Foerster Alg. II --> CD precalc timing question

[Laura in CA]

I hope I can make this question clear ;-)

 

We're currently doing Foerster's Alg. II with the Math without Borders CD-ROMs. I find them very helpful (even though I am very comfortable with math, and did a lot of post-calculus math in college -- but it's been a long time!) -- I find them so helpful, in fact, that I've decided to go with Chalkdust precalculus, because of the videos. (MWB precalc won't be out in time for us.) My kids are young (12 & 13) and fairly gifted at math -- they've won math contests, etc. I haven't pushed them, but I haven't held them back, either.

 

So . . . I read on this board that CD precalculus often takes 18 months, but is a solid preparation for calculus. I was prepared for it taking that long (we're in no rush, since my kids are young), but then I remembered that Veritas Press says their school uses *just* the Foerster Alg. II book over two years (including the trig part, which I figured we'd skip, and do in precalculus) and their students are well prepared for calculus. So I'm wondering if CD precalculus really needs to take 18 months? Does it take that long only if students need to linger over certain sections, or do even math-adept students need that long just to wade through the material? Have my kids gotten a good enough foundation in Foerster's Alg. II that they'll be able to go more quickly through some of CD precalc? (wishful thinking?) Or should i just stick with Foerster's Alg. II and do the trig part, skipping the CD precalc? (I know he recommends using his newer trig/precalc text b/c of the graphing calculator.) i guess what I'm struggling with is that the Veritas way seems too short & easy (we'd be done in a few months!!) but spending 18 months on CD precalc seems long & hard ;-)

 

We'll almost certainly do CD precalculus; I'm just wondering if it *has* to take 18 months, or is it do-able in 12? (or even 11 ;-)

 

My kids have always just gone at their own pace -- we're in no rush -- but we just joined a charter school and they tell me they can't give more than a year's credit for a precalculus book . . . so I guess I'm just worried about scheduling. Of course, if it *does* take them 18 months, we'll figure out the transcript stuff; we won't skimp on mastery just to fit the paperwork!!

 

And I do want them to have the very best math foundation -- no skimping. The 12-year-old is definitely going into some kind of computer-related field, and the 13-year-old will probably be an engineer.

 

Thanks to anyone who has advice! I'd really appreciate it.

 

~Laura

[SusanAR]

I don't have an answer, but just want to say that we are using Foerster with the MWB and I plan to use CD precal next year. When I compared the chapter sections listed on the cd website, they seem very comparable to the TOC in Foerster, so I'm hoping that we will only take a year to complete CD.

 

SusanAR

[elegantlion]

While we haven't used the text yet here is some info from kolbe.org.

http://www.kolbe.org/pages.php?pageid=40

 

If you click on high school math it will list how they use the Foerster text.

[Laura in CA]

Thank you, Susan and Paula! Your posts were very helpful! Off to digest the info. You're right, Susan -- looking at the CD text TOC will help. I have Foerster's precalc text but not the Larson yet.

 

Thanks again!

~Laura