Anyone use Teaching Textbooks?

[Satori]

I saw someone here mention http://www.teachingtextbooks.com and it looks interesting, anyone use it?

[kayla14]

We do for grade 4 and 5 right now. I personally LOVE it! But i'm not good at math, and struggle so much with trying to teach them concepts out of workbooks. And plus i'm far too unschooly to bother with teacher manuals, and stuff. I love how it teaches the kids the concept though, and that they can view the solution if they get it wrong.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

My 6th grader loves it. It uses language she understands and really breaks the math concept into steps.
The only things that I've noticed that I wish could change, is there is not much practice in the current concept being taught. There is alot of review and I like that. I usually make up a few more problems on a worksheet if I think she needs it.
The other thing to note, is that the program seems to be about a year behind what most public schools around the country are. Other than that she LOVES IT!!

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Nursingnaturalmom

My 6th grader loves it. It uses language she understands and really breaks the math concept into steps.
The only things that I've noticed that I wish could change, is there is not much practice in the current concept being taught. There is alot of review and I like that. I usually make up a few more problems on a worksheet if I think she needs it.
The other thing to note, is that the program seems to be about a year behind what most public schools around the country are. Other than that she LOVES IT!!

I noticed that but it looks to be 2 years behind the k12 we use so I was having a hard time trying to pick a level.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

THat sound about right because I think K12 is accelerated by a year in comparison to public schools. There are free placement tests on their website. How old is she? If she is middle school age, Life of Fred gets awesome reviews too

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Nursingnaturalmom

THat sound about right because I think K12 is accelerated by a year in comparison to public schools. There are free placement tests on their website. How old is she? If she is middle school age, Life of Fred gets awesome reviews too

She's a 9 yr old 3rd grader that's doing 4th grade math with K12. I looked though the tests on the site and it looks like she would need the 6th grade course. I will give her the test to see but it looks like she could get though most of it pretty easy. Were not going to stay with K12 so I'm looking for something that will work for us, it *looks* like what I'm looking for but I'm not sure.

[Nursingnaturalmom]

Have you seen MEP? Its a complete and free and good math program I think out of Europe? Anyway, google it, its neat! I would be using it, but we do waldorf around here
And my 6th grader is doing TT's.

[Satori]

Originally Posted by Nursingnaturalmom

Have you seen MEP? Its a complete and free and good math program I think out of Europe? Anyway, google it, its neat! I would be using it, but we do waldorf around here
And my 6th grader is doing TT's.

What does MEP stand for? I like the idea with the TT because its not me that's explaining concepts.

ETA: Nevermind, found it. Not what I'm looking for, thanks though!

[MrsJewelsRae]

We are really interested in Teaching Textbooks format and my ds spent a lot of time on their site doing their practice pages and really liked it. The only problem we have is that ds is somewhat advanced in math and TT is not- he is only 7 and he placed fairly easily at the grade 5 level. So we are not sure which level to place him at in the fall, cause jumping ahead 2 grades is concerning to me, afraid he'll miss something, I dunno. So I was thinking maybe he could do TT and then supplement with some more challenging stuff once a week like Singapore Math. Still trying to figure that out! He tested ahead in several other math programs such as Abeka, BJU, Saxon- but I'm not sure how those rank, if they are considered easy, average or advanced programs- I think they are average myself. Singapore seems much more challenging at appropriate grade levels, my ds is taking their grade 3 placement test right now- he is grade 2 and easily completed grade 3 math this year using BJU and would go into grade 4, the Singapore math at the grade 4 level I can definitely tell would be too hard for my ds to just jump right in. Just the way they word their questions I find somewhat confusing personally, makes me really have to think- and it's only primary- but then I'm not too mathy myself!! There, some rambling thoughts for ya!

[moominmamma]

I used TT with my older kids (they were 11 & 14 at the time) at the Algebra I and Algebra II level. They are quick and intuitive math learners who were fairly advanced for their ages. Over the long term the program really lost its lustre with them, even though we all agreed that the mode of presentation, the textbook and virtual whiteboard lectures and all, was excellent.

Basically they found the program far to incremental and spirally for their learning style and habits. Things were explained a tiny bit at a time, whereas my kids much preferred to see the bigger picture. Often a big-picture view would allow them to grasp the whole thing at once without much fuss. With TT they felt like they had to wade through days and weeks of lessons that didn't really show them where they were going. They found the amount of repetition and review tedious and the lack of lists of objectives for each lesson or section made it almost impossible to skim through and find the "meat" rather than the filler. This was probably more of a problem at the algebra level, where you can't necessarily tell by looking at an initial equation whether it is going to require some new step or skill as you work through solving it.

