QueenCat Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I am trying to figure out which math course to have ds take after PreCalculus. He'll take PreCalc either this summer or next school year. Leaves room for 1-2 more math classes. Calculus, Statistics? What else should I look at? Whatever we do, it means changing curriculum as Math-U-See only goes up to PreCalculus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Calculus is typically a three semester sequence at the college level. Most high school students who study Calculus see the equivalent of the first semester (differential), but there is a second semester with integration tricks, sequences and series, etc., followed by multi-variable calculus. An engineer would take this sequence, followed by differential equations and possibly a linear algebra course, maybe even more math, depending on the type of engineering being studied. I mention this because "Calculus" is often treated as a one year high school course or one semester college course when there is much more to the story. Statistics is a great course for students in social sciences to have under their belt. Which direction is your student leaning? Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Jane, Thank you for your insight. He is looking in the computer science field. Cathie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 since your kid in interested in computer science, I'd look into the possibilities for his taking either dual enrollment pre-calc, or if his math placements scores are off the charts, showing true mastery, then have him move into Calc 1 at as good a univ as you have near you. (Your closest 4-year public univ might be better than CC, but you never know.) Where is he planning to go to school? Could you find out what their course sequence is and try to match that? We've found Pickaprof to be an invaluable tool for finding out which are the good profs and courses. It's really not expensive at all. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Jane, Thank you for your insight. He is looking in the computer science field. Cathie The next question is hardware or software. Computer Science that takes an engineering bent is more hardware oriented--very math intensive, so Valerie's advice is good. I would investigate Calculus at the closest four year university if that is his intention. Regarding software, a word of caution: a number of students who think they want to go a computer science route find programming to be hard. It might not be a bad idea to have your student try his hand at some programming courses at a CC to see if it really is his thing. Best, Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 If you choose to do Statistics as your follow-up course, I'd also encourage you to explore that offering at your local CC or university, or consider the AP Stats textbook: http://bcs.whfreeman.com/yates2e/ I also wanted to say that if you choose for your student to study Calculus at home, then that's a great option too. My daughter studied Calculus 1 at age 15 (Differential Calculus) through some integration (so, basically Calc A/B) at home, but then started at the community college from College Algebra at age 16. She finished four courses at the CC--College Algebra, PreCalculus, Calculus I and Statistics--and then has continued as a math major at the university. Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I am trying to figure out which math course to have ds take after PreCalculus. He'll take PreCalc either this summer or next school year. Leaves room for 1-2 more math classes. Calculus, Statistics? What else should I look at? Whatever we do, it means changing curriculum as Math-U-See only goes up to PreCalculus. During my senior year of high school, I took a class called Analysis. I do not know if it is offered anymore, but it was a great preparation for me. I went on to major in math in college and graduate school. I do not remember which book I used for Analysis, sorry. Good Luck:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 During my senior year of high school, I took a class called Analysis. I do not know if it is offered anymore, but it was a great preparation for me. I went on to major in math in college and graduate school. I do not remember which book I used for Analysis, sorry. Good Luck:) Hey Fractal Gal, If you attended high school in the '70's (maybe early '80's), you probably used the Analysis text by Dolciani and Beckenbach. I chose to be a math major because of it. It is an excellent book, a true "precalculus" text. Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 If you choose to do Statistics as your follow-up course, I'd also encourage you to explore that offering at your local CC or university, or consider the AP Stats textbook: http://bcs.whfreeman.com/yates2e/ My 12th grader is taking AP Statistics this year as a follow up to the Pre-Calculus class she took last year at the local Community College. She's taking the class through PA Homeschoolers, and we've been pleased with the course. While she has a good brain for math, she's planning on majoring in Latin/the Classics at college. