fleischdoc Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 My rising senior is just finishing up Algebra2 with the Foersters book (following Kolbe syllabus). She has always been an average math student- not very intuitive and struggles with problems outside of the given examples. This year has really shaken her confidence in her math skills- first part of the book was fine but as it got harder she struggled more- that is why we are just now finishing and they only go through ch 8 for alg 2. We have the math without borders for assistance. She feels like she gets it when we watch the dvd and I explain, then she misses a bunch of the practice problems and we have to redo them together. Kolbe uses Foerster for PreCalc, and although I like the idea of a more vigorous math I am worried it will continue to decrease her confidence and college math will be a struggle. So do I try something less vigorous like TT to make her feel more successful, or continue on with the handholding through Foersters? Open to suggestions :) As a side note, she got a 23 on the math section of her ACT (30 overall) so she is generally a good student and wants to bring her math score up. She is considering biology/art for college to be a medical illustrator. Lisa 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I believe there was a recent thread on WTM (a month or two ago?) about whether Pre Algebra is harder than Algebra 1, or whether Pre Calc is harder than Calc. My impression is that the "Pre" courses are more difficult for students, because they cover a wide range of material. If you search on WTM I hope you can find that thread. It may have helpful information for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 If she's struggling but still managed to make it through I think moving to a less rigorous precalculus is exactly right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 If she's struggling but still managed to make it through I think moving to a less rigorous precalculus is exactly right. I agree. Just as pre-algebra serves as a survey of elementary math and then builds upon it, pre-calculus serves as survey of algebra and geometry and builds upon those. I would look for a pre-calc that includes a lot of review, and builds very gently. I don't have specific curriculum recommendations, but I'm sure someone will. Oh, in case I appear to be speaking out of turn because my kids are younger: I have a B.S. in pure math and am in grad school for the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Some depends on timing. With sufficient time, I'd recommend college algebra before precalc (Calculus can wait). If trigonometry is already a strength, then precalc will be easier. If trigonometry will be new, precalc will be much harder than algebra 2. Going light on precalc may be ok, provided that you enrich sufficiently after. The danger of a weak precalc isn't too bad. Each university will require a placement test, and will seat the student appropriately. If the student doesn't show sufficient rigor, then they will start with precalc in college, regardless of their high school transcript. You'll just have to be prepared for that possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleischdoc Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share Posted August 5, 2015 She has not had any trig- the alg 2 stopped before the trig part of the foersters book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 She feels like she gets it when we watch the dvd and I explain, then she misses a bunch of the practice problems and we have to redo them together. IMO that is how many students learn math. Most people need to watch, try, watch, try, revise, do. Anyway, when I finally saw my supposedly math-loving, math-happy partner studying, I was amazed. What I considered to mean I was a "slow learner who loved math" he considered to be a "hard worker who loved math". We were both top scorers in math, but I usually did worse in class (always did worse) because I didn't study. So reframing as, she is good at math because she takes the time to really understand, might put you both in a better frame of mind. Best of luck finding a curriculum that she feels comfortable with. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleischdoc Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 Tsuga- that was a very helpful perspective- as one of those people that always just "got" math through college I look at her struggle as a "problem"- I will share this with her. The hard part is trying to find a curriculum that will challenge but not discourage. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space station Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I would encourage you to consider Statistics for her instead of PreCalc. With her interest in a major involving biology, statistics may be more useful. Of course, look at what the pre-reqs are for the college she might be interested in. Stats would likely be easier for her than PreCalc. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted August 8, 2015 Share Posted August 8, 2015 I would encourage you to consider Statistics for her instead of PreCalc. With her interest in a major involving biology, statistics may be more useful. Of course, look at what the pre-reqs are for the college she might be interested in. Stats would likely be easier for her than PreCalc. YES YES YES! For someone who has no aspirations to be an engineer/scientist, I think statistics is much much much more important than the calculus track. Understanding statistics really impacts how you see your world and think about randomness (yes, you do think about randomness without realizing it). I do actually think understanding statistics could make a better medical illustrator. Emily 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleischdoc Posted August 9, 2015 Author Share Posted August 9, 2015 It seems that most of the colleges she has looked at have the biology majors take at least basic calculus- I am afraid that if we do stats she will be less prepared for college level precalc/calc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 How about Derek Owens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 It seems that most of the colleges she has looked at have the biology majors take at least basic calculus- I am afraid that if we do stats she will be less prepared for college level precalc/calc I agree with this. The bio majors usually take at least applied calculus which requires college algebra as a prerequisite, and especially since she struggled with algebra I would be very cautious about skipping algebra senior year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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