Perry Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Is this a particularly difficult chapter, or is it all downhill from here? My girls had been sailing along through Foerster Algebra 1. Until we hit chapter 6. They seemed to be following along okay, but it wasn't coming as easily to them. They were doing fairly well on the problem sets, but they both bombed the test. We took an extra week to review the chapter, and they retook the test, bombing it again. Did anyone else find this chapter to be particularly hard, or is it just us? Is this a turning point? Do the chapters continue to be more difficult? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth in Canada Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 pointed out that it is not unusual, even for good students, to get lost in algebra I at some point, regardless of the text. She recommended backing way up and reviewing, because they probably didn't quite get something earlier. I think algebra I represents a significant leap in thinking for most students--it's not surprising they may need a couple of runs at it. We used the free month Aleks trial at times like this--I think it's good for solidifying material already learned. We then went back to the regular text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 Factoring quadratics was one chapter that ALWAYS meant more tutoring clients for me! I actually have some lessons I typed up that I can send out for free that show a nice orderly method of factoring that is self-checking and guarantees a correct answer. It is based on the FOIL method of multiplication. It is just a way to write the problem so that it is easier to see where the parts fit together. I have NEVER had a student fail a chapter with these type of problems. It was a method my 8th grade teacher showed me--a student showed her... With most of the trial and error methods it is way too easy to drop negative signs. Feel free to PM or e-mail me if you'd like me to e-mail the lessons to you... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted November 26, 2008 Share Posted November 26, 2008 We're just about down with chapter 6 -- only the word problems are left and the bit about the discriminate. I don't think the rest of the book is this hard as the next chapter starts with graphing equations. My Algebra challenged older son easily grasped graphing. Keep in mind too that most Algebra 1 programs (that I've seen at least) leave the quadratic formula for late in the year, and the introduction even mentions that his order of topics is unusual. My ds has been doing fine with the problem sets, but we'll see how the review and chapter test go next week. I have been a bit perplexed by this chapter as Foerster has always had such clear explanations and the chapters all build logically -- this chapter made a few leaps that left me scratching my head. We've been able to continue on, ignoring the some of the explanations, hopeful that some of the gaps in understanding get filled in. The numbers he chose, for instance, to first demonstrate the quadratic formula gave me a knee jerk reaction of shutting down -- I need whole numbers to understand things first, not decimals and fractions with the number 13. I get "psyched out" too easily in math!! And those word problems -- why, after practicing the quadratic formula does an extra step get added when applying the formula to word problems? I'm not looking at those again until after Thanksgiving! Maybe it will make more sense then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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