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 15, 2008 Author Share Posted December 15, 2008 Thank you for all the ideas. We do have a 4 year university close by, our older son is a student there. Only 20 minutes away. Closest community college is much further, 40 minutes, with light traffic. I'd like him to dual enroll his senior year but not before. Classes are expensive, about $750 for 3 credits. A small dual enrollment grant is available ($400/year, I believe). I wish the community college was closer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Oh, that's too bad...we are so spoiled here in NC. My dd will begin her CC enrollment in January. Other than a $20 enrollment fee, we only pay for books. She'll take 15 semester hours this spring. It's about 5 minutes from our house, and in a pinch, she could walk or ride her bike! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Hey Fractal Gal, If you attended high school in the '70's (maybe early '80's), you probably used the Analysis text by Dolciani and Beckenbach. I chose to be a math major because of it. It is an excellent book, a true "precalculus" text. Jane Hi Jane, It was 1989 when I took Analysis my senior year of high school. I cannot for the life of me remember which book it was. I did not pay attention to things like that...:glare:...although now I wish that I had. I bought a 1960s version of Intro to Modern Analysis by Dolciani, and I have it here. I haven't had the chance to go through it yet. It's interesting that we both had that [more rare] class, and then went on to major in Math. Is it even offered these days (other than in a homeschool setting)? FractalGal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Hi Jane, It was 1989 when I took Analysis my senior year of high school. I cannot for the life of me remember which book it was. I did not pay attention to things like that...:glare:...although now I wish that I had. I bought a 1960s version of Intro to Modern Analysis by Dolciani, and I have it here. I haven't had the chance to go through it yet. It's interesting that we both had that [more rare] class, and then went on to major in Math. Is it even offered these days (other than in a homeschool setting)? FractalGal One of my nephews was at a public school where they offered a class that had analysis in its title but it had little in common with what I would call an "analysis" course. His "analysis" course followed algebra II and was a watered down, semi-precalc, with some statistics thrown in. I think that it was an attempt to show that math is "valuable" in social sciences. It struck me as odd that those who were not mathematically inclined were taking "analysis" while those who were took precalculus. Just goes to show that math educators and not mathematicians were responsible for their curriculum! Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 Just goes to show that math educators and not mathematicians were responsible for their curriculum! Jane :iagree: Don't get me started on this subject....:smash: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomsintheGarden Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 My son is a freshman at VA Tech, majoring in Computer Science. CS is in the engineering dept. there and is very math-intensive. He plans to take the one extra math course he would (in addition to what's required for his degree) to get a math minor. Here's what he did for math at home. 8th grade: Bob Jones Algebra I 9th grade: Chalkdust Geometry 10th grade: Chalkdust Algebra II 11th grade: Chalkdust Precalculus 12th grade: Finished up Chalkdust Precalc; Chalkdust Calculus from January-May, used the Princeton Review book to study for the AP AB Calculus test. Took the AP AB Calc test in May. Got a 5 on the AP test, and was awarded credit for 1st semester calculus for engineering/science/math majors. First semester, Freshman Year at VA Tech: Had to take a placement test (everybody did) to double check that he was ready for Calculus II. He passed, and took Calc. II and Vector Geometry. He got A's in both. Second semester, Freshman Year at VA Tech: He will be taking Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra in the spring. He is very math-oriented, so this worked for him. Also, I have a pretty strong (but rusty) math background so I was able to check his work and help him when he needed it. The Chalkdust Calculus text by Larson (et al) is a college-level text that covers the first two semesters of calculus. The Chalkdust DVDs cover only the first half of the book because one semester of college calculus = a whole year of high school calculus. Since you have two more years left of high school math, you might want to consider the following plans, besides the very good options recommended by others: 1. Plan 1 Junior Year: Chalkdust Calculus, first half. Study for and take the AP Calculus AB exam. Senior Year: Chalkdust Calculus, second half (NOTE: You will need to order their solutions manual for the second half of the book. Their Calculus course only comes with the SM for the 1st half. They don't advertise that they sell the 2nd half SM, but they do.). Study for and take the AP Calculus BC exam. I recommend taking the AP exams as a good prep for studying for college-type exams. Note: Do NOT list these courses as "AP" on your transcript unless you have approval from the college board. Just list them as "Calculus I" and "Calculus II." 2. Plan 2 Junior Year: Chalkdust Calculus, the whole thing. Study for and take the AP Calculus BC exam. Senior Year: Look at math requirements for the college and degree he plans to attend. Select the next recommended course(s) and find a way for him to take them. Here in VA, you can take sophomore-level calculus and linear algebra online from a community