When I was in high school, I juuuuust squeaked by my math requirements.

[conuly]

I got a solid 66 on Math Regents 2 and 3, which basically covered trig and geometry, and I have no idea how I did it. Literally, none.

I want to remedy that. I prefer to read and don't like videos, so Kahn Academy is right out. Does anybody have any good print or online written materials that can help me basically redo my high school math experience and understand what the hell I should have understood the first time around? I don't care if it is new or interesting, I just want good, solid material that is clearly written.

Comments

[siderea]

I have no resources, sorry. But I would suggest that if you had trouble in hs math, you may find it beneficial to go back to jr high math. Maybe. Geometry less so. But trig depends on good algebraic skills.

BTW, I have a hazy and possibly erroneous impression that all the best math instruction is by video these days, because it really is superior to learning it from a book. You may want to give Khan Academy a try despite your issues with video.

[conuly]

It's possible I'm missing some earlier concepts, but given my 100% on my first math regents and my solid 99+ scores before that, I don't know. To be honest, I put the blame partially on the school system, and this is why I'm not totally gung-ho about "flipped" classrooms. Several of my math teachers at Stuy more or less taught that way, which meant that if you didn't understand it at ALL during homework, you were still lost during the review. I had executive function problems keeping me from even starting my homework, and I had more or less absorbed the utterly stupid and ridiculous idea that having to work at a subject or ask for help meant you were stupid in it (and god knows I didn't want to be stupid in a subject, better to just fail it than to be stupid), and that method was the absolute worst thing for me.

You know, I'm astonishingly happy about the recent cheating scandal. The more various classes of Stuy come up and say "yes, it was widespread cheating when I was there as well", the better I feel. I can say "I wasn't just too lazy to do the work and not actually smart enough to coast, I was simply too honest to cheat like, apparently, EVERYBODY ELSE." I know of course that not everybody cheated and few of them cheated in every subject, but I still love being able to say that.

[siderea]

It's possible I'm missing some earlier concepts, but given my 100% on my first math regents and my solid 99+ scores before that, I don't know.

Maybe not, then. But that said, I have a vague intention of making a second run at differential equations, and I plan on going back over jr high algebra first, myself, and working my way back up, even though fewer As have come so easily for me as 8th grade algebra, and I made it (sort of :) through first year calculus.

To be honest, I put the blame partially on the school system, and this is why I'm not totally gung-ho about "flipped" classrooms. Several of my math teachers at Stuy more or less taught that way, which meant that if you didn't understand it at ALL during homework, you were still lost during the review.

I'm now confused about your objection. If you want the lecturer to explain it in the classroom, why wouldn't video be perfect for you? Is there some other problem with video for you?

You know, I'm astonishingly happy about the recent cheating scandal. The more various classes of Stuy come up and say "yes, it was widespread cheating when I was there as well", the better I feel. I can say "I wasn't just too lazy to do the work and not actually smart enough to coast, I was simply too honest to cheat like, apparently, EVERYBODY ELSE." I know of course that not everybody cheated and few of them cheated in every subject, but I still love being able to say that.

I know EXACTLY what you mean. My undergrad school had a similar scandal. But of course, the flip side was, "But, but, but... why didn't anybody invite me to one of these homework-sharing parties? I thought people liked me...?" The boost to my intellectual ego comes with a tax on my social confidence.

[conuly]

I can't follow videos very well because I can't ask questions in the meantime. Books are better than videos because at least I can see the print, and it goes at the speed of my reading instead of the speed of my listening. But for tougher concepts, in person is the very best. Does that make sense? (Following videos pervades all aspects of my life, btw. It's one reason that I always have the captioning on when watching TV, and mostly watch TV on demand or on the Internet now, because I can pause and rewind to catch parts I missed. And why I read so very much more than I watch.) Also, at that age, it was extremely difficult for me to manage things like homework. I just couldn't organize myself well enough, and even a small amount of work was hugely daunting. I could get stuck just trying to find a pencil. The reading itself would not have been a problem, it was the getting started on the work, not losing the book, writing legibly, moving on if I got stuck aspects that kept me from doing it. But I don't think I'm alone in this, and I suspect that other kids with the same problem I had get the same "diagnosis" - lazy, doesn't want to work. I mean, I *didnt* want to work, but that wasn't the problem.

"I know EXACTLY what you mean. My undergrad school had a similar scandal. But of course, the flip side was, "But, but, but... why didn't anybody invite me to one of these homework-sharing parties? I thought people liked me...?" The boost to my intellectual ego comes with a tax on my social confidence."

Yeah, well, I was kinda a social outcast throughout most of my schooling. I don't mention that part.