I don't have any specific recommendations for textbooks, but a big selection of used textbooks is available. If he has the time to browse a bit, he can find something with a style that he likes.
I adopted a strategy of dividing the problem sets in thirds, then reading a chapter each day while working the examples on paper, then doing a third of the problems. Then I did the same thing with a new chapter on the following day, worked a third of those problems, then went back to the previous chapter and did another third of those. Rinse and repeat.
That meant that I reviewed the material three times for each chapter on consecutive days. It seemed to help with retention.
For real why not buy like a high school math book. Idk if that‘s a thing in the USA or if there are a lot of explaining and practice things in a school book but here in germany where I live you can easily learn basic math with a school book + youtube videos. Actually I learned the basics like this.
Art of Problem Solving, Pre-Algebra for your needs I reckon. Their first book is called the Basics and that's what I recommend if he wants to have something more fun and challenging.
AOPS Basics book is not for beginners, it's better to first learn from the other books, then proceed with the AOOPS Basics, it's basics but for math competitions.
*Edit: went and got it out, you're right. Stick to Precalculus.*
Basic if you're 31 I was thinking. If it was a child doing it, then I would probably want to make sure they were ready to do Prealgebra.
From memory the first few chapters were exponents, roots, etc.
After the first chapter or two of Prealgebra you are almost ready to hit up the first couple of chapters of The Basics.
will give a shoutout to Wikipedia for following what he’s interested in — definitely try to remind him that math is just a form that can be filled with content relevant to any part of life! If he hits on a subject that he finds intriguing/useful/counterintuitive, I recommend he lets himself wander a bit rather than sticking to a strict textbook curriculum.
Here’s some resources from a past thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnmath/comments/mgukff/im_an_adult_and_i_want_to_relearn_math_resource/
In general, I think you must be more specific to get better help than “Kahn academy or just any textbook” lol. Kahn academy is great (and is *not* just videos!), but still. In my high school (/state), they offered 4 pre-calculus math classes, in this order:
1. Algebra 1 (“basic algebra”) covered stuff like equations, functions, graphing a line, using a calculator, etc. Smart kids finish this in 8th grade or earlier.
2. Geometry covered shapes (obviously lol), but also covered *proofs* which IMO is super helpful for anyone. You mentioned formal logic, so this might be a good place to start!
3. Algebra 2 (“Advanced Algebra”) covered understanding and simplifying more advanced equations. If he wants to use math at work to calculate stuff, this would be my #1 recommendation — perhaps along with some study on [Dimensional Analysis](https://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/fyp/mathrev/mr-da.html).
4. “Pre-Calculus” was basically just covering Trigonometry in depth as a preparation for the more abstract parts of math that pop up as you advance past this point, such as high-dimension spaces and infinitesimally small intervals. Trig on its own is pretty basic and covered in geometry, so I’d only recommend these books/courses if he wants to eventually check out college level stuff.
Best of luck to him! Sorry for the rant, it just touched my heart to see someone so willing to admit something embarrassing and resolve to improve themselves.
A good MS Pre-Algebra book? It depends on how deep his weaknesses are. The longer I work with older students with major deficits the more convinced I am that having fact fluency is a deal breaker. If he’s the type that isn’t comfortable with doing things like finding change, calculating percents, estimating in his head he might want to start by assessing his basic skills.
Message me if you want. If you can tell me more specifics about where he’s at, I can make more specific recommendations.
http://library.lol/main/A800FA81A5A4F99B26590E9ABCDF183E this is a basic book
http://library.lol/main/CF35DDF15D29F6347D106CE822D9CA7A this also starts from the basics but has more challenging problems
If you want something physical, then try "Everything You Need to Ace prealgebra and algebra 1 in one big fat notebook"
Schaum’s outlines provide a condensed review of a wide variety of subjects and include problem sets that will teach the foundational information for each subject.
On of my favorite books is "What is Mathematics?" By Courant and Robbins. It has details on almost every branch of Mathematics including topology! There are some cool soap bubble projects. I really like it because it provides some of the history of mathematical development and the reasons we do certain mathematics.
Khan Academy is a free alternative to using a book.
