What's included
1 live meeting
1 hrs 55 mins in-class hoursClass Experience
US Grade 4 - 7
SPRING SPECIAL: sections of this class are only $10 for the rest of May and the first week of June When I was in 6th grade, we were offered a test that explained a new concept and asked a few multiple choice questions. Anyone who passed got to skip Pre-Algebra. This course does the same thing but in the form of a fun and interactive class. If you look through various curricula, you might notice that half of Pre-Algebra is a review of elementary math, then the second half is merely the first month of Algebra, but at a slower pace. Skipping Pre-Algebra can have an enormous impact on a student's career by allowing them to complete Calculus well in advance of applying to college. The purpose of this class is to demonstrate that your student is ready to take Algebra now. The course will cover the following: 1) Simple puzzles and a math game to get them in the right frame of mind; 2) Review nearly all of elementary math (skipping things like counting money and estimation), demonstrating some minor modifications needed for Algebra; and 3) A simple introduction to linear functions; While this last topic is fairly advanced, it is well within reach and it allows us to test out many of the reviewed elementary math skills, including logical thinking from the puzzles. After teaching this class many times, I have made the class longer. Some students need more time, and I felt that some topics deserved more attention, now that I have a better idea of what is being taught currently in elementary schools. If your learner has not been exposed to negative numbers or has minimal experience with them, then this class will indeed be very hard. Instead I recommend first taking my negative numbers course: Negative Numbers are Better than Nothing: https://outschool.com/classes/negative-numbers-are-better-than-nothing-NBU5ZNZ5#usq24eXGjZ Let's have your student skip ahead to the world of limitless fun: Algebra! Image Attribution: Killy Ridols / CC BY-SA, Wikimedia
Learning Goals
Students will be expected to already know addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, negative numbers, and fractions. We'll review the order of operations, parentheses, factorials, decimal conversions, logic tables, the concept of an unknown placeholder, and the equation of a line and how to draw it.
Other Details
Supply List
I will provide a one page final test to be printed out in advance. Students should be ready with a pencil, eraser, and sharpener.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Teacher expertise and credentials
My goal is to help students make the transition from the arithmetic and memorization stage into the analytical problem solving stage, thereby setting a solid foundation for all further scientific work. Thus, my courses will focus exclusively on: Algebra, Geometry, Logic and the open source Computer Science Unplugged curriculum. Knowing the growing importance of programming in all technical disciplines, I plan to incorporate some advanced ideas that are within reach, e.g. floating point arithmetic and using Algebra to track units of measure.
I was very lucky to have an extraordinary elementary, middle and high school math education. I received a BS in Mathematics from Western Washington University, which included courses in the Moore Method, one of the original "flipped classroom" styles. Currently, I am a part-time MS student in Applied Mathematics at the University of Washington. I recently taught math games, CS Unplugged, Logic, and other activities to the 4th graders at my kids' school, so I've had a chance to practice with this age group.
I will offer a year-long course covering all of Algebra I and Algebra II (these courses have a lot of overlap so this is not as hard as it sounds). Algebra will be initially offered week-to-week so that students can be sure that my style of teaching works for them.
And In my picture I'm playing a cowbell.
Reviews
Live One-Time Class
$29
per classMeets once
115 min
Completed by 1532 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 9-13
3-6 learners per class