Who has used Chalkdust for Calculus? Opinions please!

[Sharon in MD]

We are probably going to go the route of Calculus at home next year rather than at the CC due to family scheduling problems for the fall. So, I'm looking at Chalkdust as an alternative and frankly less expensive than CC way of pursuing this. What do you guys think?

We've done Foerster for Precalc this year, and as much as I love Foerste, I really don't want to have to slog through Calculus all on my own. I'm very attracted to the support that Chalkdust will provide. What have you all experienced out there, O Great Hive Mind?

My other option would be to use Foerster and hire a tutor either regularly or as needed....

[teachmom3]

I don't know if our experience will help, but my oldest ds used Chalkdust Calculus 1 as a supplement to his Calculus 1 class at community college. Both curricula used a Larson textbook. Although the editions were different, the two textbooks were close enough that ds had no difficulty using Chalkdust's lectures to augment his class.

He found Chalkdust's videos to be of benefit.

HTH!

[schmittgirlz]

Hi, Sharon.

This is a toughy! Sorry, I don't have anything to share about Chalkdust Calculus....but I will share our experience. I consider myself walking on eggshells when it comes to advanced math because I know it can go spiral downhill very quickly. With that said... I, too, considered Chalkdust Calculus anticipating difficulty. The only hesitation was that Chalkdust only covered 5 chapters if I remember correctly. Since we had successfully used Foerster for Precalculus, I decided to take a chance and stick with Forester's Calculus. As a back up, I ordered the Thinkwell Calculus for preventative maintenence(AKA mom panicking!). One of my girls has successfully completed the entire text in one school year. As a matter of fact she just finished it yesterday. She felt like she had come to a screeching halt in chapter 11. I told her it was ok to go at a slug's pace at this point if necessary. We pulled the Thinkwell Calculus videos out and this helped her tremendously. At this point, I am glad we choose the challenge (other than the fact that I am scrambling and panicking about math for the upcoming year). She successfully completed 12 chapters of calculus independently! On the other hand, my other girl who isn't nearly as math oriented, has had to go at a much, much slower pace and that is fine with me. The Thinkwell videos have helped her significantly as well. YMMV, but if your son was successful with Foerster Precalculus he should be able to tackle Calculus as well!

Good luck in your decision!

Clare

[TRILLIUM]

How did you cordinate the Thinkwell with Foerster? Did you just use the Thinkwell videos or did you purchase an online subsciption.

[schmittgirlz]

Hi, we only used the Thinkwell CDs. I did not feel it was necessary to purchase the online subscription because we were using it to supplement Foerster's Calculus book. One of my girls successfully used the CDs by going straight to the specific topic area of difficulty (chapter 11) seeking explanation and/or clarification, while the other who is working at a slower pace watches the videos in sequence with her assignments. Again, both consider the videos a valuable asset!

HTH!
Clare

[MaryM]

Just a tidbit on Thinkwell from our experience in completing Calculus 1...no experience with Chalkdust, sorry.

Unlike the Thinkwell College Algebra program (am speaking of the full program now, cd's and online component), the Calculus is very well done and coordinated. The problems that follow the lectures do not have the snags found in the College Algebra(these are the only two math programs we have used) and they only infrequently introduce material not yet covered BUT it is always covered immediately in the next lesson. We used these problems to "stretch"! My ds and and I have been very pleased with the complete Thinkwell Calculus program and have only rarely gone to a textbook seeking further explanation or problems.

I admit that I was terrified about Calculus as well having never had the course myself but Dr. Burger is so great at teaching! In my pre-course fear I bought many calculus sources including Larson (one of the "bibles" of calc), Life of Fred Calc which has been a nice "commercial break" from time to time and a calc book that integrated the use of the calculator (not used). We will see what the retention rate is going into Calculus 2 but I am very pleased with the Thinkwell program for this course.

Good luck, Sharon! Hope you get some Chalkdust experiences.

Mary

[Sharon in MD]

I guess I'm really concerned about continuing with Foerster next year for Calculus because of the frustration factor this year when we had problems that we struggled with. I'm worried about not having a Calculus competent teacher available to help me be sure that we are getting it. I felt panic creeping in this year a couple of times and have repeatedly said to myself that I've got to get help for next year because I feel that I'm really at the "end" of me. I have really struggled to keep up and kinda gave up this last month or so.

