Hi, parents, AOP is a very strong program but my children find it challenging to do the work . Any suggestion where to look for more online help? Any study group? Or any videos you find online? One child likes to use Khan Academy. Is there a study group online that meets regularly to help each other out?

Hello, I've been asked to teach some small co-op math classes next year. This year I'm teaching Geometry (Jacobs) and in the past have taught Algebra 1 (Holt). I love the Jacob's Geometry. The Holt, it's pages are busy but it has some good points, too. Ages ago I used Foerster with my son for Algebra I and II but I hardly remember it and the books are not in my personal library any more. I'm looking for text recommendations for Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Algebra II, and Pre-Calc/Trig. I had originally thought to use Jacob's Algebra I since I like the Geometry so much, but now I'm wondering whether consistency in all the classes (except geometry) would be a better idea and if so, what text? I did get my hands on some Lial's (how do you pronounce that, by the way?) but only the Beginning Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, and Pre-Calculus with Limits, not the Pre-Algebra. They were $4 per book so I'm not heavily invested here, they mostly quite old. I haven't had a chance to evaluate them yet. If I do use Jacobs for both Algebra I and Geometry, what do you think would be a good Pre-Algebra, Algebra II, and Pre-cal? Do you think consistency is important? Thank you for your input, I really appreciate your experience and your comments. Sandra p.s. I'm sure my sig line is very out of date.

So...I thought since there are quite a few threads going now on the topic of Pre-Algebra, it might be helpful to have one master thread to discuss texts, and to link to previous conversations. (Links at the bottom) I will post a link to my blog once I get photos up, as I know some of the texts are hard to preview online (Lial's, in particular) I have received Dolciani PreAlgebra: An Accelerated Course (1985) and Lial's Pre-Algebra Third Edition in the mail this past week. I already own Lial's BCM and AoPS Pre-A. So I think I have shopped enough that I can now safely make my decision...:D Initial impressions of Dolciani and Lials: Dolciani Pre Algebra: An Accelerated Course 1985 thorough, dry, no color, few pictures/images, black text with some color fonts as headers to different sections. Problems: divided into A (basic) B (more challenging) and C (challenging) problems. Word problems are dull, but serviceable. If your child didn't have trouble with Singapore CWP, he/she won't find these too hard, certainly not in the first part of the book. Odd answers in the back of the student book. Percents Chapter has the following sections: Percent of Increase or Decrease, Discount and Markup, Commision and Profit, Percents and Proportions, Simple Interest, Compound Interest, Percents and Problem Solving. Sample Word Problem: Gilbert wants to borrow $2250 for 3 years to remodel his garage. The annual rate is 18%. If the principal and interest are to be repaid in equal monthly installments, how much will each installment be? Sample Word PRoblem 2: If a car uses 5 gallons of gas to travel 160 miles, how many gallons would the car use in traveling 96 mi Lial's Pre-Algebra, Third Edition: Thorough, more visually appealing than Dolciani. Some might say it's more visually cluttered, but I don't agree. I think the colored fonts are used well to highlight important information. Sidebars on each page provide problems that are linked directly to the text they are next to, so it's easy to pinpoint areas of weakness in your student. Word problems seem more 'real-life'. Each chapter has sub-sections outlining how to solve different sorts of problems. For example, the Percent chapter has subsections entitled: Changing Percents to Decimals by Moving the Decimal Point, Changing Decimals to Percents by Moving the Decimal Point, Wrting Percents as Fractions, Writing Decimal Percents or Fractions Percents as Fractions, Writing Fractions as Percents, Finding 100% of a Number, Finding 50% of a Number. Each explanation is clear and shows a few examples. Sample Word Problem:In the hospital pharmacy, Michiko sees that a medicine is to be given at a rate of 3.5 mg for every 50 lbs of body weight. How much medicine should be given to a patient weighing 210 pounds? As point of reference, this question shows up about halfway through the book. Sample Word Problem 2: Ms Henderson owes $1900 in taxes. She is charged a penalty of 12 1/4 % annual interest and pays the taxes and penalty after 6 months. How much does she pay? Both text have built-in review and self-tests. I think Lial's has more concrete examples, Dolciani assumes a bit more. Lials' questions seem more...interesting. With Lial's I think you'd have to be careful that your child wasn't just following the steps: the steps are so clear, that a child could potentially follow formulas rather than truly understand the concept. Throwing in some Singapore CWP 6 or AoPS Pre-A would certainly reveal that. Dolciani is more old-fashioned and perhaps less suitable to a younger child. Okay, so I have more to say, and want to talk about AoPS and BCM too, but I'm tired and I'd rather here what others have to say. Links to recent threads on Pre-A: Thread 1 Thread 2 Thread 3 Thread 4 Thread 5 Thread 6

