Teaching Algebra

**sweet2kill210** · 10-23-2011, 02:18 AM

Okay, my sister plans on attending college whenever I apply but the problem is she doesn't remember anything from math. She wasn't exactly the best student and skipped a lot during high school, but then again, she didn't exactly go to the best school either.

Anyways, being the good brother that I am, I agreed to help tutor her in math so that she may be prepared to complete her basics which is all she'll need. I'm very good at math and have the grades to prove it, so it's not that I don't have knowledge extensive enough to teach it, I just don't know what I should teach first.

The method I'm using is I'm going to make short worksheets (because she works full time at the moment and has 2 kids...), and back them up with typed explanations and if she has any questions I can answer them. However, I'm worried that if I cover things in the wrong order that it will need an explanation that would be beyond her current comprehension of things and thus require further explanation and you get the point. It's going off in a tangent from what I meant to teach originally and then I'm going to end up having to backtrack to teach that instead. Definitely not how it should be done. Basically, it will lead to further confusion if I teach something in the wrong order.

For example, if I were to make a problem with cubic roots and multiple variables, but I haven't taught those things yet, I would have to explain those. Or maybe there's also fractions involved and I'd have to go over that.

Overall, I'm just wondering what other people think I should teach first. I'm basically starting off with Pre-Algebra. At the moment I was going to start off with basic equations such as x + 8 = 25 or (5/8x) + 2 = (3/4x) - 8 and solve for x. Then, back that up on the same day with teaching how to simplify equations that have only variables.

So again, my question is: What should I teach first? Thanks for any and all help that I receive in advance.

Sorry if this is a confusing post. I'm not a very good writer. :/

EDIT: It did not allow me to attach the word document so I will just not bother with it.

10-23-2011, 02:18 AM	#1
sweet2kill210 I'm okay I guess Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: [insert smartass reply of where I live here] Age: 31 Posts: 594	Teaching Algebra Okay, my sister plans on attending college whenever I apply but the problem is she doesn't remember anything from math. She wasn't exactly the best student and skipped a lot during high school, but then again, she didn't exactly go to the best school either. Anyways, being the good brother that I am, I agreed to help tutor her in math so that she may be prepared to complete her basics which is all she'll need. I'm very good at math and have the grades to prove it, so it's not that I don't have knowledge extensive enough to teach it, I just don't know what I should teach first. The method I'm using is I'm going to make short worksheets (because she works full time at the moment and has 2 kids...), and back them up with typed explanations and if she has any questions I can answer them. However, I'm worried that if I cover things in the wrong order that it will need an explanation that would be beyond her current comprehension of things and thus require further explanation and you get the point. It's going off in a tangent from what I meant to teach originally and then I'm going to end up having to backtrack to teach that instead. Definitely not how it should be done. Basically, it will lead to further confusion if I teach something in the wrong order. For example, if I were to make a problem with cubic roots and multiple variables, but I haven't taught those things yet, I would have to explain those. Or maybe there's also fractions involved and I'd have to go over that. Overall, I'm just wondering what other people think I should teach first. I'm basically starting off with Pre-Algebra. At the moment I was going to start off with basic equations such as x + 8 = 25 or (5/8x) + 2 = (3/4x) - 8 and solve for x. Then, back that up on the same day with teaching how to simplify equations that have only variables. So again, my question is: What should I teach first? Thanks for any and all help that I receive in advance. Sorry if this is a confusing post. I'm not a very good writer. :/ EDIT: It did not allow me to attach the word document so I will just not bother with it. __________________ Thanks Gold Stinger, you are amazing! Last edited by sweet2kill210; 10-23-2011 at 02:56 AM..

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