chelsea in TN Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I am at a quandary... and exhausted on top of it... For some reason i wanted to check and see if the scores were posted from this months ACT before I went to bed.. Well i know why but here I sit 3 hours later. this was my ds 2nd time taking the test. He improved in all areas is the best part. He is 15 and a rising Jr. He scored a 23 - English, 17 math, 24 science, 28 reading. He has finished Alg I, Geometry, and most of adv. Alg. he has been using Life of Fred and the Math ACT prep book. He studied a ton prior to the test and thinking back he made a lot of careless errors. It is not that he does not know the material but rather the timed aspect. In an un-timed test situation on a practice ACT math he actually made a 26. Our plan had been to dual enroll this fall for college alg and Eng 101. He has the grades for English but not the math... So I am at a crossroads what to do about the math for next year.. Do we perhaps still go on to college alg using Chalk dust? repeat Alg II using Chalk dust or just continue on with Life of fred with the idea that with practice and maturity his scores will come up? Chalk dust has one BIG con - the price. But it is about what I would have spent at the community college. LOF $44/ course... He started the trig book the other day from Life of Fred and likes it ... but I just wonder if a more traditional path might suit him better.. He wants to be a vet so this math stuff will not go away.... he done all kinds of math texts and LOF seems to be the one that has stuck and he is doing well so I hate to switch his math program yet again.... So in your experience does maturity and practice - perhaps a formal prep program make a difference? Should I stay the course with LOF and use a prep course? OR switch curricula once again?? Okay there is nothing more I can do tonight I am going to try to get some sleep... Chelsea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) It is too late at night (it's 2:30 and I've been chatting with my dd...)to remember exactly, but I really do think my ds brought his math up 7 points the last time he took the ACT. It can be done. He had finished 1/2 of Chalkdust Alg II when he took it the 2nd time. CD really clicked with him--his mind works like Mosley's! We also did timed practice ACT tests...all the ones we could find on line and in books. Over and over and over. We did them as a class--scheduled assignments where he read the practice books and then took parts of the test every day. And every day. For the entire semester. (Ugh.) But it worked. Jean Edited April 15, 2009 by Jean in Wisc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Chalkdust - unlike a cc course, you can resell Chalkdust and recoup some of your money (at least 50%!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I am at a quandary... Chelsea, are there other ways to qualify for dual enrollment? At our local CC and at the local univ., there are multiple tests available, some in untimed formats. The stipulations for each test are different, as are the scores one must achieve. At the CC, they only allow Accuplacer (untimed) retests after three months or another semester of study. At the univ, after a qualifying test, one must also take the departmental math placement and calculus readiness tests--both if the math test score is high enough. :) What I'm suggesting is that the ACT may not be the only way to qualify, if you want to enroll him, feel that he really will be able to keep up with College Algebra, and that dual enrollment is his best option. hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tullia Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 My son has always worked slowly, especially in math. When he was younger the pressure of the timed tests seemed to be causing careless errors. While researching this problem I found an opinion from a test coach that simple arithmetic errors cause a significant number of missed problems on the ACT/SAT simply because it's usually been awhile since that's been the focus of math instruction. His suggestion was to brush up on arithmetic using speed skills worksheets. I agree with J in W about doing lots of timed practice tests. The good news about the ACT is that the problems don't usually have the odd twist that you sometimes see on the SAT math. My high school math teacher had a daily end of class session in which he assigned a random mix of old and current problems. We went to the board in groups to see who could work problems most quickly. It's a great help to have actual competition, but my son did fairly well using a timer and competing with himself. His goal was to read, analyze, and solve a problem in 1 minute or less. HTH, Martha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephanie/MO Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 too! But I know my son's score won't be as high as he hoped since he didn't finish the math section. He too wants to do college algebra in the fall at the college, but I do think his score will be high enough. But our college algebra, at least the first month, is a good review of many algebra 2. I was up last night too, but our scores are not posted yet :( BLessings, Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea in TN Posted April 15, 2009 Author Share Posted April 15, 2009 Thank you for all the responses. I kinds have to go with perhaps he is not ready yet for college algebra... He is disappointed with his score but would like to take the ACT again in the fall and perhaps take college alg in the spring. we watched the cd demo for alg II this am and he seemed to like it. Of course the topic of factoring was one he already knew. So I think I may try to get this program for him. A friend of mine may have it and perhaps we could borrow it which would be the best situation or I could purchase it... I think going over and over the ACT practice tests would be a good idea as well. DS seemed to think he learned a lot from the act book. I feel bad for him- he did well on all the problems and such from the LOF adv alg book but that did not translate well into a understanding of problems presented in a traditional format. And like one of you said - community college I would be out the money but I could resell this easily.....on the other hand I have 2 younger kids..