A review and tips for using the Teaching Textbooks 4.0 app from a mom who is teaching math to multiple ages in her homeschool.
Don’t miss the Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Giveaway at the end of the post!
Teaching multiple ages is always a challenge. You have to figure out how to maximize your time and efforts and spread yourself and your resources between all your children.
As I counsel moms in my book: Creating a Homeschool Schedule You Love, you want to spend the bulk of your hands-on teaching energy on the subjects you actually enjoy.
For instance, if you are crafty mom, make sure you have plenty of time and energy for crafts. If you are a science mom, you want to be more hands-on with science projects and nature studies. I’m a history and nature mom, so I like to use my time and energy on history lessons and time spent out of doors.
Because I’m a history and nature mom, I need to outsource subjects I don’t enjoy as much to less teacher-intensive sources.
I have found Teaching Textbooks to be one of the most intuitive, homeschool-mom-friendly ways of teaching math to your homeschoolers, and that’s why I chose Teaching Textbooks as a way to outsource my least favorite subject – Math!
Plus, they have a large family plan that makes it WAY more reasonably priced than many other homeschool math programs!
Teaching Textbooks takes math off my plate and allows me time and energy to teach the subjects I love!
READ >> How to Homeschool Math When You Hate Math
We have been using Teaching Textbooks for many, many years. And even though I have tried a few different math programs during my homeschooling career, I have always come back to using Teaching Textbooks.
In fact, other homeschool math programs have contacted me to do reviews and I’ve always turned them down because I have a math program I love. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel.
Get a FREE TRIAL (no credit card needed!)HERE >>
How to make Teaching Textbooks even easier!
Tips from a Large Family Mom
- Get the FREE TRIAL!
I have honestly. never seen a FREE TRIAL quite like Teaching Textbooks offers!
You get Lessons 1-15 in every single grade to make sure Teaching Textbooks is a good fit! And the best part is, you do not need a credit card to sign up! Oh, and another best part is that you don’t have a time limit to try out those lessons!
If I’m ever on the fence about using a certain curriculum, Free Trials always help me make my decision because there is nothing quite like USING the curriculum to tell if you are going to love it or not. So, take advantage of the Free Trial!
And if you decide to buy, all of your students work gets transferred to the app! They won’t have to redo those lessons! Your kids will appreciate that!
- Set up the Teaching Textbooks 4.0 app WITH your child BEFORE school time.
The app itself sets up super easy, but once you get everything downloaded, your child will need a password (MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO REMEMBER!) and they will need to choose their buddy and/or wallpaper.
I don’t recommend waiting until school time to do this!
Do it the day before you’d like them to start using Teaching Textbooks, so you have plenty of time to download the app, familiarize yourself and your child with the way the app works, and allow your child time to choose sounds and characters for the app.
NOTE: Let your kids listen to all the sounds that occur upon a wrong answer in the app. I was so surprised to find that different sounds bothered different kids, so turning those sounds off for each individual child was a really nice feature!
- Download Teaching Textbooks 4.0 on SEVERAL different devices.
This is especially necessary in a large family household!
You will want the app for each level you are teaching on several different devices so no one is waiting for a turn to do math. It can be downloaded on PC’s, Macs, Phones, and Tablets!
I put the apps on the iPad, the big school computer, and the school laptop. It has worked perfectly and no one is waiting in line to do their math lessons!
Another awesome aspect of the app is the ability to use it OFFLINE! That means you can take a tablet to the doctor’s office, on a road trip, or to Grandma’s and never have to log in! Everything will sync back up when you do have connectivity!
- Remember to check the Parent Portal.
I made the mistake in the past of NOT regularly checking the parent portal to see how everyone was doing, and subsequently, missed the fact that one of my children was really struggling.
We cannot expect our children to let us know when they are struggling with a lesson – particularly a difficult lesson – because often, they are afraid they will have to redo it and redo it until they get it right, and that thought terrifies them. They are human and you are homeschool mom. Keep dibs on their lessons.
Checking the Parent Portal is super simple, so I set a reminder on my phone to check in every week on Friday so I won’t forget to take a look. Simply, go to the Teaching Textbooks website, click on the purple button in the top lefthand corner of the screen, and from there, you will see every child’s name that is enrolled in TT. Click on each name to see how each child is doing. That’s all it takes to catch any lessons they might be struggling with before it becomes a huge issue!
No more #homeschoolmomfail – yay you! (and me!)
By the way, the gradebook also tells you each child’s grade average (top lefthand corner of the above photo). No need to try to figure averages on your own!
- Teaching Textbooks has tutors!
I bet you didn’t know Teaching Textbooks has tutors!?! I didn’t know this until recently, but what an amazing feature!
When I signed up my boys for their next level of math, I mentioned to the Teaching Textbooks representative that one of my children was really struggling a few months back, and I had not caught it in time (thus the reason I now have a reminder on my phone to check the Parent Portal once a week!).
That son ended up taking a break from Teaching Textbooks to catch up. The TT representative told me that next time I run into this kind of snag, all I have to do is call Customer Service and they will have a tutor call us! FREE OF CHARGE!
