Pre-Algebra, 2000 edition

by Hal C. Oberholzer II

Bob Jones University Press

You will need the hardbound student text and the two-volume teacher’s edition for BJUP’s pre-algebra course. This text was written by the same author who wrote their Fundamentals of Math for seventh grade so it follows a similar format. However, it does not spend much time on review but moves quickly into algebraic expressions and equations. After additional work with decimals and integers, it moves on into number theory, rational and irrational numbers, equations and inequalities, ratio/proportion/percent, percent applications, geometry, area, volume, statistics and probability, square roots and special triangles, and graphing and functions. Some topics sound similar to those introduced at the seventh grade level, but they delve deeper. For example, some geometry topics in this book (e.g., volume of pyramids and cones, identifying the measurement of an angle in an irregular polygon) are generally covered within high school geometry courses.

This text is actually slightly more difficult than Saxon’s Algebra 1/2, also considered an eighth grade text. BJUP’s text spends more time on practical application, word problems, consumer math, geometry, and graphing coordinates. It also introduces functions and trigonometric ratios. You need not complete all of these topics if a student is struggling to get through the course!

Themes such as flowers, animals, and the solar system thread through each chapter via photos and captions. These are intended to help illustrate mathematical concepts or tie in to biblical principles, but some are such a stretch that they serve as no more than window dressing.

Chapters are prefaced with a brief Bible story illustrating some mathematical relationship to a Bible truth. Each chapter ends with a word problem strategy lesson, a consumer math lesson, an optional “mind boggler” problem, and chapter review problems. Save the mind bogglers for students who need the extra challenge.

Brief daily reviews are provided in the margin of the teacher’s edition, but these draw only from topics covered in the previous chapter rather than all chapters to that point. The Student Activities Book provides additional practice, but it is optional. If you purchase it, you will also want the separate teacher edition that serves as its answer key.