Based on Faith Academy Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 There has got to be a math curriculum that gives good explanations. I am at my wits end with Abeka math this year. I can't help my son to understand a lot of it and to try to take the time to show him every problem is just about impossible. This is a child whose best and favorite subject was math up until this year. I don't know what happened with Abeka, but I can't believe they don't give explanations with the samples they give. Does anyone have a textbook that they would recommend using that gives details in math? I am even looking for something for Geometry and Algebra 2. Sorry for ranting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 My 17yo says that the very best explanations she has seen anywhere are in Kinetic Books. They only have Prealgebra, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II right now, but hopefully they will add in more levels. Lial's also has pretty good explanations, although they are not as good as Kinetic Books has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 We're using Art Of Problem Solving. They're difficult, but between the videos and the books they are quite good and teach very well. We've gotten into a pattern of every Friday doing the review/challenge from a previous chapter. It gives my kid a chance to see exactly how the math is building on itself. You also might want to look into something like Patty Paper Geometry, where the hands on combines with the higher math and gives them concrete proof of the abstract problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 in the meantime, can you find the explanations on Khan Academy for those Algebra topics? We have used that a few times for confusing "how-to" topics and found those to be very very good.for the high school level topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs.m Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 We use Saxon with DIVE CDs. I have a friend who has even contacted the DIVE instructor for help via email. I agree with using Khan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerenlynne Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 HSBC has a free subscription to YourTeacher.com through August 31 http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-freebies-curriculum/. You could give that a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Another option: The Teaching Company/Great Courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooler of 8 Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 I am the fifteen-year-old son of Homeschooler of 8. We use Professor B math. I love their Power Algebra, though they don't have a geometry course. I have finished Algebra 1 with hardly any help from Mom. Each lesson builds on what I learned in the last. It teaches logically, starting with the basics, and is easy to comprehend. Using it, a student masters a technique before he moves on to something else. If you are interested, you can visit the Professor B site at http://www.profb.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted April 24, 2013 Share Posted April 24, 2013 Jann in TX (a math teacher that posts on the high school board) has discussed this multiple times. She has explained that Abeka's high school math courses presume a teacher directly teaching the material. I would recommend looking at Foerster, Dolciani, or Lials. I have no experience with the latter 2. Foersters contains excellent explanations. (his texts are for algs and pre-cal/cal, but no geo). For geo I like the explanations in Geometry, by Daniel Alexander and Geralyn Koeberlein (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007) HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 My 17yo says that the very best explanations she has seen anywhere are in Kinetic Books. They only have Prealgebra, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II right now, but hopefully they will add in more levels. Lial's also has pretty good explanations, although they are not as good as Kinetic Books has. This looks great, but it doesn't come with a textbook right? Is it possible to pay for it and still use it for my daughter when she gets into Algebra? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 This looks great, but it doesn't come with a textbook right? Is it possible to pay for it and still use it for my daughter when she gets into Algebra? Hmm, that is 6-8 years away. A lot of things could change in that time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 in the meantime, can you find the explanations on Khan Academy for those Algebra topics? We have used that a few times for confusing "how-to" topics and found those to be very very good.for the high school level topics. Actually this is great!!! Is there somewhere on there that I am missing where it shows how to do word problems with Algebra? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 I am the fifteen-year-old son of Homeschooler of 8. We use Professor B math. I love their Power Algebra, though they don't have a geometry course. I have finished Algebra 1 with hardly any help from Mom. Each lesson builds on what I learned in the last. It teaches logically, starting with the basics, and is easy to comprehend. Using it, a student masters a technique before he moves on to something else. If you are interested, you can visit the Professor B site at http://www.profb.com. This sounds great but I can't find any sample pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 My math hating son (16yr) changed to enjoy math once we switched to Teaching textbooks. He says they explain things so he can understand. If he is still stumped he can view hints. So far he went from a borderline passing to making A's now. He even says math is one of his favorite subjects now. We did try AOPS before TT (I really liked AOPS) but the teaching method was different. They give you problems to wrestle through first, then explain the answers and better ways of working out the problems or common errors you make while solving the problems. They make you think in a math way which is great but if your child does not think in a math way naturally