Jentrovert Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 (edited) Long story short, there is an adult in my life who needs to do a lot of catching up in math, fairly quickly. The goal is to be able to pass a college algebra class. He was pulled from public school in 4th grade, and has not received any actual thorough instruction since (in 30's now). He said the last thing he remembers in school is beginning fractions. I would need to do a LOT of review myself to teach up through algebra, and just don't have the time to invest right now. (I'd been enjoying the thought of going through it all again prepping for the kids, but a bit overwhelmed thinking of doing it all so quickly.) If he worked through something like the "Keys To" fractions and algebra series, might that work? Or ???? My kids are only 1st and 2nd grade, so I'm not too familiar with what's available for older ages. He does use math in his job, no problem with calculating medicine dosages, for example, in his head. But has zero familiarity with equations or "rules" for anything. He's very much a big picture thinker and gets bogged down when forced to do details. Edited October 21, 2019 by Jentrovert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 21, 2019 Share Posted October 21, 2019 If he can pay $20/month, ALEKS is an online program that is very good for catching up quickly. It assesses the student at the beginning in whatever course you select, and then you work on what you are ready to learn. I find it a lot faster than working through a text. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentrovert Posted October 21, 2019 Author Share Posted October 21, 2019 Thank you, that looks VERY promising! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 Khan Academy is worth looking into. I took Algebra and statistics in college and forgot almost all the math I ever learned by the time I hit 40. Khan is what I used to catch up / relearn math. Having said that, not everyone can self-teach math. It's NORMAL to need help. So, before buying curriculum, have him reach out to the school district and ask about adult school / GED prep programs. These programs are free. Honestly, that would be my first phone call. Another option would be reaching out to the community college and speaking to a guidance counselor. He's not the only adult who needs almost total remediation in math. He'd be learning right along with other adults. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted October 22, 2019 Share Posted October 22, 2019 p.s. please tell him that there are a ton of us homeschool moms who HATE what happened to him and are incredibly proud of him for owning his life and choosing to move forward and take the education he deserves. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentrovert Posted October 24, 2019 Author Share Posted October 24, 2019 On 10/22/2019 at 9:12 AM, shinyhappypeople said: p.s. please tell him that there are a ton of us homeschool moms who HATE what happened to him and are incredibly proud of him for owning his life and choosing to move forward and take the education he deserves. Thank you, I will definitely pass this on. He's feeling pretty badly about it all right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 10:12 AM, katilac said: If he can pay $20/month, ALEKS is an online program that is very good for catching up quickly. It assesses the student at the beginning in whatever course you select, and then you work on what you are ready to learn. I find it a lot faster than working through a text. I agree with this with the caveat that ALEKS was designed to be an efficient refresher for people who had taken the math in high school and forgotten it. It is really, really good for this, but it is not as good as a primary program. For a motivated adult, it might work though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 5 hours ago, EKS said: I agree with this with the caveat that ALEKS was designed to be an efficient refresher for people who had taken the math in high school and forgotten it. It is really, really good for this, but it is not as good as a primary program. For a motivated adult, it might work though. I agree that it is not as good as some primary programs/texts that provide more background and conceptual depth, but I wouldn't say it's a refresher course. You can learn every single topic from the ground up as needed: explanations, steps, examples (I'd say it actually has more examples than most printed textbooks). You can start with arithmetic and go through college algebra. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstharr Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 No experience with math for adults. But when my 9th grader was a extremely eager 3rd grader, he afterschooled the full EPGY/Redbird 3rd, 4th, 5th classes in 12 months. Skipped 6th grade math to jump to Thinkwell pre-alg. Took about 1 1/2 years to complete. A lot of that accelerated math hadn't quite burned in. Might have been a able to complete a few months faster, if I had pushed. He has been able to fly through math ever since. I cannot imagine even a motivated adult to be ready to enroll in an actual college class faster than that. It is not just handling the algebraic equations, it is the presumed mastery of multiplication, division, percentages, ratios, conversion, etc. I recommend these two programs because they are video lecture based-- no text. We used ALEKS at one point, but did not find it sufficient for teaching. How about reading and writing? might be better to go GED. ' 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 (edited) 8 hours ago, katilac said: I agree that it is not as good as some primary programs/texts that provide more background and conceptual depth, but I wouldn't say it's a refresher course. You can learn every single topic from the ground up as needed: explanations, steps, examples (I'd say it actually has more examples than most printed textbooks). You can start with arithmetic and go through college algebra. It was originally designed as a refresher course, and the explanations and structure definitely have the quality of being for adults who are somewhat familiar with the material. It's obvious that they rapidly realized that there was a market for people who needed to learn it the first time as well because they have even removed this bit of history from their website. It used to be front and center. Again, I think that ALEKS is worth a try for a motivated adult, but I think it is a terrible choice as a primary program for K-12. It is absolutely excellent as a refresher course, however. It is also very good for getting students to figure out how to eliminate silly errors, as the program has no tolerance for errors of any kind. Edited October 25, 2019 by EKS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 12:47 PM, Jentrovert said: If he worked through something