Successfully Using Teaching Textbooks

[manyblessings]

Does anyone use teaching textbooks successfully? If so what level did you start with and what did you use before? Also is your child a 'mathy' child or do they struggle with math?

 

I keep seeing negative posts about the program, and am simply trying to find success stories.

[Rjmakmom]

We are happily using levels 7,5 and 3. Level 7 is used by my 13yo 7th grader, 5 by my dyslexic 11yo 6th grader, and level 3 by my 7yo 2nd grader. I think the key is to use both the book and cds when necessary. Good luck!

[kareng]

My dd is not a "mathy" child and has dyslexia. She is very artistic. We had tried A Beka, Saxon, and Math Mammoth prior to using TT. We started at TT7 last year when my dd was in grade 7. We took the TT assessment test and placed her at grade 7. I was amazed since she had really struggled with the basic concepts. What really helped us was using Math Mammoth prior to TT. We began (MM) at grade 2 and went through part of grade 4 when she was 10 to age 11. We LOVE TT! She gets it in a way that I never thought was possible. I thought she was never going to master Math and she is. She completed TT7 last year with a high 90s average and is doing Pre-Algebra this year. She enjoys the CDs, listens to the lecture and does the practice problems with the CD. Then she uses the book to do the problems for the lessons. She actually likes/enjoys Math since using TT whereas she used to hate it with all the other curricula used before TT.

Edited January 28, 2012 by kareng
corrected mispelled words!

[hsmom2011]

We started using TT4 in grade 3, dd is now in 5th and doing TT6. We had used Horizons Math for 1st and 2nd. Math is her favorite subject.

[paceofnature]

We are using TT 5 with my non-mathy 5th grader. For the first time she does not complain about doing math and I can see that she is actually getting it. My 2nd grader is using TT3, Dreambox and MM. I feel that TT would be enough, but he loves math and has asked for the extra. My 1st grader asked if she could try TT, so I have her doing TT3 as well. In the morning she always asks to do math first and really seems to be retaining. We love TT here and plan on continuing to use it through the years.

[hsmamainva]

My oldest daughter used it from Prealgebra through Precalculus -- she's in college now. She's not a math lover.

 

My oldest son is completing the series now. He's not math-y at all.

 

My youngest son loves math and he loves TT. Because he's "math-y", I tried to put him into Chalkdust, but he didn't care for it at all, so it was back to TT.

 

We've used just TT for the last 6 years. Before that, we used Math-U-See for about 6 years. Prior to that, when I was just starting out with homeschooling, we used BJU.

[Guest]

What bad reviews? It does move slowly but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is the only program we have used, regardless of subject, that my son came to me and gave me a big hug and thank you for buying it. :O We used part of 7th and part of pre-Alg until I clued in that my son was playing and not actually doing the problems. :( He would just watch how they were done and copy it down. GRRR!!!! So my advice...have them do it in the same room as you. His 'punishment' was having to go back to CLE for the year.

[AmyinMD]

My 8th grader who does not love math is doing quite well with TT Pre-Algebra. She started with Saxon and after 2 months we switched because it was not going well.

 

I also have a 6th grader that hates math. She did TT4 and it turned out to be a big mistake and not a good fit. Now she is back in MUS and behind because we wound up putting her right back in where she'd left off with MUS.

 

If it sounds like a good fit try it and see. I had a few minor annoyances with TT4 but overall I think it is a good program. My oldest also did TT5 and TT6 before going to PS for a year and she was fine going in to 7th grade math at the PS after doing TT6.

[Mandylubug]

We are successfully using TT3 with my eight and nine year old boys. We were an active duty Army family and within three years my kids attended three different public schools and became WAY behind on math between the differences in AZ and GA PS's. That being said, when I brought them home to homeschool, we started at the beginning with second grade curriculum to get a better grasp of the founding principles of math to make the progress healthier. We did Math Mammoth 2nd grade curriculum for half the school year and just now started TT3 with my boys. The curriculum is great for their needs since they had some major gaps and needed a gentle, explanatory review and then progression forward. They have been using TT3 since January 1st and are now on lessons 23 and 24. They have a near 100 "grade" with these assignments and if I set the timer for 30 minutes, they can typically finish three lessons a day if I let them. Some lessons, if they receive a C, have have been known to delete the work and make them repeat and slow down. I can see a dramatic change in their personality and attitude towards math and we are making a definite progress now.

