A quick review on Teaching Textbooks.

First let me say their name is beyond boring... but they went to MIT... brilliant in math... lacking in the loquaciousness... we will forgive them..

Up to this point, we have used their Math 7, Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, and Geometry. I am waiting for Math 3 to come out so I can begin it with my youngest child. I have one child who just "gets" math.... the other, is like her mama.... and struggles with math over all. Both students enjoyed these books. My oldest, ( and the one who "gets" it) was able to come from public school 6th grade math, and then a year of no math, straight into the Algebra 1. I don't mean to say that this Algebra course is that easy, because I do believe it to be academic. I feel he had such success because the concepts were made clear, in every lesson. I tried to do Pre-Algebra that same year with my math struggler, and it was melt-downs and tears. So we went and printed out the placement tests they provide, and moved her to Math 7 for a wonderful tear-free year. I do like the fact that my children can work independently with their math curriculum, and come to me with questions vs. me standing there reading out of a teachers manual and explaining all the concepts. I think that when you home school multiple grades, you need to take the opportunity to let your children work alone from time to time so that you are available to help your other students. These books do a very good job of explaining the concept, and they provide either CD-ROM lectures, as well as the lecture written in the book. It is a nice tool for those who are more auditory in their learning process.

I learned things myself in Algebra and 7th grade math, that I was never taught. I feel like it filled the holes that were there from my own math education in "traditional" school. I have read dissenting opinions on this curriculum, and I do know if it is "behind" or not; I do not hold a degree in Math. To me, some of the word problems tend to be repetitive within a chapter, but it does the job of cementing the concept. It is expensive, however, I do plan to use the books with all of my 4 of my children, making the cost more like 50.00 a kid. I have noticed that re-sale value on this curriculum remains fairly high, should you choose that option to recuperate some of your expenses.

If you have a math genius, maybe this isn't your curriculum... But if understanding processes, and actually enjoying math is your goal.... these are the books for you.