Sneak Peek #11: New World History Guide
Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 2:12 pm
Ladies,
We have waited to share our Geometry recommendations to have time to really look and decide what potential paths to offer for families that will best meet their needs. We ended up, after much comparing of texts, with 3 different options that we recommend for Geometry. These include Geometry: A Guided Inquiry (for a textbook-based option with clear examples), YourTeacher.com (an online program for students who have struggled with math in the past, or for those who need a very time-conscious option, or for those who might find Geometry very challenging), or VideoText Algebra and Geometry (for a strong video-based option). The description for each program is found below. At Heart of Dakota, we will carry the textbook option which includes Geometry: A Guided Inquiry and Math Without Borders DVD.
Description of Geometry: A Guided Inquiry from David Chandler (of Math Without Borders):
“Most geometry textbooks present a long list of facts about geometric figures organized in a rigid logical order, working generally from simple to more complex. Applications of these facts may or may not be made clear to the student. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry starts each chapter by posing an interesting geometric problem (puzzle), called the “Central Problem” for the chapter. Clusters of geometric facts are introduced, as needed, in the process of solving these problems. The usefulness and relevance of the new facts are therefore apparent from the moment they are first presented.
Most geometry textbooks, especially those written under the influence of the “New Math” era of the 1960s, put heavy emphasis on precise use of technical vocabulary and mathematical notation. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry emphasizes the underlying geometric and mathematical ideas and works to help the student understand them intuitively as well as logically.
Most geometry textbooks start each problem set with lots of routine, repetitive problems, gradually working up to an interesting problem or two at the end of the assignment. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry puts the best problems right up front! From the very beginning the student is given problems worth solving.
Most geometry textbooks read like they were written by a committee following a prescribed agenda. Most in fact are! The life is squeezed out of the narrative in the process. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry has a distinct sense of authorship. The authors are good mathematicians, good teachers, and good writers. Their joy in the pursuit of mathematics shows through their writing.
Geometry: A Guided Inquiry makes frequent use of compass, protractor and ruler activities, data tables, guess and check methods, model-building, and other techniques of intuitive exploration in preparation for general solutions. (Use of either The Geometer’s Sketchpad or Geogebra adds a new dimension to the opportunities for exploration with dynamic illustrations.) Each chapter begins with a “Central Problem” that provides the focus and motivates the discussion in that chapter. The Central section presents all the essential new material. Along the way the student is led to a solution of the Central Problem, while exploring its connections with other topics. After the Central section is a Review section, and each of the first seven chapters are followed with a short Algebra Review that stresses algebra topics related to the current work.
Each chapter has an open ended Projects section with problems that are extensions to the material in the Central section, sometimes carrying the discussion in new directions. (The Project sections include some of the most interesting material in the text!)”
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 The Shortest Path (i.e. distance between points and lines, perpendicular lines, reflection, triangle inequality, some properties of angles)
Chapter 2 Tiling the Plane (i.e. polygons and angles)
Chapter 3 Triangles (i.e. SSS, SAS, ASA congruence properties of triangles; proving theorems)
Chapter 4 What is a Proof? (i.e. devising proofs and properties of quadrilaterals)
Chapter 5 Constructions with Straightedge and Compass
Chapter 6 Quadratic Equations
Chapter 7 Expressions and Equations Containing Two Variables
Chapter 8 Area and Volume
Chapter 9 The Pythagorean Theorem
Chapter 10 Similar Figures
Chapter 11 Perimeter, Area, and Volume of Similar Figures
Chapter 12 Circles
Chapter 13 Coordinates
Chapter 14 Conic Sections
Click to read a comprehensive review that includes samples from the text and Math Without Borders DVD. http://www.homeschoolmath.net/reviews/g ... nquiry.php
Description of Math Without Borders: Geometry DVD:
The Home Study Companion Geometry DVD supplements the textbook in several important ways:
*It provides complete, worked out solutions (not just answers) to all problems in the Central and Project sections of the text.
