Hello, my name is ______ and I use Teaching Textbooks ...

My biggest challenge when it comes to homeschooling has not been the commitment itself, but doubt - specifically, my self-doubt. Am I giving it my best, are my children excelling, not just plodding along, but truly excelling? Am I missing the mark in any aspect that would lead me to believe another option regarding their education would benefit them?

One area I have improved on over the years is realizing I need to give more to my older students, rather than the younger ones. My oldest daughter truly delighted in academic work from a very young age, so it was easy to get caught up in her enthusiasm. At the same time, I had a young man who was less than enthusiastic when it came to anything academic. I tended to give more time and effort to my daughter's studies, pulling the next in line along with her, and finding myself avoiding the inevitable battles over the less than stellar output of my oldest pupil. He rarely gave me any attitude or typical teen-age angst, but it was the simple lack of initiative, lack of interest that put me off. I found I could not break through his wall and it was disturbing to me.

Fast foward many years, the oldest has graduated and my daughter is now in 7th grade. She has an incredible work ethic, and would easily complete any task set before her with little input from me. And while that sounds like a dream, I realized I did not want her so independent. I needed to sit with her, discuss with her, clarify for her. In order to do that, I needed time, the enemy of anyone homeschooling multiple children.

Now the place to go for input on curriculum changes you may be contemplating is The Well-Trained Mind forums. And the place to avoid when you are contemplating curriculum changes is ... The Well-Trained Mind forums. The women there are brilliant. They are from all walks of life, with diverse backgrounds and years of experience. And they are opinionated. One program that receives many mixed reviews - some not so kind - is Teaching Textbooks. And this is the program that has helped me achieve my much needed goal of freeing up time.

Teaching Textbooks has become a favorite of mine, especially for the elementary grades. I have two children using it - Little Bear is working on level 4, and the youngest twin is on level 6. They are independently working their way through, and I am so pleased with their progress. The single most important aspect of the program - for me - is they are receiving immediate feedback on any problems they get wrong. I could not provide that, as, by the time I graded their work, they were on to something else. Bringing them back to that math problem in their mind was simply not the same as them entering an answer in the computer and knowing immediately if they are correct. It is a blessing to our homeschool.

I am spending the time I would have dedicated to their respective math instruction with my oldest daughter, who is making her way through two different pre-algebra programs. I want to make sure she is solid in what she needs to know before she tackles algebra next year. The plan for her is to continue with MUS and Fred, but there is still time to decide if that is truly the right path for her. Little Bear will finish level 4 of TT this December, and move on to 5. The younger twin will complete level 6 and go straight into pre-algebra with the start of our new school year in May. The research I have done says level 7 is not necessary if the student does well with 6.

So that is our story of how TT has fit into our homeschool. It truly was a process of researching options, weighing opinions, and allowing myself the option to not be responsible for all the instruction my kids receive. It does feel good when you choose well.