If you have facility with the basic facts of addition and multiplication, that is, you have 9+9 and 9*9 committed to memory, then you have the foundation to have facility with the idea of factors and multiples, which makes comprehension of the arithmetic of fractions not difficult, and also facility with arithmetic of signed numbers, in turn allowing the solving of equations by invoking opposite order of operations to be mastered with a little practice. Once you have that foundation, then the other stuff is just learning some patterns and procedures.
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Anonymous2011-07-26 5:33
Anyway, the idea of functions relates to formulas. With a background in algebra, you'll have a clue about what formulas are -- equations that are used for calculating a desired number from given numbers. The drawing and graphing can be a visual way to comprehend functions. The functions can be enjoyed as intellectual objects, or employed in modelling of relationships amongst quantities seen or measured in the world. We can even collect a load of measurements (numbers), analyze them as a set, and attempt to create formulas that might be useful in a predictive way.