Michelle My Bell Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Here is the backstory, I have a child who has always struggled with math. She is in high school and has always been homeschooled up to this point. Next year she will be participating in a homeschool program at our local Christian school. We had a meeting with them today to have placement testing and to hand in transcript of the work she's completed so far. I knew she would not do well on the placement testing for math because it is an area that she struggles greatly with. In order for her to graduate on time she will need to complete three years of math in a two year time span. Algebra one algebra two and geometry. She's honestly about a sixth or seventh grade level in math at this point and she will need to get up to grade level by the fall. The reason we joined the program was for her to have opportunities to play sports and go on trips with the school. But one of the requirements to participate in the program is that all of our academics are monitored by the school and they will issue us a legal diploma at the end of that her senior year. As expected she failed the math portion of the placement testing miserably. But I recently started working with her at home and I have seen some progress. In the past she has largely worked on her own and has made progress, but she had fallen so far behind years ago that she just hasn't been able to catch up. Normally the school charges $600 a year for classes and we had decided that she wasn't going to take any for that reason. But after her placement testing today the principal decided that he wanted to offer her a full scholarship in order for her to come in and take the class algebra one for free. He is completely aware of her struggles in math, and hopes that being in a classroom with their math teacher will help her to progress. I really think this is an incredible opportunity and one that I could not have afforded on my own. I couldn't even afford to hire a tutor long-term. So now I have from tomorrow until August 22 to do everything I possibly can to help prepare her for algebra one. If anyone has any ideas to how we can start from fractions and move our way forward learning pre-algebra concepts as quickly and efficiently as possible I would be very grateful. I would also like advice on what to really focus on to make sure she has it down the most. I realize all of it's important but if I had to really focus in on certain areas that would help prepare her what would they be? Also, how would you handle this if this were your child? What would you do to get them ready for this class? As far as her accomplishing algebra two and geometry. We will probably begin working throughout ext summer and into the next school year. If the opportunity arises for her to continue algebra two at the school then she will be doing geometry as part of her homeschool curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Given your time and budget constraints, I think your best bet is Khan Academy. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Hmmmmm.... Not much time, but good for you for giving it the attempt! Honestly, I would back up and have her drill multiplication and division. Making those operations "automatic" will ease the road for fractions and decimals. Then I would drill order of operations (including psrenthesis and brackets!) and working with negative numbers. My experience has been that the majority of struggling Algebra students are missing one or more of those four areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiMi 4under3 Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 You don't have to (nor should you) stop prepping and reviewing on August 22! Whatever you decide to use - stick with it in September and throughout the remainder of the year. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted July 18, 2014 Author Share Posted July 18, 2014 You don't have to (nor should you) stop prepping and reviewing on August 22! Whatever you decide to use - stick with it in September and throughout the remainder of the year. :thumbup: Good point. I was thinking I have to get it done by then. They have also offered her a tutor a couple days a week once the school year starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Given your time and budget constraints, I think your best bet is Khan Academy. Good luck! :iagree: or maybe a cheap edition of Lial's Basic College Math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Does your daughter have a math notebook? Do you know which text the school would be using for Algebra 1? I'll ask my child to copy the summary of each chapter of the pre-algebra/7th grade textbook into a notebook so that she will have a quick reference to fall back on in school. The Pizzazz Pre-algebra book might help for practice in a fun way http://lcms.dadeschools.net/math/Pizzazz%20Books/Pizzazz%20Pre-Algebra.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Khan is free, but he's really not a great teacher for non-mathy kids. I have heard raves about 10 marks from a math teacher I trust, and it's free for the summer. http://www.tenmarks.com/ Pearson Pre-algebra videos are here: http://phschool.com/webcodes10/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.gotoWebCode&wcprefix=ade&wcsuffix=0775 If you can't afford a used Pearson textbook, maybe you could use worksheets from something from Arcadia's epic list? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/465758-math-workbooks-links-compilation/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Interact math gives good explanations with their help me solve it feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I'm an algebra tutor, and kids fall over because of fractions and negative numbers. Shore those up first. