One important skill is finding what monomials "have in common". We can then factor out these greatest common factors (GCF) to help solve equations.
Factoring quadratics is essential skill in many math classes. Take a bit of time to truly learn how to factor quadratics as we will build on these skills over the next few years. The better you are at factoring, the easier much of your remaining math studies will be and the way you get better at factoring is lots and lots of practice!
Since we know how to factor quadratics, we can now solve them. Solving quadratics by factoring takes very little effort after the factoring stage. This screencast will get you started.