What an incredible asset to have with a math program that already does so much!
- 12 Month Access + 3 Months of Pause Time
When you purchase Teaching Textbooks 4.0, you have 12 months of access to the app, plus you get 3 months worth of what is called “Pause Time.” This means you can pause the course whenever you need to take a break, or you have sick kids, or you are going on vacation, or celebrating a holiday, etc. The only stipulation is that each pause must be at least a week long.
We just took advantage of this when we went on vacation. I simply went into the Parent Portal and paused the courses. There is even a quick button to Pause All Courses, making it super simple for the large family homeschool mom!
Ultimately, this means your child has 15 months to finish each course. No need to be worried he or she won’t finish in time!
Hopefully, you are starting to see why I have stuck with Teaching Textbooks all these years we’ve been homeschooling! It truly is a great fit for our way of homeschooling!
Now for a Teaching Textbooks GIVEAWAY!
This is an incredible opportunity with 11 winners!
10 will win a TT subscription level of their choice and
one Grand Prize Winner will get a
Family Subscription AND a Tablet of their choice!
Current giveaway ends 5/31/26
Laura G. says
Thank you for this opportunity! We love TT!
Elizabeth says
We’ve been homeschooling for 13 years and love Teaching Textbooks!!
Amy says
We are currently finishing up.our first year with Teaching Textbooks. We started at grade 3 and so far we love it.
Christin Yuppa says
Thank you for this post. I am switching my oldest of 4 to Teaching Textbooks this year, so this was very helpful!
Dawn Gant says
This is great!!! Somewhat new to TT…a great over view! Thanks!
Amy says
I have homeschooled for 13 years. We have two years left.
Ashlie Thomas says
This is our fifth year to homeschool.
Julie says
Been homeschooling for 12 years.
Tracy Criswell says
We have tried Teaching Textbooks in the book form, but never online. I think it would be great for my three kids that I have at home (an eighth-grader, an eleventh grader, and a twelfth grader). This will be my 11th year of homeschooling.
Jessica says
We love TT too and have used it for years, but I didn’t know about the tutoring! So cool!
Shannon Alexander says
This will be our 8th year! Now homeschooling 5!
Georgia Stapleton says
TT is the best!
Laura says
We love TT and have used it for all our older kids. I never knew they offered tutoring!
Amy G says
This is a very informative article, I learned so much about TT. Thank you!
Andrea says
I used TT for the first time last year with my 9th and 7th graders. (I use Right Start Math until 6th grade, when their curriculum ends.) Having three younger children who needed my attention, I loved knowing that math was covered for my older kids and appreciated how easy it was to interact with this curriculum and see their progress. Highly recommend as well
Erica says
I did not know they had a free sample. I have a kindergarten who hates school. He destroys any school booms and refuses. So I’m not pushing him this year but may check out their free sample. My other will be going into 6th grade math and this would be helpful. Thank you
Kylie says
Thank you for this amazing offer
Libby says
Thank you so much! We’re kicking off our 6th year of homeschool. <3
Cheryl says
Hello again Amy!! I have been homeschooling for 2 years now. Math is my weakest area and I have been using Abeka. My youngest seems to be struggling, but after reading this blog I am very interested in the TT curriculum!! I have heard about it but have been afraid to branch out. Sooo glad you posted this and would love the opportunity to be able to try it!! Thank you for all of your time you put toward your family and toward all of our families with advice and encouragement!! God bless you!!!
-Cheryl (mom of 4 boys and loving it!!)
Sarah says
We love Teaching Textbooks!
Leanna says
This is our 10th year homeschooling. I can’t wait to try out the TT math!
Vickie says
We are planning to use Teaching Textbooks for Algebra 1 this fall. I had no idea about the free tutor to talk with.
Tai Bruce says
Love this. Thanks for sharing.
Sara says
Thanks so much for this opportunity!! We are planning to use TT this fall and excited to try it now with the free trial!
Misty says
Thx for offering a chance to win. Can’t wait to check it out!
J. says
Thanks for sharing this! I wish I knew about the tutor last year when my daughter was struggling with Algebra 1. If we use TT again We will have to take advantage of this! This will be our 10th year homeschooling.
Jessica Power says
I’ve been a homeschool mom since my oldest daughter started kindergarten 7 years ago. She has always struggled with math until I read your review of TT and enrolled her for 5th grade last school year. Wow! I was so impressed with how well she did, and how much she enjoyed it!! Thank you for the recommendation, and the giveaway. Here’s hoping I win !
Lacey S says
This was such a great post! I love the encouragement to spend time teaching the subjects you love. After 9 years of homeschooling, I needed this reminder! I’ve been considering using Teaching Textbooks for the coming year, but I didn’t realize it can work on and offline. We live with terrible, rural internet so this is encouraging to know we can work offline too! Thanks so much!!
Amy says
Thanks for this timely post! I’ve been using TT since it started and I didn’t know they had tutors.
Jenny says
This will be our 10th year homeschooling! TT Geometry looks great!
