would have learned that by now! Very good point. Thanks so much. We'll trudge through the remaining 4 chapters of Jacobs and chalk it up to experience. I think homeschooling was a lot easier without the Internet.

 

Yolanda