Cottonwood Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 DS is in middle school but I posted here b/c he's in a higher math. I posted in the logic forum about his math motivation this year (first year back to homeschooing since early elem). As he transitions and deschools in his math work (in his b&m school, they didn't require them to write problems down, for instance. They provided them with worksheets of only 3 or 4 problems a day, didn't insist on the correct equation as long as the answer was right, etc)... I have had to tweak how his math work is done. He took one full year of pre-a in public school and this year he is working through Saxon's Alg 1/2 just so I can see where the gaps are and teach him how important the actual equations and order of operations are in Algebra. He's actually probably closer to Alg 1 in ability. SO... I think Saxon is the wrong math program for him but math is his gift, so I"m trying to find a good fit in another program. I think once we get some things ironed out regarding operations and putting the work on paper correctly, he will really excel in math. I let him tinker with some other math sources and he is doing algebra 1 work when it's not Saxon. I want to try LoF but keep reading that before trying the Algebra books, we really need to do the Pre-A 2 book, just to get an understanding of these methods before trying any of the higher LoF maths. I don't mind doing that, but I'm not liking what I'm reading regarding the Economics integrated into the Pre-A 2 text. Is there a way to do just the math in that text and skim over the econ part? Is getting the Pre-A book really a necessary step before trying out the Alg 1 book? Since this is his 2nd year in Pre-A I really hesitate to put him through ANOTHER Pre-A book. My instinct is to just go with the Alg 1 book....but if prepping him w/ the PreA book is really necessary, I would consider it, I guess.??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space station Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 If your DS is ready for Algebra, then no, I do not think he needs to do the Pre-Algebra books. And I certainly would skip the Pre-A with Econ book. With my younger daughter we did just the math in it and read the lessons together so that we could talk about why we disagreed with the author. My older daughter did the Pre-A with Bio as a review after a traditional PS Pre-A, and then went into Fred Algebra. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 Great! That does help. thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pronghorn Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 My daughter's friend skipped the pre-algebra and is managing just fine. The first few chapters of Beginning Algebra give some pre-algebra review. Since we had already done pre-algebra, we went very quickly through those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Especially with the newer books, where the old book and the "home companion" problems and worked solutions are merged into one text, if you have to work a few together or peek at the answers for instructional purposes, there are still enough problems left for the student to do on his own. With two pre-A programs under his belt, it's probably not going to be a problem anyway, but if it is, it will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Especially with the newer books, where the old book and the "home companion" problems and worked solutions are merged into one text, if you have to work a few together or peek at the answers for instructional purposes, there are still enough problems left for the student to do on his own. With two pre-A programs under his belt, it's probably not going to be a problem anyway, but if it is, it will be fine. I was wondering which edition I should get....wondering what the difference was from the older books are where the companion book is separate, from the newer, other than the combining of the books. Otherwise the same? Someone offered me a gently used set of the Beginning Alg book, the companion book and the Zillions of problems book for $55. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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