I am considering purchasing McDougall-Littel Pre-Algebra 3rd Edition and was wondering if it is necessary to purchase a Teachers Guide or Solutions Manual? I am looking for a textbook type pre-algebra that would be similar to Math Mammoth in explanations. I don't like Dolciani or AOP's they seem like they may cause frustration for my dd. I am also considering Lial's Pre-Algebra but was wondering if you need to get teachers guides or solution manuals with that textbook? Does anyone have experience using these textbooks that can give me some input as to whether there is much benefit in purchasing any of the additional guides or manuals offered?

Does anyone have any experience using Singapore Math 6B? If so, what did you use next? I was planning to do Jacob's Math (algebra) with Dr. Callahan because I have heard such great things. But when my dd did the 'are you ready' test on Dr. Callahan's site she missed more than I'm comfortable with. So now I'm revisiting the idea of a formal 'pre' algebra course. Singapore has hit on many of the concepts but I'm guessing not all (we've used their u.s. standards editions since first grade). Does anyone have a recommendation for what we should use prior to Dr. Callahan's Jacobs Math? Thanks so much!

We just finished chapter 1 of AoPS prealgebra and DS 11 is totally balking at writing out the problems. He's always hated to write, but many of the exercise, review, and challenge problems required him to cross things out, regroup, etc., and sometimes he really needed to have the numbers on a sheet in front of him. I wrote out a few for him, but it was long and tedious and not how I want to spend my time. Do your kids willingly write out the problems if they need to manipulate the numbers? I thought of making copies of these sections, but the way they are spaced on the sheet doesn't offer much room for writing either. The math in this chapter was no problem and I'd like to continue, but I don't want each day to be a writing battle. Is it just my kid?

DS10 just completed AOPS online prealgebra class and is a little intimidated at the idea of starting the algebra class. The class was a good pace and skill but he needed help thinking through some of the challenge problems. Any ideas? Do we continue (we can do alcumus before the start of class), take a break and do zacarro algebra, LOF algebra, AOPS AMC 8 basics (never done any math competition) Any other ideas? Thanks.

Hi, I'm ready to start my 10 year-old son on AoPS Prealgebra. I'm new to the middle-school / high-school part of AoPS, and really don't know what would all be necessary to get started. I see there are lots of you, moms and dads, here, who have experience with AoPS. AoPS offers the paperback textbook (with solutions), in addition to the online textbook. One can purchase just the paperback, or just the online book, or the combo (paperback + online book) . So, the question is, is it enough to just buy the paperback version? Or would adding the online version as well enhance the learning experience? From what I can see, one can access Alcumus and all videos for free anyway. I'm inclined to think just the paperback is enough, but wanted to consult with you so I can make a more educated decision. Thank you so much for any tips and guidance!!

I was able to pick up the 2nd edition of Lial's Prealgebra & Introductory Algebra (P&IA) at a used book sale. I looked at the table of contents for her Prealgebra (P) book online, & they match up with the first half of the book that I just bought. My question is do the lessons in the (P) book go into more detail than the (P&IA) book? Is there a sample online somewhere of one of the (P) lessons that I can use for comparison? I'm looking to use this book next year for an 8th grader. Thank you.

