Elementary Algebra

This course should be commenced once the student completes the Prealgebra textbook and is the equivalent of the Algebra 1 course usually taken in eighth grade or high school.

Of the two Algebra 1 courses in our curriculum, this is is a less in-depth option which is appropriate for average to strong math students who wish to learn the material thoroughly without making math a major focus. The Jacobs text presents the material clearly and concisely, and provides plenty of practice exercises.

One thing we like about this text is that the exercises at the end of each section include a review of previous material. The textbook also includes a midterm and two final exam tests.

We recommend purchasing the textbook and answer key. The main value in the teacher's guide is the collection of tests (unit, midterm, and final) with their answer keys, which you can optionally use to test comprehension and give your student the chance to practice study and test-taking skills.

The sample schedule in the teacher's guide has students complete every practice problem in each lesson, each day. We think this results in an excessive amount of work and is unnecessary for most students. You may instead choose to assign a selection of problems, for example, all odd numbered questions, or focus on problems for which your student needs the most practice. Our schedule allocates two days to each lesson, and you should aim to spend between 30 minutes and an hour per day on math.

Following the default pacing in our schedule will allow you to work through the entire textbook in ten months. You may opt to skip or move faster through the first few chapters, which review concepts covered in Prealgebra. If you run out of time, feel free to skip the final chapter on number sequences, but try to cover all other material before continuing to Geometry or Algebra 2.