Academic & Credit Questions

Absolutely! Our standard courses are full, standard, high school level programs intended to provide students with all the skills needed to move on to their next level of study, whether it is geometry, algebra 2, trigonometry, pre-calculus, statistics, consumer math, or college algebra.  Not only are math concepts taught throughout our courses, but students are also equipped with math learning techniques and habits to help them tackle future math classes. Our courses do more than simply help “non-mathy” students complete their graduation requirements. They also give students the skills and confidence needed for their next level of study in college, trade school, or a professional career.

You bet! Our standard courses are full, high school level classes presented and taught in a brain-friendly way. While the ACT is a little more math-heavy than the SAT, both tests cover concepts from math up to and including algebra 2 (but not beyond). Students who take Denison Algebra courses up through Algebra 2 will have learned all the content needed for these tests! That being said, we highly recommend that students do some extra prep to get used to the language and style of questions found on the SAT and ACT exams. 

P.S. Mr. Denison actually took the ACT along with his 11th grader to get a "boots-on-the-ground" perspective on test prep and content (Yep... he was the oldest person in the room by a long shot). You can check out his thoughts on Denison Algebra and the SAT/ACT here!

Success on the ACT/SAT comes down to preparation, and lots of it! It takes a lot of hard work to truly prepare for and do well on the ACT/SAT. The good news is that a student can absolutely reach their target score if they are willing to work hard in preparation. From Mr. Denison's experience, here are the top 4 skills a student will need to be prepared as possible for these tests...

1. Knowledge of math concepts and skills
2. Reading comprehension (the ACT/SAT are very wordy tests)
3. Techniques for working under difficult time constraints (students have very little time to spend on each question)
4. General test-taking skills specific to the test being taken
   • Being familiar with the layout of the test
   • Learning testing “hacks,” such as how to use multiple choice answers to your advantage
   • Knowing how you personally respond to test-taking stress, and developing strategies to minimize the stress
   • Practicing being able to recall any math skill learned in the last 10-12 years
   • Practicing putting together math skills in unusual and unfamiliar (and sometimes non-sensical) ways to  test logical abilities

To develop all four of these skills, a student first needs to make sure they are applying themselves in their math courses, realizing that they need to learn (and retain) the math concepts to the best of their ability, as opposed to just “getting through” the math course with as little effort as possible. A student can pass a math course by just sliding through doing the minimum, but that will come back to bite them when prepping for the ACT/SAT!

Skills 2-4 above will need to be developed outside of the student’s math course by using prep material specific to the test being taken. The primary way to prep is to take lots of practice tests, going over missed problems and picking up new skills along the way (preferably with the help of a parent, sibling, teacher, or tutor). Students also would greatly benefit from a prep class or working through a prep book.

Students also need to plan on taking the actual ACT/SAT multiple times. The first time a student takes the exam can be used as just a “fly-by," giving a student a feel for what the test experience is like. The results of that test can then be used as a guide to highlight areas for improvement. Then the student can spend time preparing and take the exam again. This process can be repeated as many times as needed to achieve the target score. Keep in mind, colleges only take the highest score, so a student can take it as many times as they like.

P.S. This is a snippet from a blog post Mr. Denison wrote about his experience taking the ACT with his daughter... you can read the full post here!

Nope! Each standard Denison Algebra course is a full, high school level course. The content is not modified in any way from a standard program. Our courses are simply packaged and presented in a way that is designed for "non-mathy" students to understand! Our courses are not advanced or honors level (and they can’t be modified to be used that way), but they will provide a student with all the math training needed for the next level of study as well as for the SAT/ACT exams. They are designed specifically for college-bound students.

Our Success courses, designed for students with heavy learning challenges, are modified though! They cover approximately 70% of the material found in a standard course, which allows lessons to be spread out and presented in a way that makes learning possible. These courses are designed for students who would otherwise make little to no headway in math, to help them earn high school math credits for graduation and prepare for intro math courses at the community college level if they decide to pursue a college path.

Nope! Denison Algebra works great for "middle-of-the-road" math students, who don't love math but who also don’t struggle with it. We're also a fantastic option for "math neutral" students, who don’t struggle with math and have no opinion on the subject. Our courses are full, standard level programs, so students will learn everything they need for the next level of study, the SAT/ACT exams, college prep, and so forth!

