momtofive Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 My ds13 will be going into 9th grade in the fall. In the past, he's used CLE through level 700. He's always been very math minded, and has excelled with this program. However, he became very burned out on CLE. In hindsight, I should have just stuck with it for 8th grade, and reduced the amount of problems to complete each day. Last fall, we decided to go with MUS Pre-Algebra, with the intention to use it through high school. Not because he struggled in math, but because of the burnout issue, and I had read some really glowing reviews on MUS, so we thought we'd try it. Well, he's scored 100% on every lesson and test (including honors pages). It's obviously not "enough" for him. I fear that he may not have covered all the needed concepts to be successful in Algebra 1 next fall. Our plan now, is to go with Foerster's Algebra 1 in the fall for 9th grade. My question is can he successfully go from MUS Pre-Algebra into Foerster's Algebra 1? Will there be concepts that he still needs to cover, that MUS may not have addressed fully? And if so, how can I find out what those would be? (I'm really not familiar with what is needed in Pre-Algebra to prepare them for Algebra 1, so I apologize if this sounds dumb!?! :() I do have Saxon Algebra 1/2 here that maybe we should have used instead. Is this something that we could pull lessons from and brush up on any areas that MUS may not have covered. I would so appreciate any help on this, as I want him to be as prepared as he can be for high school math. Thank you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 My DD is currently using Foerster's alg 1, but I haven't seen MUS prealg. There are some good supplements that would let you catch any holes that may be there, then you could focus on them with another text or Khan Academy. Keys to Algebra has 10 simple workbooks to work through. Painless Algebra and Zacarro's Real World Algebra are good supplements too. These focus more on concepts and don't have as many practice problems. My DC and I read and work through these together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtofive Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Thanks, SilverMoon! :) ------------------------------ I am wondering if what he's completed within the Prealgebra will be enough preparation for Foerster's? It may be that he has some gaps to fill, or it may be that he's good to go right into Foerster's.....that's the part I'm unsure about. What does everyone think of MUS Pre-Algebra.....complete? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I bought MUS Prealgebra when I was looking for something to use after MM5, before MM6 was released, and I sent it back because most of it had already been covered in MM4 & 5. MUS has a very unusual scope & sequence, and their Prealgebra program is basically a grab-bag of concepts that most other programs cover in earlier years. It is also very very light and "padded" IMO — there are only 30 or so lessons, and 2 of them are on converting from Celsuis to Fahrenheit and 2 are on adding and subtracting time. Could an intuitively mathy student go from MUS Prealgebra to Foerster's Algebra? Possibly. But a student who could do that probably wouldn't have needed MUS Prealgebra to begin with. MUS Algebra is itself pretty light (my nonmathy DS did about half of it in less than a week, to get up to speed for a fast-moving class on functions), and some people do use it as prep for Foerster's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtofive Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 You're right, he didn't "need" it, that's for sure! I should have seen that much sooner and just used something else. I feel really bad about that. He's a very mathy student and could use much more challenge. So he'll be starting Foerster's in the fall....what would you recommend us using from now forward? We do plan on having everyone work on math through the summer to keep skills sharp. Would you recommend Math Mammoth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 What about Harold Jacob's Elementary Algebra? Or Dolciani's Pre-Algebra: An Accelerated Course? Or Khan Academy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3andme Posted April 1, 2014 Share Posted April 1, 2014 Frankly, knowing CLE's scope and sequence, he probably could have moved on directly from CLE 700 to Foersters Algebra. I wouldn't look back though, sounds like he had a light year doing MUS and had time to gain an even firmer foundation. Over the summer, he might try AOPS Alcumus program. It's free and provides a graded progression of problems from Pre-algebra on up. These would definitely be a higher level of challenge than those in CLE or MUS and yet apply the same skills he already has. You might also take a look at the AOPS textbook for Introduction to Algebra I and see if it might be a good fit as well since he seems to have a math bent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtofive Posted April 1, 2014 Author Share Posted April 1, 2014 Thank you all for your advice and suggestions....:D You've given me a lot to look into and think on! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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