Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

Math seems to be one of the biggest worries among homeschoolers. Math intimidates many of us for various reasons. Maybe you feel that you aren’t well grounded in math, or don’t know how much you remember to teach it to your kids. I fall in both of those categories. Throughout the years I have used several math programs with both of my kids with their different learning styles. Teaching Textbooks is one of my favorites on my shortlist.

Teaching Textbooks has a new and improved version-Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0. I'll share with you some of the differences from the Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0. I have also used the physical set Teaching Textbooks 2.0 with the books and the DVDs. You can still get a physical set but the features of the 4.0 far out weight it. This school year I started out using the Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0 Algebra 1 and was switched over to the Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 Algebra 1.

Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 has levels from Grade 3 through Pre-Calculus.

Not sure which level to start with you can use the placement test to determine your child’s level. 

If you have a large family they have a family discount of 4-8 children. If your not sure or curious about Teaching Textbooks they will allow you to do a Free Trial on the first 15 lessons on any of their levels. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

When you sign up for your subscription you have 12-month subscription. There is a lifetime access to the gradebooks. You can pause your subscription up to 3 months and it won’t go against your 12 month subscription. To pause it you access it in your parent account in increments of 7 days. You will only have access to the level you purchased. Each level is a separate subscription. 

You can easily view your remaining time of your course.

Your dashboard makes it easy to navigate as a parent. Everything is clear and concise for me. I can manage each student from any device that has the app on it.

My son has his own dashboard that lets him view his course eBook, work on his lessons, gradebook, and adjust his wallpaper , sounds, and other interactive components. 

What is the Difference between Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 and Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0?

Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 and Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0 are both online subscriptions with the same 12-month subscription. They both are automatically graded. The 3.0 didn’t run a total average grade of the course just individual lessons but the 4.0 averages out the grade for each  lesson and the course. In both versions, you have a parent and student account. Both versions let you give hints or second chances for problems. The parent can have them re-do a lesson or a problem if needed more than second chances from the parent account. Both can go between devices from the laptop, desktop, and mobile devices and keep track of your progress. The 4.0 is specifically designed to work on mobile devices  and it also works on a Chromebook.  The sound and the animations are a much better quality. There is also more variety in the background and animations in the 4.0. The 4.0 uses an app on each of your devices. 

You can also print from the e-book and the Answer Key and print out the gradebook with both versions.

In the 3.0 version, you can view all your student’s grades and levels in one place on the parent account. You can print out your students grades for your student for your records. I currently only have one student doing Teaching Textbooks this year so I don't know what it looks like with several students.  

The 4.0 version is an app that lets you download up to six lessons at a time. This is nice if you’re doing school on the go and if you have spotty internet. When you get back online it will sync to the gradebook and update your progress.

The app is far superior on tablets than on desktops and laptops. The scratchpad feature on the 4.0 is designed for the tablets and the app allows you to work out problems on the tablets.  You can use the app on your phone also. You  need to make sure your device has a speaker or a place to plug in ear buds to hear the lessons.

Customer service is amazing to work with. There have been a few bugs with the switch over from the 3.0 to the 4.0 version. I needed help to fix problems and I had a pretty tough one that needed to get others involved. Everyone was extremely helpful when we needed help. They gave me step-by-step help with the issue and followed up. Other than that issue I have been having some issues with my virus program every time there is an update with the program saying the app is not safe. We have been able to bypass the block.  

Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 Algebra 1 has 142 lessons and 19 test.

Creating the account was easy to download on both my desktop computer, Chromebook, and on my son’s Android phone. The only issue I had installing it on my devices was my virus program with the initial setup and any updates. Like I mentioned earlier with some tack I was able to get it out of quarantine to download. We assume because the program is a new app that it isn't liking it. My son mainly uses his Chromebook for his lessons.

Icon on my desktop

Once I click on the desktop icon I'm taken to this screen.

There is a tutorial that takes you through the different areas in the app.

You log into your account as a student of a parent. You will have a password for your Parent Account and Student Account. 

Your student can set up his wallpaper, sounds, and animations. You can also turn off the sounds.

I love that the lessons are interactive and the explanations are clear and concise. I feel that they do a good job explaining each concept. You can go back and listen to the problems if needed. Each lesson has a teaching and several practice lessons. 

The questions vary from word problems, fill in the blank, and multiply choice problems. 

Each question you get immediate feedback. If you have an incomplete problem you can view the solutions. Every seventh lesson there is a quiz that goes over the concepts already learned. 

When you look at your lessons it tells you that it is complete. Even in your gradebook if there isn’t a “C” next to the lesson it indicates that you missed a problem or two.

Everything is automatically graded for you for each lesson. Students can easily work on the lessons independently. I know I can’t explain the math in a way that makes my son understand the concepts. I appreciate the lecture and the explanation if they got the answer incorrect. If you hit a roadblock with a topic Teaching Textbooks has a Tutor Hotline. I haven’t had to use this yet but, I know someone who has used it before and she had nothing but praises about the help she received.

The gradebook is detailed showing you how many problems for each lesson, how many questions are correct and incorrect. A final percentage grade for each lesson and a running grade of all the lessons completed. It also shows me what date the lesson was done. Another feature is it shows if your student used a hint or tried the question a second time. I can click on each lesson and it shows me which problems are correct and incorrect.

Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 Algebra 1 goes over all your basic operations, pre-algebra concepts, relations, functions, statistics, graphing with a calculator, probability, quadratic formula, variables, and all traditional algebra concepts you expect to see in an algebra 1 course.

Above you can see one of his completed problems from lesson 72.

My son is in his first year in high school and he started Algebra 1 this year. We do math daily on school days. My son does the majority of his lessons on his Chromebook. When we first used the 4.0 version the Chromebook app wasn’t available yet. He started on a desktop computer and when the app came available for his Chromebook he switched over to that. Once in awhile he will use a different device if he hasn't update his Chromebook or having issues with it he will jump on his phone or the desktop to complete his lessons.

My son started with  Teaching Textbooks with Math 3.0 first and then we had the update for the 4.0 and have been using Teaching Textbooks around 9 months now. All the grades and completed lessons from the 3.0 transferred over to the 4.0 version without any problems.

He has been using Teaching Textbooks for many years and so far has used Math 3 through Algebra 1 to date. We have used the physical set for many years. Last year we did another curriculum and it wasn't a good fit for my son and we had a few tears and a lot of drama. Other than that we  have used supplemental programs, reviews throughout the years but Teaching Textbooks has always been his favorite and his core curriculum.

I'm really pleased with what I am seeing with the 4.0 version. I'm a pretty big component of physical items and prefer them over digital. When I went into this review I had my mind set that I wouldn't like it as much as the physical set. I have to confess that I really love Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 and won't go back to a physical set.  My son likes the 4.0 version better. He gets a little irritated with some of the issues that have popped up with the app but he knows that the change over isn't an easy task and expects issues. With any change you will have issues and I haven't had anything that couldn't be fixed easily with a bit of patience.

My son likes the lessons and has done extremely well. He doesn't complain about math at all when we use Teaching Textbooks! It a good fit for his ability and he likes to work independently. I plan on having him complete his high school using Teaching Textbooks. 

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Other members of The Homeschool Review Crew are using different levels of Teaching Textbooks. Click on the graphic below to read other reviews.