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Edition does not matter. Just make sure the picture matches on the covers of your student text and solutions manual.

 

BCM is all the basic arithmetic you need to be successful in algebra. It can serve as a prealg course all by itself. Unless you're cherry-picking chapters, you won't get through it in a summer.

 

Lial also makes prealgebra, which also covers all the basic arithmetic you need to be successful in algebra, but with negatives, exponents, and such mixed in from the beginning. It's often referred to as an honors prealg.

 

Most kids could just use BCM or prealg before alg, but kids who struggle or need more time would benefit from doing BCM and prealg before alg 1.

 

 

Are you looking for review or a prealg intro for your summer? If the latter, Keys to Algebra introduces alg concepts gently.

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I'm confused about what I'm looking for, honestly. We've done a lot of math hopping. DD has finished CLE 5 and then been working on Khan Academy while I figure out what to do next. She's completed through 8th grade on Khan and all of the samples of CLE 6 now look too easy... I don't know. Basically, we're a math mess. 

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I would just not dive into a pre-algebra. Sounds like she's ready. If you have any topics that you feel like she hasn't covered at all, maybe do that? I'm also a curriculum hopper for math (I think there's nothing wrong with it!) and I've noted that geometry topics are something that has often fallen by the wayside for us and need to be swept up, so to speak. I had one of my ds doing the geometry chapter in BCM actually, while he's also doing pre-algebra. Or you could get something like Process Skills in Problem Solving 6 or Challenge Math if you feel like you've missed word problems.

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Just making a quick comment for what it's worth...

We've used CLE for several years and love it.  There is a lot of math after the 500 series.  

Ds is in 6th grade this year, and he will finish CLE 700 Book 5 by the end of this year.

Next year, I'm planning for him to switch to the Lial's Pre-Algebra book with Jann Perkins.

I just about signed him up for her BCM class because ds makes some careless mistakes.

After the 700 Book 5, I think BCM would be fairly easy and the Pre-Algebra will be closer to 

a lateral move with more challenge.

 

I felt like you were sort of giving up on CLE, and I wanted to let you know that CLE is quite meaty

especially if you continue on into the 700 and 800 series books. (Although we have not done the 800 series.)

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Just making a quick comment for what it's worth...

We've used CLE for several years and love it.  There is a lot of math after the 500 series.  

Ds is in 6th grade this year, and he will finish CLE 700 Book 5 by the end of this year.

Next year, I'm planning for him to switch to the Lial's Pre-Algebra book with Jann Perkins.

I just about signed him up for her BCM class because ds makes some careless mistakes.

After the 700 Book 5, I think BCM would be fairly easy and the Pre-Algebra will be closer to 

a lateral move with more challenge.

 

I felt like you were sort of giving up on CLE, and I wanted to let you know that CLE is quite meaty

especially if you continue on into the 700 and 800 series books. (Although we have not done the 800 series.)

 

Oh, I really do like CLE! I wasn't planning to bail on it, truly, until she spent so much time doing Khan-- and working through far more material than I anticipated her wanting to work through. 

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Oh, I really do like CLE! I wasn't planning to bail on it, truly, until she spent so much time doing Khan-- and working through far more material than I anticipated her wanting to work through. 

:001_smile: No worries!  

I just got the feeling that you might be faced with a loss of continuity by doing some of several programs.  One thing I really appreciate about CLE is the constant review and long-term continuity.

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I actually think that BCM could work quite well for following up math-hopping. What I'd do is start with glancing over the chapter and asking your dd if she knows it already. If she thinks she does, give the chapter test.

 

If she gets an A, correct missed problems together and move on.

If she gets a B/C, provide topical instruction on the problems she missed and do the chapter review before moving on.

If she gets lower than that, do the whole chapter.

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I actually think that BCM could work quite well for following up math-hopping. What I'd do is start with glancing over the chapter and asking your dd if she knows it already. If she thinks she does, give the chapter test.

 

If she gets an A, correct missed problems together and move on.

If she gets a B/C, provide topical instruction on the problems she missed and do the chapter review before moving on.

If she gets lower than that, do the whole chapter.

 

I'm debating using BCM next year for a younger dyslexic who is bright, has gone through arithmetic, and is a solid problem solver,  but who is also having lots of sign mix-up, calculation, and procedure forgetting type errors. I'm hoping to nail down those details before moving into pre-algebra and algebra. Do you and others think that this book would be good for that kind of review/maturing process?

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I'm debating using BCM next year for a younger dyslexic who is bright, has gone through arithmetic, and is a solid problem solver,  but who is also having lots of sign mix-up, calculation, and procedure forgetting type errors. I'm hoping to nail down those details before moving into pre-algebra and algebra. Do you and others think that this book would be good for that kind of review/maturing process?

 

Not really, in my personal opinion. It is so topically oriented that it is absolutely ideal for compacting and acceleration, as well as filling in holes for a child who has had a rather scattered math education so far. It is less optimal for a child who has received instruction and can do the procedures but needs reminders every time.

 

I would be more inclined to go for something like Saxon, and just go wherever the placement test says. I think that the mixed review is ideal for "which procedure do I use here?" as well as giving enough distributed practice to give longer retention.

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Since this is the current BCM thread - my 6th grader will finish CLE 400 this year. I'm a bit at a loss of how to help her accelerate, she isn't a mathy child at all - handwork is her specialty. Do another year of CLE, then BCM in 8th, Algebra in 9th? Two more years of CLE, BCM in 9th and Algebra in 10th? Totally new territory for me, can someone help me out? (Thread stealer, but related question - hope you don't mind!)

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Jennifer - If you child can make it through CLE 700, I think they could move on to CLE's Algebra or any other Algebra. You're probably aware of the ways to accelerate CLE - working through the summer, doing an extra lesson on quiz days, skipping quizzes and tests entirely, or crossing out some of the review. At any rate, because of all the mixed review, CLE is a little harder to compact then some other courses.  If long term retention of concepts is a problem, I would continue with CLE as long as possible.If that's not an issue, then maybe jump to another pre-algebra earlier. BCM is very much a mastery based curriculum although there is some natural repetition because of the way the concepts build on each other. 

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I actually think that BCM could work quite well for following up math-hopping. What I'd do is start with glancing over the chapter and asking your dd if she knows it already. If she thinks she does, give the chapter test.

 

If she gets an A, correct missed problems together and move on.

If she gets a B/C, provide topical instruction on the problems she missed and do the chapter review before moving on.

If she gets lower than that, do the whole chapter.

 

I completely agree with this. 

 

And to answer the original question, edition really doesn't matter. I've gone with 7th edition for most of the LIal's books we've used. Here is 7th edition BCM, nice and cheap :).

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