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<p>Spare me with the “does not feel like doing it” bs. I never went beyond Geometry and Algebra II and never needed to for either of my degrees. Just picking up a book doesn’t make me qualified to tutor my kid in calculus. If a book was all that was needed, why bother with school?</p>
<p>^As I have mentioned, there are tutors in your area, just ask around.
You really do not need any math background to be able to read High school textbook. Did you try? However, I do not want to convince you one way or around, this just a suggestion.<br>
We even used Google when we did not want to deal with textbooks. I have found much more complicated material on Google that I actually used at my work.
There are choices and one of them are people who are good at tutoring (I was NOT good tutor at all, despite of good understanding of material. My D. had hard time understanding my explanations, but I told her that there is no way she will pack her books with incorrectly done math problem, not in my house). It did not prevent her from asking us few times. She has even asked us Physics questions while in college. She just lnew that we will help, whatever it takes.
Mind you, consider me having zero background in anything, I am couple years short from retirement, I have no knowledge of any material HS, college or any besides what I have to do at work (no math, science). I have no memory of what I need to do today, let alone some 50 years ago. I just could read and very slow at that, I have not read a novel for many years, never been an avid reader either.</p>
<p>“You really do not need any math background to be able to read High school textbook. Did you try? However, I do not want to convince you one way or around, this just a suggestion.”</p>
<p>The OP’s daughter is not having trouble READING. She’s challenged by the work of AP calculus. </p>
<p>I am good at math and could not “help” my child with AP calc under any circumstances. But yes I could “read” the book also.</p>
<p>^^^^Miami, GOOD FOR YOU. Not everyone is math inclined, and reading a high school AP calculus text book would not help me to help my daughter if she needed it. I’m well aware of tutors however, but fortunately, my D2 is in no need of help at the moment.</p>
<p>Math could be taught at different levels. College level math, one really understands the concept, not just the mechanic of it. D1 could read very well, and could do all problem sets before a test, but there were often problems that was never discussed or shown in class before. By knowing how to read a text book, and able to understand a problem/solution shown in the book, doesn´t mean someone has a full understanding of the concept. </p>
<p>A good math student could often get what the instructor is saying in class right away, or even be able to solve a problem that´s not even thought of it by the instructor. But for other students, it may take a lot longer to get it, sometimes as hard as they try, they may never get it.</p>
<p>It is why I said in my up thread, even if a student is able to get a B in class, she may be getting it through doing homework and doing extra work to get extra credit, and getting 70s and 60s on her tests. It is not unusual in high school that teachers give homework 50%+ credit, and allow students to correct their tests to gain some points back. As D1 would say, “Yes, I get it as soon as someone shows me how to do it.” The difficulty is figuring it out by yourself.</p>
<p>As a math major, I would say it again, people could live a very happy life without knowing calculus.</p>
<p>"As a math major, I would say it again, people could live a very happy life without knowing calculus. "</p>
<p>-But doing math is fun. It does add to regular happy life, much more fun than any board game or other games could provide. Now I know what has been missing in my life, lol.</p>
<p>I looked at D’s quarter grades so far, and it’s mostly quizzes. She had one bad quiz, without which her score would be 92. With the quiz (finding polynomial zeros) it’s an 84. Strangely enough, I don’t remember ever using synthetic division in calculus. That said, she is now considering whether AP Statistics would be a good alternative.</p>
<p>It’s a lot like learning to tie your shoes. There’s an average age … Between 4 and 6 … When most kids are developmentally ready to learn to tie their shoes. You can’t rush brain development, hand eye coordination or fine motor skill development. Some kids are developmentally ready to learn to tie their shoes at age 3, some not until age 7. </p>
<p>If you teach a kid to tie his shoes when he’s developmentally ready and eager to learn, he’ll learn it in a day or two, and never forget it.</p>
<p>If you push a kid to learn it earlier than that, he may learn, but it’ll take much longer, there will be frustration and tears, it’ll require much more practice, and the kid is quite likely to forget the process after a family beach vacation where he only wears flip flops for a week or two.</p>
<p>If your child is in the “right” level of math instruction, he’ll learn the concepts quickly, with an average amount of practice, and with a minimum of frustration and drama. </p>
