9 Reasons We Still Use Teaching Textbooks for Homeschool Math

If you’re new to me, you might not know that I’m a homeschool mom of 8, and this year I have two in college, two in homeschool high school, two in middle school, and two in elementary. I’ve homeschooled them from the beginning. This is our 15th year homeschooling and my 8th year to use Teaching Textbooks for homeschool math!

Disclosure: The following post about 9 Reasons We Still Use Teaching Textbooks is a sponsored post from Teaching Textbooks. I received 12-month access to Teaching Textbooks for my children and monetary compensation for my time in researching and writing this completely honest review and for running the giveaway.

What is Teaching Textbooks?

Teaching Textbooks is a math curriculum in an online digital course format. When you sign up, you get 12-month access to the course, with the option to “pause” for up to 3 months (maybe during the summer or another break you need to take?) so that your kids can finish up when you get back to doing homeschool.

Scroll Down to Enter to Win a

Teaching Textbooks Level of your Choice!

Teaching Textbooks has the following levels:

• Math 3
• Math 4
• Math 5
• Math 6
• Math 7
• Pre-Algebra
• Algebra 1
• Geometry
• Algebra 2
• Pre-Calculus

9 Reasons We Still Use Teaching Textbooks for Homeschool Math

When I first started homeschooling, I didn’t start out with Teaching Textbooks. For many years I used a different math curriculum. But, there came a point where, as the kids grew, I needed some subjects to be hands-off off for me. I didn’t have time to work out each long division problem my son was missing in order to figure out what he was doing wrong and re-teach it to him.

So, that was the main reason we switched to Teaching Textbooks for our homeschool math curriculum. But, that’s not the only reason we are still using it 8 years later!

Hands-Off for Me

Teaching Textbooks makes math one of the subjects in our home that I do not have to teach or grade! The lecture lessons through video/animation teach the kids each day. And, automated grading gives the student immediate feedback. The new 4.0 Gradebook includes improvements such as the cumulative course average. I can easily delete a lesson if I decide a student needs to repeat it. (I usually do that for any grade earned on a lesson that’s lower than a 70.) If desired, you can also print from the grade book.

Furthermore, it’s a breeze for me to check their grades and to see which lessons have been completed each day. I simply log into Teaching Textbooks and click the purple “Parent Portal Login here’ in the top-left hand corner. From the Parent Portal, I can:

• Get into the Gradebook (to view grades, dates lessons were completed, cumulative average, and delete a lesson)
• Change Student Settings (see second graphic below for which settings the parent can change)
• View the Answer Key and Ebook (every lesson and problem is available “on paper” too!)
• Manage Courses (this is where you can pause for a week or up to 3 months)

Independence and Safety Nets

My kids have independence and “safety nets” with the Teaching Textbooks math curriculum. Teaching Textbooks gives the students “hints” and another try. Then, they can watch the entire problem being taught step-by-step audio-visual solutions for them. They never have to come to me for help! They can see the problem being worked out immediately after they miss it. I LOVE the TT solutions!

Hints can be set by parents to be “on” or “off.” Personally, I love the hints because they lessen the frustration that some of my kids get when learning and practicing a new concept. A fun feature related to hints is that the kids can turn on or off certain sounds and animations that go with the hints.

Gentle and Easy-to-Understand

None of my kids are math geniuses. New math concepts are taught through Teaching Textbooks in a gentle way in easy-to-understand language. They also give my kids a sense of autonomy that they can work through it themselves and finally succeed without having to come to me to help them!

Fun Features of Teaching Textbooks for Homeschool Math

I have to tell you that I’ve always loved Teaching Textbooks’ graphics! They’re fun, colorful, and quirky. My kids love the fun features such as buddies, stickers, backgrounds, and animations. It’s one of the features that they have control over to turn on or off, or to change by themselves (without me).

Coming soon: A new feature coming is a Messages feature which will include such items as birthday cards, buddy postcards, and chapter completion awards. When doing a sometimes dry subject like math, these fun features make it more enjoyable for them!

Proven to Work

As I’ve mentioned before, I have two kids who are finishing up their sophomore years in college. My oldest son had a tutor for Algebra 2 when he was in public school (he went to public high school for 10th-12th grades), and she said he was pleased with the foundation that he had received from Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 (which he had done in 9th grade).

My second son did Teaching Textbooks in homeschooled high school all the way through Algebra 2. He is now in his second year of college for a Mechanical Engineering degree and hasn’t struggled!

Works on Any Device

The new Teaching Textbooks 4.0 app no longer uses Flash, which means it that it now works on every device and there are no longer any Flash glitches! A couple of my kids love being able to do math on their phones now. 🙂 Several still use a computer, though. It’s great to have the option. They can do math easily in the car or anywhere they go!

Doesn’t Require Internet Connection

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 can work without an internet connection now. Before going “offline,” the kids will need to download about 6 lessons with an internet connection, and then they can do those offline. When they get back to wi-fi, they’ll need to sync back up to get everything loaded back into the app. Such a cool feature!

Scratchpad 

A couple of my kids said they love using the new app scratchpad feature. They can work out problems right there on the device or computer screen instead of on paper if they wish.

 

Coming Soon

Here is a new feature I’m going to LOVE! The Daily Progress Email isn’t available yet, but I’m looking forward to getting the email daily of what my kids did the day before without me having to log in to the Teaching Textbooks Parent Portal to see it. Also coming soon is a Payment Plan feature for parents and the Messages/Awards/Birthday Cards/Postcards features for kids.

 

Good News: Teaching Textbooks 4.0 which will work on all phones, tablets, etc. and doesn’t even need internet access is now here!

 

What my Kids Think of Teaching Textbooks:

Here is another post I wrote about a Teaching Textbooks review from the students’ perspective.

They agree with my decision not to change from Teaching Textbooks for homeschool math.

Free Trial of Teaching Textbooks for Homeschool Math

Not sure which Teaching Textbooks level is right for your child? They have placement tests for each level.

And, definitely try the Free Trial here (no credit card required):

See a demonstration of Teaching Textbooks 4.0 here:

Large-Family Discount Plan

Teaching Textbooks is very affordable whether you have one, a couple, or many children! I love that they have a Large-Family Discount Plan and that they’ll be rolling out a payment plan soon.

Teaching Textbooks for Homeschool Math FAQ’s

Are there any questions here that I haven’t answered? You can see more on the Teaching Textbooks FAQ page here.

Giveaway of a Teaching Textbooks’ 12-Month Access to a Level of Your Choice!

Enter on the Rafflecopter app below.

Giveaway of Teaching Textbooks 12-month access to the digital course level of choice (Math 3 through Pre-Calculus) ends April 30, 2021.

The winner will have 24 hours to respond to my email for information needed to set up the free

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Related Posts:

• Teaching Textbooks Review from the Students’ Perspective
• 11 Reasons Why Teaching Textbooks is the Best Math Curriculum for Us
• The Valuable Reasons We Switched to Teaching Textbooks for Math
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