Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Basic College Mathematics...


I haven't blogged about our curriculum for a while so thought I'd do a few follow-ups as we near the end of the school year. We tried something different this year for Riley's math. She's using Lial's Basic College Mathematics through an online course at My Homeschool Math Class. It's a seventh grade math course, taught by Jann Perkins, that reviews basic mathematics concepts as well as introducing algebra. The various chapters are:

Ch 1 Whole Numbers
Ch 2 Multiplying and Dividing Fractions
Ch 3 Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Ch 4 Decimals
Ch 5 Ratio and Proportion
Ch 6 Percent
Ch 7 Measurement
Ch 8 Geometry
Ch 9 Basic Algebra
Ch 10 Statistics

The class currently meets live online once a week through Web Ex. Mrs. Perkins presents the lesson on a white board type screen. The students participate and collaborate through a chat box. Then she assigns the students homework for the week that they work on independently. It is up to the parent(s) to make sure the student is doing the assigned work and understanding the math.

Approx. once a month or so, Mrs. Perkins does administer a test via a PDF. The student completes it independently and then submits it to her for grading. The student's recorded class grade is solely based on these tests.

Overall, it's been a positive experience. Riley has done well with the course thus far. However, she still is not loving math and complains frequently about it. Unfortunately, the live class falls on our co-op choir/art day. Thankfully, the class is recorded so Riley can watch it at another time. The down side is if we have a busy weekend, sometimes she doesn't get to the recording until Monday and then it's somewhat of a panic to get the homework done by the time a new recording rolls out. She did fall substantially behind when the kids were all sick a couple of weeks ago. This week, she is working on catching up. All in all, there is accountability, but on the other hand, it's not great working off someone else's schedule.

We are on the list to continue with the 8th grade Pre-Algebra through My Homeschool Math Class in the fall as Riley has expressed interest, but I'm also looking more closely at Teaching Textbooks. It looks to be less than half the cost and Riley could work at her own pace, not feeling so behind if she misses a day. I'd love to hear feedback on middle and high school Teaching Textbooks from those of you using it. Please feel free to leave comments below.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Melissa, I've followed your blog for a while but have never commented before; no clue why not. :) I love it. We've used TT for the last 2 years for my daughter. She did MUS through Pre-Algebra and she did not finish it as she hated it. We switched to Saxon 1/2 and then she did Saxon Algebra I. It was ok. This past year she did TT Geometry and she loves it. She just finished it and just started Algebra II. The only thing she didn't like were the proofs in Geometry but that comes with any Geo course. She's already liking Algebra II. I plan on letting her stop after this since she's my artsy girl and wants to do something along those lines after high school. Good luck deciding!!

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  2. Thanks Cynthia! This is helpful. I love hearing stories of what homeschool families are doing in the upper years. It's encouraging :)

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