Studying Re-learning math from the basics -- Go through grades or topics?

[Zephyyr441]

Hi, everyone!

I'm planning on restudying math from the beginning (K-12), via KhanAcademy, MathIsFun, and plenty of other resources.

Now, what I'd like to ask is, as the title says, should I study material grade by grade or topic by topic?

Additionally, is there a way to test myself to know from which grade/topic I should start, like doing some sort of "evaluation test" or something similar whether on KhanAcademy or some other website?

I'm asking this primarily because I know that early math will be a breeze to go through, so instead of wasting time on that, I would like to know if there is a way to start from somewhere where I'm weak and have holes to fill in?

Or should I ignore that and immediately start from the 1st grade and reconsolidate my foundations?

Any advice?

 

[vela]

I don't know of any sites that offers an evaluation. Have you had any luck searching the web?

If you can't find one, I imagine you have some idea of which topics you remember and which ones you might not be so confident about. So what I'd do is estimate a grade to start at and just start taking tests to see if you already know the stuff. If you do well, just go on to the test for the next topic. If you don't do well enough as far as you're concerned, then go through the unit on that topic to review and then retest. If you find yourself struggling a lot, then maybe go back to an earlier grade and try again. On the other hand, if it seems too easy, skip ahead a grade.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Well, there's a reason material is taught in a certain order. I wouldn't want to go too far in one direction without "catching up" on others. To pick a goofy example, you can't be drilling down into calculus before you get to subtraction.

 

[symbolipoint]

I'm asking this primarily because I know that early math will be a breeze to go through, so instead of wasting time on that, I would like to know if there is a way to start from somewhere where I'm weak and have holes to fill in?

Or should I ignore that and immediately start from the 1st grade and reconsolidate my foundations?

Hard to say. Many people would not need to study everything in-order. One may do well to review from an adult-level or even a junior-high level Basic Mathematics OR Pre-Algebra textbook. One should recognize what their weak topics are as one carefully scans the book's topics, section by section.

Have you thought about registering into an Adult Education class/course? They are usually setup to give diagnostic tests to help place you into a course, and the courses, especially if delivery is by Individualized Instruction each have their own diagnostic tests to point-up what topics for you to study in any enrolled course.

 

[berkeman]

Additionally, is there a way to test myself to know from which grade/topic I should start, like doing some sort of "evaluation test" or something similar whether on KhanAcademy or some other website?

I did a Google search on standardized math tests for grammar school and high school and got lots of good hits. Maybe try that Google search to see if any of those K-12 evaluation exams might help you out.

 

[Zephyyr441]

I don't know of any sites that offers an evaluation. Have you had any luck searching the web?

If you can't find one, I imagine you have some idea of which topics you remember and which ones you might not be so confident about. So what I'd do is estimate a grade to start at and just start taking tests to see if you already know the stuff. If you do well, just go on to the test for the next topic. If you don't do well enough as far as you're concerned, then go through the unit on that topic to review and then retest. If you find yourself struggling a lot, then maybe go back to an earlier grade and try again. On the other hand, if it seems too easy, skip ahead a grade.

Well, there's a reason material is taught in a certain order. I wouldn't want to go too far in one direction without "catching up" on others. To pick a goofy example, you can't be drilling down into calculus before you get to subtraction.

Hard to say. Many people would not need to study everything in-order. One may do well to review from an adult-level or even a junior-high level Basic Mathematics OR Pre-Algebra textbook. One should recognize what their weak topics are as one carefully scans the book's topics, section by section.

Have you thought about registering into an Adult Education class/course? They are usually setup to give diagnostic tests to help place you into a course, and the courses, especially if delivery is by Individualized Instruction each have their own diagnostic tests to point-up what topics for you to study in any enrolled course.

I did a Google search on standardized math tests for grammar school and high school and got lots of good hits. Maybe try that Google search to see if any of those K-12 evaluation exams might help you out.

Thank you all very much for your suggestions and opinions, I really appreciate it.

I did try to Google for evaluation tests or diagnostic tests or something like that, but most of the time I either got something unrelated to what I was looking for, or something stuck behind a paywall.

I will try to find some tests by googling

standardized math tests for grammar school and high school

like @berkeman said, so hopefully, I'll find some good examples.

As for my math knowledge before, I forgot to mention that the last time I did math was in high school which was about 6-7 years ago. Each time I did math tests I managed to get a C and B (sometimes A's, but those were rare).

The problem with the method of studying back then that I was using was rote learning. I crammed everything the night before tests, so everything that I learned all those days at school, I basically forgot now. Which is the reason why I'm planning on restudying everything from the point where I'm weakest all the way up to the pre-college material.

This is the reason why I'm looking for some sort of "evaluation" or "diagnostic" test to see where I should start.

For example, I know how to do arithmetic operations (ASMD) with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, etc. I know percentages, exponentiation, rooting, ratios, proportions, and elementary algebra. But that's about all I can remember right now, so I don't know where to start right now.

I think I might do KhanAcademy's Course Challenge Quiz on each grade and write down topics on which I'm struggling then go topic by topic, if not the whole grade if all those topics are in one grade :D

Thanks again for the replies guys, it really means it

 

[berkeman]

I will try to find some tests by googling

like @berkeman said, so hopefully, I'll find some good examples.

BTW, I didn't click into any of the many links, but in case each of those standardized tests are things that you have to sign up for and pay money to take, you might look for "practice tests" on the Internet for any of those tests that look useful. Just use the name of each standardized test in each search for the practice tests, and you should be able to find some free ones to take on the web.

 

[Zephyyr441]

BTW, I didn't click into any of the many links, but in case each of those standardized tests are things that you have to sign up for and pay money to take, you might look for "practice tests" on the Internet for any of those tests that look useful. Just use the name of each standardized test in each search for the practice tests, and you should be able to find some free ones to take on the web.

Gotcha, I'll look into it. Thanks for the info!