Questions about Holt math and Prof. Burger

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I'm trying to look ahead just a bit in math. My daughter is currently using MM, and I'm trying to decide where to go after that. I was originally thinking about Thinkwell, but now I'm wondering if a textbook approach would work better than an online course. My research has led me to Holt Mathematics. Here are my questions:

 

1. Should I start out with courses 1 through 3 or just move into pre-algebra. I would think that if the courses are meant to cover 6th-8th grade then they would be followed by algebra. Is this correct? My daughter doesn't usually require a lot of repetition, so if this is the case, then pre-algebra would probably be our best bet.

 

2. Do I need the teacher's manual? Or are the videos by Prof. Burger enough to teach the lessons, should my daughter need additional help?

 

[jonnia]

I'm using Course 1 with Thinkwell this year with my son. We have the Holt textbook, but I purchased Thinkwell subscription before realizing that Prof. Berger's instructional videos were available on the publisher's website at no additional charge through link given in textbook. (palm to forehead)

 

In response to your second question, the videos do a great job of presenting the material and working through some problems. My son watches the video, then we work through 8-10 exercises together to make sure he understands. He'll work independently on practice problems after that.

 

Thinkwell draws problems from the textbook, but doesn't use all of them in the lesson, saving some for review sets scattered between topics.

 

I think pre-algebra material is included in the courses 2 and 3, but I have not looked in detail at topics. I've decided to give AoPS PreAlgebra a try next year.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

That's what I was thinking, too. Just the first course, followed by pre-algebra. I'm still undecided as to whether or not I want to finish MM5, then switch to Holt course 1, or go through MM6 first, then right into pre-algebra.