I know there's much anxiety over selecting a pre-algebra program. DS just completed AoPS Pre-Algebra and I kept detailed notes throughout so I decided to share it with the Hive. If you don't know much about AoPS, the company teaches mathematics using the discovery method. The student works through example problems that gradually increase in difficulty to teach a particular concept. After the example section, there is an explanation of the concept taught. There's often call-out boxes with important notes. After the section, there are exercises for the student to work through. At the end of every chapter, there's a review section and challenge problems. *** It is important that the student read the explanation section even if he or she understands the concept *** Background I began homeschooling DS in the middle of second grade. He is advanced, but not accelerated in math. He did Everyday Math in public school. At home, he did a combination of Primary Mathematics, Miquon, Beast Academy, and Math Mammoth plus a few other supplemental math books. By the end of fourth grade, he had completed MM5 and selected topics in MM6. He began AoPS Pre Algebra when he was 11 years old (fifth grade). He finished in a year and half (12 years old, sixth grade). Why I chose AoPS DS is good at mathematics and was easily bored by his elementary math programs. In primary math, he understood concepts easily, but gave up quickly when problems were challenging. I opted to use AoPS because I wanted to work on his problem-solving skills. I also wanted him to learn from being wrong. I admit that AoPS may not have been my son's choice at the beginning, but I was really enamored with the program (I questioned this decision multiple times through the past year and a half). Strengths The problem sets are excellent; I had a hard time finding an equivalent level of difficulty when DS needed additional practice. DS didn't spend hours working through equations that didn't vary much; he worked problems that required real thought. As he complained once, "These problems get hard quickly." Weaknesses Having read through AoPS Algebra, it's obvious this curriculum has a completely different tone. It seems much less conversational and more adult than Algebra (which is odd since this, being a prerequisite to Algebra, should have a more youthful voice). Oftentimes, the explanations use fifteen words when half the number would have been sufficient. In my opinion, the explanation sections of this book really need to be re-written to better serve its young customer base. How We Used AoPS For the first few chapters, we did buddy math. Since AoPS was completely different from anything DS had ever done before, we worked through example problems together. Next he'd read aloud the explanation part, then work through the section exercises, with me right by his side. After the first three chapters, he worked on his own. I never assigned problems; he just had a one hour time limit on math. DS did every problem: section, review, and challenge. For the challenge problems, I made myself available to provide assistance. I never told DS the answer outright when he needed help. I'd use guiding questions, trying to lead him to a strategy. If you opt to use AoPS, I'd recommend that you, as the teacher, work through Chapter 15 Problem Solving Strategies. This was the last chapter DS worked and once he reached it, I realized that I had already been teaching him these strategies when he was stuck. It's a good refresher for the parent. Ch 1 Properties of Arithmetic The biggest issue was DS was confused about "proving" concepts. He was uncertain about what this meant and what needed to be said. He was also confused by the "smiley" functions, proving the commutative and associative properties. Using a whiteboard, I showed him how functions can mean anything, even beyond the standard arithmetic +,-,*, and /. He had a bit of fun creating rocket, flower, and star functions and proving or disproving the commutative and associative properties. Ch 2 Exponents This chapter was the most difficult. For DS, perhaps it was that exponents were still fairly new compared to standard arithmetic, but he really had a tough time. I repeated often, "Multiplication is repeated addition; exponents are repeated multiplication. Write it down. Write it out. Simplify." Ch 3 Number Theory Here's where my son's arithmetic skills conflicted with his thinking skills. The mantra for this chapter was, "Don't be a computer. Be a thinker." We did take several brief breaks to work on prime factorization. DS would often compute first, before simplifying which caused much frustration. I purchased Lial's Pre-Algebra just to have additional problem sets for him to work through. It took him a long time to realize the benefits of simplifying before computing. Ch 4 Fractions This wasn't a difficult chapter for DS. Honestly it was a relief after the first three chapters. Ch 5 Equations and Inequalities This was more difficult than chapter four, but still not as bad as the first three. This chapter he really needed to check his work and ask himself if the solution made sense, especially with the reversal of signs for inequalities. Ch 6 Decimals No issues with this chapter. Ch 7 Ratios, Conversions, and Rates In this chapter, I had to take a few minutes to discuss with DS the relationship between fractions, decimals, and ratios. DS tended to forget that there were different ways to look at similar numbers. 1:3, 1/4, 0.25 are all the same number, but expressed in different ways. He did have some difficulty with rates that weren't expressed in terms of speed so I would encourage him to write out the problem. Ch 8 Percents No issues with this chapter other than we had a few conversations similar to the one above: 1:3, 1/4, 0.25 and 25% are all the same number. Ch 9 Square Roots He greatest difficulty with this chapter was understanding that x^(1/2) + x^(1/2) equals 2*x^(1/2), not x. We had to back up a bit and write out everything so he could prove to himself that this expression was true. Ch 10 Angles, Ch 11 Perimeter and Area, and Ch 12 Right Triangles and Quadrilaterals These chapters are grouped together because they passed quickly and required the same skills. The only note I had was that DS would often assume the pictures were drawn to scale, which is not an assumption he should make. Ch 13 Data and Statistics Another quick chapter. DS just had to make sure he wasn't making assumptions based on information that wasn't there. Ch 14 Counting As the second to last chapter, DS struggled a bit. I think because it was his first true exposure to probability. He could easily figure out the likelihood of rolling a one on a six-sided die. He could determine the probability of rolling two ones on two six-sided dice. Where he got confused was probability for separate cases, as in the likelihood of one penny and two pennies showing the same number of heads. Ch 15 Problem-Solving Strategies An easier chapter that DS flew through, except for the challenge problems, which are tough. Final Thoughts Looking back, I'm content with our experience even though I had many doubts through the past 18 months. After Chapter 5, I showed DS Lial's pre-algebra and asked him if he wanted to switch. He said no; he liked the challenge and "at least Art of Problem Solving is never boring." For Algebra, I gave DS the option between Forrester's and AoPS and he wants to continue with AoPS. Talk to me in a year and I may have a different opinion ;) Like many other members have said, AoPS is not for everyone. For my dd, I'm pretty sure I'll use something other than AoPS. She would struggle with the uncertainty and find the frustration demoralizing. But AoPS worked for my DS in pre-algebra and I'm hoping it will continue to work for him in Algebra. ETA: Corrected some wording

