I finally broke and ordered Teaching Textbooks

[teachermom2834]

Very tough to get over all the negative I've read on here over the years.

 

DS is a generally bright kid and hard worker but more English/ history inclined than math. He is competent in math, though. His 8th grade standardized test scores had him in the 95th percentile in math.

 

He slogged through Algebra 1 in 8th grade. He did okay but it took him forever. We are 8 weeks and 4 chapters into Jacobs Algebra. He just doesn't get it at all.

 

So tired of so much angst over math with a kid that really is plenty bright enough to get it. DH is a former algebra/geometry teacher so he has plenty of help.

 

We just had to make a total change. Hopefully TT will be a change and help him get some confidence back. It was tough to make the leap, however, with all the strong opinions about how inferior it is. I have been going back and reading all the positives and success stories. How come I dismissed those before?

 

I really hope this works.

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

It could very well be perfect for your child! Don't let "negative" reviews influence what might be a "positive" experience for your student.

:)

[AK_Mom4]

It has been my experience that most of the negative talk on TT has been from people who have not used the high school level courses. You will always find someone who didn't like a curriculum or had a bad result - I personally hate LOF - but the high school TT books are pretty solid.

 

We used the Algebra 1 last year and found it to be very thorough and easy to understand. I have a kid who pretty much "gets it" for math and it worked great - good lectures and easy to follow explanations. For a kid who needs more practice problems than are offered in TT, there are tons of free worksheets on every algebra topic out there on the web if you need them.

[ladykayaker]

I have to disagree with all the negative feedback you have heard about TT.

I have used it since it was first available. My kids are doing very well with the program. I studied electrical engineering at university, my husband is a carpenter, and our kids vary greatly in math ability, depending on what genes they got from their very different parents.

They are all doing very well with TT. My child who is exceptionally strong with math is not bored by the program, just progresses much faster, my struggling child plods along at his own pace.

Do the placement test to get the right level for your child, you will find the first ten or so lessons include quite a bit of review - I allowed my kids to skip over those *if* they asked.

[LisaKinVA]

I have a lot of math here...TT is one of the ones that gets done. I have a feeling my younger son will use it as his primary course (although, we may give Kinetic Textbooks a try), he loves TT.

 

Not everyone is a good fit for Foerster's or Jacobs or Saxon or AoPS. Even some very bright kids do better with TT.

[PeterPan]

My dd is one of those bright humanities people, and TT has been quite good for her. She did the pre-algebra this past year, and her test scores this summer were AWESOME. I just ordered the TT algebra 1 so she can start it. I got the BJU new edition pre-algebra that we're going to do alongside. The BJU pre-algebra is traditional (as opposed to Jacobs which is decidedly NOT), but it just does this really solid job of getting them to apply and think through the concepts at a higher level. I think the kids who do well with TT and score well are the kids who naturally apply the simple instruction to more complex situations. I just figure by doing the BJU as well, we're covering our tails and making *sure* she can do the harder work.

 

When I watch the TT lessons, to me they're math for history people. He tells stories, uses lots of humor, and even includes history bits. Makes it just right for your history lover who's not connecting with set theory or the beauty of abstract thinking, lol. Some kids need a reason, need things in a context.

 

So yes it's going to be fine. However if you find the lessons going quickly for him, you might up the ante by adding a little something on the side, just as sort of a check. With the pre-algebra, my dd was flying through 2 lessons in 30 minutes. That means she could reasonably do another 15-20 minutes with me of the BJU math and STILL be at a reasonable or low amount of time per day. I don't know how much she'll slow down with the algebra 1. We're just gonna wing it. Right now though I'm pretty happy. I love the connect and the increase in speed and confidence and fluency I see with TT, and I like having the BJU to step up the challenge a bit.

[Beth in SW WA]

It was tough to make the leap, however, with all the strong opinions about how inferior it is.

