Calculus is not required, but a very strong showing in the math section of the ACT/SAT is. I think my target in helping him would be shoring up pre-Alg, Alg1, geometry and ensuring he works through Alg 2 at a high level. At his desire, perhaps trying to hop a year of math next summer at our community college is an option—but that’s getting ahead of ourselves right now.
I’m still unsure how much ground can be made up by June 2016 and December 2016. I don’t know what targets to set.
So, my motto is “solve the problem.” (I’m an engineer…) If the objective is to get into engineering school, the biggest bang for the buck is going to come from high ACT/SAT scores. I also think that’s a goal that’s easier to target. I personally wouldn’t try to “make up” his entire high school math career. Not having a rigorous transcript isn’t something you can address retroactively, but if his grades are good in the classes he did take and his test scores are solid, I think you can mitigate the impact of a mediocre curriculum.
The most efficient way to maximize ACT/SAT scores isn’t to take general math classes. Get a tutor, take a class, buy a study guides, whatever, but focus on the test-taking strategies. You can then shore up just on the sections that need attention.
Also, the days of only the math scores/grades mattering for engineering admissions is long gone. Don’t focus just on the math scores. You need the whole package.
@Stepdad15 Take a look at aleks.com - it’s a computer based system which is pretty good at diagnosing where SS stands with respect to math skills. The software is widely used in universities for freshman math placement, so it has a fair amount of credibility in the university math world. The program will chart a path for the student, and will give you an idea of where he is right now. I think they have free trial access . Can’t hurt to check it out. I use the program for my two kids because I am never sure what they exactly covered in their math classes at school . BTW, I’m not affiliated with the company in any way.
You can try just the test prep approach, as suggested by @ScreenName48105, by looking at study guides etc. But the math placement test at most universities will cover the entire high school math curriculum, and SS may get placed in lower level , or remedial, math classes. Even if SS does not want to be in engineering, remedial math is not desirable if you know it can be fixed a bit ahead of time.
My daughter took Alg 2 as a high school junior, and she took pre-calc and statistics as a senior. She’s in engineering and doing fine in the Calc sequences, and in fact does better than some classmates who took Calc in high school. I think one pothole many of them fall into is thinking they already know calc because they took it in high school and so the college course is just a review. Big mistake.
I think you should help him in any way you can, with tutors and study guides and prep classes. It’s not going to hurt, is it? It’s going to be a good foundation for any school he ends up at.
@Stepdad15, a lot of people here are focusing on the “how” – on what you should do to try to accomplish what you’ve set out to accomplish.
But I think you need to focus just as much on the question of whether you should be doing it at all.
I acquired a stepfather when I was 16. I would have been horrified if he had tried to take the kind of active role in my life that you’re suggesting. I barely knew the guy, and he wasn’t my parent. It was bad enough that he wanted to adjust some long-established household rules. If he had tried anything more drastic, I would have started hunting for somewhere else to live until I graduated (either with my biological father or my grandmother), just to get away from him.
Based on my experience, I think it’s important for new stepparents of teenagers to tread lightly. You’re not this kid’s father. You didn’t raise him. You came into his life at a relatively late point in his growing up. You see what you’re doing as help, but he may see it as unwanted interference. If you try to make drastic changes in his life at this late date, it is very likely to backfire.
A few schools have their own math placement tests available for free. Note, however, that they include some material more advanced than algebra 2. But you can have him try the tests and pay attention mainly to those topics which he has covered in algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 so far, to make sure that he knows them well (if not, he can review those specific topics and do additional practice on them).
http://math.tntech.edu/e-math/placement/
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/rur_index.html
I work with an engineer who went to a rural HS that did not have any math beyond Algebra 1. No Chem or Physics, either. It was a lot more effort for him than for students from better school districts but he got it done. He’s a very good engineer and, growing up on a farm, has the best work ethic in the company.
Is he doing OK in Algebra 2? My daughter tutors Calc and sees that the ones struggling the most do not have a complete understanding of the concepts of algebra. Every engineering course will have the same issue requiring algebra fluency.
A few thoughts:
Seriously, man. Support him; don’t fix him.
Not your place to say this.
If it was mud, it got slung at his wife. No ex mentioned.
This may be one of the most obnoxious, arrogant things I have seen from a parent on CC. You are talking about someone who is probably 16. It’s not too late for him to become an awesome anything, except maybe a hockey player or figure skater. (I don’t know of any awesome skaters who started that late.)
You, and many other people, are right to caution against trying to “fix” a stepchild. But you’re wrong to presume that’s the only thing that could be happening here.
My poor daughter. She had a CR/math SAT of 1230. CR 590 and math 640. She never took calculus in high school. She never took any AP math courses.
Somehow she managed to graduate with a double major in engineering and biology,from a respected engineering program.
Lots of interesting advice. First, assuming you have the support of your new (congrats) wife and stepson’s dad, if he is still in the picture, kudos to you for stepping up and being so willing to help your stepson do what it takes.
As others have said, the extra tutoring and prep to get the SAT/ACT SAT II scores up (which will include knowing algebra and trig) and, if he plans to take the new SAT, understanding the changes in the math sections of the test (as well as the other changes).
Is he by any chance naturally good at math? If so, and if he has a gift in this area, it may be doable. I do agree that Calc would be very helpful and precalc at a minimum for him to have a good shot at engineering programs.
