Algebra I

[PeacefulChaos]

So I said I was going to wait and really look into this this fall lol, but I changed my mind.

Which happens.  :lol: :lol:

 

Ok, so Link is 12, starting 7th in August.  He'll be doing MUS Pre-algebra this year and I was planning on switching to another curriculum for Algebra I and beyond because I had heard that others were better for those levels.

 

So this is sort of a two-part question:

 

1. Recommend Algebra (and above!) textbooks for me, possibly even with grade/etc that you'd use them in

 

and

 

2. Should I stick with MUS pre-algebra for this year or try something else to get him ready for next year?  Or will it be no problem to switch between two different programs without him being behind?

 

 

That's it.  Thanks!  (I'll probably post this elsewhere, as well, jsyk!)

[almondbutterandjelly]

I'm generally of the opinion, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Does MUS work well?  We actually switched to MUS for Algebra and it has cut way down on the tears and way up on comprehension of the big picture and the "why" of math.  So don't believe the haters if it works for you, honestly.  

[SilverMoon]

There's a sticky thread in the high school forum with lots of options for you to look at. My older kids started with Jacobs and Foerster, and I'd heartily recommend either of them. Foerster is great for its solid word problems. Jacobs is solid too. They're still on my shelf to potentially use with younger siblings. Jacobs starts with a couple/few chapters of prealg review.

 

MUS's prealg is sort of a catchall for the random concepts that were missed during their extreme mastery elementary scope. I've heard many times it's good to finish off their prealg before moving on.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think Jacobs is great for a young student, it has solid review of PreA concepts in the early chapters.  My dd liked the Arbor Algebra books even better, they are loosely based off of Jacobs but super engaging.

 

We have moved on to Videotext Algebra (it offers review of PreA/Algebra 1 concepts and covers Algebra 2) and we like it very, very much - super solid conceptual instruction and a very systematic approach to word problems. Word problems were dd's one continuing area of difficulty after Jacobs/Arbor - she was having a hard time applying what she'd learned to setting up equations for novel word problems - but the approach in Videotext has allowed her to understand how to set up and solve any kind of word problem. It's not for everybody, but it's great if you want to really understand the why behind the math, and it's great if you want to (re)learn alongside your kid. It's filling in holes for me, too.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Chrysalis Academy

[SilverMoon]

I'm generally of the opinion, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Does MUS work well?  We actually switched to MUS for Algebra and it has cut way down on the tears and way up on comprehension of the big picture and the "why" of math.  So don't believe the haters if it works for you, honestly.  

 

:huh: 

 

That's great that it's working for you, truly, but calling those that are real about MUS's scope "haters" is uncalled for. MUS's higher math books simply don't cover as many concepts or go as deep as typical courses.

 

For what it's worth, I put my oldest into MUS alg intentionally, knowing it was behind, because he was seriously struggling and MUS is where he was at. He was successful with MUS. It was what he needed, but I'm not going to call it something it's not. Concepts he had a good familiarity with the Foerster using sister knew inside out and backwards. DS isn't heading towards a math career of any sorts and has struggled with math for eons, so there came a point when this became good enough for him.

 

My next two kids are strong in math. They used parts of MUS alg as their prealg coursework this past year since it was still on my shelf. It was very accessible and they zipped through it. One of them is certainly heading into a STEM career and the other most likely is too. MUS alone would not prepare these kids for where they're going.

[PeacefulChaos]

I'm generally of the opinion, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Does MUS work well?  We actually switched to MUS for Algebra and it has cut way down on the tears and way up on comprehension of the big picture and the "why" of math.  So don't believe the haters if it works for you, honestly.  

 

I hear what you're saying and in general I feel the same way.  However, I have read up a lot on MUS in the higher levels and with this kid wanting to go pre-med... I know it's a long way from now and I'm NOT by any means saying that I think he'll definitely stick to the career path he's chosen when he was a pre-teen lol, but just knowing that there are better things out there, that I'm confident he would do fine with, I think it would serve him better for any future endeavors if we switched after prealg.  :)