If you’ve followed me for a while, you might already know that I’ve taught just about every factoring method under the sun over the years.
Through many trials and errors (along with teaching progressively more advanced classes such as pre-calculus), I have come to the conclusion that factoring by grouping is the best and most flexible method for students to learn.
Not only is it easy to catch onto and has a built-in check halfway through the process, but it’s flexible enough to keep being used in any future math course (something that is certainly not true for all factoring methods).
Math by the Mountain 