Teaching Textbooks…is it truly high quality? Opinions, please.

I agree Christie!….math has been an ongoing problem in our home as well 🙁

I also hope no one casts stones my way, but we have a negative review on TT.  Our friends carried on about how wonderful TT was so our dd wanted to switch.  We tried TT Algebra (3 years ago so not sure if it was “new or old” version) and our dd hated it!  She thought it had too many words and explanations.  She said, …”just give me the math and let me do it”.  We ended up switching to MUS, which went OK.  (This is not my mathy kid.)  However, on a side note, the family that was so in love with it, now has a dd at university and she’s really struggling with math and doesn’t feel TT prepared her for higher level so I’m glad we didn’t stick with it.  There have been several other homeschool families in our area that used TT for remediation for students not university bound.

Our younger kiddos also used MUS.  It totally did not work for our dyslexic son despite postive reviews for kids with special needs.  It was going great with another child for the first three years until we hit multiple digit multiplication in Gamma.  Since, we’ve tried several other programs without success and have finally settled on Singapore.  Unfortunately, due to MUS’s non-tradtional scope & sequence, this dd was very behind with no exposure to division and very little measurement so she had to go back two grade levels in Singapore.  We have both accepted this and are moving on.  So far it’s going well.  Lesson learned…if you begin MUS at the elemenary level, I would highly recommend finishing through Zeta so that your child has covered all areas of elementary math before moving on. 

Hope you find that magic key

Blessings,

Melissa

http://reflectionsfromdrywoodcreek.blogspot.com/

Math makes us cry around here too. We did try TT for last year with my oldest daughter. We felt like it was full of little tricks and didn’t explain why you would do anything. It bothered her and me.

I try to have them understand why, but I do know sometimes some kids are just going to need to move on to procedures and not get why at the moment (like my next daughter). I think that’s terrible, but life is life sometimes.

Anyway, we really didn’t like TT, but we have yet to find a math program that actually makes math not painful; so maybe that’s just us.

Boy, if someone could put together a workshop with stations for a variety of math curricula, complete with a solid set of sample lessons & all of the materials (print or other media) to look at–and I mean a hands-on sort of station, not just vendor displays–they could probably charge admission for it & homeschooling families would come out in droves for it. It’s just so hard to choose the math program that’s right for each of your children.

I have one child who “gets” math fairly easily, and she has no problem with MUS. My older daughter, though, has struggled and struggled to get through pre-Algebra & Algebra, so I’m looking at TT for her. She needs a fair amount of explanation and practice. Although she complains about “Mr. Sal” & Khan Academy, she does eventually follow what he’s demonstrating and learns concepts after a lot of practice problems. I’m going to have her do a sample lesson on the TT website tomorrow to see how she gets on with it before purchasing it, though.

If TT doesn’t work for her, I’m not sure what I’ll try next. We’re certainly not made of money, and it is taking too long to settle into the right math for her! Any career choices I can push her towards that require a total lack of advanced math knowledge, LOL?

Well, my average 4th grader did well on the 1st portion of the 6th grade placement test – – 9/15 correct (you need 10/15) to place in 6th grade.

Does anyone know? Is TT on par with most other maths? Saxon, etc.?

Yes, she took the second part and didn’t do as well – I forget the exact score now. 

What we’re using now is working (the CLE math) but looking ahead, I think it might be beneficial for her to have a “tutor” and if TT can do that, it’d be great.

What does FWIW stand for? I’ve seen it a lot and still don’t have it figured out….

Ironically, my kids are mathy…

It is ironic because their mother is decidedly NOT. We have done basically the same thing with our first four kids, and it seems to work pretty well:

Age 4-6: Calendars, counters (manipulatives), practical math and games

Age 6-7: We blend hands on math with Singapore

About age 7 or 8: We started TT. Some of the kids started in the 4th grade level, some in 3rd. I consider TT about a year behind grade level, but I do the placement test and put them in where they fit (even if it is the middle of the grade level).

We continue to do math drills and supplement with some practical math and workbooks. So far, so good, for us. All of my kids are at or above grade level in math. My 10yo is doing TT7 and my 12yo is doing pre-algebra (placed at Algebra level, but I wanted her to have a good foundation, so that is where we put her).

I should point out that I do make them do the written problem before they enter the answer, and, if they make a score below 90% on a day’s assignment, they re-do the entire assignment.

I am very unconcerned that they won’t have ‘enough’ math continuing at this rate…but that is probably because I have never expected my kids to major in math or attempt college level trig, calculus, and the like. If they have a propensity in those areas in high school, I will turn them over to a tutor.

But I think that, for most homeschooled students, TT works well and is the next best thing to a real life tutor. And I think that if any child shows a skill beyond what your curriculum choice can provide, it is your responsibility to move on so that they can acheive as much as possible in thier education before leaving home. Seems like we would know that before they leave high school!