Algebra Help- Jacobs, Arbor School, something else?

[BusyMom5]

My 8th grader is ready for Algebra (I think), she did Saxon 8/7 and 1/2.  We tried AoPS, and it was a flop b/c the words were just overwhelming, it wasn't straight forward and DD would get frustrated.  I narrowed Algebra down to 3 basic options:

 

1.  Jacobs w/ Dr. Callahan DVDs

2   Foesters w/ a video component  Chalkdust?

3.  Saxon w/ Art Reed

 

I let her watch the videos and pick one, she picked Jacobs.  We are just a few weeks in, and I'm not sure what to think.  SHe seems overwhelmed.  The first week or two was review, and that went fine.  This week it's functions, and while she seems to understand it just fine IMO, she can't seem to take what she knows to the next level, she gets confused by questions not answered directly in the text (and she is lazy about re-reading it if she does't know).  The actual math she gets, it's the part where they ask an abstract question, ask them to explain why something works, or ask something about one of the terms (as in words, not terms in the problem) that seem to trip her up.  I'm not sure if ti's a maturity thing, if we need to go back to another PreAlgebra (I really don't think we do, she seems to have everything straight and be ready to move on).  I tried teaching b/c Dr. C's daughter in the videos talks *really* fast and goes over a lot of stuff very quickly.  I made DD take notes from what I taught her, I help her, but honestly she needs to be able to be taught the lesson and then do the problems.  SHe's coming to me totallys tressed out for every 2 problems.. and she KNOWS the answers, she just can't seem to get all straightened out in her head.  I'm not sure if this is hormones, if the math is too hard, if this book isn't a good match, if I need to get harder or help more?  Did it just jump in too fast and we need to review a few more weeks?  Review what?  And with what materials?  Right now it may take her 2 hours- most of which is crying that she doesn't get it..... *I* don't get her!  I'd appreciate any advice.  Right now I told her we will use the Arbor School book Crocodiles and COconuts to hopefully she will understand it better. 

[Ethel Mertz]

If the Saxon worked for her, maybe try going back to Saxon?

 

My rising 8th grader is scheduled to do Jacobs as well, but I'm getting a bit nervous and am considering having something else as a back-up. We came from Singapore Math.

[BusyMom5]

I'm thinking about it, but I've already spent $150+ on this!  If I can find it cheap enough, I will get it just as a back-up.  She wasn't a fan of Saxon either, and i also offered the option to go back and re-do the last 20 or so lessons of Pre-Al to get a little review since she's having a rough start. 

[JennSnow]

I know you've narrowed it down but I wanted to toss Math Without Borders in there as a suggestion if you haven't looked at it yet.  The program uses a classic Prentice Hall textbook along with video lessons.  It's also very comprehensive and rigorous :).

https://mathwithoutborders.com/algebra-1

 

[deerforest]

Math without Borders uses Foerster's. It's a strong program.

 

I believe Crocodiles and Coconuts has its roots in Jacobs. It's a text-heavy program too, and if she doesn't like Jacob's it's possible she won't like it either.

 

Are you sure she is ready to learn math independently with videos? My girl is moderately accelerated in math but absolutely prefers me to either direct her learning or do buddy math. We can only use videos for supplement.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I think Crocodiles and Coconuts is easier for a student to do independently than Jacobs, because all the teaching - all the words that the teacher would say to you - are right there in the lesson. Nothing is assumed to be added on.  It isn't assumed that a teacher presented a lesson before you started working on the problems.

 

That said, it is text-heavy, lots of reading. But more hand-holding than using Jacobs on its own would be.

[BusyMom5]

WHere does C&C fit in?  We did the first half of the functions section with no problem, but when it started naming the types of functions, and wanting her to be able to identify how they would relate on the coordinate plane, it was just too much, so I switched to C&C this week.  So far it looks much simpler, but she still isn't a fan.  Do I do all of C&C, or parts here and there?

[Chrysalis Academy]

WHere does C&C fit in?  We did the first half of the functions section with no problem, but when it started naming the types of functions, and wanting her to be able to identify how they would relate on the coordinate plane, it was just too much, so I switched to C&C this week.  So far it looks much simpler, but she still isn't a fan.  Do I do all of C&C, or parts here and there?

 

C&C covers 2-variable equations. I would do it in order, as each lesson builds on the one before. Chapter 2 is focused on functions.

 

The only trouble we had with C&C was the end of the last chapter, Chapter 4 - Conic Sections. The last two sections, 4.4 Parabolas & 4.5 Hyperbolas kind of lost my dd. The intention is to lead the student to a discovery of the relation between the equations and the graphs, but dd just didn't make the conceptual leap. We ended up skipping those two sections and coming back to them after we finished Chuckles the Rocket Dog.  Chuckles covers polynomials and quadratics and understanding their graphs came easier for dd after understanding the equations, not before.

 

I will say that Chuckles is where dd ran into difficulty working through the texts on her own, and needed more support, which is why we've moved on to Videotext, which has very explicit teaching.  These books can be hard for the teacher to pick up the thread of, you almost have to go back to the beginning to understand the way in which he is unfolding the lessons, because it definitely has a strong incremental discovery component.  This worked fine for dd, until it didn't, and at that point it was hard to know how to help her using those materials. We're both feeling more confident moving through Videotext together at this point.

[Leftyplayer]

Take a look at Videotext Interactive.

[BusyMom5]

OP here- I am searching math for my second DD, and this thread popped up, so I"m updating what we did.

We plugged thru C&C- it's a great book.  And we started Chuckles.  By that time, it was January and DD just wanted her old Saxon back.  It's now Spring of 2019- 2.5 years later.  She did all of Saxon ALgebra 1, Saxon ALgebra 2, and she's in the middle of Advanced Math as a 10th grader.   I ended up teaching all of AL 1 and 2 to her daily.  She never was able to just watch the video and go- not sure why, but it never worked.  This year, in Advanced Math, she's using the Art Reed DVDs and she really likes them!  SHe's getting 100% on most tests! Her scores on the ACT pretests are very good IMO.  SHe is a mathier kid IMO, and she tends to watch videos on You Tube and Khan if she doesn't understand 100% of what she's learning.  Her opinion is that Saxon may be dry, but it does teach you.  She is thinking she might try AoPS books next year, or maybe LoF, but she's also headed to CC, so we will see how much time she has left.  She really likes math!  It's her favorite subject right now!  

So, for anyone reading this while searching- all that jumping around in 8th grade was fine!  We tried several different things and ended up with Saxon.  We did not get behind by giving it time, or by jumping around.  I have to say that the Arbor School books are genius!  I LOVE them!!!!  They would not be good for a kid who doesn't like to read as much.