High School Math Advice

[diokos]

Looking for math advice. My 10th grader finished MUS Pre Algebra last year and began MUS Alg I. She really struggled (has always had big problems with math retention and couldn’t do any problems that involved fractions at all, and just seemed to need a review of basic math in general.). So we spent 4th quarter freshman year and 1st quarter this year running through the first few books of Learn Math Fast. She’s now in LMF Pre Alg. However, after using it for a while now I don’t feel it covers things deeply enough to give her Alg I credit if we continue using the series alone. I’m debating about picking MUS back up where we left off, or wondering about using something like No Nonsense Algebra to try to get an Alg I credit for this year. Any advice? I’m starting to panic trying to figure out how to fit all our Math credits into high school! (I think she is likely a college bound student, by the way; right now she wants to be an elementary teacher.). Thanks!

[momtofive]

Could you go back to where you left off in MUS Algebra 1? Sometimes kids just need a little more time to be developmentally ready to tackle those abstract algebra concepts. MUS teaches very clearly, and gives students the chance to learn each new concept well before moving on to new topics. My younger ds is finally finding success with MUS Algebra 1 after spending time trying two other programs last year. I know others here will recommend programs that are deeper, or more rigorous, but it's been amazing this year to see him understanding it and moving forward with success! ;)

 

Best wishes! :)

[almondbutterandjelly]

I would pick up MUS Algebra where you left off.  Or maybe even go back to the beginning of it.

 

You can easily do Geometry and Algebra 2 at the same time, so you don't have to worry about messing up your math sequence.  (Note:  We actually did Geometry and the second half of Algebra at the same time, and it's worked fine.  But we did end up taking two years to get through both Algebra 1 and Geometry.  So our math sequence looked like this:

9th grade: Algebra 1

10th grade:  Algebra 1 and Geometry

11th grade:  Geometry and Algebra 2

12th grade: Precalculus

 

Best of luck!

[JanetC]

I'm not familiar with LMF, but my math advice is almost always, "don't fix what's not broken."

 

If the math you are doing is challenging enough to be engaging yet not overly frustrating, you're in the right place. It may not be the standard high school schedule, but you're in the right place for you.

[kiana]

Sequence or not, I think she'll do a lot better in the math classes she needs to take in college if she takes as much time as she needs to master the material rather than worrying about being "behind". Now, I *would* work through summers to minimize brain drain. 

 

MUS is going to be fine for a prospective el ed. I don't know about no nonsense algebra, although looking at the 3 star review on amazon where someone was miffed that they didn't get their promised "gift" for leaving a 5 star review makes me pretty suspicious about the 5 star reviews. Honestly I'd go to the beginning and breeze through the parts you already covered just to make sure that they're fresh in her brain. If she doesn't breeze through, well, then, it was clearly pretty necessary. 

 

Fractions show up a lot in college math, placement tests, and HUGELY in math for el ed majors (as they should). Given that this is a weakness of hers, I would strongly recommend ongoing fractions review on any day when it does not show up in her regular math. It does not have to be a lot. Like one problem each of add, subtract, multiply, divide, in a randomized order so she doesn't get to going on autopilot with "ok, the last one I invert the second" but correctly associates it with division. 

 

Geometry will be important too but MUS geometry will be plenty. If she has struggled with algebra I would recommend either proceeding slowly through algebra 2/geometry (treating as two challenging subjects) or integrating algebra review so that she doesn't forget it. Placing into remedial classes or doing poorly on admissions tests due to having forgotten algebra 1 will not be good. Plus, it'll make her college math much more challenging. 

 

Probability and statistics is showing up more and more in elementary math but getting her pre-algebra and algebra basics down is going to be more important. But if you don't ever play board games involving rolling dice as a family, I honestly think it'd be a good thing to integrate. I find that a lot of my students struggle with basic probability because they have no experience with dice. It doesn't have to be old stand-by's like Monopoly, but games like Settler of Catan-type games are fine too. One of my friends teaches math for struggling students in a middle/high school, and some Fridays the people who have their homework done get to play Yahtzee and count it as part of math class. I'd also make sure that she has some idea of basic statistics, but it doesn't need to be super advanced -- something on the level of "how to lie with statistics" (very cheap book, numbers are dated but the math is timeless, worth acquiring for anyone), and integrating that into social studies/current events so that there's ongoing review/discussion provided. 

 

If she changes her major (as long as she doesn't change it to a STEM major), this will be less relevant but it sure won't hurt. Imo everyone should understand basic statistics so that they know when they're being misled.