Does this sound like reasonable progress for precalculus?

[Janeway]

My older son is in a school that uses Addison-Wesley's book "Precalculus: Graphical, Numerical, Algebraic" eighth edition.  There are 10 chapters in the book. The teacher started on chapter 4 which is the first trigonometry chapter.  There are 8 sections in chapter 4. They started the year in section 1 of chapter 4, so 4.1. They are now on section 7 of chapter 4, so 4.7. It is 11 weeks in to the school year.  Here is a list of the table of contents basically.... http://www.slader.com/textbook/9780321656933-precalculus-graphical-numerical-algebraic-8th-edition/     Would this concern you? It seems extremely slow to me. Is this normal? Or is this a situation of a teacher has gotten seriously behind? I have also included a picture of what exactly is in chapter 4. Please help as I am extremely concerned.

[Garga]

Is the teacher at all covering anything from chapters 1-3?  Like, maybe with her own worksheets or something?  Perhaps she’s jumping into chapter 4, but also pausing and weaving things from 1-3 in it?

I don’t know anything about pre-calc, though, so I don’t know if staying in that same chapter is normal or not.  And since I don’t know anything about it, I’d be wondering, just as you are, if they’re very far behind.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Garga

[Janeway]

2 minutes ago, Garga said:

Is the teacher at all covering anything from chapters 1-3?  Like, maybe with her own worksheets or something?  Perhaps she’s jumping into chapter 4, but also pausing and weaving things from 1-3 in it?

I don’t know anything about pre-calc, though, so I don’t know if staying in that same chapter is normal or not.  And since I don’t know anything about it, I’d be wondering, just as you are, if they’re very far behind.

Nothing from chapter 1-3. I looked through the grade book and he has assignments every day listed and he stays on a section each time for more than a week. So he is on only the 7th section total and is about 1/3 of the way through the school year.

[Roadrunner]

I don't have an answer, but aops class also jumps straight into trig. I wonder if the first three chapters were already covered in Algebra 2 class and the teacher wants to spend as much time as possible  on trig instead of spending it on review? Just my guess. I am also wondering if they plan on covering the last two chapters. Maybe all she will do is chapters 4-8. If that's the case, the pace seems doable. But again, I am absolutely speculating here. 

 

Although I just looked at chapter 9, and that  also needs to be done. 

Edited October 27, 2018 by Roadrunner

[RootAnn]

My guess is they won't cover chapter 9 or 10. I also guess the teacher will skip or compress half of chapter 6 and 8 (polar functions). Sounds like either the teacher plans on not covering the whole book or he will panic and skip/compress a lot later to get it done.

I don't see that there is anything you can do since this is out of your hands.

[regentrude]

The first three chapters are review of material that should have been covered in algebra. Omitting them does not concern me.

Chapter 4 is by far the most important one because it sets the foundation for everything coming later; without a thorough mastery of chapter 4, nothing else will make sense. The progress looks a bit slow, but if the students struggle with the material, going faster would make the rest of the year pointless. 

I would expect the teacher to cover chapters 5 and 6, and most of chapter 8. If the students are weak and need more time, I would omit chapters 7+9 (not a prerequ for calc) and 10 (covered in calc). 

[Lecka]

You can ask.  

My dad used to teacher high school math, and they would talk about how students did in the next year’s math class and make changes based on that.  They also may have certain goals and adjust their teaching to reach the goals.  They can also adjust to their classes.  

If you’re worried, ask.  Then you can find out why they have made this decision.  

It’s also possible they were adding in review for the PSAT or something during class time, but not assigning homework for that.  

You can also have your son ask his friends who have different math teachers what lesson they are on.  