like the "Keys To" fractions and algebra series, might that work? Or ???? My kids are only 1st and 2nd grade, so I'm not too familiar with what's available for older ages. Also maybe Math Mammoth topical units. He can compact as he goes--doing as much or as little as he needs. They are inexpensive. I didn't realize until recently that Math Mammoth has videos! https://www.mathmammoth.com/videos/ For practice without additional instruction: https://www.mathmammoth.com/worksheets/ the green and gold series 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentrovert Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 3 hours ago, kbutton said: Also maybe Math Mammoth topical units. He can compact as he goes--doing as much or as little as he needs. They are inexpensive. I didn't realize until recently that Math Mammoth has videos! https://www.mathmammoth.com/videos/ For practice without additional instruction: https://www.mathmammoth.com/worksheets/ the green and gold series I didn't even think of Math Mammoth. I may even have some topical units; seems like I may have gotten some in a group buy at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentrovert Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 10 hours ago, gstharr said: No experience with math for adults. But when my 9th grader was a extremely eager 3rd grader, he afterschooled the full EPGY/Redbird 3rd, 4th, 5th classes in 12 months. Skipped 6th grade math to jump to Thinkwell pre-alg. Took about 1 1/2 years to complete. A lot of that accelerated math hadn't quite burned in. Might have been a able to complete a few months faster, if I had pushed. He has been able to fly through math ever since. I cannot imagine even a motivated adult to be ready to enroll in an actual college class faster than that. It is not just handling the algebraic equations, it is the presumed mastery of multiplication, division, percentages, ratios, conversion, etc. I recommend these two programs because they are video lecture based-- no text. We used ALEKS at one point, but did not find it sufficient for teaching. How about reading and writing? might be better to go GED. 10 hours ago, gstharr said: It is not just handling the algebraic equations, it is the presumed mastery of multiplication, division, percentages, ratios, conversion, etc. I think this is where he has realized a lot of the difficulty is. If it were only mastering the equations, he could MAYBE fumble through it enough to pass. (He's not worried about needing to use it later; this class just has to be passed to do the other stuff he wants to do.) He actually has a high school diploma and an associates degree. (The associates did require some kind of math class, I think, but I guess it was such that he could fumble through.) But with every single equation comes a host of other skills he hasn't mastered (or in many/most cases, ever been exposed to at all) as well, which necessitates googling, etc. It's just way too time consuming without the mastery of the other skills; mental fatigue and frustration aside, he simply doesn't have the TIME to do all the coursework that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 14 minutes ago, Jentrovert said: I think this is where he has realized a lot of the difficulty is. If it were only mastering the equations, he could MAYBE fumble through it enough to pass. (He's not worried about needing to use it later; this class just has to be passed to do the other stuff he wants to do.) He actually has a high school diploma and an associates degree. (The associates did require some kind of math class, I think, but I guess it was such that he could fumble through.) But with every single equation comes a host of other skills he hasn't mastered (or in many/most cases, ever been exposed to at all) as well, which necessitates googling, etc. It's just way too time consuming without the mastery of the other skills; mental fatigue and frustration aside, he simply doesn't have the TIME to do all the coursework that way. Regarding the bolded. I think that ALEKS may be very helpful in this situation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 This book, right here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321557123/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Someone recommended it to me for a student who had not been taught math and needed a quick catch-up. It's perfect for this - clear, concise, starts at the beginning and moves quickly through to college algebra, and has answers for self-check. I like it for adults because no matter where you are, you can self-test out of a chapter and move quickly to where you need help/ 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mariopepper Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 You probably should hire a private teacher for this aim. And it would be the best option in this case as for me. I can recommend this one, from Melbourne. I used to take extra classes and it helped me to undersand some new math chapters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawyer&Mom Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 Lials math textbooks are used to teach elementary and high school math to adults. Used versions are very inexpensive on Amazon. Very straightforward. I don’t know if they would get him where he needs to go quickly, but it’s something to know about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 28, 2019 Share Posted October 28, 2019 I would also suggest Margaret Lial's books. I'd recommend starting with Basic College Math and then moving through her Prealgebra book. Regards, Kareni 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentrovert Posted October 28, 2019 Author Share Posted October 28, 2019 I ordered the Lial book to pass on to him. I think he's planning to start with that and Khan Academy, and then use Aleks as needed for any remaining bits that need work. I'm still open to other suggestions, but want to go ahead and say "thank you" to everyone who has helped so far! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 29, 2019 Share Posted October 29, 2019 On 10/26/2019 at 11:31 PM, Reefgazer said: This book, right here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321557123/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Someone recommended it to me for a student who had not been taught math and needed a quick catch-up. It's perfect for this - clear, concise, starts at the beginning and moves quickly through to college algebra, and has answers for self-check. I like it for adults because no matter where you are, you can self-test out of a chapter and move quickly to where you need help/ I was going to suggest and link that, you could work him through up to algebra then he could do algebra with Kahn and/or ALEKS, or a combination of ALEKS/Lials for basics then Kahn/ALEKS for algebra. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.