Another maths question

[ajjkt]

I am trying to work out where I will go with my very mathy son. He has all + - * and / facts down cold. We are currently working through RS D and MUS delta. They will both be completed in May, I believe, looking at current progress.

 

We will logically move on to RS E on Mondays - Fridays and MUS epsilon Monday - Thursday while using LoF Fractions on Fridays. The plan of progression after that will be RS geometry Monday - Friday, with MUS zeta Monday - THursday and LoF decimals and percents on Fridays.

 

I believe with the current rate of progression, and looking at the scope and sequence of which he has already covered much of the topics still to be covered in the outlined progression, is that we should finish these planned topics by the end of this year. If some major hiccup occurs, it may be stretched out, but not by much.

 

I am trying to work out where to go after this. I had heard that the upper levels of MUS or TT 'coach' the kids through and were gentler than some other programs. I was thinking of approaching algebra using one of these curriculums, then returning to it later with a very challenging curriculum. Things are always so much easier the second time round that perhaps this would be the best way with one so young?

 

Hoping to hear from someone who's BTDT. What curriculum have you used with pre-teens for algebra and geometry?

[KAR120C]

Only having used Singapore Primary all the way through (so I don't really know anything about the RS or MUS progressions...) We tried out a few things - Kinetic Books and Gelfand, but pretty quickly just went on to NEM (1&2, algebra parts only). I know it's not considered gentle or light at all, but it was a good fit anyway.

 

Planning to do Algebra twice seems to be a good idea, especially if you do it "light" first, but my approach has been to go with challenging from the outset, and plan to take off on rabbit trails where they look interesting or where we need a break. Right now we're on a statistics rabbit trail for the whole year.... punctuated by geometry, and cryptography when we have extra time. :) Next year I think we'll go back to the regular progression (NEM 1&2 geometry parts) and keep up the cryptography and some mathematical logic, and math competitions/ problem solving.

 

You know your kid better than any of us do, of course, so I would trust your judgement of what he's ready for... but I wanted to throw out the other possibility of challenging-plus-rabbit-trails instead of algebra twice. I'm sure either one will work, but I don't think it's strictly necessary to take it slow if the kid is up for a more challenging pace. If you're keeping an eye on things and ready to take a detour if it's not going well, then I think you can safely try either way.

 

I do think that algebra deserves quite a lot of review -- more than almost anyone ever gets, which is one of the major benefits of having all this time at our disposal. Doing it twice would accomplish that, but if you're keeping an eye on what sort of rabbit trails you're following, those can do the same thing. I figure if we alternate years between "sequential" math and major rabbit trails, we'll have a good balance of meaty topics and good mastery of technique.

 

Hope this helps!

[ajjkt]

Was he able to handle it all OK? I thought the review might end up reinforcing it all more too him, but he's just as likely to get bored or obnoxious about it.

 

We just started the LoF fractions today and he's loving it. I love the idea of being able to put in stats and other major rabbit trails (we're off on a minor one at the moment - ancient number systems).

[Storm Bay]

btdt.

 

Eldest, now 13, did Saxon 5/4, 6/5 & 7/6, but also most of Singapore Math 6, so didn't need pre-Algebra. We have tried no less than five Algebra 1 courses (including the TT you mentioned) and have a sixth on the shelf for reference.

 

Dd started Algebra at 11 with Gelfand's Algebra, which we love. However, she was too young for the long problems (immature, not intellectually). So we tried Jacob's on the advice of a former poster on the old AL Boards. Many like this, and the first 4 chapters are pre-Algebra. Not a good fit. We moved to Lial's. Better fit, pretty good program, but eventually dd needed a teacher, and she hates my way of doing Algebra. We tried TT. She hated it, said it was too easy. Finally, we bought a 1965 Dolciani Algebra 1. Fabulous fit, well written, rigorous. We're using it along with Gelfand's. She's redoing Algebra 1 at 13 to get a stronger foundation in it and to really understand the theory and thinking that goes along with it.

 

We did look at Chalkdust & VideoText, but they were too expensive for us. Also, dd learns math by reading, and I mean really learns it, as I did. Even the thinking.

 

The drawback to Gelfand's is that there is no solution manual. A former poster kindly posted a PDF file, but has recently taken it down. Too bad, because it was good.

 

The drawback to the 1965 Dolciani is that it's hard to find a solution manual and not all the texts have answer keys in the back. Any of them up to 1975 are good; we took another out of the library, but dd likes the 1965 best (personal preference.)

 

Honestly, based only on the Algebra 1, I wouldn't recommend Teaching Textbooks. Someone did say some good things about how the Geometry looks, but we have something else on the shelf already for Geometry, and also already have the 1965(?) Dolciani Algebra 2 on the shelf.

 

The last one that we have on our shelf for reference is Foerster's Algebra 1, which we bought used for a fairly low price. I have two more dc coming up, so we're keeping everything except the Jacob's, which I resold. I plan to use the TT Algebra 1 as part of our pre-Algebra for my 10 yo when she's 11 just because we already have it (but not with the DVD). She's going to do that along with NEM, and perhaps the MUS pre-Alg DVD we picked up used for a song. She doesn't really need pre-Algebra, because she's done Singapore Math and intuitively understands negative numbers, but I want to give her time.

 

My second dd is finishing SM 6 now and has done MUS up to Zeta. She is then going to do the Russian math book we bought from Perpendicular Press. http://www.perpendicularpress.com I'm very excited about doing this. She just doesn't have the maturity to do long Algebra problems, so doesn't get to start until she's 12 (she'll be 11 this spring, so just another year or so to wait.) She just wants to get to Geometry...

[KAR120C]

Was he able to handle it all OK? I thought the review might end up reinforcing it all more too him, but he's just as likely to get bored or obnoxious about it.

 

We just started the LoF fractions today and he's loving it. I love the idea of being able to put in stats and other major rabbit trails (we're off on a minor one at the moment - ancient number systems).

He did fine with Algebra -- we took a little extra time with it and didn't rush, but he kept up pretty well. And when it comes back up he has retained almost all of it, which was my major worry about starting it so young. I figure anything he doesn't remember we can review on the spot, and that way we don't have to go through everything he does remember.

 

And just as an aside on the statistics end, I love love love that we've been able to fit in statistics early on, because it's so vital to understanding science and experimental methods. That has been an excellent extended rabbit trail. We have had to dip into some Algebra II topics (logarithms in particular), but most of it is accessible after Algebra I.