heidip2p Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Our dd is in 8th grade and week 11 of MUS Algebra 1. Every single day I am spending hours trying to understand the concepts myself and then teach them to her. We had tried Teaching Textbooks which I loved for ease of teaching but she much prefers MUS. I am not a mathy person but even I can understand after watching the dvd. It's like I think she gets it and then the next day she misses all the same stuff all over again. I have her look through her notes, rewatch the dvd, walk through problems. It's just not working. She doesn't have to do Algebra 1 this year. Do I put it aside for now and use something like the Key to series to reinforce concepts that she is weak in? I just go in my laudnry room and cry because I don't know how to help her. This is just so frustrating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Is she on the right level of MUS? (Did she do Pre-Algebra MUS first? If not, did she place into it on their placement test?) :bigear: :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted October 24, 2012 Author Share Posted October 24, 2012 Is she on the right level of MUS? (Did she do Pre-Algebra MUS first? If not, did she place into it on their placement test?) :bigear: :lurk5: She did MUS Pre A and did fine. An occasional bump in the road but overall she did fine. I was actually amazed how well she died. This year however.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 One idea would be to contact MUS. They are great with customer support. They might have some suggestions. Another idea would be to just set Algebra aside for a month or so and focus on remediating some skills. Are there skills she's not solid on? If you didn't use the test booklet for Pre-Alg. could you go back and do some of those? Or try Math Mammoth for specific skill based workbooks based on what she needs. Sometimes hearing it explained a different way helps. Sometimes I use this site to help me explain concepts. Someone told me a funny "test" to see if kids are ready for algebra. If they don't have armpit hair they are not ready for algebra.... maybe something to check! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennyradmer Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Mammoth math would be a great supplement to reinforce concepts while giving you both a break from Algebra. A lot of people love Kahn academy (free) for math explanation. Plan B: Do you have a homeschool friend that loves math and hates English? Barter. It may be worth it to get you out of the laundry room. :) Believe me, we have all been there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dereksurfs Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I recommend just stopping or slowing down big time in the area she is having trouble. Then use supplimental materials to gain a new, fresh perspective. Algebra is one subject in which spending extra time is really important when and where needed. Khan Academy is a great place for this. My son is going through their linear equations Algebra section now to suppliment what he is learning in Pre-A with TabletClass. We started with MUS Pre-Algebra then moved to TabletClass Pre-A because I wanted something a bit more challenging for our son. Once we hit a bump in linear equations I found these suppliments to big help and he enjoyed hearing things from another angle. Khan Academy also has a question generator related to the lecture subject matter. Our ds11 really enjoys these. They even provide hints if they get stumped. Of course there are many other great algebra supplimentals out there. Maybe taking a different track entirely would be good for a time in something like Zaccaro's real world algebra or LOF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Up to week 11 is mostly graphing, right? I say step back, move to solving for X/linear equations, and throw in something like Hands On Equations to better teach the rules of the 'game'. Come back to the graphing portion later when she has a better grasp on thinking abstractly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoppeltGemoppelt Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I would slow down a bit. Let her watch the videos on Crewton Ramone and Education Unboxed. I agree with a PP to maybe have another homeschooling mom or a local highschooler do a little math with her, someone else's perspective can sometimes be a real eye-opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tita Gidge Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 Thanks for the recommendation for Crewton Ramone and Education Unboxed - I'm going to look into those for my own Algebra student. What we've done is take a break from MUS. The mental drain was just too much, and not getting any of us anywhere. We're doing a few months of the Key To series books - not just the Algebra component but also the Metric Measurements component just for a breather. We've had to break up MUS with the Key To series a few times over the years just to let the kid get back some mental space w/o the frustrations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 It looks like you've solved this; but just wanted to second Robyn's advice above to contact MUS if you continue to have problems. They've been very helpful to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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