Has anyone used the beginning algebra curriculum? I'd love to hear comments on it.
My 7yo boy liked it and has finished it. I think it's good for basic algebraic manipulations (find the equation of a line through two points, factor a polynomial, solve a quadratic equation using the quadratic formula etc.), but a child who is gifted at math should probably follow up with an algebra book or course that is more rigorous, maybe AOPS including Alcumus or a textbook from the Dolciani series. (Or Singapore's New Elementary Mathematics? I am considering this. Has anyone tried it?)
LOL - that's funny because that's what we're using (Singapore NEM). I just wanted DS 4th grade to have an easy way to review this summer. I'd probably be disappointed in that case after 9 months of NEM.
I think NEM is fantastic. I consider it in a similar league as AoPS (I've looked at dozens of curriculum and have a pile of them). I really went with NEM because it seemed like the perfect thing to go to after Singapore and I knew we weren't ready for AoPS algebra yet (Singapore 6B doesn't quite hit all pre-alg topics). All the pre-alg curriculum I looked at seemed so fluffy compared to Singapore or AoPS though. I see AoPS has pre-alg coming out now and I would have jumped on that bandwagon last fall. NEM has really been parent intensive for us though, although we're getting better at using Khan academy videos. My son loves it and balking now that I'm thinking of switching curriculum. The thing that has been challenging is the amount of writing required to get through some of these problems. We are kind of crawling through for that reason. I'm personally NOT in a huge hurry to get to get to college level math. If we can stall getting to that level for a couple years by using a harder curriculum, all the better!