TT Alg 1 is fantastic. I'm glad you made the leap. Did you know that the author, Greg Sabouri, offers phone assistance/tutoring if needed? I just read that recently and asked about it when I placed my last order.

 

We just started the new TT Alg 2 this month and I really like it. I have used every level of TT with my younger dc at various times. I own every level from TT3 - Geometry. Big TT fans here. If you need more word problems you can supplement easily. I like to add other resources to TT but many families use TT successfully as a stand-alone math program.

 

Keep us posted on his progress. :)

[delaney]

I switched this year to get it off my plate and it has been wonderful! They are scoring in the A range for the most part. I will say that after Horizons it seems to be about 1/2 year behind for 7th and 3rd but there is no problem with them doing review, right? I plan on having them continue at 7 lessons per week to move into the next level earlier.

[creekland]

I hope it works out for you. We're another family who used TT very successfully and I have absolutely no regrets. Oldest scored in the top 3% for math on the ACT and middle scored into the top 1%. Both were able to go straight to Calc from TT Pre-Calc without issues. Youngest was scoring at the top 15% after Alg 1 (8th grade). He's since returned to ps and while I'd like to think he supplements with TT, he really doesn't/won't no matter how much I'd like him to. Consequently, his math scores have dropped down to 50% (after 10th grade and Alg 2 at ps) - right where top kids at our school tend to score. It frustrates me, but such is life.

 

That said, not every program works for every student, so see how yours does. ;)

[GoodGrief]

Teaching Textbooks works for us too.

 

My 14 year old used Singapore through Level 5. Started Teaching Textbooks with pre-algebra in 5th grade. Finished Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 last year in 8th grade, and has moved seamlessly into Derek Owens pre-calculus course this year. She took the placement course at the local university this summer, and her scores were sufficient to put her into calculus (though obviously she was lacking a pre-requisite.)

[CyndiLJ]

I hear you on your fears because of reviews here in the Hive. I checked out reviews on many other web sites, and also checked with our charter program before changing this year from Saxon for all our kids. It was a tough decision for us, because all but one scored above average on their state testing. Here was my thinking on it:

 

1) Saxon was killing our family time. It ate up too much of our life as my hubby corrected all the lessons in the evening, was stressed trying to keep up, and had no time with us because of math. It was also taking the kids way too long.

 

2) I discovered that it appears TT does a great job if you stick with it all the way through. Many, many parents have shared about their kids' success post high school in math, even when not supplemented.

 

3) Here on the boards I am learning to take it all in, and use what works. We are a different kind of family than many here, we have no plans for high level colleges or competition for scholarships. We are just doing our best, homeschooling to give our kids more opportunities to explore their own gifts, to be kids longer, and to have a more relaxed approach to education that will hopefully translate into a love of learning throughout their lives. When compared to our local schools, there is no way we can't do better than they are. We also really, really see no need for high school to be college. No AP courses, just solid high school level courses. Several of our kids missed enough of their childhoods to orphanage life, we need to allow them to capture all that was missed. We want to focus on strong life skills, entrepreneurship, and provide good instruction. Sometimes "good enough" is exactly that, good enough. Life doesn't have to be all about math!

 

4) I have found that our kids are learning more with TT. There are far more real life applicable problems, and that math is making more sense because it is fully explained in ways I never could. It is a very, very good program. Is it Saxon, LOF or others? No, and it isn't meant to be. But if any student uses this through pre-calc, they will have a solid math education. Will it be AP level? I don't know, some sure say their kids are in the top percentiles in testing, but I guess I don't care about that myself.

 

5) Math is no longer dreaded, it is enjoyed, it is done well, there is success. That is worth a lot when you consider the attitudes of the majority of American students when it comes to math.

 

Don't allow yourself to feel as if you've given in, view it as making a really wise choice that will reap different rewards! I know we are super happy with it, and our school rep gave it top notch comments saying its approach was different, but they had seen no significant differences in kids who used TT all the way through and kids who used Saxon. At first with the changeover, yes, because it does not match up well, but eventually it all caught up and everyone does well with it. For us, it really made a big difference in our homeschooling, as math was the one area we found we were less than happy. Now, after 3 months with TT, I can say clearly this is a good fit for us and has solved our math problems permanently.