I have no experience at the elementary levels with the Teaching Textbooks program, but it would not be my first choice for an advanced intuitive math kid. My own 7yo is enjoying Singapore Primary Math right now, but I don't really know what I'm going to do when she graduates out the end of it ... which will happen within a year or two. While it isn't really set up to be a self-teaching program, my kids have needed very little direction and have always done most of their work in it independently.

Miranda

[tankgirl73]

TT was a godsend for my formerly math-phobic son. We'd tried various other methods with disastrous results. I knew he was actually gifted with numbers, but he believed he was stupid and worked hard to prove that heh...

We did TT grade 6 when he would have been in grade 4/5 if he were in school. He loved it because it was computer-based, he loved the little animated helper characters (which aren't in the higher levels though) and he loved how it coached you through the answers when you made mistakes... and you always get 2 chances which was great for his tendency to be um, not very CAREFUL on the first try. That gave him the chance to show that yes he does understand the concept, he just had an 'oops' and doesn't need to review the concept umpteen million times again.

(Most of those features are only in the elementary grade levels, from what I can see pre-algebra on up is more like a typical textbook format that has a computer option but is WAY less interactive).

Anyway, he completed TT6 with a 91% average and he was excited to move onto pre-algebra (we looked over the grade 7 book and decided there was not enough 'new' stuff so we could skip it). He actually AGREED to skip and move to pre-algebra! My math-phobic boy!

Well, within a month or so it was obvious that it wasn't working. #1 - the less interactive computer aspect was a major downer for him. Math was now "boring bookwork". The language also became more advanced and 'drier'. Not really surprising, considering it would generally be aimed at an older audience, but not a good fit for him.

But more concerning than that... #2, he really did NOT have a firm grasp of a lot of basic concepts. Things that he had learned and practiced and achieved 91% in TT6, just didn't 'stick'.

I think it may not necessarily be true for ALL kids, but for those like my son whose natural tendency is to just try to get through stuff as quick as possible without really applying themselves or "trying to learn" -- it's far too easy to just coast through the program, answering by educated guesswork, or figuring out patterns without truly grasping the fundamental concepts.

We ended up switching to RightStart, which was godsend #2. We went into level E, and even just working through the Transitions level it was painfully obvious that he really was missing some BASIC concepts. But he loved the course, and this time it STUCK.

I don't bear any ill will to TT -- as I said, it was a godsend, in that it opened up his eyes to the idea that math can be enjoyable and that he can be GOOD AT IT! So the 'higher' grade level (often criticized) was a boon for his self-esteem. I just like to share the caveat that for SOME kids, who tend to be 'lazy learners', it's very easy to coast and you will probably need to review, supplement, etc etc.

Now that he's finished RS level E, we're now doing RS intermediate geometry AND we've gone back to TT pre-algebra. He's older now, and better prepared mathematically, and he's enjoying it just fine. We're actually skipping huge chunks of the first chapters (mostly review), since he's mastered all that so well from RS now.

Anyway, that's my pros-and-cons review of TT. I'm now a dyed-in-the-wool RS fan, will be using RS from the start with DD, and if I could do it again would have tried RS first with DS as well. But I still think TT is a GOOD program, even if it's not the BEST overall. It still can be GREAT for many, many kids.

[AnnR33]

I posted this on the other TT thread:

Yes, be sure to use the placement tests and look at table of contents if there's any doubt. Don't use their level numbers (TT4, TT5, etc) for "grades"-most hs materials that have levels rarely correspond to typical grades IME.

We are using TT5 this year and it's been a big hit for my son. He tested at the edge for level 6 so I had him do TT5 for the review and so glad I did-it's been right on. The first half was fairly easy but good review, the 2nd half has been new material.

I do like having the book even though we don't use it daily. When he gets more than a few wrong in a lesson we can go back and redo the problems until he understands it.

He's very auditory so hearing the lessons has been helpful for him. He can also ask for a "hint" on some problems which is a nice feature.

We'll be sticking w/ TT!

You can often find these used (except for 3 and 4 since they are newest) on WTM or other used boards. They hold their value but you can save about 25%.