Hello Ladies, I was wondering if there are any users of the Art of Problem Solving Prealgebra on this forum. I am getting ready to start my son (7th grader) on it. I am not sure how much would be reasonable to assign every day. I see that there are 15 chapters in the book so about two week per chapter would take about 30 weeks, leaving enough margin. Is this reasonable? How much time did your student spend doing the lesson each day? Any daily schedules that can be found some where? Thanks a lot!

We use Horizons math and I have been planning on transitioning to a new program our prealgebra year. I am fairly certain that I have settled on (generic) chalkdust and have been checking out the prealgebra book and DVDs. I am a little uncertain though as I keep seeing things like, "I have found that I can move directly into Algebra I from Horizon 6 without any intermediate work" (taken from Rainbow Resource). I don't want to push too hard, but if we can speed up math a year, I am all for it. Have you skipped prealgebra after Horizons? Have you used Prealgebra and/or Algebra from Chalkdust/Cengage? I would love to hear your experiences!

My dd12 is finishing ch 3 of AoPS Pre-Algebra. She is generally a very slow math student (it takes her for.ev.er to work through a set of problems), but she is liking the challenge of AoPS so far. I am wondering if I can lighten her load by omitting some of the problems. We are already skipping the challenge problems. The regular ones are challenging enough. :tongue_smilie: I'm asking, because I want her to finish PreA in a reasonable time frame. Ideally, by September or October, so that she can start Algebra in 8th grade. We aren't sure if she will go to ps for high school, or if I will still homeschool her. If she ends up going to a local school, I can't have her halfway though an Algebra course at the start of 9th grade. Do you do all the problems in each set? Do you do ALL the review problems? There are so many of those, and it takes her 3 or 4 days to work through a review if we do each problem. If I only do some of the review problems, would you do every other one or just truncate the assignment? I don't have enough experience with their program to see if there's a pattern to how the review problems are assigned.

