I am a high school freshman currently and I am doing honors geometry but I feel that it is too easy. I have decided that I will skip algebra 2 next year so that I get to pre-calculus in 10th grade because this way I’ll be able to do math which is not boring at home. But I have 2 problems:
1: In my school, algebra 2 has trig in it while online courses cover trig and algebra 2 as 2 different topics.
2: I don’t know which online site is the best/most popular, I came across many of them including CTY, connections academy etc.
Do you mind paying money for the course online? Some courses are $350 while others can be over $800. From my experience, normally the Algebra II that has tons of trig is considered a different course than the basic Alg II. At many schools Alg II alone, the regular version, prepares you for pre-calc.
Being good at geometry does’t necessarily mean you’ll be good at A2. So far this year, we haven’t used Geometry in HA2 more than once or twice. We will be doing Trig next month.
I haven’t taken it personally, but I’d look into Art of Problem solving courses. I’ve heard very good things about them. AoPS is renowned for being challenging, so if you don’t want to be challenged then it’s not for you. I do wonder, though, if AoPS covers all the material your school covers. (No doubt AoPS will go beyond typical, but it might extend some areas and neglect others…I’m just speculating.)
I’d suggest you take a look at the curriculum list in your school’s A2 textbook, and you should have some textbook, whether it’s your school’s, from AoPS, etc.
Unfortunately, AoPS and CTY both combine trig with precalculus, so that’s a downside to them. I’ve done a summer program through CTY so I’m not meaning to bash CTY as I loved the summer camp, but I would go with AoPS over CTY for sure. CTY’s is more expensive, for one thing, and if you aren’t already qualified you’ll have to test into CTY before taking the course.
I’m teaching myself Algebra 2/trig as well. I’m using Life of Fred for trigonometry, and I’m completely satisfied with it so far. It’s actually pretty fast, it would be no problem to get through in a month, BUT it requires a considerable amount of effort. I’ve been putting in a few/several hours each weekend, so I get through it quickly.
The majority of my posts have been about algebra 2, so you can look at that if you’re so inclined.
I know that these courses cost money but I don;t mind paying money though of course cheaper is better! I have already taken the CTY test for their summer camp and I am eligible for the online course. So one option is to do trig through a book by myself and algebra II from CTY, but does the course actually cover everything in detail? The problem I had with AoPS was that I don’t think they will cover everything in detail for a beginner like me because they make the courses to go advanced in the topic.
In that case, maybe CTY will be better for you. I never really looked into CTY online courses but I’d suggest you look at the list of topics for both of them. AoPS courses are supposed to be rigorous, so you probably shouldn’t take an AoPS course if that isn’t what you want. Try the pre-tests on the AoPS website if you’re concerned about being in over your head.
Yes, thats a good idea. Have you heard of any other sites or some other way to cover algebra 2?
My daughter has done several classes online through the BYU independent study high school courses. While she hasn’t done math, she has found all of the courses to be of good quality. If you take the paper or online options the classes are just under $150. The teacher led ones are more. You can read the course description and see if the Algebra 2 will meet your needs.
I tested out of Algebra II at my school a few years ago. I started off by just trying to take the AoPS A2 class, but it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t going to cover even half of the syllabus for my school-- and we take trig with Precalculus. I ended up doing a small group class with Courtney James (Math Perfect), though that was fairly expensive. CTY is not a bad bet. You may want to look into Stanford Online High School as well.
@psuedoprimal would you suggest their course for someone who’s already gotten through a lot of the algebra 2 material? Or would it be a lot of review? I’m most likely going to do the algebra 3 course with AoPS.
Does anyone have any personal experience with CTY or BYU or Stanford High School? Do you know of any other good books for trigonometry or Algebra 2?