TrixieB Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I posted earlier today about my dd's struggles with pre-algebra. I'm relieved to hear that another year of pre-algebra is not the end of the world. So now I am considering pre-algebra options. This past year my dd used Aufmann/Barker/Lockwood. I don't want to make her go through the same book again. She has told me that she doesn't want a video or online curriculum. I haven't ruled these out, but am just stating her preference. She prefers to spend a while learning about one topic, but she also needs regular review or she easily forgets (I think this is part of her processing speed problem -- she remembers arithmetic facts, but takes a while to recall the problem solving process). I have a Saxon 1/2 text that I picked up used a while back. Would it be a reasonable choice, or would something else be better? If so, what? And I would like something with an easily obtained teacher manual/answer key... because there are only so many hours in the day... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tohru Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Saxon would be a great choice. We finally switched to Saxon after years of resisting it (not even sure why anymore) and it has been wonderful for ds. I don't make him do all the extra practice though - generally only ask that he do odds or evens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 You might want to consider Margaret Lial. You may even be able to find it at your library to preview... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deniseibase Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I'm a big fan of Saxon, but if she prefers to stick with one topic for awhile, Saxon may not be for her. Saxon presents one idea per lesson, but the lessons skip around a LOT. It keeps it interesting, but if she wants to learn all about, say, fractions, in one section of the book, and move on to say, percents in the next section, that isn't how Saxon is set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 You might want to consider Margaret Lial. You may even be able to find it at your library to preview... :iagree: My dd bombed pre-algebra last year and so we are using Lials BCM, the Key to Series and Life of Fred Pre-Algebra. We do Lials 4x a week and Key to and LoF 1day a week (like 3-4pgs of key to and 1 chapter of Fred but we do him even on weeks we do not have school during the year and in the summer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 You might want to consider Margaret Lial. You may even be able to find it at your library to preview... Our library has Lial's Beginning Algebra, but not BCM. I would have to buy a copy from amazon to see what it looks like. So I have a question: Does the interior of BCM look like the Aufmann/Barker/Lockwood books (100+ problems per section, in tiny print)? DD is nervous about using another book that was written for community college students instead of for middle school kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I don't actually have any experience with Lial, other than checking out Beginning Algebra from the library. It gets many positive reviews here, though. Here is a thread that may be helpful: S/O Lial's BCM or Lial's Pre-Algebra for pre-algebra? Jann in TX has some helpful information in these threads: Lial's algebra I users... I have a few questions Frustrated!! Lial's "Developmental" or not, editions which is better and why - Lials algebra editions HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moki4 Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 We used Saxon Alg 1/2 with Dd who is now in precalc. She is a very strong math student and breezed through it. It did become boring for her, as there were sooo many review problems. I really liked this math, but it should be with a child who likes learning incrementally, rather than a child who wants the entire explanation at the beginning. You can always pick a few problems from each section. I like to call saxon a "teaser" program...you only get the full story by covering the entire book! HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I give another vote for Lial's Basic College Mathematics. The pages are colorful and well planned. The progression is sensible and there is plenty of review included without being too burdensome. The teaching sections are well written and clear with plenty of different examples. I'd go so far as to say the book is designed to build confidence in mathematical ability. There aren't any pages with endless, cramped problems. Most teaching sections are followed by fifty or so problems. I always assigned odd or even. Even the longer review sections are well spaced and offer enough variety of problems not to be mind numbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 She prefers to spend a while learning about one topic, but she also needs regular review or she easily forgets (I think this is part of her processing speed problem -- she remembers arithmetic facts, but takes a while to recall the problem solving process). I have a Saxon 1/2 text that I picked up used a while back. Would it be a reasonable choice, or would something else be better? If so, what? And I would like something with an easily obtained teacher manual/answer key... because there are only so many hours in the day... :) We did a second year of pre-algebra as well. The first year we used Chalk Dust. The next year I gathered materials from a variety of workbooks, review books, etc. until Horizons published their pre-algebra program in Feb. of last year. I used that for the rest of the year & it was a great fit. I had thought it would be because we had used Horizons 3-6. I don't know if Horizons is necessarily better than Saxon, but I recommend that you take a look at it. Horizons is a spiral method, like Saxon, so concepts are regularly reviewed. The spiral moves faster than Saxon, so new concepts are introduced a bit more frequently than w/Saxon, but they are also reviewed more frequently. Horizons is a workbook, which was great for ds - he loved not having to copy those problems over. The Horizons pre-algebra program has a great geometry section and goes a bit further with algebraic concepts than Saxon does. I think that is just because they spiral faster. We found Horizons to be a great match all the way around, after ds having used Saxon in his private school K-2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Book Nut Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Have you considered the "Key to..." books or Kinetic Books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4peace Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Key Press Algebra goes very slowly, and the first book is all prealg skills. PreAlgebra with Life of Fred is a friendly option. Do you know where the "holes" are? Targeting those may make more sense than prealgebra again in entirely. The Key Press books are great for filling in those holes, as are the LoF books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Trixie--If your dd has processing speed and other LD issues, have you thought about giving her accommodations like a calculator and seeing if that changes things? There's a certain point where you stop beating the dead horse and just move on. I'm letting my dd use a calculator with the Lial's Pre-algebra, and it's going well for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 Trixie--If your dd has processing speed and other LD issues, have you thought about giving her accommodations like a calculator and seeing if that changes things? There's a certain point where you stop beating the dead horse and just move on. I don't know if she has any LD issues; we've never pursued testing. She works slowly on math, and on her schoolwork in general. I can never really tell if she's thinking about what she's doing, or if she's thinking about something else (which I suspect is often the case -- I think she's thinking about the novel she's writing, or plots for new stories). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Our library has Lial's Beginning Algebra, but not BCM. I would have to buy a copy from amazon to see what it looks like. So I have a question: Does the interior of BCM look like the Aufmann/Barker/Lockwood books (100+ problems per section, in tiny print)? DD is nervous about using another book that was written for community college students instead of for middle school kids. Trixie, My oldest (ds) did have troubles using the college text. So I got BJU for dd, and it went GREAT. There are reviews every chapter, only one topic at a time, and it was written for a middle schooler. The edition before the one that is out is very easy to get (and cheap) used. Get the Teacher's Edition, text, tests, and test answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Our library has Lial's Beginning Algebra, but not BCM. I would have to buy a copy from amazon to see what it looks like. So I have a question: Does the interior of BCM look like the Aufmann/Barker/Lockwood books (100+ problems per section, in tiny print)? No, the interior of BCM looks like the interior of Introductory Algebra - Beginning Algebra is also by Lial's and at the same level as the Introductory Algebra, but from a different/parallel series with a different layout. From what I understand, the BCM/Introductory Algebra series has a more friendly layout, larger font, as well as space to work practice problems in the margins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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