The dangers of transitioning to Algebra too early?

[LisaNY]

As some of you know, I'm currently researching Algebra programs. My 7th gr. dd (13yo) has just finished the Singapore Primary series. I don't think she needs to go through a pre-Algebra program, but I am concerned that we'll get midway into Algebra and she's going to crash and burn.

Should we review things like ratio and proportion, rate/time/distance, square roots, etc., before doing Algebra? My dd will be going to ps in 10th gr., so I want her to be well-prepared for the US math sequence.

What if I folded in review of the concepts I mentioned while working through our Algebra text? I could do a week of Algebra, then a week of review, and so on. We could take the rest of the year to do this, and cover Algebra exclusively next year.

Any advice from the "math experts" here would be much appreciated!

Thank you!:001_smile:

[Sharon in MD]

I don't think she needs to go through a pre-Algebra program, but I am concerned that we'll get midway into Algebra and she's going to crash and burn.

My dd will be going to ps in 10th gr., so I want her to be well-prepared for the US math sequence.

I could do a week of Algebra, then a week of review, and so on. We could take the rest of the year to do this, and cover Algebra exclusively next year.

Any advice from the "math experts" here would be much appreciated!

Thank you!:001_smile:

I wouldn't call myself a math expert, more of a BTDT mom, but I think you cannot loose with what you are proposing here. :001_smile:

If you are already finished with your gr 7 materials and you have time to gently start Algebra along with reviewing other concepts, you'll be in great shape. Another way you could review concepts would be to start the Algebra and throw in a small handful of daily review problems for her to try to do quickly. Something like 5 quick questions to be done in 5 min or less....

That is one of the things that Foerster does in his texts that I like. He has 10 quick problems at the start of each problem set that are supposed to be done by the student in 5 minutes or less. You wouldn't need to use his books to do this...any basic math review workbook should be great.

HTH

[Jackie in AR]

As some of you know, I'm currently researching Algebra programs. My 7th gr. dd (13yo) has just finished the Singapore Primary series. I don't think she needs to go through a pre-Algebra program, but I am concerned that we'll get midway into Algebra and she's going to crash and burn.

Should we review things like ratio and proportion, rate/time/distance, square roots, etc., before doing Algebra? My dd will be going to ps in 10th gr., so I want her to be well-prepared for the US math sequence.

What if I folded in review of the concepts I mentioned while working through our Algebra text? I could do a week of Algebra, then a week of review, and so on. We could take the rest of the year to do this, and cover Algebra exclusively next year.

Any advice from the "math experts" here would be much appreciated!

Thank you!:001_smile:

Not a math expert, but I'll give it a stab. :D

For some reason I thought you had decided to use NEM. I may have you confused with someone else. Anyway, here is how NEM approaches it.

Looking quickly through NEM 1's table of contents, here are some of the topics I see:

fractions
decimals
approximation
units of measure
negative numbers
adding/subtracting/multiplying/dividing integers (includes squares, square roots, cubes, cube roots)
rate
ratio
percentage
problems involving financial transactions
area
perimeter
volume
surface area
density
similarity and congruence
plus all the geometry topics

The way NEM works is to teach a little algebra, then have you apply it. So you review all those pre-algebra topics as you work through Algebra.

[Anne/Ankara]

Although I'm not a "math expert," I would definitely begin the Algebra I program and see how it goes. If you use Saxon, there is a lot of review within the program, so you may not need to backtrack too much. Sometimes we may feel intimidated by our own pre-conceived ideas about how difficult a subject might be, but once we get into it, it's not so bad!

Also, by doing Algebra I in eighth grade, you would be on track for most every standard US high school curriculum (if you transfer in for tenth grade), so the timing is fine. By putting some extra effort into these last two years of math at home, you should be well prepared to enter the high school math program in tenth grade. If you do too much "preparation" math now, then you face the possibility of being behind when you enter tenth grade (if that is decided already).

My only advice would be to schedule math daily-- even through summer and vacations, if that is possible, because then you'd have the time to ride through the bumps and learning curves of Algebra I. Why not-- 30 minutes or so every day would improve anyone's mathematical abilities!