Hello fellow parents, I am sending out this email to inform you about a new ONLINE math class that I am helping coordinate (my son will be in this class) and hoping to fill so we can begin on Fri, Aug 29, 2014. This class will be facilitated by Dr Sega who is a classically trained mathematician from Romania. Dr Sega used to run the San Jose Math Circle and was also involved in the Stanford Math Circle. This is not an enrichment class and HW will be assigned. There will also be periodic quizzes to gauge understanding but mostly the emphasis will be on student discussion, problem solving and gaining a deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts. Dr Sega has a gentle style that is conducive to most kids. Class details are as foll: FALL 2014 - AoPS Prealgebra 1 Dates - Aug 29 – Dec 19 2014 (17 sessions) Timings – Friday 12:30 – 2pm PT Cost - $340 (ie $20/class) Age - 9-12ish Max Class Size – 4 Dr Sega is NOT an Ocean Grove vendor This online class will use the AOPS PreAlgebra textbook and will have a strong emphasis on problem solving rather than coming up with the 'right' answer. Students will be encouraged to figure out different ways of solving the same problem. We will start with topics in number theory and conclude with an introduction to topics in discrete mathematics and statistics. I am hoping to find a few mathy kids who enjoy some sort of problem solving so the kids can have meaningful discussions and learn in an engaging environment. Please let me know offlist at arvinderoswal@gmail.com at your earliest convenience if your kid might be interested and available to participate in this upcoming class. Warmly Arvinder WTM Member in Cupertino, CA

So can someone tell me about Singapore Math post-PM6B? I really like that it is an integrated approach to math, and that they have work books to go along with it but...How do all of the different programs fit together? Why are some of them 1/2 canceled and the others not...I am confused. What happened to New Elementary Mathematics level 3 and 4? Why did they cancel them? Is it possible to order them from a different site perhaps? What is with Dimensions Math being retitled Discovering Math 1 and 2??? Are they planning to rewrite and publish the rest of Dimensions Math as Discovering Math 3 and 4? If so, when will that be out?

I want to do a solid year of PreAlgebra with my rising 7th grader next year. I am considering AoPS but also wonder if Kahn Academy is an option. Those of you who have used it, is there enough "meat" to it? Thanks in advance!

DD9 is on track to finish MM 5B sometime this fall. My current plan is to have her work through 6A and B and then move into AOPS prealgebra, but it seems I have heard some people skip MM6. I'm not in a hurry, but I am curious to know if there are things in MM6 that need to be covered before prealgebra or if the program is redundant at that point.

We're doing AOPS PreAlgebra at home, without the online class. I'm trying to figure out how to pace the book. Doing one section each day (1.2, 1.3, 1.4,...) seems too fast. We tried that in chapter one, and retention was not so good. Dd is in 5th grade and relatively mathy, as is Mom. I don't have her read and do the problems on her own. We read and work through them together at the white board. Then she does the exercises on her own, and we review them together at the white board. I am considering reviewing the problems at the start of a section on one day, then have the student do the exercise problems for the same section the following day. At the end of each chapter, spend one day on review problems and another day on challenge problems. How much do you have your student do each day? Thanks! --Vida

My DD10 is ready to drop AoPS. She was in ps until this year and used Every Day Math supplemented with Zaccaro at school and EPGY at home. When I pulled her out, we tried to start Singapore, but she hated it, so we mostly used EPGY with some other supplementing until we saw the AoPS Prealgebra and she passed that deceptively easy pretest. When we started out, she had a hard time, but I thought that there would probably be a learning curve, so I didn't worry about it too much at first. By the end of the first chapter, I was concerned that it was too hard and would make her dread math, so I gave her some choices. She could continue with AoPS, do another level of EPGY and then switch to something else or change to another prealgebra text book. She chose the AoPS. But a month later, it is still not working and it is time to move on. I borrowed a copy of Saxon 1/2, but I don't think that would work out for her. Is there something in between AoPS and Saxon in difficulty? I have looked into Lial's and Dolciani, but I have not seen any samples, so I can't tell where they lie. Is there another option that I haven't seen yet? Where would you put a mathy kid who doesn't want to do AoPS?

My 6th grade dd has finished Singapore 6B and I'm trying to decide where to go from here. We've used Singapore exclusively since 1st grade and she's done very well with the curriculum. What are others doing after Singapore? What are some things I should be considering when making a decision? Thanks for your advice!:)