This may not be the best example, but to give you hope I’ll share it anyway. Both my s’s are engineers. Both finished college in 4 years (one did an internship and took a class simultaneously one summer), but both started out in different majors and switched TO engineering (one Chem E, one Mech E) in their sophomore year. Even with calc in HS they took it again in college (and most engineering programs will want this), so he has to show the potential, not the mastery. If he has the chops, the potential, the drive and the determination to do what it takes, go for it. Worst that could happen is he gets some personal tutoring and buffs up his grades and standardized test scores. This is not a bad thing.
A few asked current Alg2 grade: B-
Definitely struggling with foundation concepts. Fighting two battles: teaching him the Alg1 and making sure he doesn’t sink too far in Alg2.
The kid had a disadvantage start. All due respect, some of you sound incredibly callous. I didn’t blame anyone, I was describing his background so you’d all know how we got to this point.
I have zero relevant experience so please take my advice with a huge grain of salt. But here it is anyway …
[ul]
[] Don’t underestimate the importance of inspiration and motivation. Helping your stepson acquire the internal drive and the love of learning will pay off a hundred fold. The knowledge and skill acquisition will follow. The inspiration can come from you, teachers, or a tutor.
[] After a few months of your stepson getting some better instruction you’ll be in a better place to really assess his strengths and weaknesses and his potential. You’ll also be able to tell which of his interests seem to really enduring ones. You can then better pinpoint the specific areas that play to his strengths - it’s always easier to put a round peg into a round hole rather than a square one.
[li] No matter what, it’ll be tough to make up for many years of lost ground in just one year. If your stepson has the potential but lacks the proper foundation and the time to fix it, perhaps you could look into a 13th year program (if it’s financial feasible and after you’ve researched the pros and cons)?[/li][/ul]
Also, JHS’s post where she/he talks about other options (e.g. community college, gap-year, 5 year engineering plan) that might be worth considering seems very good to me.
A common path for a high school graduate who is not ready to go to a four year college is to start at a community college, then transfer to a four year college to complete the bachelor’s degree. Remedial course work, if necessary, is readily available at community colleges. It may take more than two years to become transfer-ready, but extra semesters or years at a community college cost less than at a four year college. This does, however, require committing to the transfer pathway, and also requires that you live in a state with good community colleges that offer course work that prepares the student for transfer in the desired major.
A couple of people have suggested that he might be okay if he has some “natural ability” or “natural talent” in mathematics. I’m not completely on board with that assessment. There’s a lot of educational research out there showing that students are far more successful if they think of skills (particularly in math) as a result of hard work and effort instead of innate ability. They also do better if they are praised and encouraged by the adults in their life in terms of their hard work and effort (“You worked really hard on that, look how your effort paid off!”) as opposed to their perceived innate talents. Students who encouraged, unsurprisingly, do a lot better than students who aren’t - no matter their original test scores.
There’s also quite a bit of research that supports the idea that “natural ability” in subjects (math particularly) is a subjective perception, and particularly at his age may have more to do with how much effort he’s put into math so far AND how much exposure he’s had to mathematical subjects. So rather than trying to figure out whether he’s got some kind of “natural ability,” I’d focus on his interests (is he truly interested in math and engineering now, or is it sort of the career-of-the-week? I was frequently “suddenly” gripped with the desire to be a Something in high school, only for it to be Something Else a few weeks later) and his efforts (is he a hard-working student who is willing to put in the time to get better in an area?)
Also, be wary of pushing too hard. He doesn’t need to spend his summers trying to jump ahead a year in math unless that’s something he actually wants to do.
I agree with Juillet, gaining proficiency in high school math is the result of lots and lots of problems, not just some innate math talent. You can be a bright but ordinary student and gain the base for engineering.
The end goal for high school is to build a solid foundation to study engineering There is no need to calc BC, linear algebra, DE. In fact, unless the high school has a fully qualified math instructor who truly knows linear algebra and DE, I’d avoid these classes. I’ve seen some disastrous instruction that probably put the students at a disadvantage because they think they know linear algebra when, in fact, they don’t.
Tutoring with additional problem sets will definitely help the boy but it won’t suddenly push him forward a year. Offer to pay for the tutor but otherwise choose your actions/offers carefully. .
Follow the boy’s lead. If he is capable and wants to go faster, great, but make sure he has the proper prereqs. Community college may be a great place to start, especially if your state flagship (or state schools with engineering) has transfer agreements with the community college.
@ucbalumnus and others recommending community colleges for remedial math: if child and parent are on board to fix up math deficiencies, better to address it in high school with extra tutoring, and summer work. And it seems that OP has the resources to do so. Remedial work in college has not shown the type of gains that are widely assumed, but that is a topic for another thread.
I think it would be advisable to get a tutor with a lot of experience diagnosing deficiencies. As @juillet points out, hard work and encouragement should get the student to at least a reasonable level. The pace will depend on how much ground there is to make up. There are free diagnostic tests available on the Internet, in addition to software solutions I mentioned earlier. They can provide a road map to you and the tutor as to the nature of the topics that need to be mastered.
I remember my S struggling with algebra until, suddenly, the lights went on and he got it. It was the turning point for him in math; up until then, I helped him a lot with homework. After that, pretty much never, which is a good thing since I doubt I could remember calculus to save my life.
FWIW, my S really likes Khan Academy. I think it was his algebra teacher who turned him on to it. It’s online, it’s free, it covers a lot of subjects. It’s also not a bad skill for a student to have – to be able to “self-diagnose” their own weaknesses and figure out the way to address it.
One of my kids liked Khan Academy as well and used it to explore independently.