Geometry FAQs

What topics will be covered in the VideoText Interactive Geometry Course?

Click to see an outline of the Geometry Program

What is the rationale behind the traditional sequencing of Algebra and Geometry Courses? In other words, why has Geometry been “sandwiched” between Algebra 1 and Algebra 2?

First, you must understand that, because Algebra is the study of relations, it is the “language” for all of the math courses which follow it.  In fact, you can’t really even understand the formal relationships of Arithmetic, until you have studied, and understood, the elements of Algebra.  That means you should never take any other upper-level math course (Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-calculus, Calculus, etc.) until you have exhausted the study of Algebra.  A little history is probably appropriate here.  Back in the “old days”, we were required to have completed only two credits of math to graduate from high school.  For most students, those two courses were Algebra and Geometry, and we taught them in the proper order, Algebra first, then Geometry.  Of course, we never “finished the book” in either course, but, we did learn enough to receive an allowable credit in each.  Then, the credit requirements were increased to three, and we were faced with the problem of what else was available for us to teach, at the high school level.  The answer became rather obvious when we realized that we did not complete the Algebra study.  So we decided to teach “Algebra 2, attempting to “pick up where we left off”.  You realize, then, that there really are no such things as Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, any more than there would be Geometry 1 and Geometry 2.  It is just Algebra.  Of course, we then found out that students had forgotten a lot of what they had learned over a year before.  That is why you will find that any commercially available Algebra 2 book virtually starts over, at the beginning.  This time, however, we would expect the student to move more quickly, since the beginning is “review”, which means we should have some time, at the end to add, as well, the material we didn’t finish in the Geometry course.  That’s where Trigonometry, the “measuring of triangles”, comes in.  And that is why you will find most Algebra 2 books titled, “Algebra 2, with Trigonometry”.  You see, Geometry was never inserted “between” Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 at all.  There was simply more Algebra (and additional Geometry) “added on”, because of the additional credit requirement.  So, to repeat, a student should never take any formal Geometry course until all of the Algebra has been completed.  As an afterthought, if you are just looking to get a student “ready” for Geometry, you might look at “Keys to Geometry” from Key Curriculum Press. This is not at all a high school credit course in Geometry, but it does introduce most of the terms and concepts found in the course, without any formal proof.  This would allow the student to prepare well for SAT or ACT testing, and concentrate later on the logic building skills that are introduced in a formal course.