For 9th and 10th graders
Six 2-hour sessions

Many students will receive their first low grades in mathematics in September or October of ninth or tenth grade when they take geometry. Students are often thrown for a loop by geometry proofs — one of the most difficult topics in the entire high school math curriculum, when you take into account the age at which students study proofs. Each year, as a private math tutor, I help more students with geometry proofs than with any other topic. Since a substantial portion of a typical geometry course consists of proofs, students cannot succeed in geometry without understanding how to do proofs.

Geometry proofs are difficult for a number of reasons. First, doing proofs requires not only mathematical skills, but also deductive reasoning skills — something new to most students. And deductive reasoning requires a more mature and sophisticated type of thinking than that required by pre-algebra and algebra. Second, unlike the topics students study prior to geometry, proofs do not have a single correct answer. This requires a flexibility of approach students are not accustomed to in math classes. And third, proofs, like the rest of geometry, have a significant spatial component, that is, they require a skill for seeing how shapes relate to one another and for imagining how shapes would look if they were rotated or flipped over, etc. Some students have great difficulty with problems involving shapes and their orientation.

In this course, students will learn a dozen or so simple strategies that apply to all proofs and that make proofs much easier than they appear. Learning these strategies will give students a great head start in the fall and help them avoid hitting the geometry wall in September or October. I’m confident that students who take this course will have an easier time with geometry.

Mark Ryan is the author of Geometry for Dummies, 3rd Edition, published by Wiley Publishing in 2016; Geometry Essentials for Dummies, published by Wiley in 2011; and the Geometry Workbook for Dummies, published by Wiley in 2006. (Click on “Mark Ryan” above or below to read descriptions of Mark Ryan’s books.)

Course Fee:

Full Price: $625
Early Registration: $550 ($75 off) (through May 31st)
Registering with a Friend: $550 ($75 off)
Early Registration with a Friend: $475 ($150 off)

Save an additional $10 by paying with a credit card.