What We Love About the New & Improved Teaching Textbooks 4.0

Disclaimer: I received free access to Teaching Textbooks 4.0 in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to post a positive review and all opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

Finding a good homeschool math curriculum can feel like questing for the Holy Grail. It can leave you exhausted, irritated, and clinging to your sanity. Not to mention the effect the wrong math program can have on your kids. Never was there greater weeping and gnashing of teeth than a child trying to weasel out of a math lesson they hate.

3 Keys to Picking a Good Homeschool Math Curriculum

One of the things that drew me to Teaching Textbooks was it clicked all the boxes for being a good homeschool math curriculum.

Teaching Textbooks Self-Grading Homeschool Math Curriculum

Early on in our homeschool journey, I learned a self-grading homeschool math curriculum was a necessity. Honestly, with homeschooling multiple children, I just didn’t have the time to devote to immediately grading everyone’s work. For this reason, it was also important that feedback was immediate. I didn’t want my kids making the same mistake throughout an entire lesson.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 offers immediate feedback on every problem. When students get a problem correct, a fun sticker pops up to give positive reinforcement. My kids enjoy seeing what new stickers they will get.

If they get the answer wrong, they can try again. After two attempts, they are encouraged to watch the solution video to see where they made their mistake.

This element is so important to me because I want my kids to be able to recognize where or why they made the mistake right away.

Regular Math Hints for Kids

How often when doing math, do you just need a little nudge? A small prompt to help you remember how to proceed?

If you are my kids, you will take this as an opportunity to mean you can’t finish your math. After all, you can’t possibly interrupt mom to help with something as inconsequential as math. (Interrupting mom to ask if you can play video games is totally different and definitely justifiable.)

Luckily for me, Teaching Textbooks 4.0 has regular hints students can utilize as needed to help them continue progressing through the lesson. No more excuses about not being able to finish their math lesson because they got stuck.

Teaching Textbooks Has Teacher Videos With EVERY. SINGLE. PROBLEM

There is nothing that makes me cringe more than when my kids ask me to help them with a random math problem I haven’t done in years. It isn’t that I don’t know how to do it, per se, it’s that I have to remember on the fly how to do math I haven’t seen since high school.

I don’t need that kind of pressure! Thankfully, Teaching Textbooks 4.0 has a teaching video for every single problem. Not just the lesson video. This means I can watch a quick video and be ready to step in and explain if they need it. Mostly, it means they don’t need me, because they can just watch the video themselves.

And for those students (or moms) who prefer a written textbook, Teaching Textbook 4.0 offers an ebook as well.

New Features with Teaching Textbooks 4.0

When Adobe announced they would no longer support Flash after 2020, Teaching Textbooks knew they would be moving their platform. They took this opportunity to add some new features as well. Let’s talk a little about the new features we love.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Can be Used Offline

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 is an app-based program. You download the app onto your laptop, Chromebook, tablet, or phone. The app then generates the next set of lessons. This allows the student access to their work offline.

This is perfect for those days when you want to take schoolwork outside or need to take it on the go.

Scratchpad–Digital Scrap Paper

Students now how access to Scratchpad, a digital version of scrap paper.

Students can pull up Scratchpad to work through their homeschool math problems. This can save you on paper clutter. And, if you are away from home, this is the perfect solution. Who wants to trek scrap paper to the park?

My kids felt Scratchpad worked best with a mouse or a touchscreen. It was hard for them to use with only a laptop pad. It’s really geared more toward handheld devices.

Also, this is meant as a replacement for scratch paper. It cannot be printed out. So, if you are wanting/needing kids to show their work, this wouldn’t be a good substitute.

But it is a really nice feature.

Fun New Backgrounds & Buddies for Kids

A fun perk for the students is the addition of new backgrounds and buddies they can choose from. My kids love customizing their backgrounds and picking a buddy to join them on their math excursion.

With so many fun backgrounds to choose from kids are sure to find something the like.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Tabulates a Running Course Average

This feature has homeschool moms in mind. In addition to grading each assignment, Teaching Textbooks now tabulates a running average. This is great for knowing how your student is doing overall. And for catching if they are having multiple “off” days.

Other Features We Love About Teaching Textbooks

There are two other features I really like about the homeschool math program Teaching Textbooks. They aren’t new with 4.0, but they deserve mentioning just the same.

The Pause Feature

The first is the Pause feature. Teaching Textbooks 4.0 is subscription-based. Access is given for one year at a time. If students are doing one lesson a day during the week, they should be able to finish within nine months. Even with taking a few weeks off during that time for breaks. However, we all know life can happen and things can occur that cause us to need to put school on hold for a little while.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 understands this. That is why you are able to pause your subscription for up to three months. Each pause must be a minimum of seven days and you can pause as you need until your three months are used up.

You also have to flexibility to pause individual students. So if one child gets sick or is going to camp, etc. you can pause just for that child.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Large Family Discount Plan

Teaching Textbooks recognizes the financial burden homeschooling large families can be. That is why they offer a large family discount plan. The Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Large Family Discount Plan is perfect for families homeschooling four to eight children. The plan caps the overall cost at $199.08 for the entire family.

As someone homeschooling a large family, I love this.

Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Free Trial

Interested in giving Teaching Textbooks 4.0 a try? They offer a generous free trial. Head on over and sign up today!