My 12 yo daughter is nearly done with Teaching Textbooks Math 7 (she’ll finish by Spring Break in March 2010) and my 10 yo son just started a few months ago.

So, when another homeschool mom asked me about Teaching Textbooks, as a possible homeschool math curriculum for her 9 yo son, I was happy to answer her questions.

One of these days I’ll write a full review, but in the meantime, if you are considering Teaching Textbooks as a possible homeschool math curriculum, I’ve pasted our Q&A here.  If you have additional questions about Teaching Textbooks, feel free to put them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer them.

Does your son like it?

Yes, my 10 yo son  likes it. All the lessons are fully explained in video format, and all the answers are fully explained step by step, so if he misses something he can click the solution button and see where he went wrong.

He does not like that each lesson is so long, i.e., has so many problems (20 problems, plus 5 practice problems per lesson). He’s used to a much shorter program, but he has adapted by doing a 1/2 lesson per day or a minimum of 2-3 lessons per week.

Any ideas about placement?

The Teaching Textbooks  has placement tests for each level, I highly recommend using them. Don’t go by what you think is the grade level; it’ll depend on what math program you’ve used in the past and where your son is currently at.  The placement test does a good job helping you position the student in the correct level. 

Also, you can look at the table of contents of each course to see what’s covered and see if your son is ready for that level of work. In my case, Teaching Textbooks Math 7 covers fractions, decimals, and some basic geometry, which is a good transition from our elementary math program, which is weak in these topics (in my opinion), before they are ready for Beginning Algebra.

Though I have to say because we moved from a mastery-based elementary math program to Teaching Textbooks (a spiral based program), there was lots of overlap in some areas and none in others.

I did placement tests with my son a couple times over two years because he was strong in some areas and not in others, and finally when he was ready, I just moved him into Teaching Textbooks Math 7, and that’s worked well.

From my perspective, it’s a big change for me, they basically don’t need me for math anymore (yes, I’m a little sad about that). My 12 yo daughter periodically will have a question when she gets a problem wrong and can’t figure out why (and doesn’t want to view the solution on the computer.)

But other than that…there’s no prep, no lesson planning, no teacher time at all. Just setting boundaries and saying “go do your math”. Which of course is a huge time saver.

Is it all on computer?

Depends on how you do it. It can be done completely on the computer, though you need a notebook or something to work the problems in.

The text book also contains all of the lesson materials (except the step-by-step walkthroughs & solutions, which are only on the CDs).

Because of some issues we were having with my kids, we now require the kids to do all the problems out of the book on paper.

So what my daughter does is watch the lesson on the computer (rather than read it), then does the problems out of the book (in a notebook, so the book stays nice for later resale and younger siblings), checks her answers after each problem in the answer booklet, and then inputs her answers into the computer for grading purposes.

My son watches the whole lesson and the problems on the computer, but works each problem on paper, checks the answer, reworks as necessary, and then enters the answer into the computer, and moves on to the next problem.

Different kids, different styles. But either way I require that they don’t move on to the next problem until they got the one they are working on right (no use doing the whole set wrong and then going back and fixing it…)

What about the testing/grading…is it on the computer as well?

There’s a quiz after each chapter, which is all dealt with on the computer (or in the textbook, see above). All the grading is done automatically for you on the computer and it keeps a record of it all for you. (nice)

Update: The high school level Teaching Textbook programs do not include the automated grading.

Is there a “lesson plan” or something that tells me how to get through it in a school year?

I’m not really sure. In Teaching Textbooks Math 7, there’s 118 lessons plus a quiz after each of the 18 chapters, so assuming 1 lesson a day for an 180 day school year, that’s pretty much how to get through it in a year.

You could look at the Table of Contents in the Teaching Textbook  you are looking at and see how it would break down. I set goals for the kids this way, based on where they are at, and how many weeks are left in the term, and how many lessons I think they can get through in a week and then term allowing for days off and slippage.

We’ve chosen not to try to complete it in a year. It’s taken my daughter at least a year and a half. There have been some chapters where she did a whole lesson a day, and others where a 1/2 of a lesson a day is fine.

