cheer me up about our math plans, please! (STEM-y, not math-loving child)

[serendipitous journey]

Well, Math U See is the one program that consistently works for elder DS but he is so STEM-bright that it feels strange to keep him in it (I have also tried: upper levels of Singapore; MEP; AoPS; Jacobs; Prentice Hall Algebra).  However, he's had serious health troubles this year and I am just unwilling to have him miserable about math esp. under these circumstances. 

My goals are to ensure that he gets a terrific math foundation for the science he'll almost certainly want to do later on, and also that he gets a good math education for liberal-arts purposes: learns to see some of the beauty & grace & glory of nature in mathematics. 

What we are doing now is working, but is so weird that it's hard for me to feel good about (esp. in a year when we are just seeming too weird for words).  Here it is; if you can honestly cheer me up about it, I'd be grateful, and if you think that is a truly serious mistake I'd like to know that too but please be kind.  🙂 

• Math U See: he's working through the secondary sequence, is in lesson 19 (roughly week 19 of a 30-odd week year) of Algebra II.  It is really a good fit for him. 
• Calculus Without Tears: he is working through Volume 2 at a gentle pace, we'll probably finish it sometime this year.  My goal, especially given the relatively "light" nature of MUS, is to build a very solid calculus intuition and also to equip him to do upper level physics relatively early since that is what he loves.
• AoPS Competition Maths for middle school: I noticed that his "problem solving" skills were not esp. strong when he took the AoPS Algebra I placement test recently.  So we're working through this book over the next year, broken into small bits, then for as long as we are in MUS I plan to keep working through the main volumes of the AoPS problem solving (NOT curriculum) books. 
• after MUS: maybe a year to solidify upper calculus, then continue in higher maths on a topic he's interested in. 

Thoughts?  This isn't too much math for him at the moment: usually the MUS takes around 30" on average, and the others probably 10 - 25" combined.  For summer maths I often am alternating one day of MUS work with one day calc page & Competition Math assignment, and this is a very light math schedule. 

I try to run a math-oriented living book, too, and right now it is the Engineering Ponderables (the math ponderables didn't catch on). 

and: thanks in advance. 

 

[Farrar]

You're right that MUS isn't the first thing one would suggest for a mathy STEM kid, but what works works. And if he's thriving - which it sounds like he is - then that's a win. Learning does not have to be miserable to be challenging learning. I think it sounds like you're doing great.

[hollyhock2]

I think what you are doing is fine. If you are making sure that he's really getting the math down with other programs, then I see no reason to not continue with MUS. I have read success stories from parents whose students only used MUS in high school, even when it involved STEM courses in college. The fact that you are "making sure" with the other programs is great and he'll probably be fine.

[Lori D.]

MORE than once I've read on these boards about students who do MUS all the way through and very successfully go in to Engineering -- that MUS so helped them understand math that they were tutoring their college classmates. 

Go with what clicks for YOUR student. Do the Honors option with MUS, keep up all those great supplements, and if at some point you see your student is not getting the Math, then consider switching to something else. But you look great for high school math! BEST of luck for all your homeschool high school adventures. Warmly, Lori D.

[Arcadia]

On 7/21/2019 at 11:19 AM, serendipitous journey said:

My goals are to ensure that he gets a terrific math foundation for the science he'll almost certainly want to do later on, and also that he gets a good math education for liberal-arts purposes: learns to see some of the beauty & grace & glory of nature in mathematics. 

 

Below links are a little dry (have to make lunch so just took the first links I could find) but the topics are some examples I used with my kids to spark discussion about maths around us. What I didn’t get from my public school education was the in depth and wide ranging discussions about math. I had to discuss with any cousin I find free to chat (not just about math but other subjects as well).  Socratic discussions can be used for math regardless of which curriculum your child use.