Ok I know I have sung the praises of LoF high and low, and I stand by my opinion that it is a stand alone program, my dd is positively flourishing with it. However, my (rising 7th grade) ds is just not getting it. He loves LoF, and he wants it to work so bad, but he is just completely lost. A bit of background here, my son is a serious math hater/struggler. He attended school (both private & public) from K-2nd. When he would come home with homework sheets he had no idea on how to do the math. I would sit with him for hours every night teaching him the concepts he was supposed to have learned in school. When we started homeschooling my plan was to use MCP (with TM) till 4th then switch to Saxon. MCP was hard but we managed to get through it, my other kids switched over to Saxon without a problem and took off. My ds could not do Saxon, at all. So we stuck with MCP a bit, then switched to R&S math. We both hated R&S math with a passion, but we did get through it (barely), and it was effective in teaching him all the arithmetic he would ever need to know. The reward for getting through R&S was LoF. He was so excited. He flew through the fractions book with only a few minor hiccups. Then he started Decimals and that is where things got hairy. He got near to the end of the book and he was struggling with all the bridges. He would always manage to get over them but only after several attempts and redos. He wanted to start the book over from the beginning. I agreed thinking it might be best before he started the Pre-Algebra books. Well he got through the first few chapters fine, then the struggles started all over again, only this time they were worse. Now he is getting frustrated because he feels like he is spinning his wheels. All the confidence and love of math he gained from LoF fractions has drained away. I really don't know what to do. He is the type of kid who has severe struggles learning new concepts (in math), but once he masters them he is fine. He has mastered all basic math and fractions. He is struggling with decimals (he has some basics down), percents (this really seems to be a sticking point), and basic geometry (finding radius, perimeters etc.). Order of operations has always given him trouble, he likes to "skip" steps and jump to the end. He also has great difficulty with "rote" memory. I am trying to find a program that will work for him. He is a kinetic and auditory learner. He is a very strong reader and has an excellent sense of humor. He is creative and very artistic. He gets bored easily and loses all focus the moment he does. Despite his problems with math he has amazing engineering skills and is very, very good at following schematics of every different kind. He really wants to do well and is eager to please, he does genuinely want to learn math, despite not enjoying it. He will probably need my help (at least occasionally) no matter which program we choose. I, myself, am not a math (or science) person. So the math program would have to offer teacher hand holding or be clear enough that I could understand and then reteach using my own understanding. It seems like every math program I can find is arithmetic based, which would bore him quickly since he has already mastered it, or Pre-Algebra which I feel might be too hard for him. I would like to work him into Jacob's Algebra. But I need something to get him there. The obvious choice would be the "key to" series, but he hated the Key to fractions (found it way too patronizing & boring) and is not really a workbook kid. We considered TT but not only is it seriously out of our price range (especially considering it might not even work for us), but my husband and I did not like the samples at all, we felt it had too many "life skills" and economics thrown in (we also would like to avoid "virtual" learning if possible). We want something that just focuses on mathematical concepts. Please help!! :bigear:

Hi! I have posted a few math questions on the middle grades board recently, and a couple of people directed me here, so here I am. :) My oldest dd picks up math very easily. We have always used R&S for math, and this year we used LOF Fractions as well. She will be in 6th grade next year, and I'm torn about what to do. I have R&S math 6, and it looks like she will zip through it because she already knows a lot of it. We own LOF percents and decimals. I am getting ready to buy R&S 7 from another poster here. I read about Lial's and Dolciani maths so I bought a couple of very cheap copies and they arrived today. I just posted this on the mdidle grades board: "I ordered the 1973 and 1988 Dolciani pre-algebra books and the 6th edition of Lial Basic College Math, and all three arrived today. I ordered them because I wanted to see what pre-algebra "looks" like. And they were very cheap (less than $16 for all 3). :D Anyway, I haven't had a ton of time to look through them, but I was under the impression that BCM is equivalent to pre-algebra. In looking at the table of contents and flipping through, it looks a lot different than the Dolciani pre-algebra books. I think my oldest (6th grade next year) could do a lot of the work in the BCM book now. We have always used R&S math, just fyi. Am I missing something? I am quite confused. Side question: If you use either Lial or Dolciani, what is your preferred edition and where can you get a teacher's instruction manual? Thanks!" I am really confused about what course to take. I certainly don't want to push her, but otoh, I don't want to hold her back either. I very much love R&S math because I feel it has given her a very firm foundation in math, but if it's time to move on, I'm okay with that. I had planned to get R&S math 6-8 done over the next two years (which I think could be easily done) and then move into an algebra program in 8th grade. Now I'm rethinking that and wondering if we ought to follow another course (I like to have tentative plans for each subject and math is what I'm focusing on right now). If I want her to be ready for pre-algebra in 7th, should she do Lial's BCM next year for 6th? In looking at the pre-test in the front of the Lial's book, she could easily go into chapter 3, though I would probably start at the beginning to give her a review. Anyway, as you can see, I am thoroughly confused. The more I type, the more confused I become, so I'm stopping. Any help would be much appreciated!!

