I’m happy to say this week was even more successful than my first week. I spent closer to 6 hours this week on KA and managed to finish off two units, Ratios, Rates, Proportions and Equations, Expressions, and Inequalities (although, to be fair, I was about 85% of the way through the former when I started the week on Monday).

I enjoyed working through cross multiplication problems in Ratios, Rates, Proportions and strengthening my understanding of how the algebra works. I remember working on this type of math around middle school and not understanding the algebraic reasoning and finding it very frustrating. Understanding it now makes me feel a lot better knowing I wasn’t as dense as I felt back then, I just didn’t have a good foundational understanding of how it works.

I only scored 91% on the unit test in Ratios, Rates, Proportions, however at least 2 of the 3 questions I got wrong out of 34 was due to me not fully comprehending the question. This is a common mistake of mine, to not read the question carefully. It is a good reminder for me to make sure I take the time to read each question carefully and make sure to completely understand it before I begin to work through it.

I started Equations, Expressions, and Inequalities on Tuesday and finished the unit test Friday afternoon and passed with a 100% score. In this unit I learned the proper definitions of Variable (x, y, z), Expression (2x + 3), Equation (2x + 3 = 6), Coefficient (“2” in 2x), Inequality (3 < 4), Independent Variable (the variable that one has control over in an experiment, often represented with the variable “x” and graphed on the X axis), and Dependent Variable (the variable that one does not have control over in an experiment, often represented with the variable  “y” and graphed on the Y axis).

Both of these units have continued to strengthen my understanding of fractions, the numerator and the denominator, and division as a whole. I’m also getting a better understanding of how to manipulate an equation. The more I work through KA, the more I see the questions as puzzles that I can figure out, almost like a game. It’s becoming more enjoyable.

I’m still concerned that I won’t be able to learn calculus in time to apply to an undergrad program in a few months. I’m worried the questions will start to take me longer as they become more difficult. If I continue at my current pace, however, I think it may be possible. One positive thing is that units and courses overlap so I often have a percentage done of each before I even begin it. Please help a brother out and keep your fingers crossed for me, internet.