 

Cindy

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

My kids are doing great with TT. I, also, was scared to death of it because of all of the negative reviews. When they upgraded Pre-A on up I looked at the TOC and honestly did not see anything different than any other Pre-A and Algebra 1 TOC. Then, I realized that the ONLY place I EVER saw bad reviews was on this board. Every where else there are GLOWING reviews. I figure if my kids do well with it the 'reviews' out there, good or bad, mean nothing! Between TT and LOF my dd scored 11 points away from advanced in math last year for her standardized testing. She lost points on statistics and probability so I will pic something up to work on that with her. Otherwise I am NOT worried.at.all about other peoples reviews! Don't stress about it. :001_smile:

[teachermom2834]

Thanks, everyone.

 

It arrived yesterday so we will start Monday. I'm excited about it. We need a change. He needs to learn the basics and build confidence again. We can beef it up if need be but it really was time for a whole new approach.

[Storm Bay]

3) Here on the boards I am learning to take it all in, and use what works. We are a different kind of family than many here, we have no plans for high level colleges or competition for scholarships. We are just doing our best, homeschooling to give our kids more opportunities to explore their own gifts, to be kids longer, and to have a more relaxed approach to education that will hopefully translate into a love of learning throughout their lives. When compared to our local schools, there is no way we can't do better than they are. We also really, really see no need for high school to be college. No AP courses, just solid high school level courses. Several of our kids missed enough of their childhoods to orphanage life, we need to allow them to capture all that was missed. We want to focus on strong life skills, entrepreneurship, and provide good instruction. Sometimes "good enough" is exactly that, good enough. Life doesn't have to be all about math!

 

4) I have found that our kids are learning more with TT. There are far more real life applicable problems, and that math is making more sense because it is fully explained in ways I never could. It is a very, very good program. Is it Saxon, LOF or others? No, and it isn't meant to be. But if any student uses this through pre-calc, they will have a solid math education. Will it be AP level? I don't know, some sure say their kids are in the top percentiles in testing, but I guess I don't care about that myself.

 

5) Math is no longer dreaded, it is enjoyed, it is done well, there is success. That is worth a lot when you consider the attitudes of the majority of American students when it comes to math.

 

Don't allow yourself to feel as if you've given in, view it as making a really wise choice that will reap different rewards! I know we are super happy with it, and our school rep gave it top notch comments saying its approach was different, but they had seen no significant differences in kids who used TT all the way through and kids who used Saxon. At first with the changeover, yes, because it does not match up well, but eventually it all caught up and everyone does well with it. For us, it really made a big difference in our homeschooling, as math was the one area we found we were less than happy. Now, after 3 months with TT, I can say clearly this is a good fit for us and has solved our math problems permanently.

 

Cindy

Cindy is right. There isn't a math program out there that doesn't have negative reviews. What I've always said is that even though we don't like TT, there are some kids for whom it's going to be what works. We use things at our house that have been scathingly reviewed at times.

 

Ultimately you have to use what works for your dc.

[LBS]

We love TT. I have found every set we wanted used, the last three upper levels were pristine off Craigslist, from the nicest people. The first set came from homeschoolers up in Pa. and the teenaged student handled the sale.

 

I cannot offer stellar outside test scores to prove TT, but the testing I do with him is very good. When I read some of the negative reviews, I seem to be thinking, well, just because it is not rigorous and painful, it can still be great. CyndiLJ said "there is no need for high school to be college" and that is true for our home, also. There are parents of some truly amazingly academically forward kids here. I'm so glad mine is merely "gifted". I don't think I ever read that a student did not like TT....usually its a parent who does not think it good enough. I just know that mine resists work in so many creative ways and TT is totally in his control, his pace....we just schedule it. Just because it is easier than some, it can still be a great program. I'm repeating myself.