I ordered the 1973 and 1988 Dolciani pre-algebra books and the 6th edition of Lial Basic College Math, and all three arrived today. I ordered them because I wanted to see what pre-algebra "looks" like. And they were very cheap (less than $16 for all 3). :D Anyway, I haven't had a ton of time to look through them, but I was under the impression that BCM is equivalent to pre-algebra. In looking at the table of contents and flipping through, it looks a lot different than the Dolciani pre-algebra books. I think my oldest (6th grade next year) could do a lot of the work in the BCM book now. We have always used R&S math, just fyi. Am I missing something? I am quite confused. Side question: If you use either Lial or Dolciani, what is your preferred edition and where can you get a teacher's instruction manual? Thanks!

Yes. It's me and math again. I am very frustrated. I am waiting anxiously for the publication of Horizons Pre-Algebra. Sight unseen, I am ready to use it. We used Horizons 3-6 easily. Last year we did Chalk Dust Prealgebra and made it through roughly half of the book. It included a tremendous number of concepts & I thought we had a great basis for beginning algebra. Well, ds rebelled at the Chalk Dust format of long videos followed by numerous practice problems (I had him doing every other odd-numbered problem, about 25 per day). I decided that we did, indeed need to change as this was a lot to expect out of a boy who has difficulty sustaining attention. We started reviewing fractions with Keys to Fractions while I did some research. I settled on Math U See Algebra I. Well, this program is not very thorough and doesn't offer enough practice problems for ds to master the concepts. Problems with fractions are cropping up again, so I have decided to retreat to Pre-Algebra again to make sure everything is solidified. This is not a race, right? It's more important that he understand than move along through material at a randomly decided pace, right? Hence, I am waiting for the Horizons Pre-Algebra program to publish. That doesn't solve what I need to do in the meantime. I have the following resources: LOF Fractions, Decimals and Beginning Algebra Keys to Fractions (about 1/3 of this is not yet done, some pages undone in every book) Use, It, Don't Lose It! Daily Math Practice, 8th grade Beginning Algebra (Jacobs) Critical Thinking Co. Algebra Word Problems, Book 1 - Algebra I I am thinking of having him work through LOF fractions and Use It, Don't Lose It! Additionally, we can spend some time graphing equations with MUS Algebra I. This is where I run into difficulty - how do I combine these programs? I can have him do one day of Use It, Don't Lose It! each day. Should I have him complete LOF fractions and set MUS Algebra I aside? Much of MUS Algebra I was covered in Horizons 6. As I type this all out, I can see that since we left Horizons, consistency has been an issue - there doesn't seem to be any one program that fits. I am hopeful that we will be able to start Beginning Algebra (Jacobs) sometime next school year, which will be his 9th grade year. So, how do I get him from here to there? I need to figure this out for the next month or so, but with the idea that I may have to do the rest of pre-algebra like this if the Horizons Pre-Algebra doesn't publish in Jan. like it is supposed to. Help, I am at the end of my math rope. :confused1: :crying:

I was hoping to use Horizons, because both my 4th grader and 6th grader are using Horizons this year. The 4th grader is not crazy about it, so I'm switching him to Math Mammoth for 5th. But I was ready to do Horizons pre-Algebra next year with my 6th grader, but he tells me today he doesn't really like it! (he is an easy student who doesn't complain, so who knew?!) I supplement both kids with Life of Fred, which they enjoy immensely. In fact the 6th grader is doing LOF pre-algebra w/Biology right now. However as much as I like Fred, I get nervous when there isn't a workbook type book with lots of problems! So I have to figure out something for next year for 7th grade that will fill the bill. (we're planning to continue LOF pre-alegbra w/economics for next year, and perhaps LOF pre-alebra w/physics when it comes out) But what is the workbook to be? He is a good math student. Anyone have ideas on 7th grade/pre-algebra options I could consider?