Math moms...some advice please!

[Kfamily]

I am sooo average in math. I did take a sem. of Trig. and a sem. called Adv. Algebra topics. These classes went together and I took them as a senior after Algebra II.

Here is my question: I will need a lot of help to teach high school level math so I chose Chalkdust for that reason. Is Chalkdust the best math program I can put in front of dc with me as the teacher? I assumed the DVDs would help me here. I guess I am trying to be honest about this. I don't care for Saxon and the other math courses (Jacobs, etc) seem to need at least a solid math teacher-is this right?

I am willing to work ahead of her as we get further along to be a better teacher. Will this be enough?

Thanks so much!!

(P.S. My dd is in 6th and we will be doing Chalkdust Pre-Algebra next year)

Any other advice will be sooo appreciated. I don't want to mess this up!

[againes]

I am not math phobic and actually enjoyed math in school. However, the time required to relearn and teach about put me under. We have tried Teaching text (Algebra 1) which needs little or no parental teaching, Abeka Geometry that I relearned and we struggled through together and this year hoorah!! We did Chalkdust Algrebra 2. I feel I am getting behind as I am not relearning....She has past me and I haven't kept up. I may regret it as my next two come along. But it has been freeing for us. We both enjoy her having a different teacher.

By her listening to the lesson twice then working the problems she has had few questions. When there has been a problem...her looking at the answer book with me and explaining the concept to me (as I am now behind) has straightened the question in her mind. Only once did we need assistance from the 1-800 help number.

I am sold...but I haven't tried this with a younger grade. Best of luck and best wishes on studying with your child! We are never to old to learn....hum maybe I will learn again with my next not so independent child:001_smile:

[LoriM]

In general, I think most curricula sold to homeschoolers for high school math can be successfully mastered by a diligent student without much parental instruction. Chalkdust is certainly one of many good programs out there that has enough instruction in both video and written form to lead a student to understanding.

That having been said, what I find many students need is a proof-reader. In the same way you read her essays (even if she writes on topics you don't understand or haven't studied extensively), and offer feedback on better ways to structure a sentence, a more proper organization of the information, and encourage her to use terms appropriately (like allegory, allusion, theme, conflict, climax, etc.), you need to proof-read her math papers for a similar level of elegance.

It's not enough for her to solve the problems. She must master clear, logical, true statements (You used an equal sign here--are these two things actually equal to each other?), written clearly and neatly, and organize the information she gathers from simple word problems so that she can build to work the more complicated ones later. Usually students only need to be reminded about a thousand times that their work should look like the example problems in the book! (Yes, you have to write all those steps. Yes, just like that one. I don't care if you can do it in your head. GRIN.) You can be the editor-slash-enforcer without an incredible amount of math-savviness just yet.

Once she gets to more advanced math (like Algebra II), hiring a good tutor to offer "language" advice is a great investment. (You worked this problem the hard way. Here's a more elegant method...) That's something that is very difficult for you to learn, even if you can learn to "solve" the problems...it just takes too many years of practice. I am able to fix my sink when it's leaking, but my welding job looks rough. I am no plumber. :)
I found that I only had to counsel my daughters with "language" skills once a month or so. But I had to enforce neat habits nearly-daily. Even as a mathy-mom, I used the solution manual that came with the book to do that. I'm not so masochistic as to work all the problems she does.

So, here's what I suggest. Be her teacher--enforce good solution habits. Have her check every problem's every answer, and correct every one she misses. Have a conversation with her about the errors she made to find out if she really discovered *WHAT* she did wrong, or if she just changed her answer to "match" something she found in the book. Most of my students can correct problems without ever identifying the underlying errors they are making. I spend my time saying, "Isn't that the fifth sign error in this lesson set? What strategy are you going to use to avoid sign errors in the problems on the quiz? Are you going to check your answers? Do you need to review multiplication facts for integers?" etc...

Then, hire a good math teacher (it can be a college student, or a retired math teacher, or some nerd like me who does this all the time for free for homeschoolers in my area...LOL) to have a math conversation with your child once a month or so, and to review a sample of her work. You can also use that expertise to cover any tricky spots you hit that she has difficulty solving from the text and video examples. (But don't let that pile up---ask your questions here. One of us is always willing to walk a stuck student through a problem solution.)

Chalkdust will work fine...it's one of many excellent programs available.

LoriM

[Kfamily]

Thank you, thank you LoriM for being so honest with me. I will save your post as it has so much in it that is helpful and I will want to remember everything.

I will take your advice on hiring a tutor as we get along and maybe even as soon as Algebra I since I have heard how important it is to lay a good foundation.

I definitely agree with forming good habits in math-in fact I have been trying to do that even now. Dd is one of those dc who needs a lot of reminders about habits because she is often trying to "get it finished" and this at the expense of the work. I would never set her loose with CD. I had always planned on being fully involved with her math lessons. The DVDs are helpful in that she can learn from someone else and then I (having already watched it and worked problems on my own) can be there to go over any more questions she may have.

Thank you for taking the time to write this out-it really helps so much!:grouphug:

[Julie in MN]

I would think that after you use Chalkdust prealgebra, you will have a great idea of whether this will work for the long-term in your family. So I wouldn't stress, since you have this year to use it before the hard stuff.

If it doesn't work this year, then I like Math Relief for Algebra. It's a very simple DVD program which I compare to Mr. Rogers, but it is very clear. He doesn't offer the range of programs that Chalkdust does, but he's gifted at teaching Algebra.

Like you, I don't like most textbook-only programs without a teacher.