Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I often hear from homeschoolers that their biggest fear and struggle is teaching math and especially advanced math concepts. For some of us it’s been a long time since you have done certain math concepts or if you’re like me, math was just a tough subject for me. Throughout the years of homeschooling my kids I have been relearning areas that I struggled in. Then the realization comes that your kid has surpassed you in your math skills! Yikes! You can see why I was interested in Math Refresher for Adults from Math Essentials.

Math Refresher for Adults is a 270 page soft cover, consumable book. It covers a whole plethora of topics to refresh those math skills like: 

Whole Numbers: addition, subtractions, multiplication, & division. 

Fractions: identifying, simplest forms, improper, mixed, least common, addition, subtraction, multiplying, division, and more. 

Decimals: changing fractions to mixed to decimals, comparing, adding, subtraction, multiplying, division, & more.

Percents: changing to percents, decimals to percents, decimals to fractions, word problems, and more. 

Geometry: points, lines, places, types of angles, polygons, circles, triangles, rectangles, parallelograms, circumference, area, and more. 

Integers: addition, subtractions, multiplication, division, integers with more than two integers. 

Charts and Graphs: bar, line, circle, and picture. 

Word Problems: whole numbers, fractions decimals, word problems in 1-step & 2-step, and multi-step word problems. 

Pre-Algebra and Algebra: sets, integers, positive & negative fractions & decimals, exponents, square roots, order of operations, properties of numbers, scientific notation, ratios & proportions, percentage, slope, and much more.

I love that it covers your basic starting with addition up to algebra. It gives you a good variety to refresh those rusty math skills. Another feature in the back of the book is an Answer Key and Glossary. The Glossary I didn’t realize how much it would assist me as I was working through the workbook. I have forgotten what some of the terminology is. This will be helpful when I am helping my son.

A sample of the Solution key in the back of the book.

The answer key gives you just the answer. I would have loved in some areas to have complete solution written out.

I like the tables and found them very beneficial.

There are also is Important Symbols, Multiplication Tables, Commonly Used Prime Numbers, Squares and Square Roots, Fraction/Decimal Equivalents Tables in the back of the book. 

The format of each page is laid out the same. At the top of the page there are Review Exercises which are 4 review questions that cover a variety of topics. I noticed that none of the review question covers algebra concepts-or at least none I noticed.  Next, you have Helpful Tips that gives you some basic tips and information on the problems that you will be working on and I felt they are clear and concise tips. After the review section you have a new set of problems that vary from your review usually around 10 questions. The bottom of each page has a Problem Solving question which is basically a word problem. All the word problems are question that you can use in everyday life. There are a few variations in the pages with your Final Review at the end of each concept. Also, there is a Final Review at the end of the book.

 

Here are a couple of videos which are done nicely on a white board. The instructor does a great job explaining.

The gem of this book is the video lesson component. Thank goodness because I need all the assistance I can get with math. The videos are no thrill down to the point videos showing just a white board from the author Richard W. Fisher teaching each topic. He gives several step-by-step examples of the problems. You find the videos on the Math Essentials website. What’s different from this book from the others is that it doesn’t have designated videos just for this book. You look by topic through all the videos. There is a code provided in the front of your book and there are codes on the website itself to gain access. 

How Did I Use Math Refresher for Adults? 

As I mentioned earlier my son has surpassed me in my math skills and he occasionally needs help. I wanted to shake of the cob webs and see if I could get my skill up to speed. I’ll be honest with you-math is by far my least favorite subject. Just don’t tell my kids that! I wish I could be enthusiastic about math.

 

A couple of finished pages that I did well on! Page 27, 91, 185, & 195.

My plan was three days a week, so I put the math book in a spot that I would see it and remember to do it! I know horrible and my kids couldn’t get away with not finding their workbooks! I decided to start at the beginning of the workbook. The whole numbers were pretty easy for me and I decided it would be better if I jump around. Some areas I did whole pages other areas I picked and choose a few problems on each page throughout the book. I wanted to get as much of a variety in as possible. Percentages weren’t a problem for me. I thought I knew fractions better as I did help my kids with them several years ago. I actually got a bit tied up on a few of them-yea I guess I needed a refresher. Geometry, pre-algebra, and algebra are where I really slowed down in the workbook. I really appreciated the videos as a more visual learning helped me work through several of the problems. I also watched several of the videos which helped me remember other concepts. I usually spent around 20 minutes a day.

Math Refresher for Adults is a great way to freshen up on your skills whether you are doing it to help teach your kids math, maybe you are going back to college or your high schooler is preparing to go to college. I’m sure you have your reason to get your math up to par. 

Social Media Links: 

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The Homeschool Review Crew has being using several product form Math Essentials like Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 Middle Grades/High School, No-Nonsense Algebra, and Math Refresher for Adults. To find out more don’t forget to look at the other reviews  click here or the graphic below.