How do you study for Algebra ??

[Tippy-ta-ta]

I need some study tips on how to study for algebra.

I have been studying the algebra part in the McGraws-Hill book for the last 6 weeks. Just brushing thru the rest of the book but primarily concentrating on the math. It seems like I can grasp it but when I take a couple days off I lose it. I found a test on-line and printed that up and tried to take it and i froze . I just could not concentrate enough to think. Of course I have so many distractions around me with the kids and dh. Seems like everytime I try to study i keep getting interrupted. DH tried to help with study tips but we are taking about a man who can look at a problem like 4x+7=23 and tell you the answer with out having to get a pencil. When he tries to help me understand it, rather than getting a piece of paper and pencil he tries to tell me with metaphors instead. Which just confuses me more. Then he gets mad when I go to a different source for help and thinks I don't trust him. (sorry got off on a tangent there.)

How do you study and what tips do you have to offer me ?

I take the TEAS test on March 24th. I have only brushed over the other sections and primarily concentrating on the math. Due to my Dyscalculia. When I was in jr hi I was diagnosed with dyslexia (primarily with numbers) I can read well. it was just basic math that I had problems with. So for 2 yrs I was in a remedial math class. i got by in there fine but only because I really tried hard to prove to them that I didn't belong in the "slow learners" class. I was never taught fractions, %'s or any of that because the teacher I had didn't think I was ready for it, even though I had asked repeatedly to be taught. When I was in HS I had 6 months of the special math class before I finally convinced the teacher that I didn't need to be in that math class. So they put me back in the regular math class. I just barely got by and sometimes I would fail the math class but still have enough credits to pass on to the next grade and re-take the math class. And every time we come to the chapter about fractions I would freeze and just write anything. It wasn't until my senior in HS that I finally figured out fractions. My Sr. math teacher could not understand why I was never taught fractions. We went over a chapter on Trig and I was the only to get an A on the chapter test. First A I had ever gotten on a math test and the only one in the class to get it. I graduated high school in 1990 with the same kids I started kindergarten with in 1977. I went to the Jr. College that summer and took an intro to Algebra course, then that fall I took Algebra 1 and carried a 3.0 all the way thru..every one of my tests were B's.

That was 21 yrs ago. I have forgotten how to process the information to retain it. I don't want to say that my dyscalulia has gotten worse cause I know how to do it. I have done it before, what I need is to find a new way to process and retain it. I have taught myself a lot over the years just to keep my math skills sharp, but they have gotten so rusty because I haven't done it on a regular basis.

If any of you have any suggestions please tell me. The teachers who helped me the most were the one's who understood the dyscalulia part. They knew an easy way to teach me. But what might seem hard to understand to some people came easy to me.

[tanelson]

Are you currently enrolled in classes somewhere? Most colleges have tutoring available to students, some even have online tutoring. I don't know if you have to be currently enrolled in a math class to utilize the services, but it may be a resource you would benefit from if it's available to you. I know it's helped me through a couple of things that I just didn't get in the algebra class I'm currently taking (7 years after my last math class, which was calculus).

Have you googled "free online algebra help" or something to that effect? There are lots of sites out there that have free tutoring and lesson plans, worksheets, etc. I know purplemath.com, algebrahelp.com, and algebra.com are some that have been recommended to me.

I know how you feel about "knowing it" but just not remembering it! It's pretty frustrating to me that I got an A in college calculus so long ago and I know I am smart enough to get it, but I have trouble with some of the most basic things in this class! I am probably going to freak out when I get time to take my stat pre-req! I also know what you're saying about your husband - my Dad is a freakin' math whiz, and I cannot ask him for help with any of my problems because the way he explains things (quickly and simplified versions of methods) confuses me even more! I need it to be broken down, step by step until I am comfortable with it!

Basically, all I can say is just practice, practice, practice to get the methods down, memorize your equations, and it will all start coming back to you! Is there anything specific you are having trouble with? I may be able to give you info from my text book if it's something we've gone over..... I wish you the best of luck!

[xluescluesx]

Ugh I hate math too!! I find that the best way to study math, especially algebra, is just to do problems over and over and over again until you get it. Repetition is really the only way to understand math. Soon you'll start to see patterns. Good luck to you, I'm sure with persistence you will do great.

[Tippy-ta-ta]

thank you for the help...I'm afraid that it's to late to enroll in any classes right now. Not with the teas being a little over 2 weeks away. I guess the only problems that I am really having is memorizing the formulas and operations. I just wish there were a simpler way to memorize them.

I have been going to numerous algebra sites and printing up worksheets and some of them I can get and sometimes my mind just freezes up. I don't know why. I think it might be a test taking thing from way back in high school where I would freeze with fractions. (teachers back then didn't see algebra as a necessity for real life. My brother was the honor student who took all those honor classes and back then you had to be an honor student to take algebra or chemistry).

I will probably check out purplemath and the other sites and see what help I can get from it. My dh thinks I should take a break for a couple days cause I'm not cramming for a test or anything.

[ddunnrn]

I don't know if it will be of any help, but just remember all of algebra is based on one thing: equilibrium -- whatever you do to one side of the equation, you have to do to the other side to keep the equation valid, and you can always substitute equal expressions anywhere in an equation to keep it valid. Try not to dwell so much on memorizing things, so much as understanding how what you are looking at is an expression of the above basic fact.

I don't know why, but math, at least up to calculus, has always come easily to me. I also was attracted to chemistry, which is based on the fact that all systems try to reach a minimal energy state, and that matter/energy is always conserved and never lost. Much of Chemistry is very mathematical.

If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to email me at : [email protected]

[Queen Tiye, CNA]

i work hardest at math, and find learning the rules is what helps me best . . . memorize a rule then do loads of problems . . . memorize another rule . . . then more problems.