Kfamily Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 I see it used a lot with younger students, but it looks like it has some levels which would work well with at least the beginning years of high school. My older dd is about to start Algebra I and I had planned on adding in some Geometry lab type work to her year as well. (I have Patty Paper and Geometry Labs for this.) Do you think this is a good plan? She would actually prefer for her math to be integrated, but I'm not very confident that I could manage this. We're already looking at integrating some of her science years. This is already a lot for me to handle. Working through Algebra I and Geometry labs was my way of giving her some differences in topics for the year. I also would like to work on her problem solving skills. She lacks confidence with these. I had an idea of printing a packet of word problems which began fairly easily and then gradually (slowly) increased in difficulty. I wanted to have her solve the problem (and check with me for the correct answer) and then spend the rest of the week working out different ways to solve it. I thought I would have her present the problem to me on Friday. She would teach it to me and offer any alternative methods for reaching the same answer. I don't know...what do you think of this idea? I had considered MEP as a possible way to offer her some integrated math, but wanted to gather some feedback from here from anyone who might have used it at this level. I'm just gathering information about MEP right now, so I haven't made any changes with our plans yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 We used portions of MEP GCSE levels last year. I didn't dislike it, but the format was tedious. It takes time to print the right materials to go with a unit. There is the text, the practice books, the lesson plans, activities, etc, etc. It took me a few tries to figure what was necessary and what we could skip for ds. Then the teaching was brief and ds didn't really understand the concepts introduced (this is an issue we're having with Singapore's Discovering Mathematics too). So, it ended up being a lot of front end work and I ended up frustrated by the time we got to the teaching, your patience level may be higher than mine, which wouldn't be hard. :glare: Ds doesn't seem to respond to regular textbooks and I wanted to do the integrated math approach too. We floundered with regular texts last year, switched to Singapore this year, and the teaching in that is brief as well. The TE doesn't give a lot of helps. My challenge is that I'm trying to get to a point where ds can read the teaching and examples and learn proper terminology and not rely on my help so much. I'm still there and do help, but I want him to grasp some of the discovery. More information than you asked for, yet I'm reworking our math program again. I like the explanation in CK12 algebra. I'm having ds read that and then we are using some worksheets from yourteacher.com, and I may go back to MEP and pull some worksheets too. The CK12 provides more explanations and ds can read on his own and for the last two weeks that seems to be working. I downloaded the Geometry, but haven't looked at it yet. I MAY use the Singapore's integrated schedule to mix up the algebra and geometry topics. I had forgotten about MEP again, I may look at how I can use part of it with CK12. Sorry, writing all this out kind of helps me. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 Oh Paula, our two seem to have a lot in common!? I need to look up CK12. I'm thinking I should probably stick with our plan. It is so tempting to think about integrating math, but I might just work on her problem solving skills, use our Algebra 1 text (Jacobs), add Geometry lab work and other supplements as needed. I'd like to work on her SAT math skills and science related math skills too. This is certainly a lot. I would expect us to work on some of this next year too. It is so overwhelming sometimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 We used portions of MEP GCSE levels last year. I didn't dislike it, but the format was tedious. It takes time to print the right materials to go with a unit. There is the text, the practice books, the lesson plans, activities, etc, etc. It took me a few tries to figure what was necessary and what we could skip for ds. Then the teaching was brief and ds didn't really understand the concepts introduced (this is an issue we're having with Singapore's Discovering Mathematics too). So, it ended up being a lot of front end work and I ended up frustrated by the time we got to the teaching, your patience level may be higher than mine, which wouldn't be hard. :glare: Ds doesn't seem to respond to regular textbooks and I wanted to do the integrated math approach too. We floundered with regular texts last year, switched to Singapore this year, and the teaching in that is brief as well. The TE doesn't give a lot of helps. My challenge is that I'm trying to get to a point where ds can read the teaching and examples and learn proper terminology and not rely on my help so much. I'm still there and do help, but I want him to grasp some of the discovery. More information than you asked for, yet I'm reworking our math program again. I like the explanation in CK12 algebra. I'm having ds read that and then we are using some worksheets from yourteacher.com, and I may go back to MEP and pull some worksheets too. The CK12 provides more explanations and ds can read on his own and for the last two weeks that seems to be working. I downloaded the Geometry, but haven't looked at it yet. I MAY use the Singapore's integrated schedule to mix up the algebra and geometry topics. I had forgotten about MEP again, I may look at how I can use part of it with CK12. Sorry, writing all this out kind of helps me. :lol: We had the same issue with Singapore DM. I switched Catherine to Foerster's and the fog cleared and all was good. She can work independantly and still get a good understanding from the text. Lots of worked through questions and a lot more practice then DM. Might be an option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald Stoker Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 UK maths is all integrated, so if you look at any curricula that say that they are for GCSE or IGCSE (the international version) then you will have an integrated maths curriculum that covers age 14-16. AS level covers age 16-17 and A2 level age 17-18. I've seen this book recommended by British home educators. If you are interested, I think I might be able to dig around and find the answer sheets for it. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thanks so much ladies. I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I have seen and downloaded the integrated math (NCERT) for years 9 and 10, but, as with any decision involving math:lol:, I'm not sure how confident I feel about going down our own roads in this particular subject. If you could believe it, I actually feel better about integrating science than I do math. I will take a look at all of this new information though, because I know my dd would like this. Laura, thank you for offering a possible answer key. I'll take a look at the links and the math you've suggested. (It doesn't hurt that it involves math from the UK. My dd seems very certain that she will live in England some day. She was even looking up dual citizenship yesterday. :001_smile:) If any of these math programs you've suggested look like they might work for us, I'll check back with you if that's okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thanks so much ladies. I really appreciate all of your suggestions. I have seen and downloaded the integrated math (NCERT) for years 9 and 10, but, as with any decision involving math:lol:, I'm not sure how confident I feel about going down our own roads in this particular subject. If you could believe it, I actually feel better about integrating science than I do math. You might want to download 7 and 8 as well. I was looking through 8 today and it begins algebra and geometry, and references some prior information in 7. I read through part of a chapter and I like the way it introduced the concept, in an intelligent manner with explanations of why a terminology is used, an example of what it isn't. I'm going to have ds read through it and see how he responds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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