Thread: Going from basics to advanced?

Hello everyone, I browsed the forums a bit and tried to look around for the best place to post this, but there's no "General Math" area that I could see. If I am posting in the wrong place, however, please feel free to warn me and move the thread appropriately. Thanks.

I have a bit of a past that I'm kind of ashamed of, but nonetheless I now need help. I dropped out of high school about a week after I started, so I haven't even taken an algebra class. Ever since I was 8, I've wanted to develop games for a living. However, game development requires an extremely high level of math. For the past few years I've been studying, but without much of a routine to follow. Glancing at books here and there. I took a placement test at the college I wanted to attend and was going to be placed in "College Algebra" (the test consisted of binomial multiplication etc.). Monetary issues arose and I wasn't able to make it to college when I wanted, so I have a few months to study before I do begin. I just don't know where to start... I want to try and review the basics, then start with Algebra and move up to at least trigonometry. My problem, though, is that I'm not entirely too sure how. I have looked up several books, but I don't know which ones are the right ones to purchase. I have pretty much until August / July and don't mind doing the work necessary to get where I want to be. This includes 2 - 3 lessons a day if I'm able to.

Does anyone know of some decent books I can pick up that will give me the equivalent knowledge of someone that has gone through high school? Books, programs, even if they're kiddie books, I don't mind. I just really need help... I don't know where to start!

See this thread.

I've got a few books so far, thanks for the tip. It might seem a bit broad of a question, or one relatively easy to solve. Perhaps someone could give me some tips to learning, too?

You're welcome. Have a good one!

Originally Posted by TheSyndicate

I've got a few books so far, thanks for the tip. It might seem a bit broad of a question, or one relatively easy to solve. Perhaps someone could give me some tips to learning, too?

I am currently a high school student and one thing that helps me is goals, both long term and short term. Without goals you are working for nothing. A short term goal might be "finish chapter 5-20" by the end of this week.

Don't procrastinate, a lot of people like to say "i'll do this later", don't do that. Remember what your goals are and use them to motivate you

Finally, get into your head there is no shortcuts in learning. Everything will come from hard work.

Of course, we will always be here to help you

TheSyndicate - you are almost in the exact same boat as I was in 2x years ago.

I started studying with the Open University on their Open Mathematics course (MU120).
The course contains books (16 if I remember rightly), starting with basic math and moving up to algebra and trigonometry. The books are very well written, contain exercises in each section.
As I said, it's where I started and they got me going really well, I have since completed their next maths course (MST121).
I think this is where you should start.

You have to join the university to start their courses, however, you can get the books second hand for cheap:

Open University MU120 Open Mathematics Course Books on eBay (end time 30-Jan-11 14:47:02 GMT)

Obviously buying them this way won't give you any of teh university's support, such as a tutor, online help, etc. But that particular course is so well written you might not need it and you can always check in here for any assistance.

You do need a specific model/brand calculator for the course, which is about £60GBP, but there are ROMs you can use so you can have the calculator stored on you computer as such - not as easy to use as a real calculator, but should get you through.

Well, for someone with no High School, you sure write well.

I'm now 29.
I started the maths course 2x years ago.