New to homeschool, 15yo boy, need secular online class recs

[Pen]

11 hours ago, Sblora said:

Thanks for the suggestions Pen.  I think it’d be fairly easy to cobble together a unit on Greek Mythology or WWII to fit the bill for English this year using the Great Courses along with associated novels, etc,

Probably so.

11 hours ago, Sblora said:

maybe I can get him to read Unbroken finally.  

Why is that important to you?  

 

11 hours ago, Sblora said:

I’ve found a Saxon Geometry course that is block scheduled but AYOP so he could finish early summer if he starts next week.

Why not let him use a more inspiring math program and let him take a normal length of time?  

Is your son clear on order of operations?

AoPS for a smart kid and going back even to prealgebra if needed to get solid (or even to have a good reference book)  makes more sense to me than Saxon.  

James Taunton makes more sense to me, and has a GC on Geometry plus math books and videos. Just his GC would not be enough to equal a high school geometry class, but could be a useful adjunct to help inspire more interest.  

It doesn’t sound like your son’s math has thrived with Saxon thus far.  Saxon is known for being good for kids who need a ton of repetition.  Not doing well with it doesn’t necessarily mean your son is poor at math, just poor at Saxon.  Probably poorly taught.  

 Is your younger son a wonderful skilled tutor with a proven track record of successfully teaching math to your older son?  If not, this makes no sense to me.  

11 hours ago, Sblora said:

 

Any suggestions for Earth Science?  I’d tackle that at an accelerated pace this Spring rather than Physical Science and i’m hoping to convince him to give Conceptual Physics a try instead of skipping it altogether next year. He’s so afraid of the math in physics and chemistry, he wants to avoid both. And chem is just plain fun! Or was when i took it and I don't recall a ton of math in it.

 

Poor math skills is a common cause for science troubles. 

My son’s chemistry required very solid algebra 1 to be successful.  There was a lot of calculation to find specific gravity and so forth. Earth Science had some of that too. 

 I think even biology as often taught nowadays involves some math. 

You sound like your goal is to deal with weak foundations by rushing ahead to dump an extra hurried top structure on them.  If he never had decent algebra 1 (regardless of grade received),   algebra 2 and many science classes are unlikely to go well for him.  

 

[Pen]

James Tanton.  No u.

[Sblora]

1 hour ago, Pen said:

Probably so.

Why is that important to you?  

Because he’d LOVE it...the point is to get hum reading again and he has always sought out adventure/historical books with themes of mans hatred towards itself.  

 

Why not let him use a more inspiring math program and let him take a normal length of time?  

He wants to graduate on time, the only way for that to happen is to get a math credit this semester so he can start next Fall.  I  the oast, ANY lapse in math learning resulted in significant retention loss which is another reason to pursue Saxon.  He only had Saxon for prealg and Alg, he was fine in prealg despite the teacher but sturggled with Alg in 8th but pulling out a 90 after we had him tutor...up from 70s, so it was a win  he is now just fine with Algebra 1 but Alg 2 tooics are fuzzy from the NC Math 2 curriculum which jumped all of the darned place  he doesnt need to repeat Alg 1 at all, repeating Math 2 which he barely got a C in seems pointless if he can just switch back to the traditional track of geometry to alg 2.  I like Saxon for its simplicity and sprial..i used to think it was too repetitive until he proved he needed that.  I’m not comparing my children, but absolutely I’m able to evaluate them and their skills. I stink at math.  My son doesnt want to tutor again, he’s said he’d ask his brother if he gets stuck, realizing thats a strength isnt a bad thing  my older son prefers to do it himself, not ask for help from a teacher, etc and Saxon is designed for that.  He is not up for conceptual math, at all, he's directly said he's not interested...wants mechanics and to get it over with  

Is your son clear on order of operations? Yep, no problem

AoPS for a smart kid and going back even to prealgebra if needed to get solid (or even to have a good reference book)  makes more sense to me than Saxon.  

—-smart but disinterested and thats huge for engagement

James Taunton makes more sense to me, and has a GC on Geometry plus math books and videos. Just his GC would not be enough to equal a high school geometry class, but could be a useful adjunct to help inspire more interest.  

—-I will look into this, the Great Courses Academy uses a Geometry series themselves

It doesn’t sound like your son’s math has thrived with Saxon thus far.  Saxon is known for being good for kids who need a ton of repetition.  Not doing well with it doesn’t necessarily mean your son is poor at math, just poor at Saxon.  Probably poorly taught.  

