Customer Reviews

Arithmetic the Easy Way (Barron's E-Z)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought the second edition of this book several years ago when our company (USWest) was closing departments and we knew we would have to start testing for job title changes. It was one of the most helpful purchases I have ever made! I retired, and now I'm going into real estate. Naturally the real estate classes (and the state test) have lots of math and math problems. As they say...what you don't use you lose!!! There were several of us in the classes who were having a difficult time with the math problems and formulas. This book was once again a life saver. At first glance one would think it's too simple...more for children than adults, but it isn't. Mr. Williams makes math super simple for any age!!!

The first few chapters are basic math...addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, Roman numerals, etc.

Chapters 6-8 are fractions...changing improper to mixed numbers...subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions...unlike denominators, etc.

Chapters 10-13 cover decimals...comparing, rounding off, adding, subtracting, multiplying mixed decimals.

Chapter 14 covers percents...changing percents to decimals, to fractions, and finding the percent of a number.

Chapter 15 covers measurement.

There are pre-tests to see if you need to study the chapter, word problems, practice examples, and practice tests after every section.

I recommend this book for everyone...young people who find math difficult, as an invaluable aid for parents of school age children, for anyone who is making a career change and is faced with job testing, and for those...like myself...who have been out of school for years and need a brush up on math skills. The price is minimal!!!

Thank you, Edward Williams, for writing this book. Thank you for the difference it has made it my life!!!

I work for a major corporation that requires employees who apply for other jobs within the company, to take and pass the "Universal Test Battery". A part of this exam is arithmetic, including addition, subtraction, division, multiplication and percentages. I am a 54 year old who has been using a calulator for 30+ years! This book is indeed a 'workbook' that reviews all arithmetic and clearly explains the problems and how to do them all the way to sucess!

I think this is a great book because I was failing math in school so I decided to try to look for a book at amazon.com. Then I found Arithmetic the easy way.It really helped.In one month my grade went from a D to an A. I love this book and I know anyone who buys it will enjoy it to.

I am a 40+ year old M.D. who is relearning math to do some tutoring, and this book is really solid, well written. It clearly took a great deal of effort to make it so lucid and logically sequenced, beautifully sequenced with difficult concepts explained with simple explanations. I would definitely recommend it to just about anyone who needs to work on any or all of the following:

addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions--including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division thereof--decimals and percentages

I'm sure if I had encountered this book in high school i would have done better in math, and I plan to use it as a resource in my tutoring.

This is the book that my daughter's tutor recommended. My daughter has a hard time remembering the steps to solve math problems. My tutor recommended this book vs. math worksheets because no matter how many worksheets my daughter does to practice, she will have a hard time remembering the steps. This book, on the other hand, gives examples that she can follow and refer back to. It makes her more independent because she can pull the book out and find the concept she's working on and see the steps outlined. I've reviewed and purchased dozens of math books and practice books, and this one is the best.

As soon as you jump into this book, it already assumes something about you; you know the material, because you've been taught it before, you've just forgotten it. And yes, this is true in my case. I bought it to brush up on my very basic math before taking the Accuplacer test (C'mon, everyone forgets how to do percentages and long division) standard at my college and it helped immensely.

So why did I rate it 3 stars?

For a few reasons... The biggest one being what I said above, it's fully confident that you've been taught this stuff so it only lightly touches on what needs to be done. The sample problems before each chapter section are sometimes incomplete and confusing. It does a good job in telling you what needs to be done but there's never any information regarding WHY it needs to be done. Because it assumes what it does, it never explains things in depth. Yeah, This isn't a book mathematical theory, but helping someone better understand why they're taking the steps they're taking when solving a problem is crucial in helping someone understand the material.

One last issue I wasn't expecting on a book like this was something most math books are notorious for, but found it to be rampant in this book. It gives you something like 2 or 3 generous examples and maybe 12+ problems to solve on each section. The thing is, it throws problems at you that weren't touched on by any of the examples. The luxury of having a tutor or teacher explain these to you aren't available to the people this book is meant for. The only fully solved problems are the chapter tests, the others just list the answers.

In the end though, with the help of this book and Schaum's Outlines of Elementary Algebra, I was able to take the Accuplacer, allowing me to skip a few semester's worth of Math Classes. And regardless of everything I've said, this is still one of the better cram books I've worked with up to this point. I would still recommend it to anyone wanting to brush up on their basic math, I'd just warn them to be cautious about it.

I am an idiot when it comeS to this type of math. I used to hate it and would have panic attackS in class when asked to go to the fronT of the class. Now, I'm the first one to rasing my hand! This book has changed my life lol. Its sounds cheesy but it's true. GET IT!

Numeracy is a neglected part of adult literacy tutoring. It's no longer enough simply to teach people how to use words--they also need to understand basic numbers, along with financial literacy and basic computer skills. This book really starts at the beginning--a shepherd counting his sheep, one by one, making notches on a stick--a tally. And moves forward from there. I purchased 5 copies for my ESL adult students and myself, and will probably buy more in the future.

I got this book to help my 5th grader who is weak at math. This book has been very helpful in getting her to understand and it also gives her extra practice. I like the test that go along with each section. I would recommend this book to anyone needing help in basic math.

**** 4 Stars !!! A great review of grade school Arithmetic for Adults who have been out of school for many years. I bought this book to keep me out of Remedial classes when I return to Community College, and I can say, with no reservations, that Barron's has really come through with this excellant review of Arithmetic, I originally learned 40 years ago. Buy It! Peace ;-)