I am a work-from-home mom and have trained my children to work independently for several subjects, beginning in elementary.
We read our science, history, and geography lessons together and then my daughter works on her notebooking pages on her own. I do grammar with her along with writing instruction and Bible, and of course look over her independent work (to make sure she is being thorough as well as understanding what she is taught). In the early years we use workbook-style math, but then we move on to independent math lessons.
Encouraging independent math learning has been a life-saver for our homeschool!
In the early years I like to use workbook-type math for a few reasons:
- It’s easy to teach (ha!)
- The workbook pages are typically colorful and eye catching
- Workbook pages are fun for young learners (most of the time)
Something happens when we hit more complicated math, such as multiplication. My children and I just cannot quite find a balance of teaching and learning without tears. Something exciting happens when we get to third grade though – math becomes an independent subject!
You might be wondering how in the world math can be an independent subject?
It’s no secret that I dislike teacher guides and grading schoolwork, I have mentioned it many times. I don’t typically issue “grades” in our homeschool until high school, but math is a necessary subject to grade. I like the fact my daughter can learn math independently AND I don’t have to grade it – score!
About nine years ago we discovered an independent math curriculum that was interactive, taught the lessons AND did the grading. When we were in math-freak-out mode and needed a math teacher, Teaching Textbooks came to the rescue.
Teaching Textbooks made math so much more tolerable in our homeschool. No longer was it on me to explain math problems that I could only work out on paper and not teach step-by-step. My children appreciated the fact that their new math teacher didn’t burst out in tears or lose patience with them.
Math finally became one of the subjects my children could do independently.
A decade ago when we we started using Teaching Textbooks it was way ahead of its time. Much of the computer based curriculum we had tried had terrible graphics and the interface was super cheesy. Teaching Textbooks has always looked great, but fast-forwarding to the here and now, it’s much more advanced than it was back them with their new 3.0 online version.
You can read about the 3.0 features here.
A homeschool organization feature of Teaching Textbooks 3.0
Have you ever had important school work, records, or even curriculum saved on a computer that crashed. Not just crashed, but let’s say the screen of your laptop comes off the base. Uh…yeah, that happened to me half-way through our school year once. We lost all our math records, but thankfully were able to call their customer support to get a new key to install it on a different computer.
With Teaching Textbooks 3.0 they keep all your math records for you, even if you no longer have an active subscription. That would have been useful way back when my laptop became two pieces.
There are so many things to love about Teaching Textbooks 3.0 but most importantly for me is that math has become an independent subject.
Teaching Textbooks starts in grade three and goes up all the way to Pre-Calculus. You can sign up for a free trial (no time limit) so you can see if this math curriculum would be a good fit for your children. There are math placement tests available, simply click the grade you think your child would start and and download the pdf.
The prices are affordable for families & much less than the 2.0 CD version:
- Grades 3-5: 12-Month Subscription per Student – $43.08
- Grades 6-7: 12-Month Subscription per Student – $55.08
- Pre-Algebra – Pre-Calculus: 12-Month Subscription per Student: $67.08
They also offer large family discounts. If you have 4 to 8 children, Teaching Textbooks will cap the total annual cost to $199.08. you can read more about the large family math discount plan and see how the cost breaks down for your family.
How about you? Are you ready to make math an independent subject that doesn’t require you to TEACH or GRADE? Click here to get started.
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Carrie is the owner & operator of Homeschool Giveaways. She has been homeschooling for over a decade and has successfully graduated her first homeschooler. She has two girls and works side by side at home with her awesome husband. She has been saved by grace, fails daily, but continues to strive toward the prize of the high calling of being a daughter of the Most High God.
