Wheres Toto Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Ds is very good at math, but doesn't like to work really hard at it and he really dislikes being bored. He's not as accelerated as he used to be since when they had a private teacher, she chose to hold him back, but we are getting to the point of seriously looking at pre-algebra and algebra possibilities. I'm pretty sure we're going to go with Foerster's for Algebra. From what I've seen on here, it's meaty, conceptual, and high level but not as hard as AOPS. I think my son would hate AOPS because he really doesn't want to take the time to work out problems. This year he is doing the old Math Mammoth and is almost done with 6A, with Zaccaro Challenge Math and Jousting Armadillos as supplements, and Beast Academy 4C for fun (and because I already had it). He likes JA the best because he thinks it's easy, he likes the style of Zaccaro and finds some of the problems funny. He's bored out of his mind with Math Mammoth and thinks it's a waste of time to do so many problems when he already understands it. I already don't have him doing every problem or every page. So, I'm thinking of putting aside the MM and just finishing up Zaccaro Challenge (and maybe doing Real World Algebra after) and Jousting Armadillos. But I'm wondering if we would then need to find another pre-algebra to do or would he probably be able to go right into Foersters. I would pull out MM if there's something he starts struggling with, for the extra instruction. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyz Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) Try it and see how it goes? You're probably going to use it anyway so if the timing isn't right, you can just shelve it for later. Edited January 13, 2017 by Cindyz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Especially with supplements like that, I really think JA covers all the pre-A basics. Of course it's always possible he needs more practice, but I think your plan sounds fine. I'd do it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Adding... the one thing JA does not cover that is in most pre-A programs is a few chapters that are really pre-geometry. Rather than go two full years without touching on it, you might dip into a pre-A program and just do those couple of chapters. Not that it's necessary before doing the algebra program, just that it might be a good idea for his math education on the whole. Of course, the Beast stuff does cover a lot of geometry... it was just a thought... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 Adding... the one thing JA does not cover that is in most pre-A programs is a few chapters that are really pre-geometry. Rather than go two full years without touching on it, you might dip into a pre-A program and just do those couple of chapters. Not that it's necessary before doing the algebra program, just that it might be a good idea for his math education on the whole. Of course, the Beast stuff does cover a lot of geometry... it was just a thought... Thank you! We generally hate the geometry presentation of MM so I was probably going to find an alternative to that anyway. JA and ZCM both have chapters on geometry. I think it's ZCM that even goes through the Pythagorean theorem when doing perimeter of triangles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thank you! We generally hate the geometry presentation of MM so I was probably going to find an alternative to that anyway. JA and ZCM both have chapters on geometry. I think it's ZCM that even goes through the Pythagorean theorem when doing perimeter of triangles. I don't remember there being any geometry at all in Jousting Armadillos. Are you sure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 I don't remember there being any geometry at all in Jousting Armadillos. Are you sure? I grabbed the book to look and you are right. No geometry in JA, but there is quite a bit in ZCM. I think I'll compare ZCM and BA to the MM geometry chapters and see what might be missing. Then get something to cover anything that might be missing (if anything). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Thank you! We generally hate the geometry presentation of MM so I was probably going to find an alternative to that anyway. JA and ZCM both have chapters on geometry. I think it's ZCM that even goes through the Pythagorean theorem when doing perimeter of triangles. We didn't care for MM's geometry either, so we used some of MEP's. Beast is good too but don't buy it just for the geometry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 We didn't care for MM's geometry either, so we used some of MEP's. Beast is good too but don't buy it just for the geometry. We like Beast so I wouldn't buy just for geometry. MEP sounds perfect - free and printable. We used it for a little while for K/1st but I always forget about it now, so Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Warning about the MEP geometry! Some of the UK terms are different. And there are apparently a few that don't exist in American geometry. Like, it wasn't until we'd done several pages on trapeziums that I realized that a trapezium in the UK is subtly different from a trapezoid. And that the concepts are just different slightly. So... just be careful. I found the MEP geometry to be well done but extra confusing from a US perspective. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) Warning about the MEP geometry! Some of the UK terms are different. And there are apparently a few that don't exist in American geometry. Like, it wasn't until we'd done several pages on trapeziums that I realized that a trapezium in the UK is subtly different from a trapezoid. And that the concepts are just different slightly. So... just be careful. I found the MEP geometry to be well done but extra confusing from a US perspective. And this is my cue to link to the US vs UK: Who's got the right way to teach math(s)? You're welcome. ETA: fixed link...No I didn't. It's in the next post. Edited January 18, 2017 by daijobu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 No, no! Wrong link. I mean this one: US vs UK: Mathematical Terminology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 And this is my cue to link to the US vs UK: Who's got the right way to teach math(s)? You're welcome. ETA: fixed link Hehe. I've seen that before. They also have a US vs. UK maths differences thing: https://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2015/05/20/us-vs-uk-mathematical-terminology/ The geometry was well integrated for sure. But honestly, we started skipping it. The debacle where I spent five days teaching the US concept of trapezoids only to realize that's why he was getting it wrong really led me to think of geometry as a bit of a farce. Like, we spent a week working on all these elaborate venn diagrams of what shape fits into what category only to realize that some of the categories had different names and some of them didn't even exist in the US. Like, didn't even have names. It felt deeply pointless. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Well, clearly you all need some (free) Australian geometry http://amsi.org.au/teacher_modules/introduction_to_plane_geometry.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 (edited) On the preA thing, I'm struggling too! Dd has finished BA5A, and half of life of Fred PreA series, and Singapore 5. I'm going to have her do some more of BA level 5 (when I get around to ordering it), JA, Russian math 6... we'll probably play around with them for half the year, then try and dive into aops prea. Eta - we school jan-dec and she's about to start 6th grade Edited January 18, 2017 by LMD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scbusf Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Similar boat here. My DS is 10 1/2 and we've bounced around a bit for Math. He doesn't have much patience - he loved BA, but got frustrated with how long it was taking him. So now, he just started MM 6A and I think I'll make him finish that to make sure he's got fractions, etc, down pat. I think I have Zaccaro's Challenge Math, so I'll see if I can find that one. I have a copy of Foerster's Algebra 1, so I'm going to use that next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Hehe. I've seen that before. They also have a US vs. UK maths differences thing: https://mathwithbaddrawings.com/2015/05/20/us-vs-uk-mathematical-terminology/ The geometry was well integrated for sure. But honestly, we started skipping it. The debacle where I spent five days teaching the US concept of trapezoids only to realize that's why he was getting it wrong really led me to think of geometry as a bit of a farce. Like, we spent a week working on all these elaborate venn diagrams of what shape fits into what category only to realize that some of the categories had different names and some of them didn't even exist in the US. Like, didn't even have names. It felt deeply pointless. I think the trapezium is the only issue that I remember. I started just skipping or altering the questions that classified the shapes. The rest of the geometry is in line with US texts if I remember correctly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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