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 fractions, fractions, fractions. Maybe key to fractions? I don't think I've ever seen a struggling math student who was strong in fractions It's one of the biggest pitfalls for algebra students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Fractions, fractions, fractions - as others have said. Also, area that kids do poorly in are negative numbers and distributive property - especially distributing a negative. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 Now that it's later in the day and I have time, Remember that the remediation doesn't have to stop at the beginning of the year, as others have said. I would continue working 15 mins/day (separate from algebra) on reviewing arithmetic skills. I would ask her teacher to please let you know as soon as possible if she is struggling with any specific arithmetic skills, and have her work on those in Khan academy or something. I'd separate that by time from the algebra, so that she's not doing too long a continuous block of math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 I'd have her make an account on Khan academy and work through the math problems starting at the very beginning with basic addition. If she starts from the beginning and works through it in order, it will help her identify areas of weaknesses. When she comes to skills or concepts that pose difficulties, you can work on those specific areas. If the Khan videos do not help her learn the material, she will still at least know which areas to look up to help her progress. My son did this prior to alg and it helped tremendously. Another option could be a free 2month trial of aleks. It is also good at identifying weak areas. She can take the alg or prealg placement test and the program will map out which concepts she needs to cover. If you google ALEKS homeschool free trial you can often find 2 or 3 months free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted July 18, 2014 Share Posted July 18, 2014 You've gotten lots of good suggestions. My oldest has a disability when it comes to math, similar to dyslexia, and struggled greatly. It's great that they are offering a tutor, and I would definitely take advantage of that, as it may be quite essential. I hope it goes well for her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie in VA Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Lial's Basic College Math. It reviews arithmetic n goes straight through preAlhebra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 :iagree: or maybe a cheap edition of Lial's Basic College Math. This, or Goetz. Start from the very, very basics, so that fractions will make more sense. Getting through in a month is tough, but not impossible. Colleges occasionally offer the course over three weeks. If you try picking at topics here-and-there, though, you will probably find yourself almost just as bad off, or possibly worse (confused and frustrated). Stay calm, and systematic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 If she struggles with traditional texts and methods, I'd use MUS blocks for integer math and teach her the distributive property using the area model of multiplication. Also, give her a 10 x 10 multiplication chart so the facts are readily available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 :iagree: or maybe a cheap edition of Lial's Basic College Math. A college text is not appropriate for a rising ninth grader struggling with basic math, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenslp Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 A college text is not appropriate for a rising ninth grader struggling with basic math, IMO. Lial's isn't really a college text, it's more of a review course starting with the basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmichigan Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 A college text is not appropriate for a rising ninth grader struggling with basic math, IMO. In most cases I'd agree with you, but Lial's is a remedial textbook that anyone with a solid fifth grade background should be able to do, and it is routinely used by many on the board for 6th or 7th graders before they start prealgebra or algebra. The explanations are wonderful and straightforward, and there are plenty of practice problems for areas that need more work. I wouldn't expect a student who understands a section to do all the problems, but they are there if needed. You can also get older copies fairly cheap on amazon with the odd answers in the back of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 From what I can tell, the remedial college texts are wonderful for struggling kids. There is a real stigma to going back to third or fourth grade texts, but that stigma disappears when the book is written for an older age group. Remedial college texts are written precisely for the struggling math student, and start from the very basics, which helps kids tremendously in overcoming their challenges. I have seen a couple of middle schoolers that didn't respond well to those books, but have yet to run across a high schooler who didn't. Now, I certainly get not making a kid jump into college algebra. :) Many kids who have done well in algebra 2 still find college algebra challenging... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Hmmmmm.... Not much time, but good for you for giving it the attempt! Honestly, I would back up and have her drill multiplication and division. Making those operations "automatic" will ease the road for fractions and decimals. Then I would drill order of operations (including psrenthesis and brackets!) and working with negative numbers. My experience has been that the majority of struggling Algebra students are missing one or more of those four areas. Exactly. My answer was going to be to nail the basics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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