If there were 10 stars. I would give that many!! We started with Abeka from 1st grade, there was LOTS of crying and not getting it! All the way through 4th grade my daughter just hated math. Then we found Teaching Textbooks, and I almost can’t believe its my daughter who sits down, wants to do MATH FIRST, and LOVES IT! It’s just the right amount of work to do everyday, I can go over it and see how she did, but it takes me out of the equation!! She asks if she doesn’t understand something, and I think that has only happened once! We started this the beginning of September and she will be done in about a month. She is excited that she gets to start 6th grade math before she in 6th grade! Thanks to Timberdoodle for having such a great item for us to purchase!

The Key To Math series has been perfect for my son who has wanted to learn math mostly on his own. He talks about “what they are teaching me” even though all he has is workbooks. The only thing I’ve had to do is check his work, and the answer keys make that task very easy. This is a great program for a student who is “advanced” or “behind” since there are no grade levels.

Horizons Math 4

Wow! Even my son said we had to review this to say how great it is. This from a kid who says he hates math and has found it too frustrating in years past. We tried Singapore in 1st and 2nd (not enough hands-on, too frustrating, not enough review), Seton Homeschool in 3rd (good but not enough review, too boring), and Shiller (no workbook, too much hands-on, too much prep for the teacher–never ended up using the expensive package). Horizons is the greatest! It has good explanations, doesn’t stay on one topic too long….but reviews constantly. So when say long division is introduced, there are a few problems, then there are addition, multiplication, and word problems…often with fun activities like spelling out a secret word or answering a funny riddle. We both appreciate the Bible/religious references, and we are not evangelical people. There are a lot of colors, but not distracting…they enhance. One problem will be in a yellow box, the next in blue. This helps the eye settle on the problem at hand. There are also regular tests, usually 2 pages long, which help him and me see that he certainly does understand the concepts and knows those facts. And he gets good test practice–something he doesn’t get in other subjects much. The one problem is there is SO MUCH to get through! But that is good, as it covers everything, and with great repetition. When my son demonstrates he knows the concept and math facts of a particular set of problems, I let him skip the rest. When he needs more work, he does them all. And we’ll have some pages to do this summer, to keep the facts that often disappear after summer break. This year, my son really enjoys math for the first time and is proud of his accomplishments in it. I can’t say enough good about Horizons Math, grade 4. I only wish we had started with Horizons long, long ago!