Homeschooling Upper Level Math
>>>>Karen asked me what my family used for upper math. Every family is different, of course, but I described what worked for us.<<<<
Karen,
We used Saxon Advanced Math with DIVE CDs and it was very successful. Advanced Math is supposed to be a 1-1/2 year program that includes Pre-Calc and the bulk of formal geometry, but since my son had already had Geometry before switching to Saxon, we figured he could skip those lessons. He did it in one year, and it was his first time ever using Saxon. The next year, with Alex, we also supplemented with The Teaching Company lectures "Calculus Made Clear." I don't think it helped him too much with Advanced Math until the end of the year, but it did help him with calculus the following year, so I think it's a very useful supplement. My kids like those lectures so much they actually watched the whole thing twice, and some sections 3 times. Very few curriculum choices actually go all the way through calculus, and fewer still have some visual tutorials - that's how we ended up with Saxon. The boys did use it completely self-taught, however, and that CAN be done. I only corrected the tests, and even that was difficult for me, since I didn't even understand the symbols! I can tell you that IN GENERAL pre-calculus is the most difficult level of math to learn. At least that is what the college and high school kids I know have told me. I think that Saxon IS self-teaching, so that's good. As for concise, I've talked to a lot of people that say even at the pre-calc and calculus level there are too many problems in each lesson, and have done odds or evens for the problems sets. If it works, do it! I always made sure that Kevin passed with an 85% or better on every test, or we repeated the lessons.
The only other alternative that I can suggest is community college, but even at that you never know if you're going to get a good teacher or not. My advice would be to start with Saxon Advance Math plus DIVE CDs. Call the Saxon help line if you have any questions (we did that 5-6 times that year, and they were VERY responsive!)
Karen,
We used Saxon Advanced Math with DIVE CDs and it was very successful. Advanced Math is supposed to be a 1-1/2 year program that includes Pre-Calc and the bulk of formal geometry, but since my son had already had Geometry before switching to Saxon, we figured he could skip those lessons. He did it in one year, and it was his first time ever using Saxon. The next year, with Alex, we also supplemented with The Teaching Company lectures "Calculus Made Clear." I don't think it helped him too much with Advanced Math until the end of the year, but it did help him with calculus the following year, so I think it's a very useful supplement. My kids like those lectures so much they actually watched the whole thing twice, and some sections 3 times. Very few curriculum choices actually go all the way through calculus, and fewer still have some visual tutorials - that's how we ended up with Saxon. The boys did use it completely self-taught, however, and that CAN be done. I only corrected the tests, and even that was difficult for me, since I didn't even understand the symbols! I can tell you that IN GENERAL pre-calculus is the most difficult level of math to learn. At least that is what the college and high school kids I know have told me. I think that Saxon IS self-teaching, so that's good. As for concise, I've talked to a lot of people that say even at the pre-calc and calculus level there are too many problems in each lesson, and have done odds or evens for the problems sets. If it works, do it! I always made sure that Kevin passed with an 85% or better on every test, or we repeated the lessons.
The only other alternative that I can suggest is community college, but even at that you never know if you're going to get a good teacher or not. My advice would be to start with Saxon Advance Math plus DIVE CDs. Call the Saxon help line if you have any questions (we did that 5-6 times that year, and they were VERY responsive!)
Hope that helps!
Blessings,
Lee
No comments:
Post a Comment