If you have a heavily STEM-focused student or an advanced student who really likes math, then we recommend using an honors level curriculum rather than Denison Algebra. While our courses are standard level programs that cover all essential high school math topics, your advanced student might enjoy a more rigorous or accelerated level of study that matches their interests and math giftings.

The best way to get a feel for the topics covered in each course is to take a peek at their pacing guides. Just click the name of a course below to access its pacing guide...

Pre-Algebra

Algebra 1

Success Algebra 1

Geometry

Success Geometry

Algebra 2

Success Algebra 2

While Denison Algebra courses cover the same topics and skills as any standard program, we did not specifically align them with any Common Core, state, or program accreditation standards. 

Denison Algebra courses are primarily mastery. While the constant review offered by a spiral approach has its advantages, the downside is that students don't get to spend as much time focusing on new material being taught. Denison Algebra courses do include review in most assignments, but if a concept is particularly challenging, we let students just focus on the topic at hand. The reviews we include throughout our courses are very intentional. If a particular topic is coming up that uses a skill learned a few chapters ago, we start reviewing that skill in the lesson leading up to its use. We also don't review skills that are being practiced in the context of other problems already. Math is very "spiral" by nature, especially in the world of abstract algebra, so lots of skills are reviewed simply by working on new concepts.

It all depends on your state's requirements and your individual transcript goals! If you are following state graduation requirements, then pre-algebra likely does not count as a high school math credit. You will need to double check your state's policy on this. Of course, if you are not following public/private school standards, you have the freedom to count Denison Pre-Algebra however you wish. In the end, it comes down to the graduation standards within your state and how closely you would like your student's transcript to align with these.

It all depends on your situation! States have graduation requirements for public and private school students, and it can be helpful to follow these throughout high school. As homeschool families, of course, we typically do not have to follow these, so whether or not to align with them is ultimately up to you. 

A good rule of thumb in terms of math credits, though, is to try to get 4 in total, with 3 of them being Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. This is compatible with most state standards and gives students a well-rounded transcript for college applications.

Regardless of the path you take, our overarching recommendation is to complete the highest level of math possible while not robbing your school experience of peace and not fostering a negative attitude towards math in your student. If a student comes out of high school with a positive attitude about math, then the door is open for them to tackle math-related challenges in college (majoring in a STEM field included!) regardless of the courses they completed in high school. In our opinion, it is simply not worth doing permanent damage to a student's relationship with math for the sake of more credits and/or prestige!

*Again, please be sure to check with your state for specific requirements!

We recommend pushing a student to take as advanced a level of math class that they can COMFORTABLY handle. It is not worth introducing stress and anxiety into a normal college-bound student’s math world for the sake of finishing high school with an advanced credit such as pre-calculus or calculus (unless the student has clear math-related college goals that require high levels of math to be completed in high school).

Nope! Most colleges just require the standard state math credits of algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 on student’s transcripts for college admission (check with your college of interest, of course, to make sure). If a student wants to go into a STEM related major, then we recommend checking with the college to see what its math requirements are and adjusting your high school path accordingly. A standard college-bound student who is not immediately majoring in a heavy math-related field, though, will simply need to get through algebra 2 (and most likely also have 4 math credits).

*Note: Our Advanced Algebra & Trig course will make the leap from Algebra 2 to College Algebra or Pre-Calculus much smoother. Please see the Advanced Algebra & Trigonometry course page for descriptions and details.

This depends on what type of college your student is planning to attend!

Regular, four-year institutions typically prefer to see 4 math credits (algebra 1, geometry, algebra 2, and one additional course beyond algebra 2).

Four-year institutions with strict admission requirements may want to see certain higher-level credits. Check with the college your student is planning to attend for more information related to transcript requirements.

If a student plans on attending community college, though, math credits are not of huge importance. There is almost always a path for students to attend community college regardless of what is on their transcript, how well they test, or how much math they know going into college. It is a good rule of thumb to aim for having algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 on a student's transcript, but you have much more wiggle room with community colleges.

The short answer is... probably (for our standard courses).  Because NCAA approves homeschool curriculum on a case-by-case basis, there's no blanket guarantee that Denison Algebra courses will be approved. But don't despair! We've compiled a separate webpage to help you navigate the NCAA application process using our curriculum.

Click here for NCAA-specific FAQs, supporting documentation, and core course worksheets.