 

I too can attest to the customer service. I've called twice, when my son was totally stuck (only once was he really stuck, the other time was him being lazy, and I believed him) and you just have to call and they will get you straightened out immediately or called back in a couple of hours. I really love having a real person to call. We're on our third year of TT.

[Storm Bay]

I don't think I ever read that a student did not like TT....usually its a parent who does not think it good enough..

 

My girls didn't like it. I'm not sure why my younger one didn't (I thought she would like it as she likes that kind of humour), but my eldest is one of those very mathy kids who thought it too easy & boring.

 

I ended up selling it, but in hindsight my youngest might have liked it even though I don't. I do use some curricula I don't like if it's the best fit for my kids and there isn't anything else I've found that will work with them (eg Shurley English with my ds). I've read the negative reviews of that English program, too, but those annoying jingles & those scripts work extremely well for him, even if she doesn't handle articles correctly, etc according to the grammar gurus (who I like).

[love2read]

It's fine. My middle kids used it all through high school and scored high on the Math section of the SAT; just as high as the kids who used Jacobs and Saxon. A friend who used it starting in 7th just reported that her daughter scored 740 on the math, so it's not just something we're seeing in our family. Now if your child wants to major in math it may not be the best program conceptually, but it doesn't sound like that is your situation.

[ereks mom]

Well, I made the mistake of listening to the TT naysayers and opted not to use TT Algebra 1 when EK was in 8th grade. For K-7, we had used only one company's math materials (and loved them) but their Algebra 1 program just wasn't clicking with EK. I really wanted to switch to TT, but 1) I had heard many negative things about it on the boards, and 2) we really couldn't afford it at the time. So for an entire year, we slogged on with the other program. That year we covered only half of the book because EK would fail the test after each chapter and I would have to reteach and she would repeat the test.

 

The next year, I found TT Algebra 1 used for a good price, and we just started over with Algebra. A lot of it was a review of the previous two years' worth of work, but TT explained the WHY in a way that EK could grasp so much more easily. I just wish now that I had made the switch sooner. She gained confidence in math, and no longer fears it--even word problems! She completed Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 with A averages in each. She is doing College Algebra from another publisher (and I'm crossing my fingers!) with plans of taking the CLEP test when she's finished with it.

 

Her score on the math portion of the SAT was in the mid-500s last year on her first SAT attempt, and I expect she will score in the 600s when she takes it again this year. I do realize that this is not a stellar score (her strengths definitely lie in the verbal sections, where her scores were considerably higher), but it's pretty respectable for a kid who was so math-phobic that she cried over math every single day before we switched to TT.

Edited September 29, 2012 by ereks mom

[Mallorie]

I believe we'll be switching to TT Geometry after my son gets done with CLE Algebra. I'm happy to see this post, it's reassuring to know all will be well. :)

[Tohru]

:hurray:

 

 

LOVE TT!

 

I was also hesitant because of the bad reviews, but it works for us and is FANTASTIC! If it doesn't work for you, they have an awesome return policy and it has a great resell value.

[Pawz4me]

We've been using TT for several years now (currently doing Algebra 1) and it works great for us. Unless something unforeseen happens to change my mind, we'll be continuing with TT all the way through their pre-calculus course.

[goldberry]

We will be using TT all the way through. TT turned DD into a math lover. In fact our whole reason for discarding a certain high school program we were looking at, was that they wouldn't let us use TT for math (you had to use their materials). DD absolutely refused to let go of TT!

 

She scored in the 90th percentile in math on her last national test.

[CountryRose]

Well I did it! I finally went ahead and ordered TT Algebra 1 this morning. Thanks to the OP and all the positive feedback, I was finally brave enough to take the plunge! My DD has looked at the samples on the website and thinks this will work for her.

 

Just got an email this afternoon and it will be here Thursday! How's that for fast?

 

Thanks to everyone that put their two cents in for TT!

 

:thumbup1: