Algebra I help

[Clear Creek]

My daughter has been using the Foerster Algebra 1 book, and it is not working. The teaching is fine, she understands it and does well on the exercises and the end of chapter tests, but she is not retaining it. There is zero review of previous concepts. I understand that a lot of it is cumulative and she will retain the concepts because she constantly uses them, but there is a fair amount of information that is presented and then dropped.

 

Any suggestions for either a review workbook that she could use alongside it to keep previous concepts fresh and practiced enough to retain them, or a different algebra textbook? She did really well with the format in Rod & Staff...plenty of practice of the new concept, review problems covering a variety of concepts, and several word problems every day. Is there an algebra book that has a similar presentation?

[lmrich]

I am experiencing the same with DO algebra. I just go back to previous sections and give her the old problems several times a week. At first I felt strange giving her problems she had already done, but she does not remember them.

[TarynB]

I am experiencing the same with DO algebra. I just go back to previous sections and give her the old problems several times a week. At first I felt strange giving her problems she had already done, but she does not remember them.

 

Yes. We're doing the same thing with Foerster. I felt the same way about it for a while, but it just works for us to keep circling back to review/redo problems from earlier chapters. It doesn't take much time. I just add a couple on to each daily assignment. Especially from the later sections in each chapter, where the material is more challenging, and from the word problem sections. OP, from what I've seen and read elsewhere, I think this is kind of normal, regardless of which math curriculum you're using. I wouldn't worry, just keep reviewing and refreshing. I remind myself all the time that DS is still in the midst of puberty, growing like a weed, all the changes that entails, so a little brain fogginess is probably to be expected.

Edited February 12, 2016 by TarynB

[fourisenough]

What about using something like Simple Solutions 8? I think the Common Core edition should have plenty of Algebra 1 topics in it, right?

 

http://www.simplesolutions.org/products/common_core_math.cfm?grade=8

 

I think I might be asking, as much as recommending. In any case, I'm planning to use Foerster's Alg. 1 next year with DD11/12 and I was planning to continue using SS to keep it all fresh. We've been using Simple Solutions paired with MM since grade 5, I think. It was the spiral, continual practice that she needed to retain everything she learned in a mastery format. The topics don't align perfectly (in terms of when in the year a topic was introduced in MM vs. SS), but it was close enough that it has worked well for us.

 

Take a look at it and LMK if you think it could be a helpful addition to Foerster's in your situation.

[wintermom]

This is exactly why I keep coming back to Saxon Math. My dc seem to really need that ongoing review. We've used Singapore Math, Beast Academy, Life of Fred, and AoPS, and they are all wonderful, and we use them for supplementing and for "vacation time" from Saxon. We always end up returning to Saxon with sighs of relief. I know it's not a great fit for everyone, but it just clicks for us they way we use it.

[EKS]

Jacobs Algebra has a review problem set for every lesson.

[VANURSEPRAC]

We had the same problem last summer when D12 took an extended break from any Algebra.

 

Just circle back around. We are too using Foerster Alg I and plan to use his Algebra II, but I will keep working in review.

 

I really think  d12 will be prepared well with Foerster.

 

[mtomom]

CLE has Algebra I in their new Sunrise addition. I'm not quite there with DS, but I am pretty sure it's going to be spiral like Rod and Staff. I'm planning to add Arbor Math Algebra along with to up the challenge. I've been happy with CLE.

[Clear Creek]

I am experiencing the same with DO algebra. I just go back to previous sections and give her the old problems several times a week. At first I felt strange giving her problems she had already done, but she does not remember them.

That is a very good idea! I guess if she is forgetting entire concepts she won't remember solutions to individual problems. I will start doing that this week.

 

Yes. We're doing the same thing with Foerster. I felt the same way about it for a while, but it just works for us to keep circling back to review/redo problems from earlier chapters. It doesn't take much time. I just add a couple on to each daily assignment. Especially from the later sections in each chapter, where the material is more challenging, and from the word problem sections. OP, from what I've seen and read elsewhere, I think this is kind of normal, regardless of which math curriculum you're using. I wouldn't worry, just keep reviewing and refreshing. I remind myself all the time that DS is still in the midst of puberty, growing like a weed, all the changes that entails, so a little brain fogginess is probably to be expected.

Thank you, that is very reassuring. This is my oldest child, and most of my friends have younger children, so I am left wondering much of the time what is normal teen behavior and what is behavior worth worrying over since I have nothing to compare it to except my own teen years.

[Clear Creek]

What about using something like Simple Solutions 8? I think the Common Core edition should have plenty of Algebra 1 topics in it, right?

 

http://www.simplesolutions.org/products/common_core_math.cfm?grade=8

 

I think I might be asking, as much as recommending. In any case, I'm planning to use Foerster's Alg. 1 next year with DD11/12 and I was planning to continue using SS to keep it all fresh. We've been using Simple Solutions paired with MM since grade 5, I think. It was the spiral, continual practice that she needed to retain everything she learned in a mastery format. The topics don't align perfectly (in terms of when in the year a topic was introduced in MM vs. SS), but it was close enough that it has worked well for us.