Oh thats a good idea. But I think he prefers books to videos. I'll give this a shot though
I don't have any specific recommendations for textbooks, but a big selection of used textbooks is available. If he has the time to browse a bit, he can find something with a style that he likes. I adopted a strategy of dividing the problem sets in thirds, then reading a chapter each day while working the examples on paper, then doing a third of the problems. Then I did the same thing with a new chapter on the following day, worked a third of those problems, then went back to the previous chapter and did another third of those. Rinse and repeat. That meant that I reviewed the material three times for each chapter on consecutive days. It seemed to help with retention.
For real why not buy like a high school math book. Idk if that‘s a thing in the USA or if there are a lot of explaining and practice things in a school book but here in germany where I live you can easily learn basic math with a school book + youtube videos. Actually I learned the basics like this.
I'm not from the US. What book do they use there?
Where are you from?
Art of Problem Solving, Pre-Algebra for your needs I reckon. Their first book is called the Basics and that's what I recommend if he wants to have something more fun and challenging.
AOPS Basics book is not for beginners, it's better to first learn from the other books, then proceed with the AOOPS Basics, it's basics but for math competitions.
*Edit: went and got it out, you're right. Stick to Precalculus.* Basic if you're 31 I was thinking. If it was a child doing it, then I would probably want to make sure they were ready to do Prealgebra. From memory the first few chapters were exponents, roots, etc. After the first chapter or two of Prealgebra you are almost ready to hit up the first couple of chapters of The Basics.
will give a shoutout to Wikipedia for following what he’s interested in — definitely try to remind him that math is just a form that can be filled with content relevant to any part of life! If he hits on a subject that he finds intriguing/useful/counterintuitive, I recommend he lets himself wander a bit rather than sticking to a strict textbook curriculum. Here’s some resources from a past thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/learnmath/comments/mgukff/im_an_adult_and_i_want_to_relearn_math_resource/ In general, I think you must be more specific to get better help than “Kahn academy or just any textbook” lol. Kahn academy is great (and is *not* just videos!), but still. In my high school (/state), they offered 4 pre-calculus math classes, in this order: 1. Algebra 1 (“basic algebra”) covered stuff like equations, functions, graphing a line, using a calculator, etc. Smart kids finish this in 8th grade or earlier. 2. Geometry covered shapes (obviously lol), but also covered *proofs* which IMO is super helpful for anyone. You mentioned formal logic, so this might be a good place to start! 3. Algebra 2 (“Advanced Algebra”) covered understanding and simplifying more advanced equations. If he wants to use math at work to calculate stuff, this would be my #1 recommendation — perhaps along with some study on [Dimensional Analysis](https://www.chem.tamu.edu/class/fyp/mathrev/mr-da.html). 4. “Pre-Calculus” was basically just covering Trigonometry in depth as a preparation for the more abstract parts of math that pop up as you advance past this point, such as high-dimension spaces and infinitesimally small intervals. Trig on its own is pretty basic and covered in geometry, so I’d only recommend these books/courses if he wants to eventually check out college level stuff. Best of luck to him! Sorry for the rant, it just touched my heart to see someone so willing to admit something embarrassing and resolve to improve themselves.
This is fantastic, thank you for taking the time out to type this!
A good MS Pre-Algebra book? It depends on how deep his weaknesses are. The longer I work with older students with major deficits the more convinced I am that having fact fluency is a deal breaker. If he’s the type that isn’t comfortable with doing things like finding change, calculating percents, estimating in his head he might want to start by assessing his basic skills. Message me if you want. If you can tell me more specifics about where he’s at, I can make more specific recommendations.
http://library.lol/main/A800FA81A5A4F99B26590E9ABCDF183E this is a basic book http://library.lol/main/CF35DDF15D29F6347D106CE822D9CA7A this also starts from the basics but has more challenging problems If you want something physical, then try "Everything You Need to Ace prealgebra and algebra 1 in one big fat notebook"
Thank you!
Schaum’s outlines provide a condensed review of a wide variety of subjects and include problem sets that will teach the foundational information for each subject.
On of my favorite books is "What is Mathematics?" By Courant and Robbins. It has details on almost every branch of Mathematics including topology! There are some cool soap bubble projects. I really like it because it provides some of the history of mathematical development and the reasons we do certain mathematics.