Foerster Algebra 1 Solutions Manual
The Math Without Borders Home Study Companion series offers high school math video teaching courses presented by David Chandler on flash drives in MP4 format. Videos serve as companions to Paul A. Foerster’s texts for Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Trigonometry, Precalculus, and Calculus. The Math Without Borders Geometry video instruction supports the text Geometry: A Guided Inquiry by Chakerian, Crabill, and Stein rather than a text by Foerster. The videos provide students with the presentations of an experienced teacher.
Are the tech solutions of today the silos of tomorrow? As your organization advances in RPA and AI, make sure you're not setting your future up for failure. This text is a one year, high-school algebra course that the author used in his own classroom. The first part of the book leads up to the Quadratic Formula. Books by Paul A. Solutions Manual. Really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2004 Want to. Prentice Hall Classics: Algebra 1 Solutions Key. 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings: Want to Read saving.
Both videos and textbooks are required, but textbooks must be purchased separately. Each course needs to be copied from the flash drive onto your computer. Your computer needs to have speakers or headphones for the student to listen to the audio tracks for the instruction. Students will need either a downloaded scientific calculator they can use on their computer or a handheld calculator for all courses. Some courses benefit from the presence of a spreadsheet program; Microsoft Excel works as do the free Open Office Calc or Libre Office programs. The GeoGebra program is optional for Algebra 1.
While there are a number of somewhat similar math courses on DVD-ROM or through the internet, most of those designed for homeschoolers use texts that are not as challenging as those used with this series. Foerster’s books, in particular, have long been recognized as among the best high school math texts. However, they assume the presence of a teacher and are too difficult for students to use on their own.
The level of the math taught in each text is above average. For example Foerster's Algebra 1 includes functions, trigonometric functions, and quadratic functions, topics often covered at higher levels in other series. The Home Study Companions will work with earlier editions of each text, so you might find used copies at lower prices. For the three courses using Foerster’s textbooks, experienced teacher David Chandler talks students through each of the key concepts in each section of the textbook using a whiteboard to teach the concepts and work through examples.
He follows the text, occasionally teaching in a slightly different fashion for the sake of clarity. Chandler sometimes expands on a topic that he knows is particularly troublesome to students. He pulls up an online calculator and other tools such as Geogebra to illustrate lessons. I very much appreciate his instruction on how to use a scientific calculator in many different instances.
(Students will need either a downloaded scientific calculator they can use on their computer or a handheld calculator.) After he’s taught the concept, he typically works through a fair number of examples before he leaves students to work through problems on their own. Answers to odd problems are at the back of the texts. Chapter reviews and/or chapter tests within the textbooks can be used for assessment.
All of the courses have narrated solutions for about half of the problems (the recommended assignment) worked out on video. A separate solutions manual for each course is available from the publisher of each text, but these are probably not necessary. For Home Study Companion: Algebra 1, you should read through Chandler’s notes online at The text you will need is Algebra 1: Expressions, Equations, and Applications. You will probably want a solutions manual. (Chandler tell you how to order the solutions manual.) The free Graphmatica shareware graphing program is helpful for Algebra 1 although it isn’t required. The full title of the Algebra 2 text is Algebra and Trigonometry: Functions and Applications. Students will need a spreadsheet program for this course.
Chandler advises that you probably don’t need the solutions manual for this course since he works through so many of the problems on the video. Read Chandler’s notes for this course at Precalculus with Trigonometry: Concepts and Applications is the text for Home Study Companion: Precalculus. Go to mathwithoutborders.com/?pageid=11 for Chandler’s notes for this course.
Chandler comments there, “I have taught out of several other Precalculus textbooks, but none of them is in the same league with Foerster when it comes to teaching problem solving and real-world applications.” While Foerster’s text has gone through a number of editions, the third edition is the best fit for this course since content (while similar) was rearranged from the second to the third edition. Video solutions are provided for a large enough number of problems that you are unlikely to need a solutions manual. Students continue to use the free on-screen scientific calculator, Calc98 and GeoGebra. In the last quarter of this course, he also introduces students to an even more advanced calculating program called Sage. The Calculus course uses the text Calculus: Concepts and Applications, 2nd edition. While students will use a scientific calculator and Geogebra, Chandler also teaches them how to use a spreadsheet program (Excel or the free program Libre Office 'Calc') as a calculation tool. You can see from the technological tools Chandler uses that these courses are more sophisticated than many others used by homeschoolers.
They will provide excellent preparation for those who will continue with higher math after they graduate. Familiarity with the “tools of the trade” will be a big bonus. The Geometry course (combined video instruction and text) differs from the others with greater use of the textbook and less video instruction. Students work through a “Central Problem” that begins each chapter. The Central Problem itself is used to teach new material.
Students study examples, work through practice problems, and do investigations. Throughout this introductory section, new concepts are introduced to lead the student toward a solution of the Central Problem. The result is all of the content is introduced in the context of a problem where it is immediately useful, rather than being left asking, 'When will I ever use this?' Following this are a self-quiz, a review section and a review self-test. While answers to all of these problems are at the back of the book, the Home Study Companion for Geometry: A Guided Inquiry includes video solutions to problems in the review section. Each chapter also has a projects section that expands upon concepts taught in the Central Problem section. This section has its own set of problems to solve. While the Home Study Companion: Geometry has video solutions for the Central review section, it also has PDF files with complete solutions for all problems in both the Central and Project sections.
