Teaching Textbooks has long been a parent favorite for homeschool math curriculum. But since the days of the large spiral-bound book and sleeves of CDs, the Teaching Textbook program and interface have come a long way!
The Teaching Textbooks App is now compatible with any platform you use (yes, even Kindle Fire!) and you can download a free trial of any of their courses right here!
Here are some of the highlights you probably already know about Teaching Textbooks (but if not, these are important, too!):
- Teaching Textbooks courses are designed for 100% student independence - complete lecture, practice problems, and automated grading included!
- Teaching Textbooks offers hints, second chances, and even free phone tutoring if your student gets stuck!
- Teaching Textbooks is uber-affordable (all 12-month courses fall in the $40-$70 range!) and you can save even more if you're homeschooling a crew with the Large Family Discount Plan!
OK, so maybe none of those facts were a surprise to you. But as we enter our fourth year with Teaching Textbooks, I wanted to share with you some of the fun gems and cool, unexpected features you may not have discovered yet! Buckle up. Here we go!
Built-In Scratch Pad!
Maybe your student is completing a math lesson in the car, or the waiting room of the doctor's office and he comes to a problem that requires a bit of manual math calculations. Don't have a pencil or scratch paper on hand? No problem!
From inside any lesson, you'll find a "Scratchpad" button in the top-right menu. Customize the paper and pencil you're using and scratch away! You can also use the right-hand menu to select the eraser, or scroll without writing on the screen if you need more vertical space (like for a looooong division problem)!
Sticker Book Collection
When my kids get a math problem right, they get a kick out of the funny moving stickers that pop up to tell them, "Good Job" or "You Nailed It!" I kid you not, on more than one occasion, a child has rushed to show me a funny congratulatory sticker before it "went away".
But did you know that all of those cool animations are actually saved in your student's very own sticker collection? From the main menu, you can choose "Sticker Book" and scroll through the stickers you've collected so far.
And if you think one of them is silly or annoying? No problem - you can turn it off and you won't see that one anymore. The further you go through the course, the more stickers you'll unlock. Not only will they show up in your sticker book, but they'll be added to the options for goofy congratulations when you get those problems right!
Syncs Across Multiple Devices
You know that Teaching Textbooks works on all platforms. But did you know that you can set up your student's account on multiple devices?
All of my kids have their Teaching Textbook course set up on three devices - their Kindle Fire Tablet, their computer or Chromebook, and my laptop.
If we're on the go, they can grab their tablets and work in the van. If they want a larger screen - or they forgot to charge their tablets (womp, womp) they can use the program on their computers.
And, for those times when someone needs to do math with me (mostly for those kiddos who need a little help staying focused!) it's easy for me to pull up their lesson on my laptop.
Their work syncs across all devices so they can easily pick up where they left off from one device to the next as long as each device is connected to the internet. You can also work offline and then connect to the internet to sync your progress.
Walk-through Solutions to Every Problem
Most math programs that offer some level of automatic grading will tell you the correct answer to the problems you get wrong. But then you might find yourself scratching your head and wondering how on earth you were supposed to get there from here!
Not only does Teaching Textbooks automatically grade every single problem, they also offer a complete, step-by-step walkthrough for every single problem.
By making use of these solution videos, students can engage with math the way it should be experience - by using their errors as a stepping stone to new insight and learning!
Also, you might like to know that from the gradebook page for any lesson, not only can you see which problems students missed and whether they took advantage of their second chance or not, you can also see whether they watched the solution! This will help you to prompt students to make the best use of the resources Teaching Textbooks provides, if they aren't already.
Free Printables!
I just had to include this one on the list as the grand finale because I didn't even know this was a thing until just recently! But yep, Teaching Textbooks has put together quite a number of high-interest, super-useful reference sheets with the same creatures and buddies they've met in their lessons! Download and print your favorites!
The last one is one of our favorites and one that we've referenced multiple times!
If you’d like to try Teaching Textbooks in your own homeschool, start with a free trial!