4th grade Math: WWYD?

[socody]

We have always done Teaching Textbooks for Math around here. However, my 3rd grader is requesting math “on paper” for next year. She says she learns better when it’s not on the computer. It is a reasonable request, although this is a child who really doesn’t like to put much effort into schoolwork and struggles with most subjects. I’m already having to sit next to her and help her through the lessons on the computer, so it probably wouldn’t take much more time (except having to actually teach the concepts, and I am not a math-y person). My problem is: I already own all the levels of TT. Our budget is tight and to have to spend money on a new math curriculum that MIGHT not even work— makes me cringe. If this were you, would you make her suck it up and just do the TT, or try to find something new? 
And if I do switch, where do I even begin? I do Horizons with my littles but never tried upper levels. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by socody

[sweet2ndchance]

If money is tight and you aren't sure it will even work out, you could always go with a free math program. MEP math is excellent, free and has lesson plans for you to teach from. My 3rd grader (just turned 9yo in Jan) is doing Year 3 as a review right now. He did TT3 about this time last year. I'd recommend Y3 is she needs review or struggles with math or Y4 if she's average. Y5 is the UK age equivalent of American 4th grade (children who are around 9 and turning 10). But just knowing what TT3 teaches, I would recommend doing Y3 at a quick pace because it hits division hard that year or Y4 if she already grasps multiplication and division well.

An inexpensive option would be Math Mammoth. It's a worktext, so no teacher's guide, but it is written to the student so you should be able to just read with her and help her along the way. I've used it to supplement here and there but never used the full grade levels. My kids have always balked at the overwhelming amount of problems on a page.

I've looked at Horizons and there is definitely nothing wrong with it. If she is remembering doing math on paper from her time with Horizons when she was younger, then that might be a good choice for her.

[mathmarm]

If it were me, I would suck it up and use TT and online resources like KhanAcademy learn the material myself, then teach her directly using the materials that you have--ie Teaching Textbooks, free internet (endless supply of well-sequenced worksheets) and a notebook + pencil for a semester.

That's what we do in our home school. It is very teacher-dependent in the elementary years. It's consistently hard work, but the results are far superior to what I would get if I taught by-the-book instead.

If you would like more detailed instructions and examples, feel free to PM me.

[HomeAgain]

I'd find a free program.  You've gotten the suggestion for MEP, which is fabulous, and it'll give you a chance to try out something without investing money.  Next to that would be something cheap, like CLE or Math Mammoth.

The thing is, on one hand you have a kid saying "I learn better this way" and on the other you say she struggles with school work.  It is absolutely worth it to try to find a solution when you're both saying the same thing.  If on paper doesn't work out, fine.  Continue with TT.  You have it, no skin off your back.  If you find a combination works, you can continue with TT and use ideas from Education Unboxed to work on concepts offline.

I know very few kids who don't benefit from a three-prong approach to math: hands on, visual, and auditory.  If a main program doesn't meet all three, you can add in a little bit to supplement or change the balance entirely.

[Janeway]

TGTB math is free and quite good.

[Green Bean]

Rod & Staff is inexpensive, clear, and easy to teach.

[Green Bean]

31 minutes ago, Janeway said:

TGTB math is free and quite good.

Not really- you have to print out all those full color pages. 

[sweet2ndchance]

I forgot about TGTB. That's a good option as well. We used the free version, with instant ink it doesn't cost us any more to print full color pages than it does to print anything else. Or if you don't want to print, the preprinted worktexts are reasonably priced as well.

Edit: I just remembered there is a video component to TGTB from 4th grade up. It's just a part of the lesson though, not the whole thing like TT. You could watch the video and then teach her yourself if that would work better for her.

