I know we have had this discussion before, but I am wondering if any of you use this or are planning to. How do you like it???
I dont use them yet, but am planning on purchasing them this year at our local convention. I have several friend that use them and love them!!
I saw the Algebra II one just Thrusday. Faythe was in dance, and there was a gal sitting at a table doing her schoolwork. She had a copy of that book, so I asked if I could look at it. I was really impressed! The girl said it was easy to understand. I'm hoping to find someone with one I could borrow to bring home and have Carl see it. Oh, this girl's father is an Algebra II teacher in a public high shool and HE approves of this book! I've pretty much told Carl that I cannot do the math much more. Rachael MUST get something she can understand better, and we really need to look into this series.
Oh, OK--I just went & looked up our latest "Timberdoodle catalog" & found them in there. They do look intriguing, but rather expensive.
Deena, I've just been doing some more research & found a place where you can see sample lessons & watch some sample lectures on CD. It's the Sonlight Curriculum web site. Their prices are similar to "Timberdoodle's," but they also offer answer books. I wonder if they aren't necessary or why "Timber" wouldn't mention them? They do say that the CD's have all the solutions; so maybe they figure that covers it.
Oh, yes, Sonlight also has some placement tests, which I copied & plan to have the twins take tomorrow. They'll be good measurements, no matter which curriculum we're using. (We're presently in Saxon.)
The girl I talked with says she has the CD's but doesn't use them. I think the book was very clear in itself. The one place I read said it has done for upper level math what Apologia has done for science. What that means is that it was written for the HOMESCHOOL STUDENT, assuming there's no adult around who knows anything about the subject. Most upper level math books, including Saxon, are written for a math teacher who knows what they're doing to interpret for the student.
ok ladies I am dumb here are these books just for math or can you get them for other subjects? I would like to look into them? for other subjects too
http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/Default.asp Here is a link for their website. There is a place you can click on to sample them. I know they are expensive, but may be well worth it for the help it provides. (I am NOT a math person!) It looks like they have added 7th grade math, too. That is what I am looking at. My question is, do I spend the money for SOS and get 5 subjects for ds....or do I buy this and use other books for other subjects??? I know the SOS would be the better deal for my money, but what do you guys think?? (I guess I am wondering if ds would get bored of doing ALL the work on the computer??? Of course....he loves to be on the computer any other time!)
Ok, I went to the web site and looked it up yes it's a little pricey, but what isn't now days. Any way I see they only do math no other subject. Now I have one more question is this better then Saxon Math?
These look like they are worth considering despite the price. For homeschool teachers who are not able to directly tutor mathematics, this might be a good option. When it comes to HS subjects, many can be accomplished with library materials, used textbooks that are free and other options that would free up dollars for an option like this. It would seem to me that less tutoring would be needed for subjects like literature and social studies, history, psychology but math and math based sciences are areas where many students are going to need some some demostration and tutoring. Many HS teachers have either not had these classes or have not had them in a while, and money will in some cases help overcome this. Another option that is almost free that might be useful for some would to be to find some of the open courseware video lectures for mathematics courses that are being put online by many colleges, universities, and Jr. Colleges. There are a great many tutorial websites for math. Math folks seem to have been early adopters of the internet and hyperlink markup language for teaching. I have found many sites over a period of time that seem pretty good. You could always purchase the textbook that goes with such open courses used on Amazon or ebay, and possibly spend only a small fraction of this. (185.00 for Teaching textbooks).
Vantage, I appreciate your evaluations. One question: if we buy used SOS or Teaching Textbook CD's, is there any possibility that bugs or viruses from the previous owners' computer could be transferred? I know those things mostly come from internet-related sites, but is it likely that they could travel through used curriculum software?
Commercially produced cd-roms are closed session and cannot be written to further. As long as you purchase cd's produced by the manufacturer/publisher you will be fine, they will not pick up viruses from the previous users computer. Copies from an individual, that could be different, and they would be prirate copies anyway. If someone went to the effort to make real looking pirate copies, they would likely not make them contain viruses, as this would stop ther gravy train.
Homeschool classifieds have the text and test/answer book for Algebra II listed at $55. It does not have the CD's. They also have an Algebra I for $75, but that's only the CD's. It doesn't even have the answer book! I knew it was expensive, but anything over $100 I can't see as being in my budget!
Thanks, Jackie. I've been researching homeschool swap shops & used curriculum, too, & haven't come up with much for this item.
