AngieC Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I homeschooled my daughter for K and then she has been in public school ever since and is currently in 5th grade. I am now considering homeschooling her for middle school math (or at least 6/7 grades). How do I get from completing 5th grade public school (common core) math to completing pre-algebra in 7th. One big thing that CC has done in my area is to really reduce the ability to accelerate math. Would I have to purchase three years worth of curriculum and cover it in 2 or is there another way? I'm comfortable enough with the idea of teaching middle school math, but I would ideally love something that is open and go. Thank you for any advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 In the most general sense get a good quality book on "Basic College Mathematics" and work through--that one book will call on prerequisite of grades 1-4ish and will cover all of 5th-8th grade math topics that you need and you won't have to rush through a Course 1, Course 2, Course 3 type curriculum that you tend to use in middleschool. You can finish the book in 10-20 months and go on to Algebra when you are ready. Another option is to just begin PreAlgebra now using one of the many, many, many PreA books out there and work through it and then go one to Algebra. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieC Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thank you. Is it possible to go one to pre-A after 5th grade math? I had wondered about skipping a year (as in covering 6th grade math and going straight to pre-A or skipping 6th and going straight to 7th but I hadn't considered skipping 2 years). I will do some googling for basic college math books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 We went to PA after SM 5B and LOF Fractions and Decimals/Percents. We did take 2 years on PA, but most of that was due to the fact that DD was only 7 when she started PA and I wasn't sure she was ready for AOPS (or, perhaps more importantly, I wasn't ready for AOPS!). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Skip 6th. There's really nothing magical happening in middle school math (or science, or history, etc) that isn't just a review of previous years. What series are you looking at? What are they doing for a progression? My student went from 6th math to Saxon 8/7 in 7th (basically pre-algebra) right into algebra with no issue. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thank you. Is it possible to go one to pre-A after 5th grade math? I had wondered about skipping a year (as in covering 6th grade math and going straight to pre-A or skipping 6th and going straight to 7th but I hadn't considered skipping 2 years). I will do some googling for basic college math books. Yes, it is possible to go from 5th grade math to prealgebra, but it depends on what the student has learned already, how solid her skills are, and which prealgebra program. If she has learned well the four operations with fractions and decimals and has had an introduction to percents and negative numbers, I would be comfortable with many prealgebra options. In particular, I'd want a good amount of non-rushed practice with fractions before using a prealgebra text. Different programs have very different sequences around grades 5-6-7. As you have seen, Common Core stretches some things out, but then bumped a few traditionally-algebra 1 topics down to 8th grade math. Without knowing anything about your student and what sort of programs might suit her, I'd probably look at the MM Blue topic books for rounding out instruction and filling in holes on any topics and then use either Dolciani's Prealgebra, An Accelerated Course or MM7 Prealgebra. Both are open-and-go. If your student is very strong in math and interested in a challenge, AoPS is a wonderful, unique option to consider. While Lial's BCM (for example) may present a good review of elementary math, it is not a strong "prealgebra"/introduction to algebra and considering the standards that were bumped down from alg 1 to 8th grade math, I'd want more in a prealgebra text than what BCM offers for a student planning on returning to public school for Common Core Algebra 1. Eta, from a big-picure perspective, I would think less "skipping" year(s) of math and more condensing or compacting 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 It depends but if your student has learned the prerequisite skills then I'd just start PreAlgebra. I can not recommend a specific book though, but that is what pretests and this forum is for. I have used books that cover "GED mathematics" to help middle school students compact/accelerate through math because you will touch on all the main topics and its easy to supplement with any thing that you might need practice with and when you are done, you should know all of the typical K-8 math topics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 You could try taking an inventory of what she knows. Figure out what she does not know. Focus on those topics she needs before algebra. I notice a lot of 5th and 6th grade math books don't cover a ton of new stuff. You can eliminate a lot or review those topics quickly. Edited to add: Don't take a long break from math. If you plan to do a traditional summer break, keep doing at least math. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieC Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 Thank you so much for all of he suggestions! I have not actually gotten as far as to look into specific texts to use. I've always like the idea of Math Mammoth for its ease of use and the blue series for extra practice. I just meed to make sure I use materials that will give her a solid foundation so that she can re-enter school for algebra (while I probably could work my way through it, it's not something I've used in 25 years and really have no great desire to teach). As for her strengths, she has managed to score in the top 1% off on the Terra Nova each year she has taken our state test, so I'm sure she is strong with what has been taught, I'm just not sure what she has and hasn't been taught. I will start by finding and administering a placement test to help see where she currently is and then start formulating a plan to get her to where she needs to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Obviously that could change by the time she gets there, but you could also ask the school which algebra text they use. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 I pulled my kids out of 5th/early 6th and simply started prealgebra. In elementary school, they learned arithmetic with positive integers by the end of 4th. All they need to learn before algebra is fractions and negative numbers, the typical content of prealgebra. Just because public schools take 3-4 years to teach this (and review elementary arithmetic ad nauseam) does not mean it has to take this long at home. You can just start. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieC Posted March 11, 2015 Author Share Posted March 11, 2015 SparklyUnicorn, I just went to my district's website and found this nonsense: XX School District’s Algebra 1 curriculum has changed to a standards based curriculum. During the first semester, students are expected to be proficient at 12 Algebra Standards and 2 XX Vision Standards. Second semester will be the same format with a predetermined amount of Algebra Standards and XX Vision Standards. These standards have been developed from months of research of National and State Algebra standards, End of Course Exam expectations, best teaching practices of how students learn, and a vision of what is required for a 21st Century graduate to be able to understand mathematics. The focus is on creating a problem solving mathematician. As a result, this curriculum is no longer based on a single textbook and students will not be given a textbook for the school year. No textbook, unfortunately. I might be able to find which textbook they use for pre algebra (assuming they use one for that course, of course!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 You may want to see if there are any geometry standards you should cover as well. I know they're integrating more geometry earlier here as well, and I assume that's a common core thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 SparklyUnicorn, I just went to my district's website and found this nonsense: XX School District’s Algebra 1 curriculum has changed to a standards based curriculum. During the first semester, students are expected to be proficient at 12 Algebra Standards and 2 XX Vision Standards. Second semester will be the same format with a predetermined amount of Algebra Standards and XX Vision Standards. These standards have been developed from months of research of National and State Algebra standards, End of Course Exam expectations, best teaching practices of how students learn, and a vision of what is required for a 21st Century graduate to be able to understand mathematics. The focus is on creating a problem solving mathematician. As a result, this curriculum is no longer based on a single textbook and students will not be given a textbook for the school year. No textbook, unfortunately. I might be able to find which textbook they use for pre algebra (assuming they use one for that course, of course!) Ah. Although maybe they still use a book and the teacher gives them some extra worksheets or something? Who knows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Are there good pre-tests for pre-algebra or algebra readiness? We've been working on fractions for about 3 months now and I think ds is finally getting solid on them but how do I know if that is good enough mastery for algebra vs. pre-algebra? He is fine on geometry/ratios/extra topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 If the curriculum you're planning on using has a pre-test, use it. If it doesn't, you can frequently use another curriculum's pre-test as long as you try to choose one of a similar level of difficulty (for example, saxon's alg 1 pre-test should be fine for most alg 1 courses). Another option, if you as the educator are confident with math yourself, is to just go ahead and start if you think your kid is ready, and add additional self-constructed practice if your child needs more. This does not work if you want something open-and-go, but most of the open-and-go ones that I know of have pretests. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 No textbook, unfortunately. I might be able to find which textbook they use for pre algebra (assuming they use one for that course, of course!) Get your textbook recommendations from here. Any good Pre-Algebra text is also Pre-Geometry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If you have an interest in Common Core text-books this outfit is doing reviews: http://www.edreports.org/discussions/webinars/webinar-results-instructional-materials.html At this point used is not available and probably over-priced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 If she gets through (and does well with) operations with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, and ratios and proportions, you can move on to prealgebra (which will review all of it again and also cover a bit of algebra). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Ah. Although maybe they still use a book and the teacher gives them some extra worksheets or something? Who knows. If this school is anything like the schools in my neck of the woods, I wouldn't count on them using a textbook. This practice is good for my tutoring business, but terrible for the kids. :sad: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Are there good pre-tests for pre-algebra or algebra readiness? You mentioned placement tests ~ I compiled this list of placement tests some time ago; some are for algebra, some are for pre-algebra. I haven't checked to see if the links are all still active. MATH 500-800 Diagnostic Test http://www.clp.org/d...sts_500-800.pdf Answer key http://www.clp.org/d...er_s_Manual.pdf These are the placement tests for Singapore Math. If a child scores over 80% then they are able to move on to the next level. The sixth grade curriculum is broken into two books. The next level after sixth grade is an integrated math that includes algebra, geometry, etc. Singapore Primary Math 6A (U.S. Ed.) Singapore Primary Math 6B (U.S. Ed.) Calvert Algebra Placement Test (pdf with no answers) http://homeschool.ca...acementTest.pdf These are K12 placement tests. Answers included. Pre-Algebra A Semester 1 Assessment 13 (505 KB) Semester 2 Assessment 14 (549 KB) Pre-Algebra B Semester 1 Assessment 15 (124 KB) Semester 2 Assessment 16 (659 KB) Math-U-See Placement tests. Answers included. Pre-Algebra Placement Test Algebra 1 Placement Test Thinkwell Placement test: Test 4 Algebra 1 Placement Test Answer Key Perhaps something here will be of help. Regards, Kareni 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 If this school is anything like the schools in my neck of the woods, I wouldn't count on them using a textbook. This practice is good for my tutoring business, but terrible for the kids. :sad: That's so bizarre. I don't know what they do here. Never asked. Don't care. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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