*It provides additional commentary to supplement the presentation of the text, much as the lecture portion of a traditional course supplements the text.
*It provides a collection of nearly 300 demonstrations using The Geometer’s Sketchpad or Geogebra covering most of the main concepts, and many additional explorations, in the Central and Projects sections of each chapter.
Geometry: A Guided Inquiry was written long before the current obsession with standardized testing, and it marches to a different drummer. It covers many fascinating topics you will see in no other high school Geometry textbook. The selection of topics in the text is excellent, but the authors’ choice of topics (in 1970) did not anticipate every choice of the Academic Standards Commission at the end of the century. Therefore the Home Study Companion Geometry DVD adds Extensions to the chapters, as needed, to cover these additional topics. The text plus extensions cover the standards for California and nearly all other states. (Students not affected by mandatory statewide testing can treat the extensions as optional topics.)
VideoText Algebra or Video Text Geometry Description
List Price – Visit http://www.videotext.com to purchase
Author – Tom Clarke
Bibliographic Data – DVD, print copy, or online options
If your student began with VideoText Algebra in the World Geography Guide, then he/she will need to complete the course prior to beginning Geometry. This is because VideoText Algebra is an interactive, video-based program that teaches Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Algebra II in an integrated manner. Due to the integrated manner in which VideoText teaches algebra, once you begin VideoText it is best to complete the course because all modules work together to teach Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Algebra II. Therefore, to claim credit for both Algebra I and Algebra II all modules must be completed. All students must begin VideoText Algebra with Module A, regardless of previous math experience with Algebra. The same is true for VideoText Geometry, which teaches Geometry, Trigonometry, and Pre-Calculus.
The main components of VideoText are the video lessons and the worktext.
However, unlike textbooks that may use a video supplement, in this case the video lessons “are” the textbook. With each module of the course, you receive the video lessons (each 5-10 minutes in length, either on DVD or online), course notes, worktext, solutions manual, progress tests, and an instructor’s guide with detailed solutions to all quizzes and test problems. Students will love the brief lessons and the clear explanations of concepts in VideoText Algebra. To view samples and purchase VideoText Algebra or VideoText Geometry visit http://www.videotext.com
YourTeacher.com Description
List Price – Visit http://www.mathhelp.com to purchase
Author – Mike Maggart
Bibliographic Data – online options
This program is one of Cathy Duffy’s Top 101 Picks. YourTeacher's lessons replicate the entire math classroom experience, but you are the only student! Each lesson includes:
*Multiple Video Example Problems (similar to how a teacher starts class at the board by explaining the examples from the textbook)
*Interactive Practice Problems with Built-in Explanations (similar to how a teacher assigns practice and walks around the class providing math help)
*A Challenge Problem (similar to how a teacher assigns a higher level problem which students must work on their own to prove mastery)
*Multiple-Choice Self-Tests (similar to how a teacher assigns problems which you must work on your own to prove mastery of material)
*Extra Problem Worksheets (similar to how a teacher assigns additional problems for homework)
*Review Notes (similar to how a teacher provides summary handouts or refers you to your textbook for online math help)
This math program works well for students who have struggled with math in the past and who are likely to find Geometry a challenge. It also works well for students who may have begun another Geometry program that was not successful and need to switch to a different program mid-stream to finish the learning out, or for students who may not have a long period of time to complete Geometry and need to get it done in a timely fashion, or for students who must do much of their work on math alone without help from a parent.
This Geometry program does not have nearly the depth of Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, but it does cover needed Geometry concepts in a plain, no-frills fashion. We used it with our own oldest son who needed to get Geometry done in a timely fashion after he took longer than expected to complete Video Text Algebra I and II. At that time, he had begun VideoText Geometry, but we could see it would take him longer than we desired for him to complete it. So, we switched him to YourTeacher.com for Geometry due to time constraints. He really enjoyed the course and did very well with it!
Of course, you may choose a different math path than those we have outlined above, but hopefully these options will give you some help as you search for the right math program for your child!
Blessings,
Carrie
We have waited to share our Geometry recommendations to have time to really look and decide what potential paths to offer for families that will best meet their needs. We ended up, after much comparing of texts, with 3 different options that we recommend for Geometry. These include Geometry: A Guided Inquiry (for a textbook-based option with clear examples), YourTeacher.com (an online program for students who have struggled with math in the past, or for those who need a very time-conscious option, or for those who might find Geometry very challenging), or VideoText Algebra and Geometry (for a strong video-based option). The description for each program is found below. At Heart of Dakota, we will carry the textbook option which includes Geometry: A Guided Inquiry and Math Without Borders DVD.
Description of Geometry: A Guided Inquiry from David Chandler (of Math Without Borders):
“Most geometry textbooks present a long list of facts about geometric figures organized in a rigid logical order, working generally from simple to more complex. Applications of these facts may or may not be made clear to the student. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry starts each chapter by posing an interesting geometric problem (puzzle), called the “Central Problem” for the chapter. Clusters of geometric facts are introduced, as needed, in the process of solving these problems. The usefulness and relevance of the new facts are therefore apparent from the moment they are first presented.
Most geometry textbooks, especially those written under the influence of the “New Math” era of the 1960s, put heavy emphasis on precise use of technical vocabulary and mathematical notation. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry emphasizes the underlying geometric and mathematical ideas and works to help the student understand them intuitively as well as logically.
Most geometry textbooks start each problem set with lots of routine, repetitive problems, gradually working up to an interesting problem or two at the end of the assignment. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry puts the best problems right up front! From the very beginning the student is given problems worth solving.
Most geometry textbooks read like they were written by a committee following a prescribed agenda. Most in fact are! The life is squeezed out of the narrative in the process. Geometry: A Guided Inquiry has a distinct sense of authorship. The authors are good mathematicians, good teachers, and good writers. Their joy in the pursuit of mathematics shows through their writing.
Geometry: A Guided Inquiry makes frequent use of compass, protractor and ruler activities, data tables, guess and check methods, model-building, and other techniques of intuitive exploration in preparation for general solutions. (Use of either The Geometer’s Sketchpad or Geogebra adds a new dimension to the opportunities for exploration with dynamic illustrations.) Each chapter begins with a “Central Problem” that provides the focus and motivates the discussion in that chapter. The Central section presents all the essential new material. Along the way the student is led to a solution of the Central Problem, while exploring its connections with other topics. After the Central section is a Review section, and each of the first seven chapters are followed with a short Algebra Review that stresses algebra topics related to the current work.
Each chapter has an open ended Projects section with problems that are extensions to the material in the Central section, sometimes carrying the discussion in new directions. (The Project sections include some of the most interesting material in the text!)”
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 The Shortest Path (i.e. distance between points and lines, perpendicular lines, reflection, triangle inequality, some properties of angles)
Chapter 2 Tiling the Plane (i.e. polygons and angles)
Chapter 3 Triangles (i.e. SSS, SAS, ASA congruence properties of triangles; proving theorems)
Chapter 4 What is a Proof? (i.e. devising proofs and properties of quadrilaterals)
Chapter 5 Constructions with Straightedge and Compass
Chapter 6 Quadratic Equations
Chapter 7 Expressions and Equations Containing Two Variables
Chapter 8 Area and Volume
Chapter 9 The Pythagorean Theorem
Chapter 10 Similar Figures
Chapter 11 Perimeter, Area, and Volume of Similar Figures
Chapter 12 Circles
Chapter 13 Coordinates
Chapter 14 Conic Sections
Click to read a comprehensive review that includes samples from the text and Math Without Borders DVD. http://www.homeschoolmath.net/reviews/g ... nquiry.php
Description of Math Without Borders: Geometry DVD:
The Home Study Companion Geometry DVD supplements the textbook in several important ways:
*It provides complete, worked out solutions (not just answers) to all problems in the Central and Project sections of the text.
*It provides additional commentary to supplement the presentation of the text, much as the lecture portion of a traditional course supplements the text.
