Have any of you moved directly from Foerster Alg 1 to Foerster Alg 2/Trig?

[Kendall]

My 10th grader is near the end of Foerster Alg 1 we did Geometry last year and he had done much of Alg 1 before that. It has taken much longer than I expected to review and finish Alg 1. I really want to start him after Christmas in Alg 2 and complete it in a year and then do Pre Calc/Trig in a year and then Calc 1 Spring Semester of senior year at the CC.

My question regards the necessity of completing the entire Alg 1 book. I'm comparing them back and forth and it seems that most of the concepts are covered in the first 5 chapters of ALg 2 that are in the last 2 chapters of Alg 1(Ch 13,14). I've gone back and forth trying to compare them and decided to ask if any of you have already done this. Since we are moving immediately into Alg 2 I'm hoping it will be okay to skip most (or all) of Chapter 13 and 14. He has already done the Pythagorean theorem and the simple trig problems that are in those chapters.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Kendall

[MikeO]

My advice is go forward with F's Alg2 and if there are any issues then go back and reteach the missing pieces. 1 warning though - your post says it took longer than expected... you might want to consider if your student has the mental maturity to master this content at the pace you have set...

[Jann in TX]

While the material at the end of the Algebra 1 text and the beginning of the Algebra 2 text may be similar the Algebra 1 text will provide a more detailed introduction to those concepts--and the Algebra 2 will provide a slight review then an expansion of them...

I usually suggest finishing the text --and then you are free to move faster through the introductory sections in the next book if the student is capable.

[LaJuana]

The Algebra 1 text presents the information in an introductory manner. In the way the foundation is built, so grows the building. I would rather build a solid foundation and not get to all the details in Alg/Trig than build a shaky foundation and forge ahead.

My pocket change...

[Kendall]

Thank you all so much for helping me to think through this. I just compared in detail the first 4 sections of Ch 13 with Alg 2 Chapter 1. The Alg 1 book takes 4 lessons to cover what the Alg 2 book does in one, so I see what you mean about covering it in an introductory manner. I think I will cover most of it(he's got the trig part solid) and possibly go back to two-a-days :) something we have done quite a bit this year with Algebra. The two-a-days will keep us on schedule and help to impress that the consequences of piddling early on in a year can affect you for several months.