Math: Algebra I

Math is my favorite subject to teach, which usually means I run on and on and bore any interest out of my son. So, I’m trying to back off a bit this year and let him work more on his own. He had a solid pre-Algebra year in 7^th. This year’s focus is making sure we avoid the problems I see too often in high school students.

Working with positive and negative terms:

5 – 6 = 5 + -6 = -1

Correctly distributing and not loosing track of terms or signs:

(2x + 3)(x - 5) = 2x² -7x -15

Being able to quickly factor a polynomial:

x² + 5x + 4 = (x + 1)(x + 4)

Using dimensional analysis to check if the problem is correctly set up in the beginning: 20 miles/hour * 1 hour/60 min * 1 min/60 sec * 5280 feet/mile = 29.3 feet/sec

The two main sources are OnCore and a super old Prentice Hall Algebra I book. The OnCore includes a LOT of reflection questions. That helps with his writing practice. It’s also exposed several basic misconceptions. He’s always been able to jump to the punch line for most math techniques. In his hurry, though, he usually didn’t listen to his teachers and, therefore, missed a few key points. Having him put his thought process into words quickly exposes these issues.

The Prentice Hall book is the kind he likes – lots of problems that are all worked the same. He can fly through those. I like that it gives him the volume of practice that the OnCore leaves out.

We’re adding in a Random Review day each Friday. It can be anything, from basic math facts to complex word problems. The topics all have the following in common: they are different from what we’re currently working on, they are all things he should already know, and all the worksheets are timed. I don’t care how quickly he works, but he needs the practice working under pressure. Too many entrance exams rely on those types of tests to prove a student is fluent in math.

We are both confident that by the end of this year, he will have a solid understanding of Algebra I and be able to excel in all the other high school math courses.