MichelleB says
I have been home schooling for 11 years if you count preschool. We used Math U See in the beginning, but it was not fast paced enough for my oldest math-wize (finished geometry this year and does it all in his head! ?). Plus I have 5 more kids to care for so the fact that it is self-grading sold me real quick. Now everyone starts TT in 3rd grade. Last year my younger ones used Math Seeds on the reading eggs website, that worked great and my now 3rd grader is ready for TT this year! So now everyone’s Math self-grades and I can concentrate on more important (to me) subjects! Yeah! #homeschoolMomWin
I completely agree with everything you said and second it! TT is the best! I wish they had more subjects!
Becky Hutchinson says
I’ve been homeschooling for 14 years and just started Teaching Textbooks last year with my daughter. Can I just say …. NO TEARS!! I can’t say she LOVED Math, but at least there were no tears this year 🙂
Lori says
This is our 7th year of homeschooling and we love Teaching Textbooks. I’ve always used the disks in the past and would love to try the app!! I also had no idea about the tutors- thanks for the tip!
Melissa says
Couldn’t be sane without teaching textbooks to do the math teaching for me. Thank you for this giveaway.
Marilyn says
We’ve been homeschooling for three years this will be our fourth. We had an interval of sending to school for two years but because of COVID decided to homeschool again.
Courtney says
We’ve been homeschooling for almost 10 years and with 8 kiddos, our youngest being 3 , we’ll be at it a bit longer. TT caught my interest several years ago but we’ve never tried it so this would be such a wonderful opportunity.
Lynn says
We have really enjoyed teaching textbooks. No more tears!
Rebecca Langford says
Love TT! Been homeschooling over 20 years! Can’t believe it.
Emma says
We are starting homeschool year number 5. I actually really like teaching math! But since I’m adding a third kid to the teaching mix and have a baby due this year maybe I should consider giving TT a try to free up some time.
Amanda says
We love teaching textbooks in our family. It has helped this non-math -mom succeed in that area of our homeschool.
Amanda says
We’ve been homeschooling for somewhere around 20+ yrs and have a LONG time left to go! (Our youngest is currently 1yr) We love TT!
Jenny Jarrett says
I’ve been homeschooling for 16 years. We used Teaching Textbooks back when there was only CDs and NO automatic grading. There was one year when my oldest was in high school that I lost all her progress and hadn’t been backing up correctly. Yikes! I have loved the simplicity and convenience of the 4.0 version.
Heather Fields says
twenty five years. yes, I’m tired! 🙂
Cathy Candelas says
I sure wish I had known about Teaching Textbooks a long time ago. We use the CD version for my 2 kids left at home.
Kandi says
We are going into our 7th homeschooling year. We have used TT for the last year. Love your blog and podcast.
Laney Homan says
Thinking of trying this out for my senior’s last math class. Been homeschooling for 16 years.
Kayla says
Will start homeschooling in August! I need all the wisdom I can get my hands on.
Laurie says
We love TT and have used it for several years!
Amber says
I’ve been homeschooling for 10 years. Wow, that sounds like a lot. So does having 9 kids. When my oldest encountered Algebra 1 through another curriculum, he just started drowning. With baby #9 on the way, I knew I couldn’t sit for hours to help him through each lesson. Enter Teaching Textbooks, which many of our friends use. It literally saved our skin with math, and my son loves and understands it. Highly, highly recommend!!
Shameka Drake says
Amy! I really enjoy your podcast and emails. Thanks for your encouragement and help in homeschooling and raising a large family.
Shameka Drake says
I forgot to mention we have 9 kids I’ve been homeschooling about 13 years and still learning!
Erin says
We’ve been homeschooling since the beginning. 8 kids, 2 graduates and 2 more the spring of 2022. Been using Teaching Textbooks since 4th grade but would really love to try the app version. Having a large family, we LOVE this math curriculum! It has taken alot of stress load off of this busy mama.
katie says
We’ve been homeschooling for 10 years.
We love teaching textbooks. Thank you so much for all the information and great wisdom you share!
Brianna Alton says
What age did you start using teaching textbooks or do you use as the only math program from the start?
I’ve been reading on fb, their beginning maths are a little to easy but from pre-algebra and up it’s super worth it.
I am starting my 9th grader on pre-algebra(for the third time, he couldn’t pass the assessment) so I hope it goes well. I am curious on if my fifth grader would do well on it.
Amy says
We start with Horizons workbooks and often go straight from Horizons 1 to TT 3, depending on how well the child has grasped their basic math facts.
Elizabeth says
Love Teaching textbooks for all 3 of mine!
Kellie says
Thank you for this giveaway! We’ve been homeschooling for 6+ years, but struggling to find a good fit for math for my 2nd child. We’re hoping TT is a great fit! Downloading the free trial very soon. 🙂
Jody says
Wonderful giveaway! I appreciate your wisdom & encouragement Amy!
Laurie Moudy says
What a great giveaway! We’ve been using TT for years but have never used the online course. I learned from your post about the free tutor! Game changer!!!! Have a great week!
Jamilyn says
I’ve often considered TT, but wasn’t aware of the free trial, so thanks for that info! I will be starting my 9th year of homeschooling this fall.