I'm not worried about the Chalkdust program only going through Chapter 5 in the text because my understanding was that chapters 1-5 are Calc 1, which is all I was concerned to try to cover.

On the other hand, the beauty of Foerster is that it covers both calc 1 and 2, but I'm not sure I want to try to cover that much territory anyway. And, I do hate to leave Foerster because I like his materials. But, again, we really have had a hard time learning how to use some of the calculator materials because the text assumes a teacher who already knows what to do is presenting the material.

Arghhhhh.....it is so tough to know what to do!

[Bev in B'ville]

I bought the Precalculus by Larson this year from the publisher, not Chalkdust. The videos are done by the same person (Dana Mosely), but I found them cheaper than Chalkdust and was able to get more supplements.

Having said that, I just went to the publisher's website. The Larson's Calculus, 8th edtion book is available with the full set of DVDs that covers the entire textbook, which they say encompasses three semesters of college calculus.

Here's the website: Houghton (http://college.hmco.com/CollegeCatalog/CatalogController?cmd=Portal&subcmd=display&ProductID=11085) Mifflin (I hope I did this right.)

I hope this helps some.

[schmittgirlz]

Thanks for sharing this info, Bev! Sounds like an answer to my prayers in regard to entering the dreaded, unchartered calculus territory.

Quick question about the DVDs, do you know if they are the same exact videos sold by Chalkdust or do they just cover similar content? Your input is greatly appreciated!

Clare

[Sharon in MD]

Thanks for sharing this info, Bev! Sounds like an answer to my prayers in regard to entering the dreaded, unchartered calculus territory.

Quick question about the DVDs, do you know if they are the same exact videos sold by Chalkdust or do they just cover similar content? Your input is greatly appreciated!

Clare

Yesterday I called Chalkdust to find out because I'd been poking around on Houghton website too. They said that Dana had only done the Complete Calc one DVDs and he had done some other lectures for them but not the complete course as Houghton describes. I think I'd call Houghton and ask them the questions to find out for sure what is in those dvds.

[Bev in B'ville]

Thanks for sharing this info, Bev! Sounds like an answer to my prayers in regard to entering the dreaded, unchartered calculus territory.

Quick question about the DVDs, do you know if they are the same exact videos sold by Chalkdust or do they just cover similar content? Your input is greatly appreciated!

Clare


I don't know as I have't had the opportunity to compare them back to back. Someone else told me that the HM videos include more detail, that they are not exactly the same, but I don't know that first hand. I liked that they were cheaper than Chalkdust, and I could get more supplements. Instead of just the solutions manual I was able to get the Instructor's Annotated Edition, too. I also have online access to the Instructor's resources, which is nice.

I would definitely call HM (call 1-800-323-5435 ext. 5433 and speak to Karen D'Alexander - she's wonderful) to find out about the videos for the Calculus. I hardly ever trust what an individual says about their competition. Of course they're going to tell you the 'other guy's' product isn't as good as theirs. (I have nothing against Chalkdust - I just bought the SAT review course from them. This is just my general philosophy.)

HTH.

[TRILLIUM]

So what all did you end up buying for precalculus? Did you buy them all new?

[Bev in B'ville]

I bought the Precalculus with Limits: A Graphing Approach, 4th Edition (for advanced high school courses) SE, the IAE, the Instructor's Solution Guide and Test Item File, and the DVD's. I bought them new from the publisher.

[langfam]

I bought the Calculus textbook, solutions, and DVDs used by using the isbn#s and searching amazon, half, etc. With shipping I think it came to $130 or so for the set.The Calculus DVDs have Dana Mosely teaching to chapter 6, the last chapters are taught by Dr. Maurice Dupre. He seems to be as good as Dana Mosely.

I bought the Precalculus set for even cheaper--$67


http://college.hmco.com/CollegeCatalog/CollegeStoreController?cmd=MainProdPage&subcmd=Main&ProdId=11121

[schmittgirlz]

Thank you, ladies! Your input is invaluable!

Clare

[TRILLIUM]

Thanks so much. I think I'll see what I can get used.