*It provides a collection of nearly 300 demonstrations using The Geometer’s Sketchpad or Geogebra covering most of the main concepts, and many additional explorations, in the Central and Projects sections of each chapter.
Geometry: A Guided Inquiry was written long before the current obsession with standardized testing, and it marches to a different drummer. It covers many fascinating topics you will see in no other high school Geometry textbook. The selection of topics in the text is excellent, but the authors’ choice of topics (in 1970) did not anticipate every choice of the Academic Standards Commission at the end of the century. Therefore the Home Study Companion Geometry DVD adds Extensions to the chapters, as needed, to cover these additional topics. The text plus extensions cover the standards for California and nearly all other states. (Students not affected by mandatory statewide testing can treat the extensions as optional topics.)
VideoText Algebra or Video Text Geometry Description
List Price – Visit http://www.videotext.com to purchase
Author – Tom Clarke
Bibliographic Data – DVD, print copy, or online options
If your student began with VideoText Algebra in the World Geography Guide, then he/she will need to complete the course prior to beginning Geometry. This is because VideoText Algebra is an interactive, video-based program that teaches Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Algebra II in an integrated manner. Due to the integrated manner in which VideoText teaches algebra, once you begin VideoText it is best to complete the course because all modules work together to teach Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, and Algebra II. Therefore, to claim credit for both Algebra I and Algebra II all modules must be completed. All students must begin VideoText Algebra with Module A, regardless of previous math experience with Algebra. The same is true for VideoText Geometry, which teaches Geometry, Trigonometry, and Pre-Calculus.
The main components of VideoText are the video lessons and the worktext.
However, unlike textbooks that may use a video supplement, in this case the video lessons “are” the textbook. With each module of the course, you receive the video lessons (each 5-10 minutes in length, either on DVD or online), course notes, worktext, solutions manual, progress tests, and an instructor’s guide with detailed solutions to all quizzes and test problems. Students will love the brief lessons and the clear explanations of concepts in VideoText Algebra. To view samples and purchase VideoText Algebra or VideoText Geometry visit http://www.videotext.com
YourTeacher.com Description
List Price – Visit http://www.mathhelp.com to purchase
Author – Mike Maggart
Bibliographic Data – online options
This program is one of Cathy Duffy’s Top 101 Picks. YourTeacher's lessons replicate the entire math classroom experience, but you are the only student! Each lesson includes:
*Multiple Video Example Problems (similar to how a teacher starts class at the board by explaining the examples from the textbook)
*Interactive Practice Problems with Built-in Explanations (similar to how a teacher assigns practice and walks around the class providing math help)
*A Challenge Problem (similar to how a teacher assigns a higher level problem which students must work on their own to prove mastery)
*Multiple-Choice Self-Tests (similar to how a teacher assigns problems which you must work on your own to prove mastery of material)
*Extra Problem Worksheets (similar to how a teacher assigns additional problems for homework)
*Review Notes (similar to how a teacher provides summary handouts or refers you to your textbook for online math help)
This math program works well for students who have struggled with math in the past and who are likely to find Geometry a challenge. It also works well for students who may have begun another Geometry program that was not successful and need to switch to a different program mid-stream to finish the learning out, or for students who may not have a long period of time to complete Geometry and need to get it done in a timely fashion, or for students who must do much of their work on math alone without help from a parent.
This Geometry program does not have nearly the depth of Geometry: A Guided Inquiry, but it does cover needed Geometry concepts in a plain, no-frills fashion. We used it with our own oldest son who needed to get Geometry done in a timely fashion after he took longer than expected to complete Video Text Algebra I and II. At that time, he had begun VideoText Geometry, but we could see it would take him longer than we desired for him to complete it. So, we switched him to YourTeacher.com for Geometry due to time constraints. He really enjoyed the course and did very well with it!
Of course, you may choose a different math path than those we have outlined above, but hopefully these options will give you some help as you search for the right math program for your child!
Blessings,
Carrie