The mathematics and computer graphics of spirals in plants https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b224/01a42f415341980ad8bcb1c19bbbdb3758fb.pdf

The mathematics of sundials https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jill_Vincent/publication/253238527_The_mathematics_of_sundials/links/02e7e5204490984a0f000000/The-mathematics-of-sundials.pdf?origin=publication_detail

Pythagoras, The Music of the Spheres, and the Wolf Interval∗ https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/998a/b5c0d628683e4f18226b498200e727e23332.pdf

Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geom/hd_geom.htm

ETA:

The Mathematics of Nature’s Patterns https://curiodyssey.org/blog/mathematics-of-natures-patterns/

Edited July 23, 2019 by Arcadia

[serendipitous journey]

Profound thanks to y'all.  🙂 

On 7/21/2019 at 1:03 PM, Farrar said:

You're right that MUS isn't the first thing one would suggest for a mathy STEM kid, but what works works. And if he's thriving - which it sounds like he is - then that's a win. Learning does not have to be miserable to be challenging learning. I think it sounds like you're doing great.

Farrar, you are right that he's thriving (though it isn't easy): thank you so very much for your encouragement. 

On 7/22/2019 at 10:14 AM, hollyhock2 said:

I think what you are doing is fine. If you are making sure that he's really getting the math down with other programs, then I see no reason to not continue with MUS. I have read success stories from parents whose students only used MUS in high school, even when it involved STEM courses in college. The fact that you are "making sure" with the other programs is great and he'll probably be fine.

This is so encouraging!  It really helps to hear that other students have gone STEM-y after MUS and that our supplementing & checking makes sense to you. 

On 7/22/2019 at 10:24 AM, Lori D. said:

MORE than once I've read on these boards about students who do MUS all the way through and very successfully go in to Engineering -- that MUS so helped them understand math that they were tutoring their college classmates. 

Go with what clicks for YOUR student. Do the Honors option with MUS, keep up all those great supplements, and if at some point you see your student is not getting the Math, then consider switching to something else. But you look great for high school math! BEST of luck for all your homeschool high school adventures. Warmly, Lori D.

Lori, your presence on the boards is such a gift, and this suggestion to do what works well for my own child, and to be willing to switch it up if things stop working, is just nourishing & sustaining right now.   I'm so glad you know of MUS success stories, too. 

On 7/23/2019 at 7:50 AM, Arcadia said:

 

Below links are a little dry (have to make lunch so just took the first links I could find) but the topics are some examples I used with my kids to spark discussion about maths around us. What I didn’t get from my public school education was the in depth and wide ranging discussions about math. I had to discuss with any cousin I find free to chat (not just about math but other subjects as well).  Socratic discussions can be used for math regardless of which curriculum your child use.

The mathematics and computer graphics of spirals in plants https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b224/01a42f415341980ad8bcb1c19bbbdb3758fb.pdf

The mathematics of sundials https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jill_Vincent/publication/253238527_The_mathematics_of_sundials/links/02e7e5204490984a0f000000/The-mathematics-of-sundials.pdf?origin=publication_detail

Pythagoras, The Music of the Spheres, and the Wolf Interval∗ https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/998a/b5c0d628683e4f18226b498200e727e23332.pdf

Geometric Patterns in Islamic Art https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/geom/hd_geom.htm

ETA:

The Mathematics of Nature’s Patterns https://curiodyssey.org/blog/mathematics-of-natures-patterns/

Arcadia, thank you for encouragement & for finding those links for me!  I'm going to work through them this term & expose DS to them -- it is a great living math point-of-departure. 

I'm just so grateful for the help I receive here.   Again: thank you. 

[daijobu]

On 7/21/2019 at 11:19 AM, serendipitous journey said:

 

• AoPS Competition Maths for middle school: I noticed that his "problem solving" skills were not esp. strong when he took the AoPS Algebra I placement test recently.  So we're working through this book over the next year, broken into small bits, then for as long as we are in MUS I plan to keep working through the main volumes of the AoPS problem solving (NOT curriculum) books. 
•  

I don't often see Competition Math for MS mentioned here, but I do really like this book.  Especially I think the counting chapter is excellent.  Short and to the point.  

I have the AoPS Vols 1 and 2 on the shelf, but only used them a bit.  It should be a great supplement.

You can also have your student take old AMCs that are freely available on the AoPS website for fun.