college. Or you could try an online university,etc. FYI, here is a link to the current VA Tech CS degree checksheet. It says "draft," but it is probably not going to change much, especially for the lower-level requirements. You might want to look over this with your student. It's very helpful for a student to know what is required for his/her chosen degree. http://www.cs.vt.edu/files/files/Checksheets/2011checksheet.pdf HTH, GardenMom PS Advice from my son - KNOW your trigonometry! Spend the extra time now memorizing those sine/cosine/etc. relationships and identities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 2. Plan 2 Junior Year: Chalkdust Calculus, the whole thing. Study for and take the AP Calculus BC exam. Senior Year: Look at math requirements for the college and degree he plans to attend. Select the next recommended course(s) and find a way for him to take them. Here in VA, you can take sophomore-level calculus and linear algebra online from a community college. Or you could try an online university,etc. One Caveat to Plan 2 from MomsintheGarden (based on my experience of teaching Calculus at a university with an engineering program and one without): the Calculus sequence at the engineering school included some material not seen at the non-engineering school. This is not atypical. If you do Calculus courses at home or at a non-engineering college but plan to enroll or transfer into engineering, I would compare the syllabus of your course to that at your engineering school. Then be prepared to plug any holes. Best, Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 One of my nephews was at a public school where they offered a class that had analysis in its title but it had little in common with what I would call an "analysis" course. His "analysis" course followed algebra II and was a watered down, semi-precalc, with some statistics thrown in. I think that it was an attempt to show that math is "valuable" in social sciences. It struck me as odd that those who were not mathematically inclined were taking "analysis" while those who were took precalculus. Just goes to show that math educators and not mathematicians were responsible for their curriculum! Jane On the other hand, I had a semester course called "Math Analysis" after Advanced Algebra that included combinatorics, mathematical statistics, group and ring theory, and math proofs (non-Geometric). It was the course I took *prior* to Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus (which was Differential Calculus!) in high school. I was one of very few students at the time when I hit non-Euclidean Geometry in college that had ever seen the kinds of proofs we covered, and I aced modern algebra, having studied much of it in high school math. Little did I know how great the math department was in my high school (although we did routinely win the state championships--LOL!). Sooooo, some high school "analysis" is really analysis. GRIN. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimm in WA Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 ' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 On the other hand, I had a semester course called "Math Analysis" after Advanced Algebra that included combinatorics, mathematical statistics, group and ring theory, and math proofs (non-Geometric). It was the course I took *prior* to Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus (which was Differential Calculus!) in high school. I was one of very few students at the time when I hit non-Euclidean Geometry in college that had ever seen the kinds of proofs we covered, and I aced modern algebra, having studied much of it in high school math. Little did I know how great the math department was in my high school (although we did routinely win the state championships--LOL!). Sooooo, some high school "analysis" is really analysis. GRIN. My high school math courses were Advanced Algebra - 9th, Geometry -10th, Trigonometry - 11th, Mathematical Analysis - 12th. My high school math teacher had turned down a job at NASA because he thought teaching would make a more family-friendly career. He was a very good teacher, so I have no complaints. He taught me both advanced algebra and analysis in high school. I agree that there are good math teachers/departments out there. I feel blessed. ;) (And, no I did realize how much his classes would shape my life at the time...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MN Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 I am trying to figure out which math course to have ds take after PreCalculus. He'll take PreCalc either this summer or next school year. Leaves room for 1-2 more math classes. Calculus, Statistics? What else should I look at? Whatever we do, it means changing curriculum as Math-U-See only goes up to PreCalculus. My oldest son did calculus in public high school in 11th grade, in community college in 12th grade, and then took it at his university his first year (a year after he graduated). All were "calculus 1." He got A's all along, but said he wanted to have many professors teach him in different ways because it's such a big subject.. Just one option for the math & science student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 That is a thought I had... doing pre-calc at home, and then repeating at the college level while a high school senior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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