Pre Calc

[Deb in NJ]

Which is better for Pre Calc . Chalk Dust or Derek Ownes or Thinkwell.  Thanks!

[MamaSprout]

I think they are all of similar rigor.

Have your student watch the videos to see if any are automatically eliminated. Chalkdust/ Larson (or Cool Math Guy or LarsonPrecalculus.com - all the same thing) and Derek Owens both have books + videos. Thinkwell has just videos + notes. My dd doesn't like the the Thinkwell videos, so I didn't look at them.

We've used parts of the Larson Precalculus this year as a supplement to Algebra 2, and dd likes the book. She prefers Derek Owens videos, though, and I probably will use his full-price option with grading for Precalculus. We've used the the half price self-grading option before. The book DO uses for Precalculus is no frills and smallish print, but a good book. The newer editions don't line up closely enough to use without being a headache.

Whichever on you use, look at the scope and sequence for the Algebra 2 course that comes before it. Derek Owen's Algebra 2 covers more than some others, and it is reflected in the pace and rigor of his Precalculus course.

Edited May 28, 2019 by MamaSprout

[Deb in NJ]

MamaSprout

Thank you!  Does Derek Owens do a lot of Trig in his Algebra 2 classes?  I was hoping for a course that combined Trig and Pre Calc.

 

Deb

[RootAnn]

@Deb in NJ It looks like he covers trig at the end of Alg 2 which is standard, IMO, but covers it in more depth in PreCalc.

It seems like his syllabus assumes a fast pace through review topics. However, his classes are go-at-your-own-pace, and I believe you only pay for 9 months even if it takes you longer if you are using their grading.

[MamaSprout]

You could always email and ask what trig must be covered vs what is nice to have. We did not plan to cover trig this year in Algebra 2, but since we decided to go with Derek Owens for Precalc, I'm having dd do those chapters this summer. We have a smart in-real-life friend who got bogged down in DO Precalc after transitioning out of another program.

Edited May 28, 2019 by MamaSprout

[TCB]

DO Precalc is one of the longest, most time consuming of his courses. We have also found his Geometry to be long and time consuming too. I think it may be because he still uses a text book along with his videos and exercises for these two courses, so this somehow seems to take a lot more time. All his courses are excellent though, and worth the work. My oldest dd took Algebra 2 - AP Calc with him and was able to score a 5 on the AP test. His courses prepared her really well for the exam.

[Deb in NJ]

31 minutes ago, TCB said:

DO Precalc is one of the longest, most time consuming of his courses. We have also found his Geometry to be long and time consuming too. I think it may be because he still uses a text book along with his videos and exercises for these two courses, so this somehow seems to take a lot more time. All his courses are excellent though, and worth the work. My oldest dd took Algebra 2 - AP Calc with him and was able to score a 5 on the AP test. His courses prepared her really well for the exam.

TCB

How long did it take your student to complete DO precalc each day?  Wondering if I should have my daughter go into the regular or honors.

Thanks.

Deb

[TCB]

10 hours ago, Deb in NJ said:

TCB

How long did it take your student to complete DO precalc each day?  Wondering if I should have my daughter go into the regular or honors.

Thanks.

Deb

It's been a while so I can't remember how long she worked per day. We are heavily involved in robotics, which takes up a lot of time from November to March, so we usually find ourselves a bit behind in some things like math, but usually my kids work on into the summer a few weeks and get it finished up without much trouble. The year dd did precalc she had to continue working for most of the summer and did manage to get it done before we had to start the next course, but it was a bit of a close run thing. I think she ended up with only a couple of weeks complete break. She did the honors course. My dds always do the DO honors courses and I don't think it really adds a huge amount of time to the class. There may be an extra section of videos and an extra homework or two and then an extra page of questions on the test.

 

ETA - I should add that the DO courses not only prepared dd for the AP exam but also gave her a really good mathematical education. She has consequently done very well in anything that has required mathematical knowledge.

Edited May 29, 2019 by TCB

[Momto6inIN]

We are using Chalkdust and it combines Trig and other pre calc topics. DS likes it so far. He is pretty slow when it comes to math (meaning he takes a lot of time to do the problems, not that he doesn't get it quickly) so it is taking him 1.5 years at 1 hour/day to get it all done. I think the instructor does a good job of explaining, and I have no complaints so far 3 chapters in.

[Mbelle]

My ds took DO precalc this year.  He is finishing his precalc final tomorrow, which is about 2 weeks behind the schedule and this is because our family got very sick a few weeks ago.  He did not use the text book at all.   He is doing well but he likes math.  He really liked the videos and if he got stuck he could email for more video's to help him.  It has been one of our favorite math classes.