In an attempt to start writing a little more here I am going to share some of the curriculum which my children are using this year. These are the math programs my 5th and 8th grade age children are using this year.
Teaching Textbooks
Several years ago I was told about Teaching Textbooks by a friend whose children are several years older than mine. I had seen TT before, but was initially put off by the cost of each level. However, it is very complete and does a through job teaching . Having the option to see exactly how a problem is solved step by step and comparing your work is very helpful. Having a math curriculum which does the grading is also a huge plus for me. One less subject to grade saves time and that is very valuable as well. All of these positives really make it worth the price for our family.
My oldest has to work hard at math to get it, she can do it but it takes work for her. She likes working on the computer so I hoped that would be a plus for TT, even though it is math. She is currently doing Algebra 1 in Teaching Textbooks. She doesn't really enjoy math, but I think I can honestly say she is happier doing it on the computer than she would with a book and paper.
Consumer Math
This year my youngest is using a consumer math course. He used Teaching Textbooks 5 last year which he loved, but according to their placement tests he was easily able to skip the next level. That meant he was ready for PreAlgebra this year. However, he is 5th grade age and I really didn't want him doing algebra in 6th grade. So I decided a better option was to have him work through life skill math.
He has been using Math in Everyday Life. This addresses wages and salaries, payroll taxes, preparing income tax returns, budgets, grocery shopping, household shopping, mortgages, utilities, remodeling and home repairs, purchasing a car, and insurances. There have been a couple exercises which are not written very well and some of the information is outdated (copyright 2000) but overall this is a pretty good overview of practical, life skill math.
SupplementsSeveral Years ago I found a copy of Family Math-The Middle School Years at a used curriculum sale and snatched it up. We had used the elementary version from the library quite a bit. Family Math is a collection of hands on math activities to teach higher level concepts and ideas. Many of them align with concepts in PreAlgebra.
As these activities are hands on they require manipulatives, but they are easily found around the house or can be easily substituted. Most activities don't take longer than half an hour and are a fun break from book and paper math. They are a great way to apply those book concepts in a concrete way. We haven't used the book in a while, but I think it's about time to take it off the shelf again.
Home and School Mosaics is sponsoring a curriculum linkup one Wednesday of each month. The current link up coves the subject of math.
