Unofficial Reviews: Teaching Textbooks (Math)

By unofficial review, I mean that I was NOT asked to review the product and I have NOT received ANYTHING AT ALL for reviewing it.  I am simply reviewing a product because I LIKE IT!  : ) 

When my oldest (9-year-old Isaac) started Kindergarten, we used Singapore Math because it was recommended in the program we were using (Little Hearts for His Glory by Heart of Dakota).  For 1st-3rd grades I had already purchased the entire Miquon Math set at a yard sale; therefore, I felt obligated to use it (for whatever reason).  For reasons I won’t go into here, Miquon Math did not prove to be a good fit for us (although I still love the Cuisenaire Rods).  We persevered until half-way through 3rd grade before I realized my son despised math and was not progressing very well in it…well, realized it enough to know we had to make a change.

I did my research and read lots of reviews on programs such as Singapore Math, Math-U-See, and Saxon Math.  I was on the verge of trying out Singapore Math again, even though Isaac had not done well on the diagnostic tests they have on their website, when I read a review of Teaching Textbooks at Homeschool Creations.  Jolanthe’s description sounded like the perfect fit for Isaac.  The only downside was the price.  After much consideration of the costs of other popular math programs and the need that Isaac had to improve in math and gain his confidence back, we decided it would be worth the money.

Now that Isaac is halfway through the 4th grade program, I feel I can give you an honest opinion of Teaching Textbooks.  So here goes!

Teaching Textbooks is a program on CD-ROM.  If you buy the entire kit, it comes with the CD-ROM set (4 disks), a textbook, and an answer key.  I read on several reviews that at the 4th grade level, you don’t really need the textbook.  Most of the reviewers hadn’t used it at all.  The only place I could find that sold the CDs only (at, of course, a lower price) was Christianbook.com, and they were out of stock at the time.  Because I needed the program soon, I went ahead and ordered the whole kit from a different company.  The other reviewers were right…we really haven’t touched the textbook.

Some reviews I’ve read have made a point to say that Teaching Textbooks is NOT an advanced program or even that it’s NOT up to grade level.  I have taught in public schools, and this program seems to be close enough to grade level in my opinion.  While it may not be advanced, why should it have to be?  If your child does exceptionally well at math and needs an advanced program, you can either get a higher grade level or choose a different program that is advanced.  However, for a child who hates math, has no confidence in his or her ability to do math problems, and has struggled to understand math, I feel you certainly do NOT need an advanced program!  In fact, an advanced program would only make matters worse.  I believe children need to  fully understand basic math concepts before they can advance to more difficult concepts.  Advanced programs tend to speed quickly through concepts, which is great for children who comprehend math quickly and easily but disastrous for children who don’t.  Teaching Textbooks has been a perfect fit for my son, and he’s progressing very well this year, so I’m well-pleased with it!  It was so worth the money that I’m going to order the 5th grade level soon.

Another benefit of Teaching Textbooks is that the program does all the teaching.  I don’t have to do anything really.  The program has a gradebook and automatically figures up the scores.  It also has tests and math fact bonus quizzes.  After Isaac completes a lesson, he goes to the gradebook so I can see how he did.  If he misses any problems, I can go back and see what he did wrong, and he can click on the problem again to have the solution explained.  I suppose that I could assign extra work in the textbook if he was struggling with a concept, but so far we haven’t needed to do that.

Teaching Textbooks starts with 3rd grade, so Moriah (my 1st-grader) is using a different program (NOT Miquon).  Since she also did Singapore Math in Kindergarten, I decided to continue with that program into 1st-2nd grade.  If she does well with it, I’ll keep it for 3rd as well.  For Isaac, Teaching Textbooks has been a life-saver.

Here’s a video if you want to know more:

Carrot Math

Tonight at dinner, all Isaac had left to finish was his carrots. I noticed that he seemed to just be playing with them, and I asked him (in an irritated way) what he was doing. I looked more closely and realized he had chopped one little carrot coin into 6 tiny but even pie-shaped pieces. Before answering me, he pushed one tiny piece out of the way and then said, "There...one-sixth!" LOL! I love when kids bring what they're learning into real-life activities! He eventually ate all his carrots...after dividing one into fifths, one into fourths, one into thirds, and one into half. He was pretty proud of himself!

Help! I'm Not Happy with My Math Curriculum!

I'm a perfectionist, planning, scheduling, list-making homeschool Momma, and I've run into a problem. I was planning, scheduling, and purchasing homeschool products before I even got pregnant with my oldest child! Now I'm all messed up with my "perfect schedule" and feel lost in space somewhere.

It has to do with our math curriculum. When I saw it in several homeschool catalogs several years ago, I thought Miquon Math sounded great. When I found the entire set (Grades 1-3 books and Lab Annotations for the teacher) at a yard sale, I snatched them up. For kindergarten, I used Singapore Math, which I really liked. However, being on a tight budget, I was determined to use the much less-colorful but highly-recommended Miquon Math for 1st-3rd grades (since I already had it). We made it through the first 2 years and stayed on schedule. I have things I appreciate about the program, and I have some things I don't like about it. For instance, even the teacher manual doesn't explain what to do on certain pages. It's advanced math, but it leaves very little room for reinforcement of material already learned. While I understand the reasoning behind the program--why they present it the way they do--I think it's best for students who really excel at math.

So here I am, perfectionist and schedule person, finding myself not knowing how to proceed, and it's the middle of the school year. My son is really struggling. Obviously I need to slow down and work with him on concepts until he understands them instead of pressing on with the next concept. My schedule is all messed up now, but if I keep going like this I'm going to do more harm than good as far as my son's math is concerned.

Problem is that I'm in England. I'm not coming home to America until summer 2010. England has a HUGE shortage of homeschool supply companies (I've not really found any, in fact). I normally buy all my stuff when I'm in America and bring it in our suitcases. So, we're in Week 11 of school (we start later here), and I'm already wanting to ditch this program. It's just not working for Isaac. I could possibly order something off Amazon UK (sometimes they get in stuff from America), but I don't know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? Have you ever had to scrap your curriculum partway through the school year? I need a low-cost Math Curriculum that covers what a 3rd-grader should know and has easy-to-understand explanations. What's your favorite??? Or should I stick it out with Miquon but slow it down and supplement it heavily with Math Games and activities? Does anyone have good 3rd-grade-level math games or activities that you recommend??? I don't want something that will bore him. I want him to enjoy Math and still learn what he needs to learn.

Hoping someone reads this and can help me out!