Change Your Homeschool Math Curriculum to One That Works!

How to know if you need to switch to a different homeschool math curriculum next school year and why Teaching Textbooks could be the answer!

{This post is sponsored by Teaching Textbooks. Get your FREE 15 LESSON TRIAL here!)

My oldest daughter – God bless her – she and Math were mortal enemies from the beginning. She likes words and books and art supplies. Math equations are too black and white for her colorful world.

[She is her mother’s daughter.]

It was easy to see when a math program wasn’t working for her. It was written all over her face and in the way her workbooks were squished and ripped and scribbled on. No guesswork there!

But my oldest son was a different story. He would plod along with anything. He was my proverbial guinea pig and he played the part well.

Until Algebra.

He would sit for hours, staring at the textbook, begging the numbers to make sense. And the fact that math is not my forte made me the least likely person to be able to help him untangle the concepts enough to learn them. I had bumbled my way through my own high school Algebra. I had very little to offer in the way of support, let alone instruction.

So, began my quest for a different math curriculum. And the one I landed on (and have been with for years and years now!) is Teaching Textbooks!

Perhaps you are in the same boat I was in…a child who has made it abundantly clear the current curriculum is NOT working or a child who is definitely struggling, but keeps going despite not understanding a thing he’s learning.

Either way, it might be time to change your math curriculum!

Do I Need to Change My Math Curriculum?

First of all, there are GOOD and there are BAD (or not so good) reasons for changing curriculum. You don’t want to be sucked into the idea that every time your child hits a snag in the curriculum, you need to switch. You’ll spend all your homeschool career switching from one thing to the next.

Not a good idea.

So, read my post on Good and Bad Reasons to Change Homeschool Curriculum to be certain you are making an informed decision.

But, let’s address math specifically. Here are some reasons you might need to change your math curriculum.

1. Your Math curriculum is too parent intensive

Notice I’m NOT starting with how your child FEELS about the curriculum.

YOU are the one who has to teach this stuff. YOU are the one who has to convey the message and make it make sense. If you aren’t happy with the curriculum, or if you are spending entirely too much time explaining, lecturing, and grading math, it’s time to consider a change!

2. Math isn’t making sense to your child…ever.

You have tried. They have tried. It continues to be a struggle. This is what happened with my oldest child. It just wasn’t making sense no matter how much we tried to slog through it. Time for a change!

3. The curriculum uses math tactics you (or your kids) don’t understand.

Common Core anyone? It is nearly impossible to teach (or even help!) a child to do math in a way that makes NO SENSE to you as the parent. Certainly, you can teach an old dog new tricks, but is that really how you want to spend your time?

4. Too difficult to keep track of all the lessons and grades in your Math curriculum.

Perhaps you have a lot of kids like I do or perhaps you just don’t have enough hours in the day to do all the lesson planning and keeping track of grades that your math curriculum requires of you. Frankly, I have better things to do than spend my spare time grading papers. There has to be a better way!

READ > Teaching Textbooks for the Large Family

5. It takes too much time and energy to teach all the math levels!

I hear ya! I am currently teaching 5 children. That would mean 5 different levels of Math. No, thank you. I need a Math curriculum that saves me time, energy, and sanity!

Teaching Textbooks
The Answer to Your Homeschool Math Woes!

If you looked through the list above and realized you definitely need to change your Math curriculum, let’s explore all the ways Teaching Textbooks answers the problems you have!

1. Less Work for You as the Parent & Teacher

Teaching Textbooks is not parent-intensive in any way, shape, or form. There are no books to gather, papers to grade, or lessons to stress over.

If you are switching math curriculum, simply have your child take the Placement Test to determine which level you need to order, then use the FREE 15 Lesson Trial to familiarize yourself with the program and decide if Teaching Textbooks is right for you and your child.

2. Lessons that are taught sequentially, repeatedly, and patiently

Let’s be honest for a moment, shall we? As homeschool moms, we are not always patient and calm when it comes to teaching a difficult subject. When our child struggles to make sense of a concept, we sometimes start to fall apart ourselves.

However, I promise you Teaching Textbooks will systematically teach your student Math without ever yelling or losing its patience! You can rest easy knowing lessons will be taught in a spiral method that will repeatedly reinforce previous mathematical concepts. This is particularly helpful if you are switching to Teaching Textbooks from another curriculum and are worried about gaps in lessons and skills.

Plus, if your child is switching to Teaching Textbooks from another program and you find they are struggling to make the transition and understand the math concepts, there are tutors who can help. Yes – REAL, LIVE people who will patiently help your child understand the lessons. This is especially helpful in the upper grades!

3. With Teaching Textbooks, Math is taught with proven methods and real world examples

No new-fangled Math concepts here! The problems are fresh and fun, and the methods are tried and true. If you remember anything from your Math Years, you’ll be plenty able to support your child in their Teaching Textbooks journey.

4. Teaching Textbooks does the lesson planning, teaching, and grading for you!

Hooray for outsourcing for the busy homeschool mom!

Not only does Teaching Textbooks do the lesson planning, teaching, and grading for me, it also sends me an email every day keeping me apprised of how they are doing! At a glance, I can see their grades, and know without a doubt that my children are doing their Math and how they are doing at their lessons. Such peace of mind!

And as an added bonus, Teaching Textbooks is super engaging and customizable, with stickers, wallpapers, sounds, and plenty of positive reinforcement that your kids will find interesting and encouraging!

READ > Why My Kids Love Teaching Textbooks!

5. Teaching Textbooks gives you back hours in your day!

At the end of this homeschooling journey, I want to know I spent as much time as possible simply being Mom. If I am spending all my energy fussing and fretting over my children’s homeschooling, I have lost time with them I will never get back. I do not want their childhood to be fraught with memories of a stressed out schoolmarm of a mom. I want them to remember how passionate Mom was about History, Nature, Fine Arts, and most of all – Jesus!

Admittedly, Math is not my passion. It’s not where my homeschool hours are best spent. If I use up all my time and energy on Math lessons, I won’t have the bandwidth to give my children the parts of me that really matter – the lessons and subjects I am passionate about.

And that’s really what this all comes down to.

Is your homeschool curriculum serving you and your family? Is it giving you the time, energy, and margin to be the Mom you want to be? Or is it sucking the life out of you and your kids?

Perhaps it is time for a change.