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Mom21
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 11:01am | IP Logged
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Ladies, did or have any of you take 2 years to cover Algebra? We are doing it for my 9th grader as math is his hardest subject. We use Teaching Textbooks and are aiming to be halfway through the book by the end of May. He's moving slowly but making progress, but it's still very hard. Just wanted to know if any others have had similar advanced math done over 2 years and any wisdom you can share. Thanks!
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 11:51am | IP Logged
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My oldest (Sarah) took a year and a half to complete Algebra 1 and about 2 years to complete Algebra 2. She wasn't quite finished with Algebra 2 when she graduated, and at the time she took the ACT, she had only completed half the book. Her test scores in math were good.
It was, at times, a stretch for me to let go and allow the pace to proceed organically, but I believed that it was useless to hurry through when all along we had emphasized mastery of concepts. At times, I think high school is about staying the course, and reminding ourselves again and again, if necessary, why we're in this in the first place.
So what if it takes longer to get through an upper level math book? It may necessitate an honest look at what that student expects post-graduation in terms of career/vocation path, but it is perhaps likely that a student that needs extra time to master upper level math concepts probably isn't looking into a math career anyway.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 2:29pm | IP Logged
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Jen, just courious, did your daughter take Geometry? Asking because my son finished Algebra I and II and only a small part of Geometry before taking the SAT and I thought his math scores could have been higher (for him). I was thinking it was the lack of the Geometry. We had him take the SAT in January since it was the last one before the big switch coming in March. His scores are good enough to get him where he needs to go, but do not necessarily show his ability/potential. Our biggest frustration with him.
Mom21, we use Teaching Textbooks as well. They've all progressed at different speeds. Like Jen mentioned, I would see where your sons wants/needs to be at the end of high school and go from there. Our oldest completed only Algebra I and II and Geometry (the order of math this programs suggests) and did very well in the difficult math courses at TAC until this year which is Calculus. She wishes she would have done some in high school.
Also, we do math pretty much year round, so continuing in the summer could have him finish in about a school year and half or a bit less even.
Hope that helps.
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 2:40pm | IP Logged
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Erica Sanchez wrote:
| Jen, just courious, did your daughter take Geometry? |
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We use Saxon from 4th grade+, and Saxon Algebra 2 is essentially Geometry and Algebra. I think this is why Sarah was able to tackle the ACT and come out with good test scores having only completed half of Saxon Alg. 2.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Erica Sanchez
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 4:22pm | IP Logged
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Okay, that makes sense. :)
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Erica in San Diego
(dh)Cash, Emily, Grace, Nicholas, Isabella, Annie, Luke, Max, Peter, 2 little souls ++, and sweet Rose who is legally ours!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 5:47pm | IP Logged
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It does no good to hurry and learn nothing so take the 2 years.
One other option that might help. I have a child who gets overwhelmed by the sheer amount of a math lesson. Sometimes I'll have this child do half a lesson and then come back a couple hours later to finish it. It works sooooo much better than trying to do it all at once and running into the whole "locked up brain, can't think" thing that happens when we push it.
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guitarnan
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 9:28pm | IP Logged
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A couple of random thoughts...if your county or state requires four years of high school math for graduation (mine does), you might want to go back to 8th grade, look at that pre-algebra course and reclassify it as a high school math course if your county allows pre-algebra for high school credit. That would buy you the time you need to do Algebra I in two years. Then you'd need to do Geometry and either Algebra II or Consumer Math (or the acceptable equivalent) in one year each to meet graduation requirements.
In my state, counties set their own graduation requirements (the state stays out of it), so, while my county requires four years of high school math, the county south of mine only requires three (so a student there could do pre-algebra, Algebra I and Geometry stretched across 8th-12th grade and graduate).
All of this matters in my state because homeschooling families must, by law, give their children instruction in the same courses/credits required for public schools in their counties - the courses themselves can vary, but students must complete four years of English, three or four years of math, etc., just as their public school counterparts do. As you can see, there's some leeway if you know the rules, but...
If you are lucky enough to live in a less regulated state, taking the time your child needs to get through the material is a non-issue.
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JodieLyn
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Tagging onto Nancy's post.. I don't know if high schools do it now. But I had a friend when I was in high school that took Algebra A first year and Algebra B second year.. it was Algebra 1 done over 2 years.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
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Mackfam
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Our state requires four years of high school math. We worked that by including simple business math and consumer math courses that were easy to run alongside Algebra courses.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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| Posted: March 09 2016 at 9:54pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
| Tagging onto Nancy's post.. I don't know if high schools do it now. But I had a friend when I was in high school that took Algebra A first year and Algebra B second year.. it was Algebra 1 done over 2 years. |
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This is also workable with Saxon Algebra 2. Since Saxon covers Geometry AND Algebra, it can be split up over two years as two courses. Art Reed actually discusses this as an option for Algebra students that need extra time to cover the concepts in his book.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mrs. B
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Well we did pre-algebra over 3 years. That was saxon 8/7.She just needed the extra time.
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: 2 years doing Algebra
