LillianinAL Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 My oldest ds will be a senior next year. He is currently doing Forster's Pre-Calculus book. He is well over halfway through this book but not near the end. My thoughts for next year are to either have him just finish the book, calling this year Trigonometry and next year Pre Calculus, or to find out a good stopping place and go on to Calculus next year. We are considering Thinkwell's Calculus. Any suggestions as to which route to take? Also, if he goes on to Calculus, how far should he go in the Pre Calculus book? This ds is an excellent math student. He has all A's this year and hasn't needed any help. He isn't sure what field he is majoring in yet. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I have just looked at the Foerster Precalculus TOC (I am no familiar with the text, so can judge only based on the TOC). He should complete the entire book before moving on to calculus. Chapter 14 on sequences and series is vital for an understanding of calculus, and chapter 15 on polynomials is important as well (and leads directly into calculus ideas). He will also need polar coordinates and parametric equations from chapter 13. If anything has to be omitted, you could probably omit ch. 11 on matrix transformations; this would be covered in linear algebra again. I see no benefit in cutting precalculus short just to rush to calculus. I would finish the precalculus text thoroughly and then spend whatever time is left next school year on an introduction to calculus. To cover the material of calc 1 really takes only a semester and would be valuable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LillianinAL Posted May 4, 2014 Author Share Posted May 4, 2014 Thank you for your feedback. That sounds like a good path. What do you think I should call this year's math on his transcript? Trigonometry? Next year PreCalculus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 I have just looked at the Foerster Precalculus TOC (I am no familiar with the text, so can judge only based on the TOC). He should complete the entire book before moving on to calculus. Chapter 14 on sequences and series is vital for an understanding of calculus, and chapter 15 on polynomials is important as well (and leads directly into calculus ideas). He will also need polar coordinates and parametric equations from chapter 13. If anything has to be omitted, you could probably omit ch. 11 on matrix transformations; this would be covered in linear algebra again. I see no benefit in cutting precalculus short just to rush to calculus. I would finish the precalculus text thoroughly and then spend whatever time is left next school year on an introduction to calculus. To cover the material of calc 1 really takes only a semester and would be valuable. I agree with everything and especially the bold/italic part. Don't rush through Algebra and lay a shoddy foundation. I have no help for the Transcript because I have no idea about that stuff, but it would be better to finish PreCalc strong than to skirt through it only to fight through Calculus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Thank you for your feedback. That sounds like a good path. What do you think I should call this year's math on his transcript? Trigonometry? Next year PreCalculus? Amongst the first classes my daughter took at the local community college were College Algebra (a five hour class) and Trigonometry (a four hour class). She did these two classes in consecutive quarters.The combination of College Algebra and Trigonometry is considered Precalculus (and in fact the text used in both of these classes was Sullivan's Precalculus). So, a likely name for this year's math is College Algebra. For the remainder of your son's course, you can use the name Trigonometry. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Thank you for your feedback. That sounds like a good path. What do you think I should call this year's math on his transcript? Trigonometry? Next year PreCalculus? I personally would give one credit for "Precalculus" whenever the textbook is completed. I would not give two separate math credits for completing a text that is intended to be completed in one year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth in CA Posted May 4, 2014 Share Posted May 4, 2014 Thinkwell works if your ds is disciplined. My dd did calculus -- and we were not disciplined to keep up -- so ended up doing too many lessons together at the end of the year -- she ended up hating calculus. My ds did Thinkwell Algebra II the same year and we ended up deciding that it would work better for us to sit together with the Algebra II book and work through it rather than to do the Thinkwell Algebra --this was after he found errors in some of the Thinkwell Algebra -- he's a bright kid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 If next year is finishing the precalc book and starting calculus, you could transcript it as 'introduction to calculus' which should be familiar to admissions officers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LillianinAL Posted May 6, 2014 Author Share Posted May 6, 2014 Thank you all. We are planning to finish the PreCalc book and start Calculus. I like the Intro to Calculus idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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