 

Take a look at it and LMK if you think it could be a helpful addition to Foerster's in your situation.

Foerster's presents topics in a different order than most other algebra books, it seems. It leads straight into factoring trinomials and using the quadratic formula, then moves on to graphing equations in the second half of the book. Most other books seem to hit graphing first and touch on the quadratic formula late in the year, so supplements like this one that assume graphing instruction was presented early in the year are only somewhat useful.

 

This is exactly why I keep coming back to Saxon Math. My dc seem to really need that ongoing review. We've used Singapore Math, Beast Academy, Life of Fred, and AoPS, and they are all wonderful, and we use them for supplementing and for "vacation time" from Saxon. We always end up returning to Saxon with sighs of relief. I know it's not a great fit for everyone, but it just clicks for us they way we use it.

I have heard that Saxon includes a lot of review, but my daughter has seen her friends' books and doesn't like them. I let her choose her math books at this point, so I had to accept her opinion.

 

Jacobs Algebra has a review problem set for every lesson.

I actually have this on my shelf. If assigning problems from previous chapters doesn't work to keep her from forgetting things, I may present it to her as an option. I will also keep this in mind for my younger kids, especially my middle child who needs a *lot* of review to keep from forgetting things.

 

CLE has Algebra I in their new Sunrise addition. I'm not quite there with DS, but I am pretty sure it's going to be spiral like Rod and Staff. I'm planning to add Arbor Math Algebra along with to up the challenge. I've been happy with CLE.

You know, I used Jousting Armadillos with my daughter alongside her prealgebra book, and seeing the information presented two different ways (and at two different times) helped cement the concepts. I don't know why I didn't think about using the two algebra books in the same way...probably because I didn't realize at the time that despite the high number of problems in the Foerster book, none of them were actually review problems, and I didn't want to overwhelm her with math problems.

[wintermom]

Art of Problem Solving website has free videos for Algebra and Pre-algebra. They are a great way to get a quick, 3-minute review on a specific topic.

[Ms Brooks]

I was planning on using  Foerster Algebra 1 book next year along with the Home Study Companion thumb drive. currently we are struggling with Singapore Dimensions Math, but using Dociani Pre Algebra for support and this works. Gosh! I hope going with Foerster Algebra 1 works  :huh:

[TarynB]

I was planning on using  Foerster Algebra 1 book next year along with the Home Study Companion thumb drive. currently we are struggling with Singapore Dimensions Math, but using Dociani Pre Algebra for support and this works. Gosh! I hope going with Foerster Algebra 1 works  :huh:

 

Of course I can only speak for myself and my DS's experience. With that caveat:

 

I think Foerster (and the MWB companion) is solid. I think Jacobs is solid. I think Derek Owens is solid. I think all of the various curricula mentioned here are solid. What I've done, as DS gets older, is choose 2 or 3 or 4 solid options for a particular subject and then show them to DS and let him choose.  Some things are too chatty or too busy or too piece-y for his taste, but they're all solid. Letting him choose gets his buy-in and gets him committed.

 

We used Math Mammoth and various supplements for elementary math. DS always needed to circle back and review old stuff. We used MM + Derek Owens for prealg. DS still needed to circle back and review old stuff. He's using Foerster Alg 1 and still has to review old stuff. He's not a math genius and he doesn't *love* math, but he does well on his daily assignments and he does well on tests. He can tell me after the fact WHY he missed certain problems and how to fix them. And still I used to worry about that needing to circle back and review. But overall his path is always forward so I think the instruction is clicking overall and he's learning. So now I don't really stress about it. It's just my kid, puberty, whatever. It's not a failing or a weakness of the curriculum. It's just normal for my kid. Or maybe it's normal for many kids? In the past I've been too quick to dump a resource when I got panicked that it wasn't working. (NOT saying you are panicking, OP, nor anyone else. Just me, LOL.)  But now I'm learning that once we've chosen something, we can often tweak the method in which we're using it to make it work for us. That's why we are doing, on our own, a method for cumulative review as we continue to move forward through the book, even though the book doesn't explicitly include cumulative review pages. So, we drive the curriculum -- we don't let the curriculum, as written, drive everything we do.

 

I also agree it's a great idea to have a second math book on hand to explain concepts in different ways. We back up Foerster with a copy of Dolciani. In addition to the alternate way of explaining concepts when needed, from time to time, I give DS problems from Dolciani chapter reviews to make sure he can work problems presented in different ways.

 

Edited February 13, 2016 by TarynB

[Momling]

My daughter did Foersters last year, but somehow managed to retain less than I expected when starting geometry. I looked for all sorts of review books and ended up going with Saxon Algebra 1. It has been perfect for her. It's not as deep as Foersters and focuses much more on process rather than concept. That's actually what she needed for a second year since many of her mistakes are silly errors and she just needs practice and review. Anyway, she just does odds one day and evens the next, so 15 problems per day. We'll finish it over the summer. I know she'll do great starting algebra II next fall.