it is really hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 My math hating son (16yr) changed to enjoy math once we switched to Teaching textbooks. He says they explain things so he can understand. If he is still stumped he can view hints. So far he went from a borderline passing to making A's now. He even says math is one of his favorite subjects now. We did try AOPS before TT (I really liked AOPS) but the teaching method was different. They give you problems to wrestle through first, then explain the answers and better ways of working out the problems or common errors you make while solving the problems. They make you think in a math way which is great but if your child does not think in a math way naturally it is really hard. For some reason I was always under the assumption and someone had told me, that you had to buy the books and the cds. Then today I see that I could buy the textbook by itself. Is there enough explanations in the textbook for me to do just that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewaka Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I would recommend looking at Foerster, Dolciani, or Lials. I have no experience with the latter 2. My 14yo is doing great on her own with Lial's Basic College Math, and I am working through Introductory Algebra for review since I have yet to find a solutions manual :( It has the same layout as BCM with good explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Actually this is great!!! Is there somewhere on there that I am missing where it shows how to do word problems with Algebra? FWIW, there are algebra videos regarding word problems here (see chapters 3 and 5). More algebra 1 videos: http://www.phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=ate&wcsuffix=0775 (I don't see word problems listed as a specific video lesson topic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 No great advice because I have my own struggles with ds and algebra but I was wondering do you have the full solutions manual or the teacher key for the abeka? Things here have improved greatly with the full solutions. Bought cheap on ebay. This might help finish this year. For Prof B I think the online is vastly different from the books. I have never used online but dd did do the first Power Algebra book. She loved it. But it was a lot of problems and writing. Ds will not do it and we did try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindi Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 I haven't used Lial's algebra, but the geometry and precalulus are great -- easy to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 For some reason I was always under the assumption and someone had told me, that you had to buy the books and the cds. Then today I see that I could buy the textbook by itself. Is there enough explanations in the textbook for me to do just that? I honestly do not know. We bought the set but ds has only used the CDs. Supposedly the text is word for word with the CDs but I have not looked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerenlynne Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 The TT textbook looks to be word for word with the lesson(IMO since I really don't watch the lessons). A lot of people just use the textbook with success-It's pretty expensive new but I would think you could pick it up used pretty cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Derek Owens gives excellent, thorough explanations, he does the grading, and he is available for questions. Highly recommended! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Actually this is great!!! Is there somewhere on there that I am missing where it shows how to do word problems with Algebra? If you go on Khan Academy and put "Word Problems" in the search box, there are a bunch of videos for how to set up and solve various types of word problems. If the problem is how to set up the equations when solving word problems, the videos on the CA Algebra 1 test in Khan Academy walk thru a really good explanation for how to get from problems like: "Two planes leave the airport traveling in opposite directions" to an equation and then a solution. http://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/california-standards-test/algebra-i/v/ca-algebra-i--more-word-problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 FWIW, there are algebra videos regarding word problems here (see chapters 3 and 5). More algebra 1 videos: http://www.phschool....e&wcsuffix=0775 (I don't see word problems listed as a specific video lesson topic) Is it just me or can anybody get these videos working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Is it just me or can anybody get these videos working? Which ones don't work for you, the Aops or the Pearson? They both work for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 Which ones don't work for you, the Aops or the Pearson? They both work for me. When I go to the word problems it gives me an error when I try to view the videos but only on that website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 When I go to the word problems it gives me an error when I try to view the videos but only on that website. You mean, for example, this video: http://www.artofprob...hp?video_id=130 ? It works for me. I think they're also on youtube, for example, here: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted May 9, 2013 Author Share Posted May 9, 2013 Now that worked for me.. I will have to try YOutube, Thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 I'm also going to suggest Teaching Textbooks. After four months of struggling with different programs AND a tutor, my daughter finally was able to do Algebra with the TT. She used TT for all four years of high school and math turned out to be her strongest subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittanyJen Posted May 12, 2013 Share Posted May 12, 2013 The Tobey and Slater series features clear writing, excellent examples, and good problem sets, plus tests with answers in the book. It is very understandable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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