Dear Paul:
When my daughter was in 4th grade, we would sit up night after night (until 10pm sometimes), trying to get her math and math corrections done. There were alot of struggles and tears. We would go over and over it. She would then forget to turn the corrections in for credit, which didn't help.
In 5th grade she still didn't really "get it", we at least had time to work out the problems and I could try explaining things other ways... plus I had the teachers manual to check our work on the spot. She would sometimes get as many as 15 of 30 problems wrong, but we would still troop through. Correcting one by one... each time it seemed like "there, she gets it now", but by next lesson or 3 lessons down the road she would be running into a snafu again.
This year, she is in 7th grade. Up to this point, I had a pretty good understanding of math and could supplement the instruction. Unfortunately, I am one of those adults who was held back all her life for not being able to understand algebra. My thought though was that if the instruction was decent, I could understand it now, and I would learn with her.
Well, that is when I realized that the instruction had too many holes in it. They would start at the beginning with the obvious, but then somehow jump to some action that wasn't obvious or explained... so you never knew WHY they did what they did... it was like, "ok?...uhm..."
She would often take up to 5 hours to try to complete a lesson, and usually come away with D, or a C if she was lucky.... and then the next day go through it all over again.
We were at bowling one day and one of the moms mentioned that she had just ordered "Math Res-Q". She hadn't received it yet, but she had ordered it because one of the other moms tried it and swore by it. Just by the few things that she said I knew instantly that it was exactly what we needed.
I immediately ordered all the we needed. Thank you, first, for making it affordable, because I am a single mom and cash is hard to come by.
Ok. So the math program came. We begin. I had to run off to some appointments, so she was to watch the instruction and do the first lesson. I get home, go over it, and guess what... Now she has almost ALL the problems wrong. I ask what the problem is. She goes on and on about how horrible the instruction is. "WHAT?!" I say. She completely debases the whole program... which doesn't surprise me... So we decide to watch the instruction together. I would pause the video and point out things that you said that I thought were important that I didn't think she noticed. She would get upset that I would do this and eruptively say "yeah yeah yeah I know you don't have to tell me".
Ok, So watching the instruction, now at least I know how to do the problems. She tries her corrections and with my input, playing "you", she doesn't do half bad.
The next lesson comes. She was to watch the instruction and do the lesson. When I got home, she asked that I would watch it with her because she said even though it annoyed her when I would point things out, it was helpful, and without me she didn't get it. Ok, So we watched together.
It took a bit for her to understand that by investing the time in truly listening to what you were saying and thinking it over until she understood it, she could save a ton of time in the long run.
Well, By lesson 7 she is on her own and even asked if she could do another lesson that day.
WOW. I mean this is a total WOW! She actually asked if she could do another lesson?! This is HUGE.
Rather than muddling through, we are starting to actually succeed. I feel a very sound foundation is being laid for us here. Your teaching feels so much more solid and secure, where before it was all a shot in the dark.
Thank you for taking the time to organize your thoughts, material and knowledge for us, and for taking the time to truly teach it to us. We are truly greatful. It will be interesting to see how this affects her overall in her self image, when she finds that she CAN! do it, over and over... she will start to get the positive feeling of success, and my hope is that in time it will wipe out the feeling of defeat that she had come to accept... May God bless you beyond measure.
C.B.
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Hey Paul,
I took my GED yesterday and I think I did awsome on the math part. It seemed so easy. I was one of the first ones to finish the math test. thanks a lot!
Sarah
HI
I am a premed student, returning to college after a couple of decades away. Last fall I took precalculus, and the only way I got the grade I did was by studying seven hours a day on that class alone. I'm realizing over and over, as I go through your course, what I don't know, was never taught to me earlier. Each time you explain something so clearly, a light goes on in my head. I'm especially looking forward to the lesson where you explain how to "complete the square". It was assumed in pre-calc that we students knew what that was, and I had never heard of it!
Ronae
Hi Paul
At last, someone with a brain has developed a working math program! Thanks!
Lori
We are enjoying the math lessons very much.
They are easy to understand. I purchased them for my daughter who is having a little trouble in school with algebra. After watching a few lessons I discovered that I enjoyed learning this way and have decided to complete the lessons with my daughter. It is a great way to learn and you do a fantastic job at teaching math.
Thank you
Ed |
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Hello,
I just finished your Math Res-Q Laying the Foundations program and found it very helpful. I’ve been out of high school for about seven years now, and I’ve managed to successfully avoid math since then (I can remember sitting in math class fuming with frustration). But, I breezed through the foundations course and I feel like I have a better grasp on the basics than ever before.
I was really happy with Math Res-Q, and since I plan on going back to school soon I recently ordered all of the Algebra material as well.
Thanks for putting these programs together.
-Duncan
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