(The text has answers but not solutions.) Solution sections often have additional commentary that is helpful to students. Some chapters have “extensions” on the Home Study Companion to cover topics in the math standards that were not covered in the textbook. Sections for algebra review are also included.
Demonstrations using GeoGebra are used throughout the Geometry course. Students will also create their own geometric constructions, so they need to have a ruler (showing metric units), a protractor, and a compass. Graph paper and a scientific calculator are also required. Hitachi ex160 specs. Sample Home Study Companion lessons are available on the Math Without Borders website. You might want to read Chandler’s notes for each course (links listed above) before purchasing since they provide detailed information about scheduling and course content that is very helpful.
Doing a quick scan on Amazon, it looks like all of the texts are readily available with the most expensive around $70 and most much less than that. So the combined cost of text and Home Study Companion is quite low for courses of this caliber. Homeschoolers should find Home Study Companions one of the least expensive ways to complete high school math courses at challenging levels with interesting course content. This combination of outstanding textbooks and an experienced teacher on the computer should make these courses practical even when parents lack math background. Note: Publishers, authors, and service providers never pay to be reviewed.
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All of my courses are now being distributed on 8-GB flash drives, which enables me to make more frequent updates than with DVD ROMS. Foerster has taught mathematics at Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio, Texas since 1961. In that same year he received his teaching certificate from Texas A&M University. Degree in Chemical Engineering and M.A. Degree in Mathematics are from the University of Texas.
Among many honors, he was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching in 1983. He brings to his teaching and textbook writing the insights from his engineering background. His textbooks contain some of the best collections of real-world applications to be found in any algebra textbook. Anyone studying mathematics at home (whether homeschoolers or adults seeking to brush up or extend their mathematics skills) will recognize early on that they miss the guidance and personal touch of an experienced teacher. Each lesson brings with it new techniques, new insights, and new ways of thinking. A great textbook is a wonderful resource, but a good teacher can model the thought processes and help “lift the material off the page.” The lessons in this course are based on “screen-capture video” technology.
To the user they appear as “whiteboard lectures” (see screenshot below). They provide the missing “classroom presentation” part of the course for anyone studying mathematics at home. You will need to separately purchase a copy of Foerster’s Algebra I: Expressions, Equations, and Applications. ISBN10: / ISBN13: 083 The lessons are based on the Prentice Hall Classics version, but there are only minor differences between this and earlier versions. (The 1999 Addison Wesley edition is essentially identical to the Pearson-Prentice Hall edition, except for the cover.) The flash drive contains a second video for each section showing worked-out solutions for the, about half of the problems in the text, usually all of the even problems. The video solutions can be used to check the work and to help get over any hurdles in solving the problems.
If more problems are desired for extra practice, the odd problems have answers in the back of the book. A solution manual is available from Pearson-Prentice Hall (also from ), but you will probably not need the solution manual for this course since a video solution guide for the assigned problems is included.
(The printed solution manual has worked-out solutions to all problems in the text.) Texts may be obtained directly from, through their program, and through various new and used textbook sources such as, etc. Here are some more video samples from the course:, Teaching Tips A number of parents have asked how to pace of the class over the course of a school year. In a home schooling environment the schedule can, and probably should, be more flexible than in a standard classroom. The ultimate basis for setting the pace is the level of understanding of the student. Keep in mind that some schools offer Algebra 1 as either a 1-year or a 2-year course, depending on the ability and readiness of the student.
Paul Foerster Algebra 1
Mathematics textbooks are generally structured on the assumption of covering one section per day, with extra days for testing, review, and re-teaching of the more difficult topics. If you cover it over two years you could, of course, double the time spent per section, but you might find some sections go quickly, and more time could be allocated for review.
The table below should help. If you typically cover 1 section per day you would have 58 extra days in a 185 day school year.
I would recommend spending 2-3 days for the final word-problem section of each chapter. If you use 3 days for each of those sections, you would still have 30 extra days to distribute as needed without eating into weekends or the typical holidays. Each problem set typically represents one day’s work. Use this as a guideline only.) I highly recommend that parents be closely involved with the students’ progress. The surest way to get behind is to allow the student to “slip through” the material without demonstrating that they understand it thoroughly. When this happens early in the course, you will find them unprepared for the work later in the course or in later courses.
Foerster Algebra Tests
If they display difficulty in basic arithmetic along the way, set aside a block of time for arithmetic review. For testing, you could pick a selection of easier and harder problems from each section of the chapter.
Foresters Math
(See my published in Homeschool Magazine.) The student should keep a notebook for all homework and you should always insist that all the work be shown on the same page as the answers. If your students say they can do the problems in their head, ask them to show you on paper what is going on in their head. If they insist that it is a one-step mental problem, have them explain their reasoning to you. I recommend treating this as a practical rather than a moral issue, although you will have to find your own balance on that question. If you, as a parent, are rusty on Algebra, or perhaps never took it or never understood it the first time around, the ideal situation would be for you to take this as an opportunity to go back and be a student along with your child.
(I recognize that real life tends to get in the way of the ideal situation.) Adults typically approach learning with more maturity than a child. You can be a role model of the learning process, even if it comes hard for you. If your child has to explain things to you, all the better. A little humility is good for the soul, and having to figure things out together will deepen the understanding for both of you.