Disclaimer: I reached out to Teaching Textbooks to make our homeschool life easier. They kindly sent me subscriptions in exchange for this review. This review is 100% my personal opinion of Teaching Textbooks and they’re not changed because of our relationship.
Why We’re Using Teaching Textbooks
We’ve had a little bit of a crazy year this year. Things have been super busy on our ranch, our kids are doing two rodeo associations instead of one which means more practice, we bought 2 cattle trucks and put them on the road which means more paperwork on top of what I already have, I started this blog, and I added a kindergartner in the school mix on top of my 3rd and 5th grader. Whew.
Don’t miss the giveaway at the bottom of the post!
I’m not telling you these things for compassion of any sorts. I’m telling you so you can kind of understand why the first several weeks of our new homeschool year was crazy, confusing, and completely not what I wanted. It was running me ragged.
I needed help. I didn’t have time to help my oldest kids with the help they needed. It was driving me crazy and I was getting overwhelmed fast.
My oldest son had used Teaching Textbooks 2.0 our first homeschool year and we liked it. The only problem was it was too expensive. I couldn’t afford to place 2 kids in it let alone eventually 4.
We liked what we were using, but it was getting time consuming and requiring more of me. Right now, extra time was something I didn’t have to offer.
Enter Teaching Textbooks 3.0. A few weeks into our school year I found out that Teaching Textbooks made everything better and affordable by implementing online subscriptions. Hallelujah. Here was the answer to my problem. I could outsource our math and leave myself more time to work with my kindergartner and other things.
Currently we’re using 5th and 3rd grade. Here is what we think of Teaching Textbooks.
Benefits of Using Teaching Textbooks 3.0
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It does the grading for me and stores it permanently online.
I don’t have to check my kids papers anymore. I make sure they tell me their grade or check it myself when they finish a lesson.
In Oklahoma the homeschool laws are pretty relaxed. I understand in other states laws aren’t so relaxed and grades are to be provided periodically.
Teaching Textbooks stores all of your kids grades online for you and all you have to do is print them off when you need them. This eliminates extra paperwork laying around your house. And if your computer crashes you don’t have to worry about losing all their hard work. Even if you cancel your subscription these are still available.
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You can delete individual problems or lessons
This gives you full control of how much your kids are retaining. If my kids get below an 80 on a lesson, I delete the problems they got wrong and they do them again for a higher score.
My daughter has trouble understanding what they’re asking her to do sometimes. Instead of asking for my help she’s bad to just click an answer. Because of this she gets some low scores sometimes. I can go into her gradebook, delete the answers, and have her redo those answers in that lesson. You can also delete the whole lesson if you need to.
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The lessons are taught for me
This is one of the reasons I love Teaching Textbooks. I don’t have to teach math lessons anymore. I still help out when they have trouble with a problem. A computer program can only help so much.
Not only that but, the problems are read to your student. If you have a child that struggles with reading the problems are always read to them so they don’t have to worry about reading along with math.
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My kids get the experience of using the computer
This is especially true for my daughter. When she started using Teaching Textbooks I didn’t realize she had never really used the computer before. She’s in the 3rd grade. She should have been using it. #MOMFAIL
This gives both of my kids a chance to use the computer daily and familiarize themself with the keyboard, mouse, and basic using skills.
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No more discs
If you have multiple kids using this, you have to switch out discs multiple times a day. This results in scratches and possibly the losing of discs. Now the need for them is erased.
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It can be done on mobile
If your going on the road there’s no need to lug you computer with you. It can be done on your tablet or phone. Anything that has an internet connection. Here is some more information on how to get it on mobile. https://bit.ly/2FAXZDk
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Hints are available
Hints are available for your child if they get stuck. As an added bonus, hints can be turned off in the parent dashboard.
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Great customer service and tutoring
This is another thing I love about Teaching Textbooks. They have great, friendly customer service to help you with anything you have trouble with.
They also offer free tutoring for your child if there’s an area they’re struggling with. You don’t have to leave the house to go meet the tutor or spend the extra money. Just call customer service and set it up.
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Online ebook is available
There’s an online ebook available. This is great if you have a child who would rather read through the lessons instead of listening to them. Or if you have a struggling learner and need to go through the lesson to prepare yourself for helping your child.
The ebook allows your student to read through the lesson, highlight focus points, and see the problems for the assignment.
If you have the 2.0 physical book you can use these with the 3.0 online.
If you still want a physical book you can purchase the 2.0 book for the grade level your child is in. Just click on the grade level your working in, scroll past the 3.0 part and click “I just want to purchase the Text and Answer key test bank.” Just pay the additional amount for the physical book.
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Affordable
This is the best change so far. The 2.0 physical product costs around $120 to $185. This was always my biggest turnoff. Most families can’t afford that.
The new online 3.0 is around $43 to $67 per student, depending on your grade level. This is very affordable for most families.
What if you have a large family and still can’t afford that much per child? With the Large Family Plan Teaching Textbooks have made it even more affordable for large families. With families of 4-8 children their price would be capped at $199.08. The more kids you have (up to 8) the cheaper it is.
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Pause Feature
Subscriptions are for a 12 month period. However, you have the ability to pause your subscription for up to 3 months total time. This is perfect for when you want to take a vacation or break. There aren’t any limits on how many times you can pause but, each time you pause you have to do so for at least a week.
What You Need to Know About Level Placement
Teaching Textbooks is not strictly set for grade levels. For example, Level 3 would be for an advanced 2nd grader or an average 3rd grader. Check out their level placement test for more information.
What Do My Kids Say About Teaching Textbooks?
I asked my kids what their favorite things were about Teaching Textbooks. Their answers are so typical of their personalities. Royce is not a detailed person. He answers straight forward, no nonsense answers with limited details.
Savannah on the other hand is very detailed. She gives answers with every single detail nailed down to the minute. Here are their answers.
Royce:
“I like that I get to work on the computer.”
Savannah:
“I like how I have my own password. I like how I get my own character. I like the quizzes and bonus’. I like the picture puzzles and that I get to work on the computer.”
What are the New Features of 3.0
A few of the new features of 3.0 compared to 2.0 are…
- Buddies or avatars for your kids to choose from.
- New wallpapers to make their experience more enjoyable and fun.
- Ebook
- You get the choice to turn off hints and second chances.
- It’s Affordable
- And of course, it’s online.
Try 15 Lessons for Free
Try 15 lessons of TT for free. No credit card required. Try one level or all levels. There’s no time limit to finish either. Learn more about the free trial in their FAQ’s and click the image below to get your free trial. There’s absolutely nothing to lose.