[Janeway]

It is supposed to be a preAP class, so not supposed to slow down based on weaker students.  But the teacher is new is brand new to the school. I wonder if he is getting behind because he is new to this. My son, who has ASD, is very upset and obsessing over this. I mean, he is very upset and has gotten two demerits in this class due to his behavior now (writing a poem about how much he does not like the teacher and also, one time, just not doing his home work as he feels the teacher is bad and should not assigned another thing from that section). I know we need to work on my son big time over this. But at the same time, I am concerned the class is moving too slow for a preAP class. Just because my son has ASD and is obsessing does not mean he is wrong. Would any of you bring up the slow progress to the teacher? I am kind of thinking not and figuring whatever they do not finish at school, we can do at home over the summer.  I have been trying to explain to my son that this actually benefits him because he is capable of learning whatever is missed over the summer and meanwhile, the school year will have been solid enough and slow going enough that he should know everything very well, which is a good thing.

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

The first three chapters are review of material that should have been covered in algebra. Omitting them does not concern me.

Chapter 4 is by far the most important one because it sets the foundation for everything coming later; without a thorough mastery of chapter 4, nothing else will make sense. The progress looks a bit slow, but if the students struggle with the material, going faster would make the rest of the year pointless. 

I would expect the teacher to cover chapters 5 and 6, and most of chapter 8. If the students are weak and need more time, I would omit chapters 7+9 (not a prerequ for calc) and 10 (covered in calc). 

 

1 hour ago, Lecka said:

You can ask.  

My dad used to teacher high school math, and they would talk about how students did in the next year’s math class and make changes based on that.  They also may have certain goals and adjust their teaching to reach the goals.  They can also adjust to their classes.  

If you’re worried, ask.  Then you can find out why they have made this decision.  

It’s also possible they were adding in review for the PSAT or something during class time, but not assigning homework for that.  

You can also have your son ask his friends who have different math teachers what lesson they are on.  

 

Edited October 28, 2018 by Janeway

[Lecka]

I would talk to the teacher about this.

You need to strategize together about what to tell your son.  

 

[regentrude]

22 hours ago, Janeway said:

It is supposed to be a preAP class, so not supposed to slow down based on weaker students.  .... But at the same time, I am concerned the class is moving too slow for a preAP class.

What does "pre-AP" mean? That the very next class the students take is AP calculus? The stuff the will need in AP Calc AB is chapter 4, 5, and 6. 

If you are concerned, definitely ask the teacher whether everything they need for AP calc will be covered in the school year..

Edited October 29, 2018 by regentrude

[CinV]

58 minutes ago, regentrude said:

What does "pre-AP" mean? That the very next class the students take is AP calculus? The stuff the will need in AP Calc AB is chapter 4, 5, and 6. 

If you are concerned, definitely ask the teacher whether everything they need for AP calc will be covered in the school year..

Pre-AP is what Texas schools call honors level classes. Apparently (as explained by my admins when I was teaching there) the Pre-AP label is considered more prestigious than Honors.

[regentrude]

2 hours ago, CinV said:

Pre-AP is what Texas schools call honors level classes. Apparently (as explained by my admins when I was teaching there) the Pre-AP label is considered more prestigious than Honors.

In this case, I would not consider this pace appropriate for an honors (or any kind of prestigious) designation. This is bare bones trigonometry. Nothing honors about it.

[Janeway]

23 hours ago, regentrude said:

In this case, I would not consider this pace appropriate for an honors (or any kind of prestigious) designation. This is bare bones trigonometry. Nothing honors about it.

Would you bring it up to them? Or let it go and figure you can just catch up over the summer? I wasn't going to say anything, but now, I realize if the entire level is behind at the beginning of the year, next year, AP Calculus will only have kids in it that did so little. He is the only preCalculus teacher.

[regentrude]

3 hours ago, Janeway said:

Would you bring it up to them? Or let it go and figure you can just catch up over the summer? I wasn't going to say anything, but now, I realize if the entire level is behind at the beginning of the year, next year, AP Calculus will only have kids in it that did so little. He is the only preCalculus teacher.

yes, I would definitely bring it up. If i send my kids to school, they are supposed to learn there and it shouldn't be the parent's responsibility to teach them over the summer.