MAIMOM Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I am wondering if there is someone out there that has a plan of study for the year? I am struggling to know how much to be covered each week. How much is too much? My daughter is a bright 10th grader. The biggest issue we are facing is getting away from the training the PS has done in "learn it this way for the test". I have told her we are going for mastery not just to do well on a test. Any advice would be appreciated.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I am struggling to know how much to be covered each week. How much is too much? ...I have told her we are going for mastery not just to do well on a test. I do not know Chalkdust, but you have just given your own answer: progress at whatever pace is appropriate for your student to achieve mastery. I do not find schedules helpful for math; if a concept is not mastered, it makes no sense to progress to the next topic to stay on schedule. If the student grasps the material quickly, it makes no sense to dwell on it because it was scheduled this way. As a rule of thumb, have your student work 60-90 minutes on math every day. Less than one hour is not enough; more than 2 hours will cause issues with concentration in most students and not lead to quality work - even if the student is "behind schedule". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 We did it based on time - 90 minutes per day on math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAIMOM Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Thanks for the input. I had not thought about a certain amount of time spent on math. That is measurable for my achiever also. Great solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 And remember when you're scheduling....this is a three semester class. Myra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 And remember when you're scheduling....this is a three semester class.Myra Why?:confused: In the course outline, there is nothing that is beyond the scope of a normal precalculus course - which usually takes one year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 (edited) That was Dana Mosley's recommenation when I used Lial's Precalc with his chalkdust dvds with my eldest son 5 years ago. I am following the 3 semester plan with my youngest son this year and it's working out great. We're in the final semester. Myra Edited October 13, 2012 by Myra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 My two oldest found CD's Precalc to be their most challenging, time consuming course. They are both pretty bright math students, but they each took a bit more than a year to finish. Oldest could have taken less time but I had a baby and twin toddlers at the time and didn't have as much time to go over corrections with him as I would have liked. I agree with Mr. Moseley that CD Precalc should be a 3-semester course for the majority of students. Naturally some will breeze through it, but I've seen that it is really, really important to master trig, advanced algebra, series, and analytic geometry before Calculus. Any extra time spent on these topics in Precalc will save a lot of time and frustration in calculus. Both of my two oldest thought CD Calculus was much easier than Precalc. Ds did the first 1/2 of the Calc book and took the Calc AB AP exam. Dd did the 2nd half of the book and took the Calc BC AP exam. They have both gone on the supplement their main college majors with a math major, and are doing very well in their college math courses. One caveat - dd is taking differential equations now. Since it's been several years since she took CD Precalc, she has had to review her trig. Trig is really, really important. Don't breeze through it. HTH, GardenMom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janice in NJ Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Hope this helps. Most lessons are either 1 or 2 days, so you can just jot down the date. If you add grades, you can just use the sheet as your plan book and your grade book. Easy-peasy record keeping. It's how we do it here. I try to schedule things so that it meshes well with our year plan (tests before breaks, etc.) That's why I set things up with the first few chapters done during either the summer or during the prior year. Peace, Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey P.S. Forgot to erase it - as you can see, my DD got a 94% on the test for chapter 1. :001_smile: Chalkdust PreCalculus Schedule 2.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAIMOM Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Why?:confused: In the course outline, there is nothing that is beyond the scope of a normal precalculus course - which usually takes one year. Ok...I guess the main problem is me? My daughter does the work but when I get the book to correct it I feel like it is Greek. She took the chapter 1 test and her answers were similar but not exactly like the book had them. It left me wondering how to grade it. I tell you this has caused me so much worry and frustration. I feel completely incompetent in this area....I hate to feel incompetent. A tutor will cost us $45 an hour. I do not think she needs a tutor...I need someone to correct the work for me but $45 is just out of my price range. Do your kids write it exactly as in the book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Ok...I guess the main problem is me? My daughter does the work but when I get the book to correct it I feel like it is Greek. She took the chapter 1 test and her answers were similar but not exactly like the book had them. It left me wondering how to grade it. I tell you this has caused me so much worry and frustration. I feel completely incompetent in this area....I hate to feel incompetent. A tutor will cost us $45 an hour. I do not think she needs a tutor...I need someone to correct the work for me but $45 is just out of my price range. Do your kids write it exactly as in the book? I am sorry to say this, but you really need to find someone who knows the subject to correct her work. For example, if the correct solution to something is (x-3)/(5-x), there is no way a student should be marked down for writing (3-x)/(x-5). However, they *should* be marked down for writing (x-3)/(x-5) because that would be something different. This will become more important as your student moves into problems where there is legitimately more than one correct answer. Do you know any engineers/mathematicians/physicists/technical people whom you could perhaps pay other than cash? I know I graded all the exams for a class my friend was teaching in return for two dozen homebaked cookies, during graduate school. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAIMOM Posted October 17, 2012 Author Share Posted October 17, 2012 Do you know any engineers/mathematicians/physicists/technical people whom you could perhaps pay other than cash? I know I graded all the exams for a class my friend was teaching in return for two dozen homebaked cookies, during graduate school. :P I would love to find someone to grade her work. I feel that would be best too. At this point my DH is encouraging me to wait on math. My DD has 3 math credits already and is a Sophomore. She has 3 years to get another math for graduation. DH suggests waiting and letting her take math dual enrollment next year (has to be 16 in our state). We will be moving so she may elect to go back to PS. My concern is that she will suffer by taking a year off math. Is it a bad idea to skip a year? Is it like a foreign language where you forget it? If we decide to go this route (waiting for her to take it a CC or in Ps if she goes back next year) is there any way for her to keep her math skills sharp until next year? In the PS here they do a year long course like Pre Cal in one semester. My Dd suggested putting it off until next semester when she will not have the time commitment of marching band. That causes me another concern...is a semester enough time to master this subject? Plus, we will still have the same problem of me not being able to correct her work. Do you think its a bad idea to skip math this year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 My concern is that she will suffer by taking a year off math. Is it a bad idea to skip a year? Is it like a foreign language where you forget it? If we decide to go this route (waiting for her to take it a CC or in Ps if she goes back next year) is there any way for her to keep her math skills sharp until next year? In the PS here they do a year long course like Pre Cal in one semester. My Dd suggested putting it off until next semester when she will not have the time commitment of marching band. That causes me another concern...is a semester enough time to master this subject? Plus, we will still have the same problem of me not being able to correct her work. Do you think its a bad idea to skip math this year? I think that would be a really, really bad idea. Skills move backwards so easily in math. Would it be possible for you to just move slowly forward and pay for a detailed marking of the chapter test only? If you did that, you'd be identifying any gaps as you moved, and paying for a marking session about once a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest foreverlearning Posted February 25, 2013 Share Posted February 25, 2013 Hi Janice, you had posted an attachment for the Chalkdust PreCalculus Schedule, but I was not able to access it. Do you still have it and, if so, would you be willing to send it to me? Thanks, Sue G. Hope this helps. Most lessons are either 1 or 2 days, so you can just jot down the date. If you add grades, you can just use the sheet as your plan book and your grade book. Easy-peasy record keeping. It's how we do it here. I try to schedule things so that it meshes well with our year plan (tests before breaks, etc.) That's why I set things up with the first few chapters done during either the summer or during the prior year. Peace, Janice Enjoy your little people Enjoy your journey P.S. Forgot to erase it - as you can see, my DD got a 94% on the test for chapter 1. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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