Good reviews for Singapore highschool science texts (biology, physics):
http://www.singaporemath.com/Science_Matters_s/128.htm
Also some positives for the U of Texas online highschool classes (don't know anything about them!):
http://www.utexas.edu/ce/k16/cbe-ea/high-school-courses/
And another online highschool list of classes (though I don't like their url and again, know nothing about them):
http://www.govhs.org/
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Algebra options
My son is currently using Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1. It was going OK for awhile. He really liked TT PreAlgebra last year, and it was, in fact, the first math text we ever used for a whole year and finished. The combination of video and math worksheets was a hit. I wondered if we ever would get through one entire text as he likes to work with different approaches to topics and has never been willing to take the same approach for more than a month or two at a time. Over the years we've played with math, done some Math-U-See, Singapore Math, Key To's, a Canadian math series, math games, Ed Helper worksheets, Mammoth Math, etc.
However, he seems to be hitting a wall with TT Algebra. Not that there is an identifiable concept problem, just that he doesn't seem to be internalizing WHY he's doing things. There are many errors, and answers just don't work out "right." I would prefer him to figure it out and understand why, not just memorize steps and I'm not sure TT will get us there.
We did a free month of Aleks in December. Worked GREAT! (Highschool prep for Algebra -- he finished it all). However, we aren't picking up math successfully again after that -- TT's doesn't seem to be a good fit, Aleks... don't know. He liked some of it but felt the explanation of new topics wasn't as good as TT. Decided to try paying for a month of Aleks to try Algebra 1. He scored 84 out of 288 of the topics in the initial assessment. I'm also having him read "Algebra Unplugged" for a qualitative filler to Algebra. Not really sure what the problem is (maybe it's me???). I do think we need to play more with algebra to really get what the problems are. Hard to find the time and brain cells to do that with him.
SO, here are some options:
Key To Algebra: http://www.keypress.com/x5205.xml
Benefit: We've worked through Key To's for fractions, decimals, geometry over the years and it's gone well. Straight forward. Not busy. Step through. However, is the Algebra approach enough "play" and understanding of real-life uses of algebra?
Discovering Algebra: An Investigative Approach: http://www.keypress.com/x5265.xml
I like the investigative part. It looks interesting. The first edition is available for about $15. Bj says it looks interesting. I like that it uses a graphing calculator to get those skills well ingrained early. My hesitation is that it's lots of investigating (with my learning style, I would have HATED it -- just tell me how to do it and I'll do it... of course, his learning style is much different). I'm also not sure about deviating so much -- will we lose some important "skill based" learning or will it be more than made up for by him figuring out some of the concepts in a much stronger way.
Hippocampus: http://www.hippocampus.org/Algebra Some video, some text, some multimedia, free... A definite alternative to consider.
Kinetic Books: http://kineticbooks.com/ Saw this on a loop this week and hmmmm... looks like it has great potential. Online text with lots of problem solving and multimedia. Price isn't bad. Is there enough "worksheet" work so he will get used to that skill as well?
Saxon, Chalkdust, some of the more traditional textbooks -- not really that interested. He is not a strong textbook learner. Nor is he quick at doing problems. Both of those really stress the problems. That's all we'd do -- and his learning would not be any better, I don't think.
And help for algebra:
http://www.algebrahelp.com/
However, he seems to be hitting a wall with TT Algebra. Not that there is an identifiable concept problem, just that he doesn't seem to be internalizing WHY he's doing things. There are many errors, and answers just don't work out "right." I would prefer him to figure it out and understand why, not just memorize steps and I'm not sure TT will get us there.
We did a free month of Aleks in December. Worked GREAT! (Highschool prep for Algebra -- he finished it all). However, we aren't picking up math successfully again after that -- TT's doesn't seem to be a good fit, Aleks... don't know. He liked some of it but felt the explanation of new topics wasn't as good as TT. Decided to try paying for a month of Aleks to try Algebra 1. He scored 84 out of 288 of the topics in the initial assessment. I'm also having him read "Algebra Unplugged" for a qualitative filler to Algebra. Not really sure what the problem is (maybe it's me???). I do think we need to play more with algebra to really get what the problems are. Hard to find the time and brain cells to do that with him.
SO, here are some options:
Key To Algebra: http://www.keypress.com/x5205.xml
Benefit: We've worked through Key To's for fractions, decimals, geometry over the years and it's gone well. Straight forward. Not busy. Step through. However, is the Algebra approach enough "play" and understanding of real-life uses of algebra?
Discovering Algebra: An Investigative Approach: http://www.keypress.com/x5265.xml
I like the investigative part. It looks interesting. The first edition is available for about $15. Bj says it looks interesting. I like that it uses a graphing calculator to get those skills well ingrained early. My hesitation is that it's lots of investigating (with my learning style, I would have HATED it -- just tell me how to do it and I'll do it... of course, his learning style is much different). I'm also not sure about deviating so much -- will we lose some important "skill based" learning or will it be more than made up for by him figuring out some of the concepts in a much stronger way.
Hippocampus: http://www.hippocampus.org/Algebra Some video, some text, some multimedia, free... A definite alternative to consider.
Kinetic Books: http://kineticbooks.com/ Saw this on a loop this week and hmmmm... looks like it has great potential. Online text with lots of problem solving and multimedia. Price isn't bad. Is there enough "worksheet" work so he will get used to that skill as well?
Saxon, Chalkdust, some of the more traditional textbooks -- not really that interested. He is not a strong textbook learner. Nor is he quick at doing problems. Both of those really stress the problems. That's all we'd do -- and his learning would not be any better, I don't think.
And help for algebra:
http://www.algebrahelp.com/
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