But my style is to just let them go through it at whatever their pace is and not worry about what level they are in each year…just continuing on until they learn it. 

If you are working & homeschooling like I am, or are math challenged, or have a child who does best with visual or audio teaching methods, then Teaching Textbooks is a good, solid, and thorough math curriculum worth looking at further.

I’m not totally sure how my older two children learned to count to 20. It just happened. I’m sure we played games, counted together, and did the usual stuff. Wanting to play hide-n-seek with the big kids as a driving motivation for learning to count to 20 for both of them. And counting to 20 just came together pretty quickly for the olders when they were ready. But this isn’t so for my 6 year old. 

Not only is he a visual-kinesthetic learner, he also has trouble remembering the names of things – like numbers and letters. He can remember amazing things, but the names of things (and people) are difficult for him. It takes a lot of repetition and many different methods to move names/labels into his long-term memory.

Knowing how long it took for him to memorize 1-10, I’ve been taking a more diverse approach to teaching him numbers 11-20. These are the only numbers that don’t follow a clean rhythm that directly correlates to numbers 1-10 and thus require a little more effort to learn. (For example, my 6 yo already can do 21-100, he just doesn’t have 11-20 memorized.)

Some of the methods we’ve used include:

• counting out loud
• counting manipulatives (dried beans, m&ms, Legos, etc)
• jumping on the trampoline (one jump per number)
• reading counting books
• pointing to numbers written on the white board
• writing the numbers out

But I was really missing having number tiles for ordering and matching. Letter tiles and alphabet Go Fish cards have been very good for helping him concrete letter and word-building concepts. So, I created some very simple 11-20 number tiles to use for matching games and tactile ordering games. I’m also going to use these for notebooking and lapbooking graphics. 

Click to download a PDF version

If you’d like to use these as well, feel free to download them here (opens in a new window). Simply cut them out on the lines and store in an envelope.

If you have one available, a Xyron or similar sticker machine is a good way to laminate them or turn them into magnets or stickers. (I love my Xyron!) Otherwise, an office supply or teacher supply store may be able to laminate them for you. But it is also pretty inexpensive to just print a new sheet when you need them.

If you have other ideas or games for teaching numbers 11-20, I’d love to hear them. Please post a comment and share how any methods you’ve used.  Thanks!

…Shannon

I have been really happy with our core elementary math curriculum. It’s off the beaten path, as far as homeschool math curriculum goes, but I’ve liked it.  But sometimes, the kids need a little extra practice, before moving on to the next thing, and so I turn to one of my favorite free online resources: www.themathworksheetsite.com

This site is wonderful. It was created by a homeschool dad for his own family’s use, and  has very generously shared the tools with the rest of us. I have used this site for years, with all of my children.  Right at this very moment, I’m printing off a Multiplication worksheet for my 9 year old son and two Hundreds charts for my 5 and 6 year olds.

The hundreds chart has been an excellent tool for learning to count and for skip counting. I print out as many as I need and have them color whatever we are learning. (For example, to learn to count by 10s, I have them color the 10′s row. To learn to count by 2s, they color every other number (evens). etc.)

The worksheet generator for each of the operations allows me to print out custom worksheets that cover the exact areas that the kids are having trouble with. For example, Josh (my 9 year old) had some difficulty learning the 7x and 8x tables.  Extra worksheets that just covered those helped him practice more. 

To teach telling time, I’ve exclusively used the worksheets provided on this site, coupled with a manipulative clock. So far, all four of the children have either learned to tell time this way or in case of my 5 year old, is learning to tell time.

I also like the 5 minute drill worksheets. Not as five minute drills, but as a tool to figure out what the kids really know and and how well. I’ve been surprised – both positively and negatively using these tools.

Anyway, if you are looking for some math worksheet supplements, this is a great free website.  There is a subscription area, and frankly I’ve not had a need for it yet. But the free side… well that I use on a regular basis.

And, as a side note, their blog has this great article on how it is to run an at-home business, homeschooling, and try to appear professional on the phone. I could totally relate to this one, and you might too…

Enjoy.

…Shannon