Teaching Textbooks

[Whereneverever]

Talk to me about this. I've seen it mentioned off and on and finally got around to checking it out. Now I'm really interested. pros/cons/ how on level is it?

[Whereneverever]

:bigear:

[oraetstudia]

Pros: It's on the computer, well presented, and my daughter considers it fun. The program has a grade book that records everything and keeps track of it. I don't have to be the one presenting material and being the "bad guy." My daughter, who has always hated math and done poorly in the subject, actually often asks to do a second math lesson in a day.

 

Cons: If you have a child who needs a lot of attention, removing mom from the situation might spell trouble. It's supposed to run behind other programs in speed and sequence, so that an accelerated kid might be bored or be several grade levels ahead. It's also not cheap.

 

It has been the perfect program for my third grader. My oldest does Math-U-See and Life of Fred. My first grader also is doing MUS. They both do well with what they are using. My third grader is terrible at math. She couldn't seem to remember anything from one minute to the next, let alone one day to the next. TT hasn't been a miracle cure, but she loves the program and seems to be catching on better than she ever has in the past. I'm seeing big improvements. So, it might not be great for the kid who loves math nor for the one destined for a career in the sciences or engineering, but it's a pretty good program. All my kids find it interesting and like to watch my third grader do her lessons.

[lakotajm]

My 8th grader used it last year and liked it. She rarely used the CD-Roms, though. She preferred the text. She said the guy sounds like too much of a nerd. But she liked the way the problems were explained, including the quirky word problems. We are currently trying LOF for Algebra. She doesn't seem to do it as easily with LOF and would prefer switching back, but economics played a part.

 

Lakota

[specialmama]

Your best bet is to do a search on this site for TT. There have been so many threads about it. :001_smile:

[MariannNOVA]

I am waiting for mine to be shipped - I purchased it yesterday. Pre-Algebra for dd11. We have been Kinetic pre-algebra, and I like it, BUT something is missing -- I am going to try using TT and Kinetic together.

[AudreyTN]

She couldn't seem to remember anything from one minute to the next, let alone one day to the next. TT hasn't been a miracle cure, but she loves the program and seems to be catching on better than she ever has in the past. I'm seeing big improvements.

 

That's my daughter. :)

 

My son is doing TT also. He's very good at math. I'm having him do 2 lessons a day for now. I'm not sure if we will continue through High School, but right now it's working for us.

[Whereneverever]

Thanks everyone!

[Mom in High Heels]

We're doing TT3 and Indy LOVES it. He has dreaded math every year until now. He begs to do math now! I save it until the end of the day because it motivates him to get the rest of his stuff done quickly. :D

I bought the workbook and the cd's because I didn't want him to forget how to do math on paper. He listens to the lecture, then writes the answers down in his book before putting it on the computer. A lot of people say it's behind, but we've done 2 different math programs in the past and this put him exactly where he should be according to the other books we've done.

[missmoe]

I had three kids that used it. Level 7 through Geometry. I really liked the program. They really liked the program. It made math doable for a busy mom of five. While I worked one on one with younger kids my older kids could work on math themselves.

 

A con---On standarized tests my kids all scored low on the exponents and square root section (one even scored a 0%). Their poor scores on this section brought their other high scores down quite low for their over-all math score. So, you may want to make sure this is covered with some supplementary work.

[NanceXToo]

We're using TT5 and my daughter loves it. She practically begs to do math every day. And that, for me, makes it worth its weight in gold!

 

Here's a review/description I wrote about it, along with a few pics of it in action, if you're interested:

 

http://nancextoo.livejournal.com/124221.html

[Beth in SW WA]

We're doing TT3 and Indy LOVES it.

 

Dd7 just finished TT3 & loved it also. What's not to love?:) TT4 is great too. We use TT with Singapore, RS, MM, etc. I love coming at math from different angles.

 

Dd6 is doing TT3 very ssssllllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyy for fun. She loves computer math (but nothing tops those RS math lessons with mom). :)

[Momling]

We recently started using TT5 and both my 8.5 yr old daughter and I are so happy with it. Math was getting to be a real problem and now it is so much better. It is no longer an emotionally traumatic procrastination-inducing torture. Math is now between her and the TT tutor. She likes the format and feels successful at math - which is absolutely essential for her. I am just happy that she *wants* to learn. I had her do all the samples from the TT website from grade 3 to grade 6 before deciding to commit to the program and decide on the right level.

[sweetsouthern]

both my girls love it and we have been using it for 2 years now. my younger dd is doing 4th, but has LD's... so i sometimes need to help her a bit with the explanations, but its nothing like if i had to do everything myself. my older dd is doing 6th and will actually do 3 lessons a day by her own choice lol!

for now, i see us using this for a long time to come :)

[Kates]

We've looked at it, but ds is dyslexic and he said the graphics made him want to throw up. (He has the type of dyslexia that makes his brain pull things off the page/screen and flip them around in midair.) The "squiggly line drawings" were too much for him to handle. He also didn't like the verbal instruction, he started rolling his eyes.

 

That's him, though. I know a lot of kids that swear by TT - finally, math is something they want to do. For ds, MUS (lower) and LoF (upper) made math something he couldn't wait to do. I do know that a lot of kids that I've talked to in our group can't handle the graphics - they actually turn the screen off and listen to the guy, or just read it from their books. IMO, if they're not going to use the part of the program that you're probably paying the most money for, it's really kind of a toss-up in my book.

 

You may want to have your child work through a demo of it to see if it's worth the cost. If it is, great! Go for it :) If it falls short in their eyes though, you may want to spend that money on something else.

[HSMom2One]

PROS: We landed on TT last year and it saved my dd's bacon. She hated math, but now is experiencing a tremendous turn around. Because she is not a "mathy" kind of kid, I don't care what people say about it not being on level. She is learning and progressing while also enjoying her lessons, so that is the bottom line for us. She has completed TT-6 and is now on 7, and we plan to stay with TT all the way through. We also supplement with LOF every Friday (a recommendation from TWTM) and she loves that as well. All in all, this is the best math year ever!

 

CONS: Wish we'd used it sooner. That's the only thing I can think of. :~p

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[calandalsmom]

My only complaint is there are not enough problems in each set. I think 30 would be better.