SOS math or Teaching Textbooks?

Discussion in 'Homeschooling' started by pecangrove, Jan 23, 2011.

  1. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    Just wondering which people prefer as a computer-based math program... pros/cons of each.
    Thank you!
     
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  3. Shelley

    Shelley New Member

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    I know nothing of SOS, but we switched both of our kids over to Teaching Textbooks this year.

    All I can say is that it has truly been a God-send for my daughter. We've been through a LOT in trying to do math. She's visual-spatial; and so while she flies through geometry stuff, the most basic algebraic math [for example, just increasing something by 1] baffles her. We've used Saxon, Bob Jones, and did a VERY brief stunt with Singapore. Tears and gnashing of teeth have occurred with all of them. This one, though, she has done well with.

    My son tested out a year ahead, so we skipped 4th grade and put him on 5th grade. I've learned I must monitor his gradebook, though, because it will allow kids to skip problems and just grade them on the ones they've tried. So, his grades looked outstanding; I then checked and saw it was because he was only doing 5-6 out of 22 problems! Needless to say, he's doing double lessons right now to make up for that plus got grounded from games for a week for lying.

    At any rate, aside from the fact you will want to keep a close eye on the gradebook to make sure they're doing what they should, I think it's a great program. The kids listen to the lecture [which has some interactive practice problems as he lectures], then there are 5 practice problems, and 22 problems daily.

    It's a spiral program, so information DOES repeat. That's been a good thing for my daughter.

    They have cute characters that you can change that, as the child gets a correct answer, will do something. It works as a bit of an incentive.

    The 3rd grade program has a bonus round and a hint system. Kids can miss a problem once and get a second shot at it without being penalized. If they miss a problem, they can immediately click to see how the problem should have been done correctly. I require the kids to look to see why they've missed a problem.

    You can get a workbook with the TT program or not. I got one for my son, but he has never used it. So, I didn't even bother with my daughter. However, both my kids love to work on the computer and aren't much for writing stuff out. If your child is the opposite, I'd rethink getting the workbook.

    Oh, and my son is 8 and daughter 9, if that makes a difference. :)
     
  4. kbabe1968

    kbabe1968 New Member

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    I have no clue about SOS. But Teaching Textbooks has saved my relationship with my children. I absolutely love it. They do too!
     
  5. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    I'm sorry, Shelley, I should have mentioned that we use TT this year already -- that would have saved you a ton of typing! :( DS likes TT quite a bit, and we switched to it about 8 weeks ago from Horizons because he was having meltdowns over math all of a sudden. I LOVED Horizons but since it wasn't working for him I found something that would.
    I am finding a few areas that he needs more work in, but I can't find any extra exercises included. So now I'm having to sort through internet sites trying to find and print off the exact extra work he needs. I am wondering if SOS math is comparable to TT and if so, if they offer ways to access extra work if it's needed.
    Otherwise I am happy with TT... it seems to be teaching him well in the other areas. :)
    Thanks for the advice ladies!!! And sorry, again, Shelley!
     
  6. jakk

    jakk New Member

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    My daughter started out with SOS math (she uses the full program) and last year we switched to TT for algebra.
     
  7. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    Did you like SOS or did you switch because there was an issue?
     
  8. Shelley

    Shelley New Member

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    LOL That's OK. Maybe someone else out there needed the review. :)
     
  9. jenlaw31

    jenlaw31 New Member

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    I don't know if this is an issue for you, but for me it is.

    From what I have read, SOS is not allowed to be resold (in fact the discs won't even run). It is allowed to be gifted to someone only once. I forget how that works, but somehow they have it set up where it has to have a serial # or something entered in order to run properly.

    It is a very expensive curriculum, as well as TT, but atleast TT is resellable. I personally can't afford to not be able to resell our curriculum when we are done with it. I count on being able to sell last years books in order to buy the upcoming years, atleast most of it ;)
     
  10. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    That really put me off of SOS, too.... just a shame. :(
     
  11. Jackie

    Jackie Active Member

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    We're doing SOS French and Science this year, and I don't like it at all. First of all, as stated before, you can't legally sell it. That irritates me to no end. And it's NOT AT ALL teacher-friendly. It's very complicated to figure out and set up. I can guarantee you that I will not buy ANYTHING SOS again!

    Having said all that, Rachael has used TT from Geometry through Pre-Cal. It's a wonderful program if you know nothing about upper math. Phillip is doing TT 5, and while I wish it was a bit harder for him, he's stopped fussing with me about doing math, like he was doing with Saxon.
     
  12. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    We started with SOS Lang Arts and spanish. The spanish is fine, but with the LA Will didn't seem to retain anything from day to day, even though he did great on the daily lessons. I feel like it needs more review. So, we went back to CLE.
    TT feels a little behind to me, too... Will is doing 3rd grade work but placed in 4th for TT. That's another reason I was looking for something else computer based.
    I guess I'll check SOS off my list of possibilities ... seems the math is no different than the other subjects.
    Thanks!
     
  13. TeacherMom

    TeacherMom New Member

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    much as we like SOS math is not its strong point. I do not like it. I would go for Teaching Textbooks if I could afford it!
     
  14. TeacherMom

    TeacherMom New Member

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    stephanie why are you doing computer based with a 3rd grader? is it for an attention getting thing, meaning to keep your dc 's attentive learning?
    We did sos 4th grade one year because we got it free but I would not do that to a younger child. Full time computer gets hard on their fingers and my ds started to get tendonitis. We used only one subject in SOS the following year , science because we had it, and that was okay.
    I would suggest Horizon math for that level, if he is testhing highter test in Horizons placement test and see where to fit him, its considered an advanced course and is really good at keeping the kids attentions.
     
  15. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    We used Horizons for 1st, 2nd, and the start of 3rd grade. He LOVED it... but about a month into 3rd he got to where he was all but crying over math. It's not that he couldn't do it, it was the format. So I tried a couple of other math programs and they all bombed. Then I found TT and he really liked it. Now he does math with no complaints whatsoever. And other than it not having extra review problems available, I like it quite a bit. I do wish he liked Horizons but he freaks when I talk about workpages... I think it is just a writing thing for him.... I don't know.

    ETA: TT Math (daily) and SOS Spanish (2x wk) are the only computer-based subjects we do.
     
  16. kbabe1968

    kbabe1968 New Member

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    My son was in 3rd last year, and tested into TT4 for this year. He's struggling a bit and I've had to get stuff to help reinforce things he really didnt get in 3rd grade well.

    I have been supplementing with Math Mammouth, simply because it's cheap, and I can download it from currclick. :) But, it's been helpful to him. MM is nice because it's broken down by element so you can pick and choose only the element you need to work on. IE, my son never really memorized his multiplication tables, so I downloaded Multiplication 1, so he could work on that. And even with that, I am only using about 3/4 of the download because there are other concepts taught better in TT than MM. But it was all in once place instead of internet trolling for what I needed.

    HTH.
     
  17. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    Oh thank you! I have MM, that was one he didn't do well with earlier, but I can certainly pull out extra work from it. I forgot I still had it! LOL
    Thanks for the idea!!! :)
     
  18. TeacherMom

    TeacherMom New Member

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    Oh good plan! I understand, seems that is the same year come to think of it that my oldest ds didn't like it anymore. We went to life paks with him then because of the age level, and he liked the slower moving work. dd was a horizon math to 4th or maybe 5th then life pak cause we already had the teacher book and had three learning that year.
    I would have loved to do TT myself but it cost more than I could do.
    Thinking on next year, we have Mus for high school already, traded off with the school for this year and will get ours back next year.
    That was the deal for them to recieve it when we are done we get to use ours when we want.
    I don't know about the younger grades in that though, Id go with TT too! And as for extra work sheets purple math is great with things like that too! purplemath.com I believe thats the link.
     
  19. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    Never heard of purplemath.. I'll check that out. Thank you!
     
  20. cabsmom40

    cabsmom40 Active Member

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    I have never used SOS, but I have looked at the lifepac version of their math and found it lacking in explanations. This may be different in the computer version. But, the fact that you can't resell it stinks. Teaching textbooks says on their website that you can re-sell it and if you need a new code they will give one to you.

    I don't know about the younger years, but in the pre-algebra and up they have all the problems worked out step-by-step on CD's. This is amazing.

    TT all the way!!!

    I have used Math U See, and I like some parts of it, but TT still wins out overall.
     
  21. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    I've been hearing a lot of good things about TT in the upper grades... although it is more expensive, I think math is one area that I won't paying the money (so long as we have it! LOL).
     

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