Comments

Hi Catherine,

Do you have the solutions for this one?

-- SusanDombrowski - 12 Jun 2005

Yup -- would you like me to post them?

-- CatherineJohnson - 12 Jun 2005

Could you?? Even my super confident husband wanted to double-check that he got it right.

Or you can send them to me. Whatever's easiest.

-- SusanDombrowski - 12 Jun 2005

The one I'm not completely sure of is the last one: which takes precedence, the division or the multiplication?

-- CarolynJohnston - 13 Jun 2005

Are you talking about g or h?

If you're talking about h, you go left-to-right, don't you?

First you add 1/5 and 1/4; then you divide 4 by the sum of 1/5 and 1/4; then you multiply that number by 3/10.

I'll look and see if I have the actual answer sheet, or if I just have to do the problems myself!

-- CatherineJohnson - 13 Jun 2005

Oh--this is the workbook; I have that. I should have the answer book, too . . . yup, I've got it.

Will post later.

-- CatherineJohnson - 13 Jun 2005

The husband did this one with him. He did look up the order in another book because he forgot, and it did change the outcome of a couple of the problems. Of course, I'm just lucky to be getting through Saxon 6th grade right now...

-- SusanDombrowski - 13 Jun 2005

Do you like Saxon?

I love it!

I've learned so much--

That reminds me: I have a terrific Saxon passage to post . . . along with more from SKOOKUMCHUK, KTM'S foreign correspondent.

-- CatherineJohnson - 13 Jun 2005

I'm doing Saxon with my LD child and so far, so good. I'm trying to follow it exactly to see if it makes a difference at all. I got the homeschool package which is so much nicer than scouring Amazon for a text and a teacher's edition.

Oh, I'm the same Susan...

-- SusanS - 15 Jun 2005

oops, forgot to thank you for the answers. Thanks!

-- SusanS - 15 Jun 2005

“Proper” fractions have obvious real-life purposes, but they are mathematically less pure and useful than “improper fractions.”

2/3 represents 2 divided by 3. 1 2/3 represents 1 plus (2 divided by 3). The proper fraction is in a more complex form than its improper equivalent. Mathematicians tend to like all numbers and expressions in their simplest form for a variety of reasons.

Adding proper fractions is pretty easy. But subtracting, multiplying, or dividing proper fractions involves extra work, typically converting proper to improper first. Too many students think 2 1/2 * 3 1/4 is 6 1/8 and not 8 1/8.

Also, Algebra has little use for the proper/improper distinction. Is (x + 2)/5 proper or improper?

-- CarlLarson - 15 Jun 2005

Carl--thank you.

Interesting.

I've got to get out to yet another appointment, but I want to pull this comment up front when I get back.

Susan Well, you've probably noticed that I am a HUGE fan of Saxon Math, so if you have time, keep us posted on how it goes.

I'll be especially interested to see how well his Saxon lessons 'stick.'

As far as I can tell, judging from Christopher & me (I'm doing the book, too) the 'distributed practice' is incredibly effective.

-- CatherineJohnson - 15 Jun 2005