<p>Hi, my 10th grade D is struggling with her honors Algebra 2 class. She's always done well in math up to now. I am not good with math myself and mostly can only offer moral support. The class is big, and goes fast; there's no help night offered. She's getting discouraged; she'll work on it but when she's absolutely stuck/not getting it, it's hard to complete the assignments.</p>
<p>I'm trying to figure out what kind of support would be helpful. Does anyone have any experience with online (paid) Algebra 2 help? Or would finding a good tutor for a couple sessions a week be better?</p>
<p>Just looking for ideas. Last night an online (free) homework help board was able to help, but it was obvious the guy was helping lots of others--so just getting help w/ one problem took a really long time. That's when I wondered if there are reputable paid sites.</p>
<p>If you can afford it and a good tutor is available, I would recommend one-to-one tutoring. A good tutor will evaluate what HER problem is with the subject and focus on what she needs to work on. Maybe she will only need a few sessions to get back on track or maybe she will need continued help.</p>
<p>I don’t have any advice on online help but I am sure other CC parents will know something.</p>
<p>I am the sponsor of the National Honor Society at my high school. See if your daughter’s school has an NHS chapter. If it does, the members need to do community service. Many chose to tutor.</p>
<p>I would recommend you look at two excellent online tutoring options:</p>
<p>Khan Academy
If you haven’t heard the buzz about this, then you must check out one of the most popular online educational resources (I think it’s overtaking MIT) and what Bill Gates has called his “favorite teacher”. Check out one of the algebra videos and see if it helps your daughter as it has helped thousands of students around the world.
[Khan</a> Academy](<a href=“http://www.khanacademy.org/]Khan”>http://www.khanacademy.org/)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! For now I think I’m going to have a few sessions set up for her w/ a professional tutoring service, and see how that goes. However, I REALLY appreciate the online ideas too, because she’s pretty comfortable using online resources, but there are so many and not all of them are good or easy to navigate!</p>
<p>I would prefer personal tutor. However, you can figure out algebra yourself if you just read D’s textbook. I like math, but I did not remember facts/formulas. I have been helping my D. in HS all thru calc, although she was very good at math. High schoolers are not very good at looking up material in textbook. I always was able to find material, formulas and told my D. to make sure that she gets correct answers for her homework problems, and not wait for teacher’s explanation. I was doing problems alongside with her using her textbook.</p>
<p>Oh, how I wish I could read her book and help her–I can help with general pointing out “hm, this example works like this, does your problem work that way too?” Which sometimes is enough. But beyond that, I never went past Geometry 1, and barely passed that. My Algebra I teacher only helped the boys…she said “girls don’t need math.” This was in the dark ages! I struggled terribly with math, from grade school on, and my parents never got me any help.</p>
<p>It is embarrassing to admit it, but I was totally ‘left behind’ when it comes to math. Luckily I am a writer and have happily supported our family without any grasp of math beyond logic and basic arithmetic! Anytime I have math questions myself, I go online or ask my husband…he could figure out her book, but he travels all the time, so hard for him to help.</p>
<p>My D is interested in medicine as a possible field of study, so I want her to keep her math skills sharp so her options will be open.</p>
<p>LOL, I’m a structural engineer, so I’m perfectly qualified to help my son (in 10th grade honors Algebra II, also). The times I’ve tried, though, it’s been a disaster. He, unlike my other two kids, does NOT want to listen from me. He quickly gets frustrated and stops listening. So we found a local tutor, a retired math teacher, who is gentle and wonderful! DS is doing so much better with his help! I like the idea of online sites, but I don’t think they would work as well for my son.</p>
<p>He helped me go from basically no algebra (I have forgotten it all after 10 years away) all the way to Calc III in a little over a year. </p>
<p>Granted, I was an accelerated math student as a child, I just didn’t use it for a long time. So it probably came back to me quicker than most. Learning math just takes practice, dedication and desire. You need to build a solid foundation from the bottom up. The better she becomes at algebra now, the easier other classes in her future will become.</p>
<p>^Qwerty, yes the math teacher said that! I think she was bitter or something–maybe the only job she could get was as a teacher, when what she wanted was to be an engineer or something. Not sure. Anyway, my sister had that same teacher for AP Calc (sister was good at math) and got the same line. However, my sister went on to become an engineer in spite of the discouragement. Or maybe because of it?</p>
<p>The teacher’s attitude had the opposite effect on me, made me hate math & not try very hard. But I had no innate math talent…I do wonder what I might have learned with a better teacher!</p>
<p>If you can’t afford a tutor (I would definitely get a personal one, by the way), can she study with or get help from another student–kind of like a college study group? If all you need is a little help when you hit a bump in a problem, sometimes a buddy can point you the right way.</p>
<p>Finding another student in the class to do homework with could be the best solution. Just make sure that the “other student” dosen’t do the work and your daughter just copy it. Make her learn the process to get the answer, that’s the only meaningful way to do it.</p>
<p>Warning - SAT math is very low level, mostly middle school material. If one is planning to go to medicine, she better not rely on knowing math up to SAT level, she will need much more than that. Math is needed in college Gen. Chem. and Physics. Gen Chem and Physics are both part of MCAT.
Coincidently, my D. is applying to Med. Schools. She has been Chem. Supplemental Instructor at college and saying that kids who do not have good math background have hard time with college Chem., which is an easy class otherwise.</p>