Barron's Algebra the Easy Way

[HRAAB]

I've been watching for an used copy of LOF to get for my dd to beef her MUS Algebra, but if there are any used ones they get snatched up immediately. The other day while I was cleaning some book shelves I came across Algebra the Easy Way and see that it's in story format. I compared the TOC to that in her MUS Algebra and looked over the problems, but honestly, for this non-math brain, it doesn't tell me much.

 

Does anyone know if this would add some challenge to MUS? I'm pinching every penny I can, so if this would be a good supplement, I would like saving the $$$.

[Julie in MN]

I used this book with my older dd for a while. I really liked how it made Algebra seem useful by creating a story where the characters would need to figure things out. I also felt it stopped to clearly presented the various formulas and such as they came up.

 

However, my dd did not glean much from it. At some point, I had her do some simple algebra worksheets from another workbook, and she was unable to recognize the same skills she had just used. I finally found Math Relief and that is by a truly gifted algebra teacher, IMHO! He doesn't present formulas, but simply explains a term thoroughly, and then shows students step-by-step how to move them around harder & harder equations. The formulas and techniques just naturally rise up. I'm a fan :)

 

Barron's is inexpensive & may be at your library, so it might be worth checking out, especially as a supplement for a student who asks why he needs to learn algebra.

 

Julie