[Ms. Riding Hood]

Mary,

Ds has been using Thinkwell calc since January and absolutely loves it. Loves it! I'm eager to see how it washes out on the AP calc bc exam next year. That will be the true test for us! We, too, have lots of "back up" texts that ds could turn to in case of need...but so far, so good.

You were a key person when I was making this buying decision; just wanted to share! I've sure wished they had materials this great for the algebra.

[MaryM]

Mary,

Ds has been using Thinkwell calc since January and absolutely loves it. Loves it! I'm eager to see how it washes out on the AP calc bc exam next year. That will be the true test for us! We, too, have lots of "back up" texts that ds could turn to in case of need...but so far, so good.

You were a key person when I was making this buying decision; just wanted to share! I've sure wished they had materials this great for the algebra.

Oh, so GOOD to hear another compadre doing well with Thinkwell Calculus!! I suspect that the Calculus was "completely" done by Dr. Burger, hence the lack of "problems" with the problems but that is only a guess. Back in the dark ages when I was in college textbook publishing you could always "tell" when the author did his/her own problems and ancillaries!

Keep us posted on how that AP goes and thanks, really, for sharing your successes!

Mary

[langfam]

Sharon,
My DD be will doing Precal. and DS Calculus next, so right now I have them reviewing one level down of the Dana Mosely DVDs, ie, DD is reviewing Intermediate Alg. and DS reviewing Precal. There have been many times when they have told me what a great teacher he is and how clear his explanations are. Today my DD said, "Wow, I never got that concept before. He makes it so easy." (Referring to matrices). As far as teaching is concerned, he really does it superbly.

[SallyMac]

Is the Larson Precal (+ Thinkwell) as highly recommended as their Calculus? DS was planning to go back to school next year, but local Board of Regents is threatening even MORE graduation requirements on the class of 2009 :svengo:, so we are developing a Plan B/keep homeschooling plan just in case. Precal and Physics we would do at home and do college courses for the rest.

[Brenda in MA]

and he's really enjoyed the course. He used Saxon previously (through 1/2 of Advanced Math), and he much, much prefers the Larson text. He loves Dana Mosely's instruction, too. The text has clear examples, lots of visuals, and real-world application problems. He'll be using the Larson Calculus book + DVDs this coming fall.

HTH,
Brenda

[Sharon in MD]

I think we will probably go with Chalkdust for Calculus here since it provides access to an expert when needed. As much as I like Ed Burger, I'm just too unsure of myself to risk not having a person to turn to in time of need. And the same really goes for Foerster too....We could probably make it work by linking up the Thinkwell videos with Foerster's Calculus, but I guess I've decided I really don't want to have to go through the hassle of doing the cross referencing myself.

As far as I can tell, the only real drawback to going with Chalkdust is that they don't provide a schedule for you, but I think we'll probably be able to calculate that part out without too much trouble.

My other option is to use JHU CTY for Calculus; they use the Thinkwell materials and hook you up with a tutor....but the price is just too much, or I think it is anyway....over 1000 for 6 months. (which is more than it would cost to do it at the CC, even with out of county rates) Seems a bit crazy to pay that much for just having a tutor to call on when needed!

Thanks again everyone!

[schmittgirlz]

I don't know as I have't had the opportunity to compare them back to back. Someone else told me that the HM videos include more detail, that they are not exactly the same, but I don't know that first hand. I liked that they were cheaper than Chalkdust, and I could get more supplements. Instead of just the solutions manual I was able to get the Instructor's Annotated Edition, too. I also have online access to the Instructor's resources, which is nice.

I would definitely call HM (call 1-800-323-5435 ext. 5433 and speak to Karen D'Alexander - she's wonderful) to find out about the videos for the Calculus. I hardly ever trust what an individual says about their competition. Of course they're going to tell you the 'other guy's' product isn't as good as theirs. (I have nothing against Chalkdust - I just bought the SAT review course from them. This is just my general philosophy.)

HTH.

Hi, just an fyi on the dvds. Although, it isn't calculus I purchased a used set of Algebra DVD's (sold by HM) and my daughter has just begun watching the videos. Guess what! The lessons are taught by Dana Mosely and at the end of the video it has the Chalkdust copyright, so this would lead me to beleive that the material is similiar.

HTH!

Clare