elegantlion Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Any advice on doing these two maths concurrently? Ds is considering doubling up next year (10th) so he can study Pre-Calc in 11th and Calculus in 12th. Our current thinking (as of this morning) is to schedule two credits of math and if it becomes too much bump down to one credit and rotate them, taking two years to complete both. Any tips or trick, words of advice if you have taken that route? The current plan is to use what I already own which is either Discovering Geometry or a 1985 Jurgensen Geometry text, and Lials Intermediate Algebra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 My dd plans to double up next year too. Our plan is to start Geometry over the summer and then spend four days on Algebra II and two days on Geometry through the year (planning to finish both credits over the following summer as needed.) The current plan is to use Chalkdust for Algebra II and Life of Fred for Geometry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 My daughter did this but over two years. She used ChalkDust for both and alternated chapters. One of them (I've forgotten which) has two more chapters than the other, so she began and ended with that one. It worked very well, and her retention has been excellent. I don't know why more people don't do this. I realize you are talking about one year, but still--it worked very well for us. Terri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 There are basically two ways to do two math credits in one year: actually concurrently, or consecutively. It will depend on your student's preferences whether he first finishes one and then the other or tackles both simultaneously - or staggers the beginning so that they overlap only for part of the school year. My DD did the partly-overlapping thing, and she worked on math over the summer. Either way, you are right, you must schedule enough time for two credits. Oh, and there is no law that you must complete a math course within the school year! If it is too much, you can finish out a course in the fall and start the next one a few weeks into the school year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 DS did this last year. He started with AoPS Geometry, quite an adjustment for him at first (from Saxon). Mid year, when he was a faster with AoPS he added in Alg 2 mostly with Khan Academy and eventually adding in Holt Alg 2 and the last half of AoPS Intro to Alg. He kept working on it through the summer in order to be ready for Precalc by the time ps started as he wanted to take precalc honors at the high school (a co-req for taking AP Physics). So he did the staggered concurrent approach. He was doubling up on math for only part of the year but it still involved some long hours on math. Younger son hoped to do the same thing this year, but he is having a hard time fitting in the Alg 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 There are basically two ways to do two math credits in one year: actually concurrently, or consecutively. It will depend on your student's preferences whether he first finishes one and then the other or tackles both simultaneously - or staggers the beginning so that they overlap only for part of the school year. My DD did the partly-overlapping thing, and she worked on math over the summer. Either way, you are right, you must schedule enough time for two credits. Oh, and there is no law that you must complete a math course within the school year! If it is too much, you can finish out a course in the fall and start the next one a few weeks into the school year. I would add one other comment, not because I have followed this path, but because I am on my third high school student. Make sure the Algebra I is solid before you start with the two maths concurrently. Also, I no longer believe in summer break for a subject like math. It is incredibly inefficient. If you move straight from Algebra I into Geometry and Algebra II, you will eliminate some, if not most of the review work that is covered in the beginning of both courses. This will cut down on some of the time you need. With that time savings and working through the summer, your son should be in a solid position to pick up that Pre-calculus class his junior year. Start throwing in a SAT practice question or two a day and you will be good as gold. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 Thank you all. He's finishing algebra I this year after a rough start last year *mumble*grumble*. We will be working into the summer anyway and I hope to go through the books myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I don't think he'll have any problems. Just make sure you don't over schedule with other classes; the poor boy only has so many hours in a day! (This is where I would get into trouble.) Got to have English, a science, a history, a language, a math...wait, two of those. That's about a 9-10 hour day right there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 I don't think he'll have any problems. Just make sure you don't over schedule with other classes; the poor boy only has so many hours in a day! (This is where I would get into trouble.) Got to have English, a science, a history, a language, a math...wait, two of those. That's about a 9-10 hour day right there. We do more of a block schedule, so it's about 5-6 hours a day. Hopefully, by next year he'll be able to tolerate 6 as the average. I've also scaled back my history plans to allow more time for science and math. In lieu of that I could strap him to the chair until the work is done....kidding....;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lolly Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 We do more of a block schedule, so it's about 5-6 hours a day. Hopefully, by next year he'll be able to tolerate 6 as the average. I've also scaled back my history plans to allow more time for science and math. In lieu of that I could strap him to the chair until the work is done....kidding.... ;) I've heard duct tape works well. Haven't been brave enough to try it. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 I've heard duct tape works well. Haven't been brave enough to try it. :D We could buy some in our school colors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 I did this in HS public school -- took Algebra II during the school year and Geometry during the summer. Honestly, I think I'd have been bored in Geometry so I'm really glad I took it in the summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 If you are under an umbrella program you may want to check their policies. Our umbrella does not allow math courses to be taken simultaneously. Well, at least they can't be reported as being taken simultaneously. We would have to list one for the school year and the other as a summer course. It's the same with science. fwiw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 If you are under an umbrella program you may want to check their policies. Our umbrella does not allow math courses to be taken simultaneously. Well, at least they can't be reported as being taken simultaneously. We would have to list one for the school year and the other as a summer course. It's the same with science. fwiw. No, we are not using an umbrella program, but thanks for the caution in case others are considering this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 My ds is doing this right now. He actually did a simpler geometry class last year, but I wanted him to be more solid in it, so he is going through it again this year with a harder text, and doing Alg 2 simultaneously. Seems to be working fine so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeffandjenplus10 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our oldest is doing Algebra 1 and Geometry this year. It worked well to do it consecutively (not concurrently). We have found with our older children that a more intensive study for a shorter period of time works much better than spreading it out all year long. So, we just have them squeeze ONE class into ONE half of the year (or less) which then gives them the ability to do something new after Christmas break. If you think about it, we all tend to like to learn in chunks like this rather than a little bit of everything all year long. Plus, if you don't finish up the second math right away, you can just continue through the summer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 We went with consecutive instead of concurrent too. Ds is finishing Geometry in the next week or two and will then start Algebra 2. He will probably finish Algebra 2 in June, working 2-3 hours/day. We find it easier to concentrate longer on one thing, than to have too many things going at the same time. That is just my family though. Yours could be the opposite. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Our oldest is doing Algebra 1 and Geometry this year. It worked well to do it consecutively (not concurrently). We have found with our older children that a more intensive study for a shorter period of time works much better than spreading it out all year long. So, we just have them squeeze ONE class into ONE half of the year (or less) which then gives them the ability to do something new after Christmas break. If you think about it, we all tend to like to learn in chunks like this rather than a little bit of everything all year long. Plus, if you don't finish up the second math right away, you can just continue through the summer! I would disagree. I do prefer to learn in shorter, smaller chunks myself, but none of my children like to learn this way. They prefer to work on more subjects over a longer period of time. The couple of times I have suggested we move to a block system, doing three or four subjects in the fall and three or four in the spring, I have been met with complete resistance. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I would disagree. I do prefer to learn in shorter, smaller chunks myself, but none of my children like to learn this way. They prefer to work on more subjects over a longer period of time. The couple of times I have suggested we move to a block system, doing three or four subjects in the fall and three or four in the spring, I have been met with complete resistance. :) A perfect example of know your own family! My family has loved going to block system this year and everyone agrees they want to stick with it. My kids get very overwhelmed by hearing they have 7 or 8 things to do. If they have just a few things that they can focus on and spend time making excellent, they feel much better and do better work too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.