My Mom's homeschool math is failing my brother

[Freedbychrist]

Ok everybody, I have been worrying about this all month.

I am the middle of 5 siblings. 4 of us graduated from public school, for better or for worse. It wasn't the best education, I'm sure, but my brother and I were advanced students and had access to advanced placement and honors classes. My mother has decided that my youngest brother needs to be homeschooled. She's fed up with the public school system, and now that she's retired she has time to teach him.

So, he's in 10th grade now, and she's been teaching him since 9th. Here's the thing . . . . he was in advanced classes when he was in public school, but my mother has put him in the "normal" tenth grade curriculum and hasn't been pushing him beyond, well, a very basic level. Of course, he's getting A's on everything, but when I found out she was only teaching him Algebra II I got really upset. He was doing Algebra II in 8th grade! Apparently, she put him on the standard Algebra I - DEMOTING him - for 9th grade.

I was furious over this and asked her why he wasn't doing Pre-Calculus. She said that she thought it would be best for "the both of them," i.e. she doesn't understand math past Algebra. I told her that Marcus (my older brother who lives in town) could do it, but that it wasn't fair for her to deprive my younger brother just because she didn't feel up to the challenge of having to try to grasp things like quadratic functions, set theory, parabolas, whatever.

I guess the reason I'm so upset is because my brother wants to be an engineer and go to Texas Tech, and without a good math base, he's going to be at a serious disadvantage. She said she didn't want to "trouble" Marcus so I told her to look at the possibility of re-enrolling him in public school just for the math class, which she is stubborn about. Do any of you know of any good math resources for advanced students? It's such a hard thing to learn if you don't have a good guide. He's so sweet and shy he doesn't say anything or ask her for something more challenging. I feel like I have to be the pit bull here.

It's double frustrating for me being 1000 miles away.

[lyngraphics]

Maybe they have some homeschooling classes in their area? Or a tutor, sometimes college students will tutor for not much money.

[Dedee]

Does he want to do advanced math? Then there are websites out there for him to explore more about advanced math. There is also lots of homeschool curriculum for advanced math. But, again is it what he wants and needs?

[Reason&Hope]

There's also Running Start - community college classes for people in junior and senior year of high school. The son of a friend of mine has a free ride at UWashington in computer science partly because of how well he did in the calculus class there.

Another option that your mother might like more: VIDEOS. There are some excellent video tutorial systems out there. BJU has satellite teaching.

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/
With Teaching Textbooks, every single problem is explained if you need it! (Personally, I'm looking at this and wondering if I should switch to Teaching Textbooks! :) )

[NewWorldOrder]

There's also Running Start - community college classes for people in junior and senior year of high school. The son of a friend of mine has a free ride at UWashington in computer science partly because of how well he did in the calculus class there.

Another option that your mother might like more: VIDEOS. There are some excellent video tutorial systems out there. BJU has satellite teaching.

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/
With Teaching Textbooks, every single problem is explained if you need it! (Personally, I'm looking at this and wondering if I should switch to Teaching Textbooks! :) )

I second this. Talk to your mother, respectfully, and have your brother there as well. At his age he should be taking possession of his education and be involved in the decision making. Your brother would benefit greatly from duel enrollment at the local community college. If it's too late to enroll for the fall, then he can enroll in the spring. He will be earning college and highschool credit at the same time, and that would be very beneficial for him.

Teaching Textbooks is a good idea as well. It is written to the student, and meant to be used without parental help, unless needed, especially at his age. I believe they also have a help line.

[Lucy]

Wow, I don't mean to be rude but he is HER child not yours. There are many resources for your brother that have already been discussed but the attitude you are expressing here is somewhat troubling. I am sure your mom has her reasons...
Usually, it is the meddlesome grandparents that get into the homeschooling parent's business when they don't approve.... I don't think I have ever heard of a SIBLING meddling.
Sorry if that offends you but having someone 1000 miles away breathing down your neck and criticizing your parental decisions is very unsettling.

[Lucy]

Another thought, public school classes are so watered down that the ADVANCED PS class is often a class that has kids in it that a teacher can actually teach. This is not necessarily ADVANCED math but better behaved kids. No offense, really. I have 6 kids and once taught school... Also, 8th grade Algebra isn't the same as 9th grade Algebra. Usually it is offered to the children that have some math understanding. It is presented as sort of a reward for doing a little better and a sampling of what could be if they continue moving forward.
Our curric. is set up for 9th Grade Alg. 1, 10th Alg. 2, 11th Geometry, 12th (several choices here) usually Calc.
Dual credit is an option but he is a little young especially if he is a little on the quiet, shy side. He has plenty of time to mature and develop his skills. Why can't he and your mom enjoy this time together and find out what is best for him? I would be willing to bet that she can handle this and would really appreciate your support.

