Our Switch to Teaching Textbooks

I mentioned in last week’s journal that we had to make a curriculum change already in math, from Khan Academy to Teaching Textbooks.  If you’re interested in the long version of that story, here goes:

I did not struggle with math in school.  Not that it was a subject I enjoyed, but it wasn’t difficult for me to do well in school.  My daughter is the same.  No struggles, but no great love either.

Enter homeschooling.  I did lots of research and chose Singapore Math and we slogged through for months.  I disliked preparing my lesson, and consistently found I am not a good math teacher.  I know the information and understand it, but fumble when trying to explain it.  My daughter hated doing pages of workbook problems, and I didn’t enjoy grading them.

Finally my husband persuaded us to try Khan Academy, a free website with math videos beginning at addition all the way to high school and college math topics.  You watch the instructional videos and then do practice problems until you show mastery.

To our surprise we loved it!  If you’ve ever watched a video or talk on Khan Academy you’ve probably heard the term “flip the classroom.”  It means the students watch instructional videos to cover math topics and the teacher in the classroom is there to help with questions or problems.  This arrangement fit us perfectly.  She got a coherent lesson from a math expert.  I could listen if I need a refresher, and then be there to clarify or assist.  The fact that it was free was the icing on the cake.

We used Khan Academy as her main math curriculum last spring and over the summer.  I noticed a couple problems during the summer (yes, we school year round!).  First one of the suggested activities involved questions far above her math level (interest on a loan).  Second, working our way to fractions sequentially through Khan’s Knowledge Map was taking a long time–it was difficult to introduce the concepts of fractions she should be covering for 4th grade math without getting into higher level math that she wasn’t ready for.

Before the school year I researched profusely and had analysis paralysis.  I researched so much I couldn’t settle on something.  As we entered our full time school routine the main problem arose.  When my daughter sat down to work on math she became frustrated with not having clear goals or a direction to follow.  I needed to help her pick which modules to work on and sometimes I wasn’t sure what she should do.  Initially the “suggested activities” worked well, but as she’d worked on the site longer it didn’t seem it was suggesting what she actually needed to learn next.  In short, we weren’t covering the topics she needed to be working at grade level.

Finally I realized we needed a different solution.  After much research (again) and pulling my husband in for mental assistance we went went back to the drawing table.  My main requirement: video instruction.  Our choices were Saxon (with the DIVE CD’s), Math-U-See, and Teaching Textbooks.

We ruled out Saxon after reading too many negative reviews.  The reviews about kids really disliking math, “kill and drill,” and even some families reporting they burned the workbooks when they quit scared us.

Math-U-See was very appealing to my Charlotte Mason side.  After watching many of the available demo videos we decided it was so different that it would require too much backtracking to explain Math-U-See’s system, terminology, and manipulatives at my daughter’s level.

That left Teaching Textbooks.  I read glowing reviews and we watched demo videos from the company and videos made by users on YouTube.  Several bloggers I respect use it (Jimmie, Barb, Tricia), and it’s also recommended as part of the Sonlight program.  We decided to take the plunge.  Placement tests put my daughter at the 5th grade level (Math 5).

Do we hope this will be the math curriculum we can stick with?  Of course!  Do we still have concerns?  Yes.  The biggest are the reviews I read saying Teaching Textbooks is “behind” or that children who use it don’t test well in math.  I’ll be combating those concerns in several ways:

• She’s already starting a grade level ahead of where I expected, so that may explain the “behind” concern.
• We’ll still be using Xtramath for math fact memorization.
• We administer standardized testing yearly so I should spot any testing problems early.
• I’ll keep my eye on Common Core Curriculum standards and our public school district’s math curriculum to be sure she is covering grade level topics.
• We’ll keep Khan Academy and its videos in our pocket as a supplement.
• Lastly I plan to supplement with Life of Fred.  I am very intrigued by the author and his approach.  I have the elementary Apples book that I’m working through with my seven year old son.  I am not confident enough to use it solely, but I think the story aspect will appeal to my daughter, and the focus on understanding math will be a great supplement.

So there’s the long version of our math story.  Any one else already have to make a curriculum change?