A math thank you for the board

[Peaceseeker]

I struggled with the decision to have my daughter repeat pre Algebra for a second year and delay Algebra.  I struggled because I knew we had gone over everything and that she technically should be ready, but things were still shaky.  I struggled because the other homeschool families I knew were pushing forward, skipping grades, and doing Algebra much earlier.  We could have pushed through it, but it probably would have been a struggle and a few tears.  Which left me wondering how the rest of higher math would then go.

When I posted my thoughts here I got a lot of encouragement to take a second year to review.  To teach her right where she was at that year. To make her foundation rock strong for high school math.  So we did a full second year of Pre Algebra, and it was pretty easy for her.  Everything seemed to lock in finally.  She made a high A in an outside honors pre Algebra course last year.

Fast forward to this year and we are doing Derek Owens algebra.  And she is doing so awesome!  Some careless errors that are common in Algebra, like missing a sign or a step, but she is learning to catch them.  Absolutely no conceptual problems though. She looks at equations full of fractions or decimals and doesn't freeze and just starts attacking them. She says math is so easy and she is enjoying tackling longer algebra problems.  She is making A's again this year. 

So I thought I would post a thank you, as there are so many pleas for math help on these boards.  The advice was really good, and it encouraged me to do something that seemed hard at the time, to hold instead of pushing ahead.  But it was absolutely the best decision for this child. She is thriving and full of math confidence.  I am not worried anymore about how the rest of high school math will unfold.  Her foundation is so much stronger.  

I can't remember if I thanked you all last year when I was already seeing good results.  I may have.  But the payoff is really showing now that we are in Algebra, so I just wanted to post to say THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Edited October 19, 2018 by CaliforniaDreamin

[Kendall]

That's so great! Thanks for updating us! 

[Miss Tick]

Hey, thanks right back at you! Threads like yours gave me the confidence to have my dd repeat prealgebra this year for basically the same reason. So far, so good! - although it does throw my planned high school science progression for a loop...

[MerryAtHope]

Good for you! Sometimes it's scary to take the time to really reinforce the foundation as you did, and it takes a lot of courage. That's awesome!!

[sdobis]

We are doing a second year of pre-algebra this year. She's finally really getting it with about one wrong answer per lesson. This has been a dream come true for us. Of course I worry that she'll be behind the average kid in math, but if she chooses college, we'll be starting at the community college.  

[Peaceseeker]

 When her friends moan and groan about algebra she seems kind of surprised that they are struggling with it or that they hate math. They pretty much all hate their math classes.

I think she is secretly enjoying algebra. She tackles it first thing every day where math used to be the subject she dreaded and dragged her feet on.  She chooses to do that as I don't dictate her schedule.  it is a dramatic change in how she views math and views herself as a student who does well in math and (gasp) possibly LIKES math..

Totally worth the extra year.  I hope it pays off for all of you slowing down like it did for us.  

[lmrich]

We are doing an extra semsester of Algebra 2. 

I had to take a junior back to pre-algebra to really cement that foundation. She can work at a faster pace than my 7th graders I tutor, but, man, I wish someone had told her that the point is not to finish the curriculum, it is to understand it. 

Good for you!