<p>i'm looking for suggestions for an online pre calc course that could be completed over the summer.</p>
<p>My son used Aleks.com for essentially all of his high school math as a homeschooler. Aleks is a superb, beautifully implemented, fantastic example of an… automated workbook. It lacks beauty and joy of math, but is fantastic at what it does:
[ul]
[<em>]explains how to do each topic,
[</em>]keeps track of what the student knows and doesn’t know,
[<em>]allows the student to choose from several topics to work on,
[</em>]is almost entirely word problems, so there’s no multiple choice guessing and the problems are somewhat in context, and
[li]has occasional assessments to make sure the student retains the information. [/ul] </p>[/li]
<p>I was just showing it to a friend last week and she was terribly excited by its possibilities. (Apparently many schools use Aleks as their math-teaching method, but I’m not sure about this.) It is inexpensive - $20 / month with no contract - and offers a free trial (only a few hours). </p>
<p>The assessments of knowledge are the heart of this wonderful system. It determines what the student a) knows, b) is ready to learn, and c) isn’t ready to learn yet. If it determines that you know something, it doesn’t make you repeat the topic, but only teaches what you don’t know. It gives the student the choice of several topics that can be learned at any moment, yet keeps track of the entire body of knowledge.</p>
<p>This is not a program that grants credit, but a product for working independently that is more dynamic and interactive than working your way through a printed textbook. It will make lovely printable copies of assessments that the school can use if they are so inclined. It would take a lot of motivation, and perhaps a lot of parental supervision, to get through one of these courses in a summer, but is a more flexible option than a summer school class.</p>
<p>Additional suggestion: Barron’s “Calculus the Easy Way” book, found in the SAT prep section of the bookstore, is a cross between an adventure story and a math textbook. The king and his little band wander through the kingdom, finding problems and inventing the calculus to solve them. It explains a lot of the “why would I ever do this” very nicely.</p>
<p>PM me if you want more suggestions - I have a LOT of math resources!</p>
<p>You could check the California community colleges. I think you have to look one at a time, but they have online courses that are approved for transfer to UCs, so they have been vetted. I would, though, be concerned about taking pre-calc online if you are moving on in calculus, you really want to have a solid foundation. Whether you can do that online depends on the type of learner you are.</p>
<p>thank you both!</p>
<p>I do NOT recommend Northwestern’s Gifted Learning Links. My children have had good experiences with the Indiana Online Academy because they fully embrace technology and embed video tutorials, websites, powerpoints etc. The Gifted Learning Links ALg 2 course that one of my sons took was an old fashioned correspondence course via email. Basically the idea was to read the textbook, do the exercises (with no feedback unless you thought you were struggling and asked for help) which you did not turn in, then take a quiz that was emailed to you when you said you were ready for it, email it back to the teacher and get a grade. Ditto for tests except that these had to be proctored by someone outside your family. The only person who would benefit from such a math course would be someone who already knew the material and just needed a rubber stamped grade on it in order to get credit. GLL courses are very expensive $800+ and not worth the money.</p>
<p>Apollo6 - thanks for that. So many people report the good ones - it’s nice to know what to avoid as well! :)</p>
<p>thanks, Apollo.</p>
<p>I’m not sure we will even need these resources, just trying to be informed. My daughter is a sophomore in Algebra 2. Her teacher has recommended she skip Pre Calc and take AP Calc AB next year. She is hesitant. So, I’m just searching for resources for her to look at now, to see if that helps her feel more confident or not, in order to help her decide what to do.</p>
<p>While Calculus is hard, I know many of my friends who did the same sort of jump. Precalc is not so much required as a prereq to Calculus, it’s more to teach you a few concepts that you may need to know later on, such as polar coordinates system and unit circle, some of the things they touch on doesn’t even come around till Calc II or Multivar. Calc.</p>
<p>If you and your daughter have confidence in her ability to self-study and learn things that may need to be learned or relearned, then definitely take the leap to Calc AB. Personally, the only math I really needed for Calculus is the stuff I learned how to do quickly in my head (like SAT stuff really). Most other things aren’t necessary to learn before you take Calc anyway, and they will be retaught in the appropriate lesson[s].</p>
<p>I agree with hadsed, based on my experience (never even heard of precalc and did fine in AP calc) and my husband’s (took precalc and said it was hardly different than Alg 2 and Trig). Of course things may have changed a little since then… :D</p>
<p>S1 took it in 5 week program the summer between 8th and 9th grade. S2 took it at as a high school course in 10th grade. The consensus from S1 & S2 was that pre-calc was largely a waste of time.</p>
<p>Thanks for that info. I will pass in on to D2. I know she is hesitant to make the leap, so your opinions/experiences might help.</p>
<p>Given the additional info I have from reading the other posts, I would like to reiterate how good Aleks would be in this case. They offer a pre-calc course; she could take their assessment and see if she needs any of the material. In a month or two, she could be confident that she is ready for calc, if you and the teacher are correct about her abilities / preparedness.</p>
<p>No, I have no financial or personal stake in Aleks! :D</p>
<p>I am currently taking BYU Independent Study Precalculus, having being enrolled since February. I have already completed the first semester and am working on the second. However, Precalculus is a topic that is hard to learn on one’s own. Also, on BYU Independent Study, one must memorize all the trig identities. :-/ I get most of my help from my Algebra II teacher. I would recommend it if you have the money. A textbook is mandatory which I bought for $50, and the class costs about 120 a semester. In all, it’ll cost about $300. I would say it is worth it though because I can take AP Calculus next year at my high school.</p>
<p>However, to edit my last post, if your daughter has the opportunity to absolutely skip precalc with no course whatsoever, she should do it! I don’t agree that it is a waste of time or that some of the course content is not used in AP Calc, but she could definitely learn the info on her own. Learn the Trig identity stuff, and I would suggest to be familiar with vectors/conic sections.</p>
<p>Thank you all! I have shown her your posts and I think they will be helpful to her in making her decision.</p>
<p>I’m planning to also take the precalculus course at byu. How long does it take to finish a semester?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>She may want to try this placement test:</p>
<p>[Calculus</a> Diagnostic Placement Exam | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam]Calculus”>http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/placement-exam)</p>
<p>The test covers algebra, geometry, and precalculus topics to help students decide whether they are ready to take calculus in college.</p>