Beginning Algebra

Try http://www.purplemath.com/modules/index.htm for explanations of some of the subjects in algebra. You might also try looking at the website of Math for Morons Like Us http://library.advanced.org/20991/intro.html. jaysma beat me to mentioning http://www.interactmath.com/ , but I used it extensively for my Intermediate algebra and trig stuff. You might just try tapping in and looking at some of the beginning algebra books to see if one models your textbook. Elayne Martin-Gay's books are listed there. She is an algebra professor who has written a number of algebra texts from Pre-Algebra to advanced algebra and made extensive CDs to accompany her books. I loved the way she presented the information--slow and repititious. Also, check the front pages of your textbook where the publisher and authors get to expound on how wonderful the book is. Check to see if there isn't a website that has been set up for your textbook. The supplemental books I used when I took Beginning algebra were Algebra for Dummies, How to Solve Word Problems in Algebra, and Solving Algebra Word Problems. They were extremely helpful. We also had CDs of lectures that went with our books that were very helpful as well. You might go to either the publishers website or a site like Barnes and Noble or Amazon and see if there are supplemental CDs or other help that goes with your book. And, in case you haven't already been told this a hundred times, the trick to learning math is to work as many problems as you can. This is why interactmath.com is so good to use as a tutorial. It will generate similar types of practice problems by just changing the numbers around, will give you the answers after you blow it the third time and show you how to work out any of the problems in a step by step manner.