 

TT3 is definitely a bit behind the typical 3rd grade math curriculum and I am ok with that because my boys are a bit behind, ha ha. But, I know the level of work doesn't really matter as long as they are progressing.

 

I would suggest for anyone to use the sample on their website and make sure to use the correct level for their child. My girls will probably start TT3 in mid second grade at our rate right now. None of my kids are "mathy" and this curriculum is a LIFE SAVER!

[Jasda]

We've used Geometry. My kids aren't necessarily math minded, but seem to do ok with it. Remembering which reasons to use for their proofs is the hardest for them as there are quite a few to remember.

 

It's nice that he explains thoroughly each concept and problem solution.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

I bought TT7 for my 13 yr old out when he started hating math. I got a used set from a friend and just have to mention they traded them for a new Hybrid set, which they did not have to do. I lost a cdand was asking to buy the missing cd, and they let me know the rules, then bypassed them for me. I paid $39.95 for the new ones and just got them.

The teacher has a password and I love that. Also, on the new ones there can be up to 3 or 4 students with passwords too.

I like the cd's and suggest anyone who has more than 1 child that may use it and anyone who needs the teacher / Grade book password protected.:001_smile:

 

My son likes the computer lessons. He is asking if he can always do TT so that tells me something. He hated Saxon after 54.

[PentecostalMom]

We are successfully using TT3 with my eight and nine year old boys. We were an active duty Army family and within three years my kids attended three different public schools and became WAY behind on math between the differences in AZ and GA PS's. That being said, when I brought them home to homeschool, we started at the beginning with second grade curriculum to get a better grasp of the founding principles of math to make the progress healthier. We did Math Mammoth 2nd grade curriculum for half the school year and just now started TT3 with my boys. The curriculum is great for their needs since they had some major gaps and needed a gentle, explanatory review and then progression forward. They have been using TT3 since January 1st and are now on lessons 23 and 24. They have a near 100 "grade" with these assignments and if I set the timer for 30 minutes, they can typically finish three lessons a day if I let them. Some lessons, if they receive a C, have have been known to delete the work and make them repeat and slow down. I can see a dramatic change in their personality and attitude towards math and we are making a definite progress now.

 

TT3 is definitely a bit behind the typical 3rd grade math curriculum and I am ok with that because my boys are a bit behind, ha ha. But, I know the level of work doesn't really matter as long as they are progressing.

 

I would suggest for anyone to use the sample on their website and make sure to use the correct level for their child. My girls will probably start TT3 in mid second grade at our rate right now. None of my kids are "mathy" and this curriculum is a LIFE SAVER!

 

Are you at Fort Benning now by any chance? I had heard from another friend that GA's standards were lower than other states she had been in with the military. We have homeschooled all the way so I have not had personal experience. Being in the military was one reason we chose to homeschool.

[Dolphin]

We love it here. In fact ds only gets to do TT when he has finished everything else, it is his motivation subject.

 

This time last year we were struggling with Math. We had tears and all sorts. It was about April or May that we started TT3(he was in third grade). We started at the beginning even though it was really easy. He is flying through TT4 now. He does 7 lessons and 1 quiz most weeks. He loves it.

 

If you haven't already done so, have your child do the online sample. My son was begging me to buy it by the end.

 

We have just started to supplement with Life of Fred, again starting at the very beginning.

[Mandylubug]

Are you at Fort Benning now by any chance? I had heard from another friend that GA's standards were lower than other states she had been in with the military. We have homeschooled all the way so I have not had personal experience. Being in the military was one reason we chose to homeschool.

 

we are about an hour and a half north, towards Atlanta, in Newnan. My husband was medically chaptered out. The disadvantage we found was AZ didn't have a pre-k program at all for my youngest, so them coming into K mid year in GA was as if they were a year behind. School wise for my boys, the school is SO obsessed with standardized testing that they never even truly tested my kids to see where they "ranked." They just threw them in and herded them through. I would say GA is more aggressive with their "standards" but aren't focused on mastery for the individual student. AZ was VERY much focused on mastery, hands on activity and it was a GREAT experience. I also have to note that the school that we LOVED in AZ was on post, most of the teachers were military spouses, or retired military and had quite the experience with children coming and going and were pros at grabbing a child where they were at and working with them. We loved that school!

[JenC3]

We started with Saxon and by 6.5 there were tears everday. I switched to Math Mammouth and then added TT 4 and between the 2 my dd does a ton of math with no tears and no complaints. Her attitude and skill has improved and ton. A year ago she hated math. At 8 she is set to be in TT 5 and MM4 in 2 months.