You're free to try! That being said, our courses may not be the ideal supplement for your student's math class. This is because there is a very good chance we won't cover the same topics in the same order and teaching style as your student's teacher. While we've made it a priority to teach concepts in a traditional way so that students can easily jump from our courses to other situations, there is still lots of room for variance that may prevent our courses from being helpful as a supplement to a different class.

Students will have seen all of the math needed to tackle a dual enrollment college algebra class after completing Denison Algebra 2, particularly if they did well in the course and are willing to implement good study habits going forward. One thing to note is that our courses have several features that a college course is not likely to have. Here are the top three differences, and the skills we recommend that students develop before heading into a college class...

1. Our courses have guided notes to help students keep track of the most important details. In a college class, though, a student will most likely be taking notes just using a blank sheet of paper. This may be an adjustment for your student as they learn how to take good notes in class using a blank sheet of paper.
2. Mr. Denison makes it very clear what will be tested on exams and gives students full practice tests in preparation. This is usually not the case in college classes, so your student may also need to learn how to study exam content more independently.
3. Homework for Denison Algebra courses is presented in worksheet form so that student do not have to copy problems from a textbook onto a sheet of paper. Many college courses require students to complete homework by copying from a book or computer screen, though, so your student will need to be extra cautious to avoid copying errors.

None of these things are overly difficult to adjust to, especially if your student is a strong learner overall. They are simply things to just be aware of.

*Advanced Algebra & Trigonometry is designed to make the transition from Algebra 2 to College Algebra or Pre-Calculus or from high school to a college classroom much smoother. We highly recommend this course if a student is college bound and needs an additional math credit. See the Advanced Algebra & Trig course page for content details and a description of the course.

Nope! Denison Geometry does not cover formal proof-writing. Throughout the course, students are taught to use the logic, rules, definitions, theorems, and postulates of geometry to work problems, but they will not be asked to write traditional proofs. There are several reasons for this...

1. When writing a proof, there are many "correct" answers. If a proof differs from the answer key, it needs to be closely examined to test its validity. Students often take a different, unexpected, or less direct route to write correct proofs, but rarely discover that their answers are correct when comparing them to an answer key. Instead, they believe their answers are wrong because they don't immediately match the logic of the teacher. This can be very discouraging for students, causing them to dislike geometry or to lose confidence in their math ability
2. Formal proof writing is not used in any future math courses, nor is it tested on standardized tests 
3. During his 25+ years as a math educator, Mr. Denison never saw positive differences in student performance between the years when he did and did not teach proof writing. In fact, proof writing tended to have a negative effect on students, as they almost universally hate writing proofs, which made them dislike geometry and sometimes math altogether

That being said, we're not anti-proof! The skill does have value, but for a typical geometry student (the audience for this course), we've found proof writing to be very counterproductive and therefore chose not to include it in the course.

To begin Denison Pre-Algebra, a student only needs to be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide one-digit numbers. This is because any student going into 7^th or 8^th grade has no doubt already been exposed to, and most likely been beaten up by, all of the essential elementary and middle school math topics (place value, long operations by hand, fractions, decimals, percents, etc.). So, while a student may not have fluency in these areas, this gives us something to build on even if their initial exposure was in a scattered or ineffective way. In Denison Pre-Algebra, we start by reviewing and reteaching the most basic math skills, but in a gentle way that makes sense for high school level math study. For example, it is not necessary to insist that students multiply large numbers by hand, such as 1438 x 805. This is very tedious and defeating for a lot of students and is a waste of time in an algebra setting because in high school, we usually use a calculator for such large numbers. So, in Denison Pre-Algebra, we review and reteach sensible arithmetic skills that you would do by hand, such as 72 x 8, but not long tedious arithmetic that causes heavy cognitive load on students and often distracts them from the task at hand...which in this case is algebra. This allows us to push through the arithmetic block often experienced by struggling students and to move on to more advanced concepts. It also allows us to offer a course that does not require heavy prerequisites.

Every algebra topic that is taught in Pre-Algebra is retaught in Algebra 1, just taken to a deeper level! So, there are no specific "pre-algebra topics" that are only covered in Pre-Algebra. In Denison Algebra 1, we intentionally make sure we present every concept as though the student has never seen it before.

We do highly recommend that students take Pre-Algebra if their schedule allows. If a student is starting high school, though, and has not taken Pre-Algebra yet, we generally recommend they start out with Algebra 1 since Pre-Algebra is often not counted as high school math credit.