jengjohnson Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 I'm asking specifically about prealgebra and algebra. Does anyone know if there are big differences in clarity of teaching and quality of problems? Anything else we would miss out on by using old vs new edition? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 (edited) BJU has basically bumped up their math an entire grade level (the way the reps describe it) in the new editions. My dd is on her last couple lessons of TT pre-algebra, and I just started her on the *new* edition BJU pre-algebra. I had the old edition BJU pre-algebra (borrowed from my SIL) all summer but just didn't have time to get to it, grrr. I only got the new edition this week, so I haven't had a chance to compare it side by side with the old edition BJU, sorry. The new edition however is AWESOME. The reps are saying the new editions are being bumped up so much to meet new standards. I really don't know. I'm just finding it incredibly THOROUGH. The dominion through math problems are quite good. The C level work is fine, not hard enough to blow her mind but just enough more complex that it makes sure she knows the concepts. I'm EXCEPTIONALLY happy with it. Basically I would not buy old edition BJU at this point. Buy the new. There's a reason they updated, and it's terrific. Couple more comments. In a lot of the new edition tms with cds, the cds include extra work. I haven't called to ask, but from the samples, it looks like the tm cd for the pre-algebra does not include extra work but more the mathardy review game, bulletin board ideas, etc. They sell a separate activities manual with extra work. I'm using that as well and like it. So if you're going to teach the math, the tm is giving you the teaching ideas and the answers. Honestly, right now I wish I had the tm, even just for the answers. The exercises are easy enough I can do them in my head, no problem, but the word problems are more involved. Sometimes I just wanna check out and know she got the correct answer, lol. So then you end up with this question of whether you're buying new. If you're buying new for the student kit, for around $100 more you can get it with the dvds. So check that out if you're feeling at all uncomfortable teaching it. Again, the BJU new edition is QUITE thorough. We're just in the first chapter, and already it's finding holes in my dd's understanding. She had done the things, but she didn't really understand them THOROUGHLY. PS. After all that, I talked myself into getting the tm, lol. I think it will have just enough use that it will be nice to have. Edited September 27, 2012 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jengjohnson Posted September 28, 2012 Author Share Posted September 28, 2012 I'm glad I checked before purchasing. I know I can get first edition stuff cheap at our hs store, but if new is really that much better we'll go for it. Does anyone actually use the Student Activities book for math? Does it really add a lot to the program or is the text enough? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 CBD (christianbook.com) has good samples of the activities manual for each level as well as the student text. Look at those samples and you'll start to see. Also look at the table of contents for the activities manual. In the elementary level, BJU made homework pages so that you had one corresponding for each lesson. Then you had what they called Stretch Your Mind workbooks that had these more challenging situations for the upper end students. Then you had a cumulative review workbook called Spread Your Wings. That was old edition elementary. So when I look at the new edition pre-algebra activities manual, I *don't* see anything that is a consistent homework page. Look at the toc and see. There might be *1* page to extend what was covered in 2 or 3 lessons in the main text. But there will be some of those stretch/out of the box application pages. There will be some really terrific calculator pages where they learn to use the newer type calculators (multi-line in pre-algebra, graphing in algebra 1). Then they have a chapter review page that you could use as a test (my plan), and a cumulative review page for each chapter. Like I said, I don't have the tm yet. From the samples online, you'll notice it says 105 lessons in the text that they plan you to spread out over (145? I forget) days. That means they're planning on you doing some of these other pages that are in the activities manual and having more time on concepts. *I* think that's a good thing. I'm using the activities manual myself with my dd and I like it a lot. In fact, those Stretch Your Mind pages were our favorite thing about the BJU elementary math. So yes, I would get the activities manual. If you don't need it, it wasn't that huge a cost ($16?). If you do want it, you have it. It's not *repeating* the content of the main text so much as extending it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 BJU has basically bumped up their math an entire grade level (the way the reps describe it) in the new editions. My dd is on her last couple lessons of TT pre-algebra, and I just started her on the *new* edition BJU pre-algebra. I had the old edition BJU pre-algebra (borrowed from my SIL) all summer but just didn't have time to get to it, grrr. I only got the new edition this week, so I haven't had a chance to compare it side by side with the old edition BJU, sorry. The new edition however is AWESOME. The reps are saying the new editions are being bumped up so much to meet new standards. I really don't know. I'm just finding it incredibly THOROUGH. The dominion through math problems are quite good. The C level work is fine, not hard enough to blow her mind but just enough more complex that it makes sure she knows the concepts. I'm EXCEPTIONALLY happy with it. Basically I would not buy old edition BJU at this point. Buy the new. There's a reason they updated, and it's terrific. Couple more comments. In a lot of the new edition tms with cds, the cds include extra work. I haven't called to ask, but from the samples, it looks like the tm cd for the pre-algebra does not include extra work but more the mathardy review game, bulletin board ideas, etc. They sell a separate activities manual with extra work. I'm using that as well and like it. So if you're going to teach the math, the tm is giving you the teaching ideas and the answers. Honestly, right now I wish I had the tm, even just for the answers. The exercises are easy enough I can do them in my head, no problem, but the word problems are more involved. Sometimes I just wanna check out and know she got the correct answer, lol. So then you end up with this question of whether you're buying new. If you're buying new for the student kit, for around $100 more you can get it with the dvds. So check that out if you're feeling at all uncomfortable teaching it. Again, the BJU new edition is QUITE thorough. We're just in the first chapter, and already it's finding holes in my dd's understanding. She had done the things, but she didn't really understand them THOROUGHLY. PS. After all that, I talked myself into getting the tm, lol. I think it will have just enough use that it will be nice to have. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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