Jacobs Algebra

[Coco_Clark]

Tell me how you schedule out Jacobs Algebra.  My son (6th grade) started in January, and while I'm fine with him taking a year and a half to complete, given his age, I'm realizing we are going so slow it would take even longer than that.  He's not struggling with the content, but he does give push back on the repetitiveness and #of problems.  I'm wondering if I should cut the number of problems assigned or if should have him suck it up and do more.

Right now we do Set 1 one day, Set 2 the next day, then Set 4 (and often finish up 2 because he lost steam) the 3rd day.  So every lesson takes 3 days.

 

[EKS]

I would do Set I and II (or III) all in one day.  Only do the most interesting Set IV problems.  This is how it's meant to be scheduled.  If he has trouble with a lesson, do Set II with him and have him do Set III on his own the next day.  You can also skip Set I if he doesn't need the review.

Edited April 1, 2020 by EKS

[EKS]

2 minutes ago, OKBud said:

Really! So Jacob's recommended doing a chapter every two days?

It's set up to do a section every day.  Just count the sections, add in days for review, tests, and final exams, and you'll see what I mean.

There are some sections that he assumes will take longer than a day, but there aren't many of them.  It's in the teacher's guide.  I can look it up if you like.

Edited April 1, 2020 by EKS

[EKS]

Here it is from the teacher's guide.

 

[EKS]

51 minutes ago, Coco_Clark said:

I'm wondering if I should cut the number of problems assigned or if should have him suck it up and do more.

Regarding this--the instruction is in the problem sets.  Instead of eliminating problems, have him do the easier ones orally (which can really reduce the time).  So I'd eliminate Set I and IV, and do Set II in its entirety but with some orally, some on a small whiteboard (perhaps with you writing down what he says--this helped my kids' attitudes), and some on paper on his own.

Edited April 1, 2020 by EKS

[Coco_Clark]

Thanks everyone.  I think I'll try out doing set 1 orally together, then assigning set 2 that same day.  I'll keep the second day for correcting/finishing up set 2 as needed, and/or Set 4 when we feel like it.  That way every lesson will take 1-2 days, instead of a solid 3.    

[Farrar]

We aimed for a section every two days and it worked out reasonably well. We did the Set IV problems verbally most of the time. Sometimes at the end of a chapter, we'd go back and do a bunch of them at once.