[Myrtle]

We started algebra at age eleven and the kid hasn't crashed and burned yet.

In fact, I'm seeing just the opposite.

I'm seeing a lot of growth in his ability both to generalize and think abstractly.

The only problem I've had is the kid's inability to do the same quantity of work as might be expected of an older child in any given exercise, but that might be more of an issue of my kid's particular issues with handwriting and ADHD.

[LisaNY]

Not a math expert, but I'll give it a stab. :D

For some reason I thought you had decided to use NEM. I may have you confused with someone else.



No, Jackie, you don't have me confused, it's me. :001_smile:

Dolciani's Algebra is on the menu this week. :D I think I'm going to reserve NEM for the challenging problems, but use a standard US text for the actual teaching. I am concerned that I will not have covered enough Algebra in time for 10th gr. NEM 1 does a lot of pre-algebra in the beginning, if I'm not mistaken. We're taking the rest of the month to settle on an Algebra program. Jacob's just arrived yesterday, and Lial's is on the way.

[Colleen]

I'm certainly no math expert, but...My oldest finished the Singapore Primary series at the end of his fifth grade year, right before turning 11. He definitely was not ready to being algebra; the logical thinking skills weren't there. So he spent last school year (6th grade) using Lial's BCM, which was great reinforcement. Then through last summer and fall I had him go through the Key to Algebra workbooks; I just felt like he could use even more filler, so to speak. Now he's edging toward 13 (in June) and started Lial's Intro Algebra last month. I'm glad I didn't rush him into the text; I want to be careful not to forge forward too quickly and then stall. I do feel like I had him go through the SM Primary series too fast; now I'm more in the "slow and steady wins the race" mode.

Since your daughter is already 13, she is of course much farther along the logic-spectrum than my son was when he finished 6B. Still, if I were you, I think I'd hold off on actually starting your algebra text until you begin the new school year. I'd spend the remainder of this spring and the summer doing some reinforcement. Just my two cents; many others here have a lot more experience so take it with a grain of salt.;)

[Nan in Mass]

not so much because of the pre-algebra, which is just at the beginning and would cover that review that you are interested in, but because of the geometry in the second half of the book. That geometry gives the student a chance to practise the algebra, which I like, but definately makes it so that not all US algebra 1 subjects are covered in NEM 1. If you are headed for a US math program mid-algebra, you are probably right to pick a US book. (Just in case you were feeling uncertain.)

I'm quite certain that doing algebra every other week wouldn't work for my children. They had trouble enough remembering all those little rules without weekly gaps. In fact, mine have to do it twice a day in order to get it down. I think a little review at the beginning of each lesson would work better?

Maybe you can find a US algebra book that reviews ratios and things like that at the beginning?

-Nan

[LisaNY]

not so much because of the pre-algebra, which is just at the beginning and would cover that review that you are interested in, but because of the geometry in the second half of the book. That geometry gives the student a chance to practise the algebra, which I like, but definately makes it so that not all US algebra 1 subjects are covered in NEM 1. If you are headed for a US math program mid-algebra, you are probably right to pick a US book. (Just in case you were feeling uncertain.)

I'm quite certain that doing algebra every other week wouldn't work for my children. They had trouble enough remembering all those little rules without weekly gaps. In fact, mine have to do it twice a day in order to get it down. I think a little review at the beginning of each lesson would work better?

Maybe you can find a US algebra book that reviews ratios and things like that at the beginning?

-Nan

(((Nan))), thanks so much - I was feeling uncertain, as a matter of fact. :001_smile:
I like your idea of spending time doing bits of review every day - good idea! We're using Dolciani Algebra 1 right now, just to give it a trial run. I also have Foerster's, Jacob's, and Lial's Intro. to Algebra is on the way. So far, my dd likes the style of Dolciani. I think we will take the next couple of weeks getting a feel for these programs, because once we decide, I'm sticking with it. I will keep some of the other texts for reference, in case we don't like the explanations in our main text.
I think I will use NEM for some of the challenging problems, just to keep that going. :001_smile:

[LisaNY]

Ladies, thank you all for your helpful advice - I really appreciate it. :001_smile: