Algebra I summer review

[Anonymous]

Daughter is going from Geometry to Algebra II next year. Anyone know of a summer Algebra I review course in the DMV? Did others find a summer review helpful between the gap of Algebra I and II? Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Montgomery College has this and you don’t need to be a resident. Any community college probably has it.

[Anonymous]

It would help to know where you're located, OP, and if you're really seeking a "course" or would be fine with individual tutoring which can be more flexible in terms of time and setting than a course would be.

We were in the same boat 7th grade algebra 1, 8th grade geometry, then 9th grade algebra 2.

We sent DC to Mathnasium over the summer a couple of times a week. You can ask them to give your DD an evaluation test first, to see how much algebra 1 she recalls and how well she can do it "cold" after a year of geometry, then ask them to tailor her work to reviewing algebra 1 in preparation to start algebra 2 in the fall. They did exactly that for our DC.

They are flexible about times and days -- some weeks it was twice, some weeks three times if we were around a lot, and a few weeks of course we were gone. We pretty much dropped in at roughly regular times that worked for us, but were not required to be there, for instance, "every Tuesday at 3 and Thursday at 2" or things like that. There are Mathnasiums all over the area now so check them out. They have summer-only rates and also rates for the school year. Full disclosure: DC had been going to Mathnasium in the summers for several summers before that so it was easy for us to do and we like their model.

It's one on one tutoring but in a group setting if that makes sense. Your kid has her own individual work she's doing and the tutors come to her when she's ready for them to review it and work on it alongside her, but they are working with other students when she is actually doing the work. Students get individual help and guidance but the tutors aren't sitting there doing nothing while the kids are doing the actual work, they're with other kids--am I making it clear?

Mathnasium worked well for our DC and for us as a family. A class with set times and days of the week would have been less convenient and I don't know if DC would have gotten the same one on one help. A lot depends on your kid's personal learning style, though--classroom setting with homework etc. versus tutoring setting with little to no homework. (Mathnasium doesn't "do" homework assignments but you can always supplement between sessions if you want....).

[Anonymous]

In FCPS the Geometry course has tons of Algebra 1 material embedded in the curriculum. A quick review of graphing lines should suffice for most students.

[Anonymous]

We have a friend that teaches math at the HS level. He’s going to ask his colleagues for lessons and also has offered to tutor. Will use online resources as fill in

[Anonymous]

Khan Academy. Online and free.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in a MD private school now. He is taking Alegbra 1 in 8th grade. All of the private high schools he applied to has Algebra 2 in 9th grade for students who took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Why do they separate them where you are? He also goes to Mathnasium and it has been working well for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in a MD private school now. He is taking Alegbra 1 in 8th grade. All of the private high schools he applied to has Algebra 2 in 9th grade for students who took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Why do they separate them where you are? He also goes to Mathnasium and it has been working well for him.

My understanding is Algebra I contains the algebra needed for Geometry. Algebra II contains more algebra needed to move onto trig and calculus. If you wait until after Algebra II to study geometry you might get rusty on algebra II skills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in a MD private school now. He is taking Alegbra 1 in 8th grade. All of the private high schools he applied to has Algebra 2 in 9th grade for students who took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Why do they separate them where you are? He also goes to Mathnasium and it has been working well for him.

I teach high school math and I’ve never heard of this. Typically students taking algebra 2 in 9th grade took algebra 1 in 7th and geometry in 8th.

[Anonymous]

OP here-Thank you !!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is in a MD private school now. He is taking Alegbra 1 in 8th grade. All of the private high schools he applied to has Algebra 2 in 9th grade for students who took Algebra 1 in 8th grade. Why do they separate them where you are? He also goes to Mathnasium and it has been working well for him.

Same where I live. It goes Algebra 1 in 7th, Gromerry in 8th and Algebea2/trig in 9th (or just Algebra2, depending on track). This was the same as when I was in school.

Maybe yours is a private school thing?

[Anonymous]

OP, I cannot speak highly enough of Mathnasium. My son did Algebra 1 in 7th, Geometry in summer and now in 8th does Algebra2/trig (this is a compressed class, 2 years in 1) and there is no way he would maintain his straight As with his accelerated schedule without Mathnasium. They have helped him have complete understanding of the material. He goes twice a week and being them any help he needs. Also if you do over the summer, I'd bet that your daughter will fo into Algebra 2 already knowing all of the Q1 material. Huge math confidence builder.

[Anonymous]

Algebra Review Camp at SSFS


http://www.summeratsandyspring.org/summer_camps/algebra-review-camp/

[Anonymous]

There’s a 3-week class at GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I cannot speak highly enough of Mathnasium. My son did Algebra 1 in 7th, Geometry in summer and now in 8th does Algebra2/trig (this is a compressed class, 2 years in 1) and there is no way he would maintain his straight As with his accelerated schedule without Mathnasium. They have helped him have complete understanding of the material. He goes twice a week and being them any help he needs. Also if you do over the summer, I'd bet that your daughter will fo into Algebra 2 already knowing all of the Q1 material. Huge math confidence builder.

Private math tutor. I have a number of clients that I see weekly in Algebra and Geometry during the school year. I'm curious when you refer to Mathnasium, is your DC going during the school year?

Personally, I see tremendous benefit to seeing my students weekly during the school year. I usually "do" homework with them, which consists of watching them do the problems. While I do that, I am teaching them how to organize their math work on the page, how to show step by step what they are doing, correcting mistakes in their understanding of computation, teaching them shortcuts, re-teaching or reinforcing the conceptual aspects of the lesson, showing them how to use their textbook or class notes to help themselves when I am not there, teaching them how to look for their own errors, teaching them techniques for checking their own answers when their is no answer key or it is a test, teaching them how to study for a test and studying with them, identifying important formulas to be memorized, etc.

IME, summer review is never bad, but weekly help during the school year can be more important, particularly in Algebra and Geometry, where a foundation is being built in organizational and problem-solving skills and confidence. I often have parents ask me to tutor their students before a test, but, honestly, that is too late and at that point it's hard to fix all the small underlying fundamentals that are contributing to poor performance. So, IMO, a few weeks at the end of summer, leading into weekly tutoring during the class may be a better solution. Best if the weekly tutor comes mid-week (T,W, TH) so that they can fix problems from earlier in the week and look ahead.