11/28/2023 0 Comments Abeka geometry![]() ![]() Thumbs up!Īs an Algebra 1 course, I would highly recommend No-Nonsense Algebra. But for a middle school curriculum, after students have mastered basic arithmetic but maybe aren’t quite ready for Algebra 1, this was a great filler year. This was a low-pressure math year for us, which was great! I’d recommend it for middle-school for sure, especially for students who don’t love math. Instead of just looking at figures and doing problems, students are creating the figures. Much of the work is done with a drawing board. It’s a middle school curriculum that is very concrete. My eldest is very hands on and so, when looking at math curriculum, I was drawn to RightStart Geometry. I use these frequently when I tutor kids that struggle with math. My biggest piece of advice with these is to not write in the booklets. Feeling like he was getting to “skip” a bunch of math was encouraging and made for less stressful math sessions. ![]() If he got them right, I knew he understood the concept and we moved on. I would often review a topic with him, and then tell him to choose 3 problems from the page to do. There are so many problems, that it’s a great resource to pick and choose what you want to do. For kids that may get overwhelmed by a giant math textbook, they are easily digestible. Later, we used Key to Algebra as our Pre-Algebra/ introduction to Algebra. We did the Key to Fractions, Key to Decimals, and Key to Percents. He used it for one year, during which I supplemented with many of the packets from the “Key To…” series. While boy 2 was using and eating up Teaching Textbooks/Life of Fred, my eldest tried and didn’t love Teaching Textbooks. If you have a child that likes to read, thinks ‘outside the box’, or just wants to try math in a different way, I would definitely give these a try. What I’ve seen in flipping through them is impressive. While I haven’t used the newer, elementary books, I know several people who use them and love them. Much like Teaching Textbooks presented Algebra in a different way, Life of Fred teaches Geometry in a very different way than our core curriculum, so we didn’t end up using it much. Note: When we were doing Geometry a couple of years ago I picked up Life of Fred Geometry as a supplement, thinking it would be a nice help. I won’t argue with anyone who chooses to use Life of Fred as your sole math curriculum. We used Fractions, Decimals & Percents, and Pre-Algebra (with Biology). Life of Fredīecause I always felt that Teaching Textbooks was a little on the easy side, I instituted “Second Math” for my son that was using it. We had several good years with this, and I would definitely recommend it up through Pre-Algebra without hesitation. I made the decision to switch to a new math curriculum the following year. This made it difficult for me to come alongside and help him with his work when he struggled. Teaching Textbooks teaches Algebra in a way that is different from the way I learned it, and the way many other curriculums present it. He completed Algebra 1, though not terribly successfully. Teaching Textbooks was my younger son’s math curriculum of choice up through Algebra. The first versions of the upper level courses are not, but they’ve come out with “2.0” versions that are.) Easy peasy, and way cheaper! Just make sure you check if what you’re buying is self-grading. When you get a used copy, you need to contact the company and they will give you a new user code. (My buying tip is to check used curriculum sales, craigslist, and ebay first. The website has placement tests, though, so there’s not too much guesswork in knowing which level to order. For example, Math 6 we found to be more appropriate for a 4 th or 5 th grader. It is engaging and the fact that it is self-grading is so convenient! It was our experience, like others I’ve read, that the levels seem to be about one grade level behind other programs. There is a lot to like about Teaching Textbooks. You can click on the images to read more about each curriculum. Each one of these had pros and cons, things we liked and things we didn’t. When I was looking for things to try, I loved reading about other people’s experiences. ![]() With math, we have used a number of different curriculums (I know “curricula” is the correct plural, but it sounds funny, so I don’t say it). And if something doesn’t work… you can try something else! Math Curriculum One of the very best things about homeschooling is that you can pick and choose what will work for your family. Let me say clearly…I know lots of homeschool families that use and LOVE Saxon. ![]() The charter school they had attended used it and it was not their favorite. When we started homeschooling, the one thing my kids asked was that we not use Saxon Math curriculum. What worked & what we really wanted to work but just didn’t…pros, cons, hits, misses. Reviews of all of the math curriculum we’ve tried over 10 years of homeschooling. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |