blessedmom3 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 My (almost) 12 yo took Saxon placement test and placed in algebra with minimum correct exercises,16. In my understanding,if he missed one,he should've placed in pre-a. Considering this,would you try Foerster or an easier algebra? I already have Foerster and have looked through it. It does seem very challenging for him. Should I purchase Jacobs instead and if he works through Jacobs successfully,does he need to repeat Foerster in 8th grade? I really like the word problems in Foerster but I'm afraid he lacks the maturity to solve some of them... Would appreciate any input on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VANURSEPRAC Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I think I would work more on pre A and make sure that is rock solid and then proceed to an Algebra I text what ever that text would be. I would not rush to Algebra I yet. I think maturity and more practice would benefit him. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 What has he done up to now? Both my boys took Jacobs Algebra at 12 but they had done Saxon up through Pre-Algebra without any trouble. I think it would depend on what he has covered as opposed to the age factor. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom22ns Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I agree, if he hasn't already done a pre-algebra, I would go ahead and do that. The combination of the fact he is 12 and hasn't done pre-algebra says don't rush. Having a solid foundation is so, so, so important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blessedmom3 Posted July 31, 2015 Author Share Posted July 31, 2015 He has finished Singapore 6 and some worksheets about negative numbers and a few concepts not covered in singPore. I taught him Pythagorean theorem and a few other things. He gets things fast,but I'm not sure he is prepared for higher level thinking yet. He did very well in Singapore 6, which wasn't easy! I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to spend more money on a prealgebra book...maybe we can just go through khan academy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 I would probably do a Pre-Algebra, Saxon I felt was pretty good and prepared them for Jacobs Algebra. Good luck with your decision! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tess in the Burbs Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 my son did Jacobs last year. My dd will not be doing it this year. I used the Callahan videos. While we did Pre-Alg, there is truth to the maturity thing. My son got an A, but he had to work HARD this last year. I had to work hard as well to get him through it. Hence why dd isn't doing it...I personally can't push another kid through it. I was able to see Foerster in person this spring, and honestly it looks easier than Jacobs. I didn't research to see if there are videos teaching it from anyone, but if I had seen it in person and there had been videos...I would have chosen Foerster. Saying all that....due to maturity still hanging in the wings, DS has chosen to do an algebra review for fall before starting Geometry in Jan. I know he got an A. But I felt like it shouldn't have been so much work to get that A. I want him to work well and earn the grade without it being such a struggle. I could accept a B and him not need my help. But I taught a lot of it after the videos and worked through many problems to show him how to work them. So I feel like he needs more Algebra. If I could do it over....I would have chosen another Pre-Alg that was super challenging OR a super easy Algebra knowing we would do a harder one the following year. But we are at peace with what is done, and he is doing an algebra review for the fall and then will pick up geometry. And we are both totally open to stopping if it's not working out and finding more algebra. Maturity matters. Oh how it matters. my dd will be doing TT this year for algebra and then will try Jacobs next year :laugh: I hope the two year spread will be better. For her and ME. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 Jacobs algebra is HARD! Ds12.9 only finished 12 out of 17 chapters. Now we will start TT to fill in the gaps of understanding. Hopefully we can go on to Foerster algebra after TT for a few months of selected topics before we move on to TT geometry. Ds10.6 finished Singapore 6 and then finished the two Life of Fred Prealgebra books with no difficulty at all. But he is moving on to Dolciani prealgebra. I do not want him to move too fast and Dolciani PreAlgebra is very traditional and solid. I would have him do TT PreAlgebra if I can get it cheap, but I already have dolciani. I agree with others that going with a solid Prealgebra will be a good idea for OP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 If you don't think he needs an official prealgebra year (whatever that means or might look like for him), you might consider stretching algebra out over 2 years. DS started Jacobs last year at 11 and got through the midterm. This year he'll complete the rest of the book. I'm very glad we took our time and didn't feel rushed, one benefit if the student is younger (but READY). Yours might move more quickly or more slowly, but you have the time to work at his pace and supplement if needed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Given the age and that he hasn't officially had a pre-algebra yet, I'd be inclined to either do a pre-algebra course (my first choice) or plan to spread algebra over two years. I think Lial pre-algebra would probably be a good fit for him at this stage (and cheap, too) and prepare him well for really excelling in either algebra you've listed in 8th. Edit: Jousting Armadillos might also be a good fit, although it's a little more expensive and a little more teacher-intensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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