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy in TX Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Chalk dust has one BIG con - the price. But it is about what I would have spent at the community college. LOF $44/ course... Chelsea Chelsea, I just bought the equivalent of Chalkdust Algebra II for under $50. The dvds are Dana Mosely teaching, but they are from Houghton Mifflin. I bought everything used from Amazon. Below are the ISBN's in case you are interested. Intermediate Algebra dvds (4), covering all 10 chapters of the text: 0618306765 Intermediate Algebra 3e (same edition Chalkdust uses): 0618218785 Intermediate Algebra 3e student solutions guide (odd problems worked out): 0618218807 Intermediate Algebra 3e Instructor's Annotated Edition (even problem answers, this one is optional, but I decided to get it, too): 0618218793 If you go this route, you won't have the phone support Chalkdust offers, but you will save a substantial amount of money. Cathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcwest40 Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Chelsea What do you mean about LofF not translating well? I too, am in your situation, my daugher scored a 17 in math. She is finishing MUS Alg 1 in May. I know she has not gotten this down like she needs to so I want her to have more practice. I posted this question a few days ago and someone suggest Life of Fred. I'd never heard of it but was thinking of giving it a try. I don't want to waste time and money trying different things. I have a friend who has TT Alg 1 and thought about that but I hate to see her go through a whole other year of Alg 1. I emailed the owner of Life of Fred and he said she could finish Beg Alg in 4 months. Is this true? Is Beg Alg and Adv Alg just Algebra 1 or is it Algebra 1 and 2. I would really love more information on Life of Fred. Thanks! De An Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I feel bad for him- he did well on all the problems and such from the LOF adv alg book but that did not translate well into a understanding of problems presented in a traditional format. I just wanted to point out that it may have nothing to do with LoF. LoF is unique, but the ACT is also an odd format. Well, at any rate it is not traditional. It is a multiple choice test that covers a diverse range of problems of varying degrees of difficulty. A typically math test doesn't look this way. The typical test covers material that has been presented recently and perhaps a few problems from material covered earlier in the course. It would be odd to see a calculus test with questions covering very basic pre-alg topics. I agree that test prep is the way to go to improve those test scores. With test prep a student becomes accustomed to working through something that looks like what he sees on test day. If he is thriving and understanding math with LoF, you could just continue with it and add daily test practice. OTOH- I hear around this board that CD is wonderful.:D Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 My dd is 16yo, she uses LOF and just finished the Adv. Algebra book. She scored a 24 on the ACT math. I don't think LOF is the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 I emailed the owner of Life of Fred and he said she could finish Beg Alg in 4 months. Is this true? Is Beg Alg and Adv Alg just Algebra 1 or is it Algebra 1 and 2. I would really love more information on Life of Fred. Thanks! De An LOF Beginning Algebra is Algebra 1. LOF Advanced Algebra is Algebra 2. Using the Beginning Algebra Home Companion, you will have daily lessons to complete. I'm not sure how many lessons there are in Beginning Algebra, but there are 101 lessons in Adv. Algebra. Assuming you complete one lesson 5 days a week, in four months you would have completed 80 lessons. If you are in a hurry to go through the book, you could do math 6 days a week and in four months complete 96 lessons. So, yes, if there are only around 100 lessons and you do math 6-7 days per week, you could finish Beginning Algebra in 4 months. My dc would go nuts having to math 6-7 days per week, but hey, whatever works for your dc. We love LOF and will continue using it. DD is beginning Trig now. She said there were a LOT of Trig problems on the ACT, so we are confident that after she has more LOF Trig under her belt, her ACT math scores will improve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellogirl Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 ACT math is hard. A lot of the material isn't covered until Pre-Calc. And remember, your son is a sophomore. If he takes it again in a year, or even next fall, he'll probably do better because he has learned and matured. I say wait with college algebra. If he retakes the ACT in the fall and does well, by all means do it in the spring. You might want to think about TT Algebra 2 and Pre-Calc for review and cementing concepts. Plus, a lot of their problems resemble those used on the ACT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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