What exactly does TT Algebra 1 include?

[saraha]

I am sorry if this is one of those questions that has an answering staring me in the face, but I just can't find it.

We are looking at the Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 2.0. On their website it says complete set all books and dvds.

When I looked on ebay it says Full Set but the picture shows a teaching textbook, an answer key and test bank book, then three different cds labled solutions cd, test solution cd and practice cd.

My question is, are the dvds and cds supposed to be the same thing? Teaching textbooks website doesn't list out the complete package and doesn't mention cds, the other has cds but doesn't mention dvds.

Thanks!

[monalisa]

There are only CD-roms for the 2.0 edition.  I'm pretty sure the 1.0 version was CD-ROMs also.  They aren't DVDs you can play in your DVD player (they only run on a Windows or MAC computer).  My dd did Algebra 1 version 2.0 before the streaming option (version 3.0), and there was a set of 10 CD-ROMs.  I think you may be looking at the first edition, 1.0 on Ebay (I just looked myself, and see some 1.0 versions for sale and they include have discs labeled as CDs).  I think the version 1.0 wasn't self-grading, but I'm not completely sure.

I would recommend the updated edition, 2.0 or 3.0; they made some significant improvements in adding content from 1.0 to 2.0 making it more comparable to other Algebra 1 courses.  Also, we liked the the streaming version (which is 3.0)  if that works for you; its cheaper, and you can then just buy the big spiral textbook separately if you want it.  My daughter used streaming for Geometry and it worked great (however, it does rely on Adobe Flash so I'm not sure what is going to happen when Adobe Flash goes away at the end of the year.  Surely they have a plan).

Edited to add:  I just looked at the Teaching Textbook site and see that they are calling them DVDs.  I can't imagine why, unless they have a webpage writer who doesn't know the difference.  I also saw on their site that they are launching a 4.0 version, which works on desktop and mobile, and I'm assuming addresses the Adobe Flash Player issue.

Edited August 12, 2020 by monalisa

[saraha]

Thank you so much for this! I was so confused. Were you happy with it?

[CinV]

Anything with solutions cds is version 1, which is not complete. We used v2 & 3 all the way through Pre-calc and both my sons have tested decently on the SAT/ACT and done fine in Calc 1 in dual enrollment their Sr. year. My rule was a solution worked out on paper before they could pick a multiple choice answer and full solutions must be viewed anytime a problem is missed.

[monalisa]

17 hours ago, saraha said:

Thank you so much for this! I was so confused. Were you happy with it?

Moderately happy with Algebra 1.  Very happy with Geometry.  I also required my daughter do all her work on paper (she kept it all in a spiral notebook).  After TT Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1, I felt like her understanding was shaky, even though she got an A in  both TT courses.  I had her repeat Algebra 1 with Derek Owens online Algebra 1, which was a more difficult course (she told me it covered things she did not learn in TT).  She then did TT Geometry (DO Geometry uses Jacobs, and it was a no-go for her we realized after a few weeks).  Then she did Derek Owens Algebra 2 (TT Algebra 2 included a fair amount of material that had been taught in DO Alg 1).  This year she is doing MUS pre-calculus (which she picked, so if it ends up not working out, TT is our fall back).

Probably more than you care to know!  In retrospect, it probably would have been fine to have her do TT all the way through to pre-calculus without repeating Algebra 1.  She could have then done calculus this year as a senior, but she isn't going to be a STEM major so it really doesn't matter.  Her ACT math scores were relatively high, despite the fact that she dislikes math.