ALGEBRA I IS A YEAR-LONG COURSE FOR STUDENTS IN GRADE 7.

As a vital means for developing reasoning skills, mathematics plays an important part in every student’s dialectic years. In order to harness this period of growth, we have adopted curriculum by Harold Jacobs — a scholar and educator who well understands the needs of the dialectic student — as the backbone of this course. Topics include factoring; rational expressions; systems of equations; lines; solving linear, fractional and quadratic equations; solving inequalities; rational and irrational numbers; and exponents, including negative exponents. On a larger scale, the concepts taught in Algebra I serve as a solid foundation upon which students will build a more advanced knowledge of mathematics, and this course is the perfect vehicle for delivering. Learning can happen through both the You Teach and Live Online formats.

The Veritas Approach to Math

Unlike some classical educators, we believe math is a crucial subject. It’s necessary for a well-rounded, rigorous classical education. In the grammar years, math provides content for developing memorization tools. In the dialectic years, subjects like Algebra I and Geometry develop students’ reasoning skills. In the rhetoric years, Pre-calculus, Calculus, Statistics, and Business Math lead students to value math in real-world applications.

At Veritas, we’re convinced that math has been dumbed down in America.١ Most students are more capable than we think. Our mission is to help make sure your children don’t become a dismal math statistic. For more than 25 years, we’ve been proving that our math standards shouldn’t come from what we were raised with. After all, if the education we ourselves received was as education should be, why would we be doing something different for our children? A study of historical٢ and international math standards helps us see this clearly.

Maybe the best way to understand our approach is to mark some milestones.

Veritas recommends Saxon Math for K–6th, Jacobs for Algebra I and Geometry, Foerster for Algebra II and Pre-Calculus, and Larson for Calculus.

Saxon, with its incremental advances and continual review, works best with the grammar stage. Thankfully, Harold Jacobs understands the dialectic student and has written a superb curriculum for them with Algebra I and Geometry. One of his former students, Paul Foerster, writes where Jacobs left off, providing us our favorite texts for Algebra II and Pre-Calculus. Finally, Larson, a most prolific producer of Calculus texts, provides the capstone to our math curriculum.

Some prefer to stick with Saxon into the secondary school years. We are fine with that—even offering live class options using Saxon—but prefer texts written with more of a classical pedagogical approach.

Today, all math education needs to address the use of technology. At Veritas, it’s simple: use technology as a tool, not a crutch. Learning to work a two-variable algebraic equation is important. When mastered, however, why waste time plugging and chugging the numbers to develop a graphing solution? Let a machine do the number crunching. Students simply need to know how to do it.

Math is crucial to classical education. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

١Americans are lagging in math: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/

٢A Brief History of American K-12 Mathematics Education: https://www.csun.edu/~vcmth00m/AHistory.html

٣Is Calculus necessary? http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/pedagogy/use/index.html

Live Online

Christian mathematics describes the wonder, beauty and order of God's creation and reveals the attributes of God Himself. Algebra I is the beginning of math in the dialectic years. It discovers patterns and ordered relationships in mathematics that reflect the attributes of God and creation, applies skills to daily life and work, describes the historical development of mathematical ideas and philosophies, and solves numeric equations with variables, real numbers, and graphing. It is a very important foundation for all mathematics that follow. Topics include factoring; rational expressions; systems of equations; lines; solving linear, fractional and quadratic equations; solving inequalities; rational and irrational numbers; and exponents, including negative exponents. A firm foundation built through practice and mastery of these key skills will prove helpful in further math studies as well as in making life decisions.

Live Online – The Veritas Approach

Veritas has been offering live online classes since 2006. Here are some reasons why you should consider our live courses:

• Classes meet twice weekly for 75–90 minutes.
• Synchronous interactions use audio and video.
• Engage with material throughout the week, per assignments.
• Interaction with peers from across the globe. It's not uncommon to have students from five or six different countries in one classroom.
• 20:1 student:teacher ratio, with an emphasis on individualized attention.
• World-class teachers, more than two-thirds have advanced degrees.
• Veritas Scholars Academy is accredited by Middle States Association

You Teach

You Teach is our term for those who take our curriculum and teach it themselves, whether at home or at school.

The course kit includes all the materials for the teacher and a student for teaching Algebra I. Harold Jacobs, the author, is a genius. He addresses the dialectic student perfectly. The concepts come to life and are applied to real-world examples so that students will easily take what they've learned into every day circumstances.

Course Kits are offered as a discounted package. However, you may only need some of the books. Select the ones you need below for easy ordering.