<p>If you insist on teaching higher level math to a kid who isn’t developmentally ready, he may learn it, but there will be frustration, it’ll take much more practice to reinforce the concepts, and concepts will be forgotten more easily. </p>
<p>To me, teaching high level math to a kid who isn’t ready yet is like teaching an average two year old to tie his shoes. You may succeed, but why would you want to do it?</p>
<p>My D is a second year student in college planning to be a Math major. I had to fight tooth and nail to get her into honors geometry in 9th grade. She had a high B and was not recommended for the class by her teacher. I never regretted that decision.</p>
<p>For my younger D, I may not fight the same fight (even though her grades this year are comparable to her sister’s) because she does not like math. She’s good at it, but dislikes it. I really think the answer to the OP’s question depends on the individual child involved.</p>
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<p>Well, Hallelujah! Taking a math class because it would be useful! And bonus - it would still qualify as rigorous! </p>
<p>Truly, I don’t understand all the fuss about taking Calculus for people that don’t really plan to major in a math or science when Stats is something anyone can use their whole life.</p>
<p>There’s way too much talk on this forum about what looks good to colleges and how THEIR child was able to conquer a subject, instead of what would be best for the student in question. For the OP’s daughter, stats seems like the most sensible class.</p>
<p>^^^^I agree. D1 took AP BC Calculus, had a high A+ average, but hated it. She took it because she thought that’s what colleges wanted to see. She kicked herself later, as she’s never needed it again, and as a Psychology major wanting to go on to a Ph.D, AP stats would have served her better.</p>
<p>Just an additional point, Calculus teaches students how to think differently and to many, that’s when the boring math turns into something interesting. College isn’t only about getting jobs/useful skills but opening up new avenues of thought and analysis.</p>
<p>^^^^Yes, that’s true as well.</p>
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<p>She could take a statistics course in college (which would take only a semester for an introductory level course (non-calculus or calculus-based), or perhaps two semesters for a more in-depth calculus-based course).</p>
<p>^ I’m sure there is a Statistics requirement for Nrdsb4’s D as a Psych major.</p>
<p>^Yes, definitely.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the fuss about taking HIGH SCHOOL calculus even for students who plan to pursue a career that requires it in COLLEGE.</p>
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<p>Assuming that the student is a year ahead of the normal sequence in math…</p>
<p>For a student who is good, but not great, at math, and is considering a major that requires freshman calculus (e.g. biology, business, economics), taking calculus AB in high school may allow for a slower paced gentle introduction to calculus than waiting until college to take it.</p>
<p>For a student who wants to do a math-intensive major, taking calculus in high school can be advantageous because it can reduce the schedule pressure in college. Some majors have a seven or even eight semester long prerequisite sequence that starts with first semester freshman calculus; a student who can place a semester ahead gains additional schedule flexibility in choosing courses.</p>
<p>Additionally, a student who places a semester ahead in freshman calculus effectively gets a free elective somewhere in his/her schedule in college.</p>
<p>Of course, these advantages are not so great that it is necessary to push ahead if the student is on the normal sequence (precalculus as a high school senior, ready for calculus as a college freshman)*. If the student intends a major that does not require calculus at all, then there is no need to take it even if s/he is a year ahead (although taking a calculus AB course may be desired if s/he just wants to learn about the subject even though it is not required). However, being calculus-ready by college (i.e. having completed precalculus in high school) is desirable, since some other possibly required courses like introductory statistics may require a decent high school math background, even if they do not require calculus.</p>
<ul>
<li>Exception: student is likely to go to Harvey Mudd, Caltech, or engineering at WUStL, which all expect the student to have had some calculus in high school. But these are not representative of the majority of colleges.</li>
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<p>But UCBA…the reality is that even engineering majors don’t NEED to take calculus in high school. They just don’t. And they can still fulfill all of their college requirements and graduate on the four year plan.</p>
<p>High schools should teach students more calculus without calculus.</p>
<p>[Calculus</a> Without Calculus — Solving Geometric Calculus Problems With Simple Vector Geometry](<a href=“http://alienryderflex.com/vectors/]Calculus”>Geometric Vector Calculus (Calculus Without Calculus) — Solving Calculus Problems With Simple Geometry)</p>
<p><a href=“http://mathcircle.berkeley.edu/BMC4/Handouts/MaxMin.pdf[/url]”>http://mathcircle.berkeley.edu/BMC4/Handouts/MaxMin.pdf</a></p>