—as mentioned, he only has Sacon two years and those were his two successful years

 Is your younger son a wonderful skilled tutor with a proven track record of successfully teaching math to your older son?  If not, this makes no sense to me.  

—yeah, hes very patient and to the point, the older has helped younger with Latin too, goes both ways  what hasnt worked is having my husband try to help, its awful, we dont even attempt that anymore, too rigid, expects too much

 

Poor math skills is a common cause for science troubles. 

—agreed

My son’s chemistry required very solid algebra 1 to be successful.  There was a lot of calculation to find specific gravity and so forth. Earth Science had some of that too. 

 I think even biology as often taught nowadays involves some math. 

—he did well in Honors Bio, 89

You sound like your goal is to deal with weak foundations by rushing ahead to dump an extra hurried top structure on them.  If he never had decent algebra 1 (regardless of grade received),   algebra 2 and many science classes are unlikely to go well for him.  

—thats presumptuous, Im actually backtracking, ignoring the past year of math he had since its jumbled in his head, to the last point he had success with the program in which he found that success.  If the speed the class is taught is too fast,its AYOP, so we slow it down.  By not having deadlines, he can mve more quickly thru what he knows and slow on topics he needs more attention on  i dont find this to be a bad plan  i do not want to plan to have him grad late by not giving his the opportunity to be on time  his PSATs in 8th showed he had a firm grasp of Alg, not just his grade so im going with that  

 I’ve seen good reviews here of TT Geometry, not interested in Thinkwell as its very dry.  What I do want to avoid is jumping around trying out curriculum too much.   I believe that would frustrate him but also let him feel he could give up too easily if its a “ let me know if you like it “ proposition.  

 

Edited January 2, 2019 by Sblora

[Pen]

On 12/30/2018 at 5:51 AM, Sblora said:

is math is a but funky as he was in private school for 8th and took Alg 1..got lucky with an A as they used Saxon and the weighting of homework significantly helped his grade. When he moved to public, he received credit for Math 1 but didnt have Math 2 Honors until Spring and he didnt remember most of it result is a very difficult semester and a low C result. Despite dropping to non honors Math 3, he had retained very little of Math 2 so was failing when we pulled him.

 

 

15 hours ago, Sblora said:

My son recounted today that he has YEARS of poor math instruction (ie 6 teachers in 6th grade in public since they kept rotating subs, an inept prealg instructor, etc) and just feels completely incompetent in math.

 

 

My views  were based on what you wrote. 

It is impossible to tell from outside what is going on.  

You previously wrote what sounds like poor math all the way back to prealgebra in these prior posts.   With A in algebra 1 only because he got lucky and skills forgotten by time of math 2. 

Now most recent one you seem to indicate  he is very solid up through algebra 1.  

 

[Sblora]

I can see where that would come across that way...both were correct though 😜. AT THE TIME he completed Alg 1, he wasnt as solid as id have liked but tutoring for the last semester 3x/week changed that. His Use of Alg 1 skills in Math 2 solidified those skills more but the quick and dirty Math 2 objectives werent enough to breach the Alg 2 topic barrier. So, no, he doesnt need to repeat Alg 1 and is familiar with many Alg 2 topics (radicals, quadratics, etc) but in no way versed in them. Graphing and equations and applying the quadratic equation are ok. He either needs to repeat math 2 then do Math 3 or go back to geometry then Alg 2 which is what he’s chosen to do preferring geometry now. 

His luck was getting an A due to the weight of hw in his class, he would have had a B in most classes due to his less than stellar performance in the first semester. The teacher didn't use Saxon tests either, but made her own which were significantly different than the homework problems. He made significant strides with the tutoring, even his teacher remarked on his fluency on his final report card.  Then, he had 8 months of no math and switched to Integrated Math 2 in Spring of his Freshman year in public. Thats the reasoning for me going back to Saxon, plus he knows the flow of the text and with the recorded classes and teacher support should be able manage.

 

 I’m sorry my ramblings were less than clear and appreciate the hand-holding as i figure this out. 

[SanDiegoMom]

Haven't read all the posts but if you need something online, secular, high on input and lower on output Online G3 is great. High level discussion and creative assignments. Non graded - you get a certificate of completion if you do 75 percent of the coursework which includes discussion posts. My kids are taking a Shakespeare class which they love, and my son is taking the AP computer science principles class. 

[Sblora]

Thx, I’ll take another look at that.