Math Study Group

The following is an email I sent out to some homeschool yahoo groups I am a part of. I think it will be really great if it works out. I hope!!

I am starting a math study group for pre-algebra and algebra. I would expect that most of the kids in the club have already learned the concepts we'll go over, but it's not completely necessary. It will be more of a review/ practice session to make the math fun and keep it fresh in their minds. This is for boys and girls, ages probably about 10-14. (See below for topic list)

I propose that each kid will take a turn presenting the concept for the week-- teaching the other kids the concept and demonstrating how to solve problems to illustrate the skill. This should take from 10- 20 min. Then the group would do some practice problems and maybe even play a game that will help solidify the concept for another 15 min. Then we would finish up by assigning random problems to individuals or groups to solve. We may even try finding as many different ways to solve the problems as we can. I anticipate the total time to be from 45 min. to an hour.

We learn things better when we have to teach them to someone else and I don't think you can have too much review for math, so I think this will be a very beneficial group.

I will schedule the local library when we figure out a time as we can reserve either the small study rooms or the bigger auditorium and the younger siblings can look at books while the older ones are participating in the math club.

To make this successful we need at least 3 kids and probably no more than 8. So let me know if this interests you and what your availability is. I will post the meeting times and subjects for each group in the calendar section of the UTacademicHS yahoo group once we get it set up so that people can just come for a specific topic if they want.

The following is a list of what we'll start with- meeting 2x per month:

Simplifying Fractions

Adding and Subtracting Fractions

Multiplying Fractions

Converting between Fractions and Decimals

Percentages

Ratios and Proportions

Probability and Chance

Order of Operations

Area of a Quadrangle

Angles and Types of Triangles

Area of a Triangle

Radius, Diameter, and Circumference

Pi and the Area of a Circle

Bar Charts

Pie Charts

Coordinates

Line Graphs

Volume of a Cube

Variables

Equations and Solving for Variables

Exponents and Powers

Number Line and Positive\Negative Numbers

Coordinates and Lines

Slope of a Line

Functions

Writing Linear Equations with two points

Exponential Growth

Roots

Graphing Quadratic Equations

Solving Quadratic Equations

Adding and Subtracting Polynomials

Multiplying Polynomials

Factoring Polynomials

Pythagorean Theorem