pambo's Full Review: Denise Szecsei Ph.D. - Basic Math And Pre-Algebra
Having recently gotten through my very first college math class, thanks to a huge assist from the professor, I find myself strangely eager to study more math.
For anyone in the same position, needing or wanting to refresh or learn new math skills, I highly recommend "Home Workers Basic Math and Pre-Algebra." Don't be put off by the publisher's description of it as a book for young adults.
What sets this book apart from some others of the same category is that it takes time to present good explanations of what's going on. A number of books like this start out with easy explanations, then seem to suddenly leap into more complex problems with litlte help.
Among the covered topic are:
Fractions and how to use them Working with the decimal system Figuring percentages (a personal bugaboo) Solving linear equalities Graphing functions Word problems
The book starts at the start: various symbols nearly everyone knows are listed in a chart, from addition to greater than/less than symbols.
The book then moves quickly into addition, with a reminder that numbers to be added care called addends, that the fact that the order of numbers being added doesn't matter (meaning that 3+5 or 5+3 are the same) means addition is known as commutative and that, because addition can be grouped, it is known as associative. (Frankly, I had long ago forgotten these terms, if I ever knew all of them.)
From there, we're off on a march, from integers to fractions, to exponents, expressions and equations, ratios, proportions and percents, onto to equalities and graphs, and linear functions, before touching on algebra and geometry.
In addition to clear explanations of each phase, the tone is perfect. There's no condescension, or worse, extreme cutesiness. That's not to say there's no humor. In the section introducing decimals, the author notes that while Roman numerals work for Super Bowls, trying to work with the ancient system for multiplication chores would be painful.
Not incidentally, the book offers review sections for each chapter and an answer key.
As long as you don't cheat and go directly to the answer section, you should enjoy and learn a lot from this book.
Homework Helpers: Basic Math and Pre-Algebra is a straightforward and easy-to-read review of arithmetic skills. It includes topics that are intended t...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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