Edit: I just did the math lol. On our instant ink plan, it would costs us about $22 in ink print everything for TGTB Math 4 , in full color, if you figure the cost per page (comes out to about 4.6 cents a page for us). Plus it would take about half of a ream of paper (about 240 pages printed front and back) so total cost for the whole thing would be less than $30. The preprinted version is $50 plus just over $10 tax and shipping. Printing the free download at home is about a 1/3 of the cost for us. Since we pay about $15 per month for ink anyways and paper is something we always have on hand as homeschoolers, it really doesn't cost us anything extra to print TGTB products. YMMV.

One more Edit lol: Binding can be a problem with TGTB math since the pages are in landscape orientation rather than portrait. I have a Cinch binding machine that I absolutely love and tons of off brand coils. I use it all the time and it was worth the $75 investment to get a binding machine. (I think I must have got it on sale or used a coupon or something because it seems to be around $100 - $120 now) You could always just three hole punch it in portrait orientation though and store it in a three ring binder. Then just remove the pages you need to work on them. Or print a week's worth of lessons at a time and staple the individual lessons together. 

Edited March 22, 2022 by sweet2ndchance

[Brittany1116]

CLE has a placement test online and they will send you a free workbook to try. Math is 10 books a year at about $4 each. You can buy all at once or space it out. It is written to the student and all in the book, no extra notebooks required.

[barnwife]

I'd look for something free/low cost to supplement with, maybe doing TT 3 days a week, and something else the other two. I'd start with looking at MEP and CSMP. We use Envision math with our oldest two. I tried a lot of things before being given Envision for free (thanks, random HS mom at a garage sale). The older version is fairly standard school math curriculum. But the explanations are decent and the amount of problems doesn't overwhelm our easily overwhelmed oldest. I just checked, and the grade 4 book can be bought off ebay for less than $10. I didn't need the teachers manual for it. 

If you go that route, you want the one with the lizard and spyglass on the cover. I do not like the newest version (Envision 2.0)at all, which also has a lizard on the cover but there's a robot with it. 

GL finding something that works!

[socody]

5 hours ago, Green Bean said:

Not really- you have to print out all those full color pages. 

I was going to reply the same thing. I am actually planning to do TGTB with my 1st grader, so I am familiar with it, but even with Instant Ink, I calculated the cost of the printed version to save me only about $10, and I would honestly rather just spend that to get the pretty binding and have it all done for me. So, that being said-- if I decide to go that route, I will just spend the money for TGTB printed. However, by the looks of the placement test, she would probably be in like Level 2 or 3 of the TGTB math and she may not like that! Plus, it seems a little "busy" for her. 

 

1 hour ago, barnwife said:

I'd look for something free/low cost to supplement with, maybe doing TT 3 days a week, and something else the other two. I'd start with looking at MEP and CSMP. We use Envision math with our oldest two. I tried a lot of things before being given Envision for free (thanks, random HS mom at a garage sale). The older version is fairly standard school math curriculum. But the explanations are decent and the amount of problems doesn't overwhelm our easily overwhelmed oldest. I just checked, and the grade 4 book can be bought off ebay for less than $10. I didn't need the teachers manual for it. 
 

Could you maybe show me a picture of the inside of the old Envision Math books? Like what a lesson looks like? All I can find samples for are the new versions.

Edited March 22, 2022 by socody

[hollyhock2]

You say you already own all the levels of TT - does that include the text? I just use the text for my kids and not the computer portion, so you could try that if you don't want to switch to something else.

[barnwife]

6 hours ago, socody said:

Could you maybe show me a picture of the inside of the old Envision Math books? Like what a lesson looks like? All I can find samples for are the new versions.

I will definitely try and do this tomorrow. 

[TiffVP]

IMO it's a rare 9/10yo who can "self-teach" with an online program. I would absolutely look into a different program for her, especially if she's already struggling. 

Math Mammoth is very cheap and written to the student (but isn't really "self-teaching"). There are free videos to assist you with concepts if you don't understand it or need a refresher. 

Saxon can be obtained pretty cheaply used, probably $30-45. 

If you wanted to be really budget concious, you could teach from the Teaching Textbooks pdf/text itself and then give her the problems on paper since that is included in the program.