Question about TE and answer keys with math books

[Pam in MA]

I'm looking at Dolciani Structure and Methods . . . does anyone know what the difference between the teachers edition and the answer key is? I'm perfectly comfortable teaching the math but would like to not have to do all the problems to check dd's work, so do I just want the answer key? What's in the TE anyway? Thanks!

[Bev in B'ville]

the TE has chapter tests, and teaching plans that tell you which and how many problems to do based on the type of course you're teaching (minimum course, average course, or maximum course). The TE also has additional examples to be worked. On the down side, the TE only has answers, no solutions.

[Gwen in VA]

We only have the solutions manual for one course -- precalculus -- but having it is a lifesaver. Maybe I am a wimp, but I wouldn't want to deal with precalculus without the SM. (And we are not happy about doing algebra 2 without it, but we haven't found a copy.)

Every course (even in algebra 1) we have come up against one or two problems that neither I nor my husband (the engineer) can solve. We believe that the book made a mistake in the problems and didn't give enough information, but we are not certain. Also, one or two of the "challenge problems" are seriously weird, and dh and I can solve them only by using approaches that the student hasnot learned yet. We don't understand how the problem is solveable for the student! I would absolutely LOVE to have the SM, even for algebra 1, just to deal with those super-weird problems.