DD was able to make it to the end of the year and made an A in her math class. I really think the pace was too fast for an introduction to Algebra. She memorized the rules for -/+ integers & their operations so that she could do the work; I told her that it would eventually make sense. One explanation that helped some (besides all these GREAT ideas--thanks again!) was to think of the negative sign as "the opposite of" whatever operation is given. So 3*-(-4) would be "three times the opposite of negative four, or three times positive four." It might break down as an effective process eventually, but by then I think she will have had a light bulb moment & not need it any more.