[bookworm1711]

I used the Saxon series of mathematics textbooks. They are virtually self-instructional, and go through and beyond calculus. I'm still working through the books myself, but have been distracted with home remodeling tasks this past year or three. I also have collected a number of programmed learning mathematics textbooks. They were used in the programmed learning lab at Cass Technical High School in Detroit where I taught many years ago. But they still work!

As others have said, there are excellent on-line resources for learning mathematics.

I must confess that in all the years of schooling I had, I never once encountered a mathematics teacher that knew how to teach mathematics well.

The mathematics teachers I had assumed you remembered every last detail of all the mathematics courses you had previously taken, which is absurd.

The textbooks were not designed to be self-explanatory.

That is why I felt learning mathematics in home school was a superior way to learn the subject, unpressured by tests and so-called "standards." If the subject were taught properly, students would be eager to learn it, and teachers would enjoy teaching it, and students would go way beyond grade-level expectations.

Mathematics was not my teaching field, but I did take more than enough of the stuff both in high school (where I was in the electrical curriculum, a field that requires much science and mathematics), college, and graduate school. I ended up one semester teaching the advanced honors course in mathematics at my school because I was the only teacher on the staff who had taken (then) recent graduate school level work in the field of the course to be taught. The mathematics department head was on an illness leave, so I taught one of her honors classes. The students said they enjoyed my teaching, and wished they could have me for succeeding semesters.

I suspect that because I did not find mathematics easy to learn, I was able to explain it in a manner that could be understood by my students.

I am now a retired English teacher, but I bet I have more mathematics books in my personal library than the majority of teachers who majored in mathematics. I think I have about twenty feet of shelf space devoted to mathematics books.

Most of us as parents can probably learn material, or re-learn it, faster than our children can. I found that if I worked along with or ahead of either my home-schooled children, or the students I was tutoring in mathematics and other subjects at school where I taught (I always offered to help the students in my English class with any other subject they were taking, and made the same offer to students in my high school Sunday school class), I could easily keep up with and ahead of them and help them when they got stuck.

[OnTheHorizon]

Wow, I don't mean to be rude but he is HER child not yours. There are many resources for your brother that have already been discussed but the attitude you are expressing here is somewhat troubling. I am sure your mom has her reasons...
Usually, it is the meddlesome grandparents that get into the homeschooling parent's business when they don't approve.... I don't think I have ever heard of a SIBLING meddling.
Sorry if that offends you but having someone 1000 miles away breathing down your neck and criticizing your parental decisions is very unsettling.

I second this. It won't do any good to be 'furious' with your mom. Your mom cared enough to pull him out of a poor public school situation and I'm sure she cares enough to make sure that his math needs are going to be taken care of.
There is no love like a mothers love. :nod

There is good advice here about math programs. I loved Teaching Textbooks for my child. I'm sure she will look into tutors or private classes if she needs to.

[like2opr8]

I think that is soooo sweet you are so concernd for your brother! In my family if one of us "gets ahead" certain people get jealous and my mom wants the same for all of us. My siblings are not likely to be very encouraging like you seem to be so I think that is awesome!

Anyway, your brother is probably the one who needs to tell your mother if he is not being challenged. I agree with another poster who said he is getting old enough to take some control in his educational choices. Teaching textbooks or Chalkdust Math are great ways your brother and mother can learn higher math! Maybe your mother feels she needs a solid base for her to be able to teach the higher math. I don't think she is being mean. I think her heart is in the right place. It really comes down to how your brother feels but at least he is getting a good solid base this way. It will all work out in the end. Maybe going "back" a little just means it may take a little longer.

You sound like you are close as siblings. That is great. I don't think you are meddling. I think you just care about your brother and his success in life.:hug

Oh and I understand "demotion." I was demoted in the first grade from the highest reading group all because I was too shy to answer questions and the teacher thought I did not know my stuff when I actually did. That still bothers me to this day. So, I understand why it frustrates you to see your brother put back in a way and re do things he already knows. But it still comes down to how your brother feels and he will need to talk to mom about it.