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Has anyone used Jacob's Algebra?


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I liked Jacobs Algebra. I used it with my oldest and fully intended to use it with my middle dd as well.

 

Things I like about Jacobs Algebra:

 

Set 1 is always review

 

Sets 2 and 3 are virtually identical, just use different numbers/equations, so if your dc has difficulty with one of the problems, you can work through it together and then assign the equivalent problem from the other set.

 

The comic at the beginning is always good.

 

The set 4 problem is often fun. This is intended to be a bonus section. My oldest often did these problems just for fun.

 

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When my middle dd was ready for Algebra, she thought Jacobs looked very intimidating. After the skinny little Singapore books, it did look rather hefty. She asked me to find something else for her to try. Fortunately, I had gotten a link for a free download of Kinetic Books Algebra I earlier that week. She liked the idea of a computer-based program.

 

She ended up doing both Kinetic Books and Jacobs her entire 7th grade year. That got her halfway through both programs. At that point, she decided that she liked the immediate feedback and instructions in Kinetic Books better, so she dropped Jacobs. It took her all of 8th grade to finish KB Algebra I.

 

KB has their algebra programs on sale until the end of September. A one-year online subscription is $34.95. A single-user cd-rom that won't time out is just $39.95.

 

Both of these programs are solid.

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We used Jacobs for both Al I and Geometry. I love these books! I think that they were a great set up for my ds to move on to higher maths. I can't compare to Dolciani and Lials because I have not used them, but it is absolutely comparable to Foerster.

 

We used Jacobs for Al I and Geometry (love the AL I reviews in the Geometry text), the Foerster for Al II and Pre-Calculus with Trig and Chalkdust for Calculus because I wimped out.

 

HTH

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I am not using KB Physics because it isn't set up like their Algebra programs. I love the way their algebra programs are set up.

 

The practice problems within each chapter give immediate feedback. Most of them even have stepped help that will take you through the problem step-by-step to get to the solution.

 

The end-of-unit problems are the only ones you need an answer key for. Answers are provided for the odd problems. I just assigned the odd problems. Sometimes I even assigned every-other-odd. There were still more than enough problems. There wasn't a solution guide for these problems, but Jacobs Algebra doesn't have a solution guide either.

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