michaeljenn Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I was all set to buy TT, but now I am worried after reading responses to this program lately. My children are going to need high level math. My son wants to go into engineering, or architecture. My daughters want to go into the nursing field. I want to make the right decision now, before they go into Algebra. I also must have something that shows the solutions and has an answer book. I almost feel like my only option is Saxon.. SIGH Help, Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Foersters has a solution manual and is an excellent textbook for someone wanting to go into an engineering field. it is a highly conceptual/application program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Why do you feel your only other option is Saxon? Is it because you don't feel confident teaching it? How are your children as far as independent learning? My children have done Singapore after a brief foray into Saxon. I haven't taught a math lesson since about the 3rd grade books. This wasn't intentional since I am pretty confident about math, but my kids got tired of waiting for me to finish with another child, so they would read the lesson and do it. My oldest is using NEM book 2 and my middle child is finishing up 6B. My oldest is getting an A, while my middle child is getting a B (for careless errors although he is quite bright in math.) You can get teachers' manuals and answer keys for the Primary Math books (1 - 6) and they have detailed solutions manuals for the NEM series. If my children have difficulty with something, I do help them. However, if something were beyond me, I would find a live outside human. Would this be a possibility? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 My dd is a college junior and used TT Alg. 1 and 2...she's an English major, though! My ds, now a junior in high school headed for pharmacy school, has also done TT Alg. 1 and 2 and we plan to do TT pre-calc this summer. He did well on the math section of the PSAT (hasn't taken the SAT yet). I really feel that he'll be OK in the math required for pharmacy. I know there's lots of discussion about how "rigorous" TT is and, honestly, I don't know that I'll use their earlier programs with my youngest. (My plan is to stick with Singapore through 6B as older ds did, then jump to Alg. 1.) BUT...here's my theory: I can't teach higher level maths. Can't afford a tutor. So I must find material that my dc can digest and learn from on their own. (That's asking a lot.) TT did that for me--and was affordable. The most "rigorous" material in the world does the student no good if it's not understood. I'd rather have a program that my dc understand and retain than one they struggle through and understand nothing. Just my .02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaeljenn Posted February 26, 2008 Author Share Posted February 26, 2008 Ellen, I did not realize that Singapore had a detailed solutions manual. I guess the last time I looked into it has been years ago. The reason I feel Saxon many be my only other option is because that is what I was use to. I will look into Singapore... it is nice to know that it can be self teaching. My children are self teaching as well, using Rod and Staff.... which only goes to 8th grade!! SIGH.. works much better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stirsmommy Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 What we are doing as dd is young is we are doing tt to get our feet wet. She has done algI and will do alg II and then Geometry before the end of eighth. Then we are going to test to determine if we need a harder round of alg II or if we are going to precal before we start doing some college classes. She is getting a lot out of TT. I don't know if it is enough which is why we test. Dd does better with a conversational style teaching. We started with Saxon and she hated it. She hated the dive cd's and the repetition. So for now this is what works best for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I did not realize that Singapore had a detailed solutions manual. I guess the last time I looked into it has been years ago. Jenny at the SingaporeMath.com forums is a great resource too. She'll help with any questions a student just can't get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin in DFW Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 We have tried a ton of different programs only to be frustrated by the "rigorousness" of them. I want my dd to understand what she is doing, not just go through the motions with little understanding. Over the past few years we have tried Saxon (too scattered for her), Foerster's (great text, but just too much, we were re-doing and re-doing lessons trying to get an understanding), Teaching Textbooks (started, but got scared off because of all the posts about lack of rigor) and now finally, I have become a bit more relaxed in our homeschool and have realized that TT is perfect for "our" family and my dd. The one book we used with great success was Lial's BCM for her pre-algebra course. She learned so much that she was never taught in ps. But, for her the upper levels are just too much per lesson for her to digest. We really like TT and plan to use it all the way through Pre-Calc. hth, Robin in DFW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in CA Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Robin thanks so much for posting this and your other posts about TT, I too shied away from TT because of bad press, but now we are going with it. I appreciate hearing the other side : ) Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate CA Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 I almost feel like my only option is Saxon.. Have you looked into VideoText? Their program is supposed to be more rigorous. HTH! Warmly, Kate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnUK Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 Have you considered Chalkdust? I've heard very good things about Chalkdust's ability to prepare kids for college math courses. It uses a tried and true textbook, and has the DVD component. If you have a problem, you can call the company and they'll work you through the problem. I'm planning to use it next year for pre-algebra, so I can't speak to the actual day to day of it, but I've heard very good things about it. --Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 We really like TT and plan to use it all the way through Pre-Calc. This has been our reality as well. We have no mathy people in this house. We have paid for tutoring in the past, but a private tutor is a huge expense. Now that we have one kid in college there is no way we can afford a private tutor for the high schooler. I plan to use it through pre-calc with the goal being that she finish at Christmas and spend the second semester of her senior year at community college taking math there. Incidentally, her 10th grade ACT score was not bad, the only part of math she did badly on was geometry. She had not taken geometry yet, so I sort of expected that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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