Foerster's taking forever - HELP!

[my2guys]

For those of you with experience using Foerster's please give some advice. My son is doing Foerster's Algebra 1 this year in MTMM. He is excellent at math, starts first thing in the morning and works very diligently. Today he has been working for 2.5 hours and is still not done. This has been a recurring problem this year. I only have him doing the even problems, and at that, today I only had him do every other one of the evens from one of the sections because there were so many. He has always loved math and is starting to despise it. What do I do? Do I just cut more of the problems out? He is learning and understanding, so in that sense it is working for him. We only do math 4 times a week because we have co-op on the 5th day, so I expect that there is a little more time spent per day than there would be if it were being done 5 days a week, but we can't continue on with him taking half his day to do math. He is so frustrated with both the math and with himself because he can't get done more quickly. How long should an 8th grader be spending on math per day? I'm thinking 1.5 hours tops since it's only 4 times a week. HELP!! We need to figure this out or we won't make it through this year. Thank you for any advice you can give!

[StephanieU]

My suggestion would be to set a timer for a reasonable amount of time 1.25-1.5 hours probably each day) and stop when the times goes off. Then maybe spend 5-10 minutes discussing what he got done and if you think he needs to finish that lesson or move on to the next one the next day.

I teach online college classes. We suggest students set aside 6-15 hours per week for a 15 week course. That is equivalent to a full year of high school math normally. So 15*15/35=6.5 hours a week or about 1h40m each day as the high end of what I would expect a child to spend in math.

[Carrie]

Sharon,

I have a couple of suggestions that might help. First, along the lines of what has been suggested I would set a goal of an hour or a bit more of math a day. Set a timer if needed. Also, pare down the assignment as needed to fit within the time. To further assist in accomplishing this goal, if you do not have the flash drive from Math Without Borders, I would recommend purchasing it at this point. It will help with the teaching of the lesson and with understanding. We carry it here: https://www.heartofdakota.com/hearts-fo ... p#foerster

The flash drive contains daily lessons to watch, along with a listing of problems to complete each day. The daily listing of problems can also be seen here: https://mathwithoutborders.com/wp-conte ... s-Alg1.pdf
However, the assignment listing is more helpful when used with the flash drive lessons, as the flash drive contains fully worked solutions for the assigned problem sets to refer to as needed.

On the story problem days, you will need to do only selected problems, or your son will drown in the story problems. Also, since your son is only an 8th grader, you may desire to stretch Foerster's out over two years or at least over a year and a half to get the math time down. Foerster's is a terrific Algebra program, but it is very challenging... especially for an 8th grader. So, grace will be needed! Armed with these suggestions, I think you will get your math time and frustrations in hand! High school math is a step up no matter what math program you use! I am reminded of that again this year as I have a freshman this year doing Algebra 1!

Blessings,
Carrie

[my3sons]

Hi Sharon! We are using Foerster's Algebra 1, with all of its parts from HOD (praise God for the Solutions Manual and Flash Drive)!!! Here is what we are doing with Riley...

1) In his hardback textbook, Riley reads the next chapter section

2) On his computer he watches the USB flash drive video for the chapter section he just read.

3) Using David Chandler's paired down problems list, he works the assigned problems in a notebook, looking back at the USB lesson for examples if he needs help

David Chandler's printed list
https://mathwithoutborders.com/wp-conte ... s-Alg1.pdf

4) If he's having a hard time with a problem, he either clicks on the assigned problem he is struggling with on the USB flash drive to see how it is solved; or, he looks at the Solutions Manual line by line solution to see how it is solved.

5) He checks his work with the Solutions Manual, and I spot-check as needed.

6) He spreads the Story Word Problems at the end of the chapter over 2 days, and he takes 1 day to do the Chapter Review and Test.

I hope this helps! God bless, and have a good weekend, Sharon!!!

[my2guys]

Thank you, ladies! These suggestions help. We have been using the flash drive from the beginning along with the solutions manual (so thankful for that!) and we are following the schedule from the flash drive. At your suggestion, I have started setting a timer for 1.5 hours and that seems to be helping in the sense that at least we don't spend 3 hours on math! I think some if it is, as you suggested, that it is just a step up from middle school math and will grow him. And I am OK with extending Algebra 1 into next year if need be. I'm working on getting over my type-A mindset that we have to finish each course in a year. Trying to remember that we have the flexibility with homeschooling to do it differently! Thank you for the ideas and encouragement!