High School Pre-Calculus Curriculum

Time4Learning’s pre-calculus curriculum is one of five math courses offered at the high school level. Students aiming to apply to a selective four-year college or who plan to major in a math or science-related field should complete a pre-calculus course in high school.

Our online pre-calculus course is taught using a combination of multimedia lessons, instructional videos, quizzes, tests, and other projects. All instruction is standards-based and helps to prepare students for college math courses.

On this page, you will discover what topics are covered in a high school pre-calculus course, learn more about the general objectives for pre-calculus, and find out how families can use Time4Learning as their core curriculum or as a pre-calculus summer course.

What Do You Learn in Pre-Calculus?
Learning Objectives for Pre-Calculus
Why Choose Time4Learning’s High School Pre-Calculus Curriculum?
Additional 12th Grade Homeschool Resources

What Do You Learn in Pre-Calculus?

Pre-calculus is a year-long course that provides a structured entry to advanced studies while building on concepts learned in previous high school math courses. Designed to be taken after Algebra II, pre-calculus builds upon students’ understanding of various aspects of functions and expands their knowledge of trigonometric functions, all while helping them make connections between geometry and algebra.

Time4Learning’s online pre-calculus course for high school students is made up of the following 10 chapters:

Functions and Modeling
Trigonometry
Analytic Trigonometry
Complex Numbers and Polar Coordinates
Vectors
Matrices
Systems and Matrices
Analytic Geometry
Sequences and Series
Limits

Learning Objectives for Pre-Calculus

The topics that are covered in pre-calculus encourage students to use problem solving and prepare them for future pursuits that may include STEM (science/technology/engineering/math) careers. Pre-calculus emphasizes mathematical analysis and critical thinking rather than just the memorization of facts.

Throughout the pre-calculus course, students will reach for the following goals:

Make connections between numeric, graphical, and algebraic representations of relations and functions
Use mathematical modeling to solve real-world problems
Apply a variety of techniques to solve equations, inequalities, and systems

Why Choose Time4Learning’s High School Pre-Calculus Curriculum?

Research shows that technology-enhanced learning can improve mathematical skills at the high school level. Time4Learning’s online pre-calculus course is designed to help students acquire, practice, and apply skills and knowledge. Our standards-based content develops students’ ability to make sense of problems and reason abstractly–core skills needed for all advanced mathematics courses.

Some of the reasons that our pre-calculus curriculum is so popular with families and students include:

As a Full Curriculum

The course emphasizes higher order thinking skills and uses practical, real-life math examples to teach the material.
Motivating, media-rich content keeps students engaged.
To accommodate students of all learning styles and diverse abilities, information is delivered in multiple formats including instructional video, animated models, graphs, and text.
The curriculum offers challenging content, relevant activities, assessments, and real-time feedback.
Each lesson includes assessments to determine whether students have mastered the lesson objectives.
A customizable assignment calendar helps students track the coursework they should be completing each day.
The system tracks student progress, and keeps printable reports that parents can turn into high school transcripts or include with homeschool portfolios.

As a Supplement

Powerful interactive instruction helps students build content knowledge and essential skills on individual topics.
Visual learners will especially benefit from on-screen teachers who present learning objectives, explain concepts, and model math strategies.
Students are taught step-by-step methods (identifying questions, clues, and strategies, and checking their work) when solving problems.
Students can work through the concepts sequentially or focus on specific areas where they need additional remediation.
The flexibility of the curriculum allows families to use it as a supplement to other mathematics programs or even as a pre-calculus summer course for high school students.
Detailed reporting tools help parents monitor student engagement, progress, and achievement along the way.