[Homeschooling6]

My 13 year old is using a combination of TT6 and Systematic Math. My son has struggled with math for years now but I'm happy to say he is finally getting it.

In the past he used a combo of R&S/MUS but when he had to do both Beta and Gamma over again and still was missing many problems I switched him to Math Mammoth. With MM he was still struggling. He completed 3A/3B. Fast forward to this year. I pulled out the TT6 workbook only (I don't have the cds) and also purchased Systematic Math and he goes back and forth with the two.

 

My 11. yr. old is using TT5 and he doesn't struggle with math.

 

My 9 year old is using TT3 he doesn't struggl with math either.

[tomandlorih]

Just started using TT3 here with dd8 who is also currently doing MUS Gamma. She is flying through (the cd's only) to touch on stuff that MUS does not(such as oblique line segments). She really likes it and my 3 year old likes to watch her do it so maybe he is learning something too, at the very least it keeps him quiet for a few minutes=D

 

I will not be using it as a stand alone math curriculum until later years. If I were to use it stand alone, I would definitely use the workbooks also for extra practice. My current plan is to stick to MUS with TT as a supplement, throwing in (still trying to decide) Mathmatical Reasoning from CTC for extra in the standardized test prep area.

 

DD is bright(ahead) but not necessarily "mathy".

[NanceXToo]

Love Teaching Textbooks. I started a thread a while back about our standardized test scores after our first full year of using Teaching Textbooks in 5th grade in this thread, and a bunch of other people chimed in with positive things to say about it, too. I think you should read this thread. :)

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=259625&highlight=teaching+textbooks+standardized+test

 

(We're using it again for 6th grade this year; still love it)!

[cassiemc]

We started with TT7 last year with my then 5th grader. He is using TT Algebra 1 this year. He is advanced in math and he does learn a lot from this program. I don't have any bad things to say about it. My DD will use it next year for her 5th grade year. I don't think she will test into 7 as she doesn't love math. We use Singapore before TT. It works for us! Everyone has to find what works for them.

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

Non-mathy 10yo boy

 

PS --> MUS --> TT4

 

We chose TT for the audio/visual aspect AND for the fact that DS can do math without much input from me (all our other curricula is very instructor-hands-on). Does he always love it? No. Did he always love other math programs? No. Is he progressing with TT? Yes.

 

It's not a perfect program, but it is the best we've tried. It fits our needs, and I'm quite pleased with it.

 

Nance's results ^^^ give me hope!

[fourcatmom]

We love it here. We have used it just this year. We are using TT4 and TT5 for 4th and 5th grade. Much of the first half of the book has been repeat but that's what I wanted. We were originally encouraged to go up 1 level to start since it's behind but I am glad that we started where we did. The review has been great and the concepts are sticking this time. I find it very helpful for me as well having a CD to listen to and watch examples if I am an unsure of how to proceed.

 

We will be continuing this each year.:001_smile: I will be adding LOF fractions to my 5th grader for next year.

[happycc]

My kids love TT.

 

I took 3 of my kids out of PS here in California. The 2 4th graders were doing pretty well in math. They are not as strong in math as language arts but they were doing fine in math. I went ahead and placed them in TT5 and the information is review for them. They do the workbook first and then correct themselves on the computer.

 

I am supplementing them with Key to Fractions, Decimals, Percents, Measurements and Metric Measurement. They do a page a day in each book.

They are fine with that.

 

The 2nd grader struggles and struggles in math. She knows her facts but truly didnt understand what they meant and what the symbols meant. It has been a struggle. She is doing TT3 and struggles. She is understanding the concepts better though. She does the computer work first and then the workbook. She still gets a lot wrong. Even after we go over the problems and correct them she still gets them wrong. We are also using RightStart B to attack the same information in a hands on way. I have to say she is learning more from Right Start B. Sometimes it seems she is just guessing for the answers and circling the answers that meets her pencil first. I am not even sure she is even reading the questions. I am wondering if I might need to put TT3 on pause until next year?

[fenni]

Love it! 10 yr. old son is almost finished with TT4. He didn't like math until TT. 8 yr. old son is halfway through TT3. He gets math, but doesn't always apply himself so likes to blame the computer when he gets one wrong. :tongue_smilie: 6 yr. old son is nearing the end of TT3. He gets math easily and loves math. He tested into 3 without having used any other math curriculum.

 

I am so glad I don't have to fight with 10 yr. old over math anymore!! I'd rather not list all the programs I tried with him.:001_huh: