Can anyone compare Foerster's and Jacob's Algebra 1?

[Mary in GA]

Dd is finishing Singapore Math, and I don't want to continue with NEM. I own Foerster's. We used Foerster's books up through calculus with ds, and we really liked the series. We used Jacob's for Geometry and liked that too. This dd is not like her brother, and I feel like Foerster's may be a little overwhelming and intensive for her.

 

Do they cover the same topics? Is the depth comparable? I think I would want to go to Foerster's for Algebra 2. what is the point in saving older dc's books if you don't reuse them! Thanks! (I'm posting this on K-8 as well.)

 

Mary

[AngieW in Texas]

I've used Jacobs and Kinetic Books for Algebra. I like both of them, but I like Kinetic Books better. It goes into a little more depth than Jacobs and has immediate feedback for many of the problems.

 

Neither of these programs has a solution manual.

 

Kinetic Books has answers only for the odd problems in the end-of-unit sections. There are so many problems in these sections that you wouldn't want to assign more than the odds anyway. In fact, I often assigned every-other-odd.

 

You can preview the first chapter of KB online at their website.

http://www.kineticbooks.com

[Sharon in MD]

We used Jacobs for Al I, but I sat down and compared it chapter and verse with Foerster before making the decision. Foerster goes a little bit deeper and has some extra challenging material, but I really don't think that it is significantly better than jacobs at all. They use nearly identical explanations of the material and some of the examples and problems are virtually word for word.

 

Where Jacobs wins for me is that it is so approachable. My ds loved the cartoons at the start of each new chapter and really liked his humor. A little levity is a good thing. Foerster "looks" more intimidating to my eye.

 

We used Jacobs for Al I and Geometry and then slid right into Foerster without a whimper. It was seamless.

 

I'd go for it.

[Laura K (NC)]

Jacobs seemed more student-friendly. But when it came to word problems, there just wasn't enough examples. Cartoons don't help solve word problems or more complicated problems. I found myself turning time and again to Foerster's examples and explanations, and finally about midway through the year we switched completely. My 2nd son, who is not as fond of math as my oldest, is doing fine with it right now. My 3rd son will begin with it next year. I didn't even save the Jacobs' text in case the Foerster's didn't work out for them. I was that sure that it would.

 

I can't say the same about Foerster's Alg. and Trig, but you didn't ask about that one. I do like Jacobs Geometry very much. My oldest is finishing that one up next week. It's a tough book but the material is presented well. I plan for my other two sons to use it, but I'm keeping a backup BJU Geometry just in case. That will be our default if Jacobs Geometry doesn't work.

[Mary in GA]

Well, it seems I won't go wrong if I buy Jacob's, since I still have Foerster's for a back up! Thank you all very much!

 

Mary

[Jenny in Atl]

I've used Jacobs and Kinetic Books for Algebra. I like both of them, but I like Kinetic Books better. It goes into a little more depth than Jacobs and has immediate feedback for many of the problems.

 

Neither of these programs has a solution manual.

 

Kinetic Books has answers only for the odd problems in the end-of-unit sections. There are so many problems in these sections that you wouldn't want to assign more than the odds anyway. In fact, I often assigned every-other-odd.

 

You can preview the first chapter of KB online at their website.

http://www.kineticbooks.com

 

I have the TE for Jacob's... ISBN is 0-7167-1075-7

If this helps.