[OnMyOwn]

I agree with the suggestion of building in review every day by pulling problems from previous chapters. My son is using Lial's and that's what I started doing with him and it makes all the difference. I just set the timer for 15 minutes at the beginning of each lesson and he does the old cumulative review problems until the timer goes off. I can't remember if Foerester's has an end of chapter review, but if it does, you could just pull from those.

[Kendall]

Foerster Algebra 2 has a 5 minute quick review at the beginning of each chapter.  I which Algebra 1 did, but you could adapt it just like  OnMyOwn suggested(great suggestion!).  5-15 minutes pulling from chapter reviews or just sections.  

[SilverMoon]

The Foerster TM has a review schedule of sorts in it. I just randomly flipped mine open to a lesson in the fourth chapter. The assignment notes said to do a particular set of problems in that lesson and your choice of problems from a particular lesson in the last chapter.

 

To answer the question, we thought Jacobs was pretty similar in approach to R&S. Every lesson has text to read that explains the new concepts, a small problem set of the new concept, two sets of mixed concepts, and small set of challenging problems or puzzles. We only did one of the mixed review sets in each lesson unless DS needed more practice. You can see a large sample on Google Books.

[MarkT]

If just need some extra drill (versus the Foerster excellent word problems) then you could supplement with worksheets.

Lot's of free stuff out there.

 

https://www.kutasoftware.com/free.html

[Clear Creek]

The Foerster TM has a review schedule of sorts in it. I just randomly flipped mine open to a lesson in the fourth chapter. The assignment notes said to do a particular set of problems in that lesson and your choice of problems from a particular lesson in the last chapter.

 

I have the older edition (published by Addison-Wesley) and it doesn't include the review schedule. It does, however, have a handy chapter on programming in BASIC, lol.

 

Note to self: sometimes it isn't worth it to save a few dollars by buying an older edition. :tongue_smilie:

 

[MarkT]

I have the older edition (published by Addison-Wesley) and it doesn't include the review schedule. It does, however, have a handy chapter on programming in BASIC, lol.

 

Note to self: sometimes it isn't worth it to save a few dollars by buying an older edition. :tongue_smilie:

 

the last AWLs (late 90s) are identical to the PH Classic versions except for the cover 

[Garga]

I'm running into this with Lial's. It's funny that this thread is here. Just this past Monday I decided to go back two chapters and do all the review questions.

 

See, we're in Chapter 5. Chapters 1 and 2 were really pre-alg review. So, here we are in the middle of chapter 5. My plan is to stop chapter 5 and do all the review questions from the end of chapter 3 and see if we remember them. We're on question #53 and he's remembering most of it. But for the things he didn't remember, I'm taking notes.

 

Once we're done all the review questions in chapter 3, we'll continue with chapter 5. But those things that he was foggy on in chapter 3? I'll give him a question or two a day to work on to cement the concepts in his head.

 

We'll continue on to chapter 6. Then, in the middle of chapter 6, we'll stop and do all the review questions for chapter 4. For the rest of the year until we get to the end of the book, I'm going to stop in the middle of each chapter and review 2 chapters ago.

 

At the end of the year, we're going to re-do all the chapter tests. For these reviews and tests, I do the problems with him side by side to see which ones he's forgotten.

 

Fortunately, he has remembered more than I thought. If he hadn't, then I would stop and have us re-do those lessons entirely. Based on recommendations from the hive, I am willing for Alg I to take 2 years. The mathy people here on the hive have said that you simply MUST have a strong background in Alg I to continue to Alg II and Geometry and Trig. I had been rushing algebra until I listened to them. We slowed down and are taking our time with each lesson reading each lesson twice as we go.

 

However, with all that said, I do wish I'd known that there is ZERO review in Lial's before I bought it. This is our first year with my 5th grader using CLE and I am in LOVE with all the review. I never knew the power of having review in a math curric until now. Love the review!

 

I'm not sure what to do about next year because it's a pain to have to come up with review on my own. I might have to check out Saxon, as someone up thread has said it has great review in it.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Garga

[Barb_]

It takes many exposures to nail down those algebra I concepts. I suspect that's the idea behind a rigorous prealgebra course. If you have time to put it aside for a month, you could sign up for ALEKS for a month for $20 bucks and review and cement the stuff she's hazy on. It's computerized and adaptive so she'll only be working on concepts she hasn't completely mastered. Oh! Also if you google you should be able to find a 2 months free for homeschoolers coupon.

 

Honestly, I'd just do it alongside her forrester's book for maybe 30-45 minutes a day. It's a fantastic resource

[JoJosMom]

Art of Problem Solving website has free videos for Algebra and Pre-algebra. They are a great way to get a quick, 3-minute review on a specific topic.

 

Also, OP, you may want to check out AoPS'  Alcumus.  It is also free and is a great tool to use for review.  Just pick the topics your DC needs to work on and go.