Well, not really--I could have a few more days, it would just cost me $25 more.
So, math for Erik at home.
EPGY--we've already done it, he's familiar with it. He could continue right where he left off. It's about $60 a month, though, and our budget is really tight this year.
Teaching Textbooks--he's ready for level 5 now (per the placement test, though he's in the middle of 4th grade on EPGY). It's cheaper, provided it takes him at least 3 months to go through. I have no idea. I can't get the demo to load on my computer, but I think he'd like it. There are plenty more after Level 5.
Any input? He gets basically no math at school. What do you think he'd like more?
A third option we're considering is no math. I can't decide what to do. This fall he's not in an activities (because I didn't register him in time for the pottery class he loves and it filled up. Oops), but we'll probably add one thing in the winter.
My ds really likes Teaching Textbooks. My ds is in public school, but we do homeschooling with him as well since he is so far ahead. I found the placement testing with TT to be accurate. My son is in 4th grade at school and is doing pre-algebra with TT. We switched from Saxon per his request and he is really liking it. I bet Eric would like it as well! For the price, it is certainly worth checking out, IMO.
Stacy, you do both TT and EPGY, right? Do you think that he'll get the same deepness in TT as in EPGY?
I've watched the sample lessons now, and I KNOW he'd love it. How do you do the practice? The nice thing about EPGY is that it moves on if he shows mastery on something, so he doesn't get bored by doing too much repetition.
Irina, thanks for the link! And thanks for your input, Cindy.
We were doing both TT and EPGY... we dropped TT because the EPGY was a better fit for Nate - and he was learning plenty.
I have been thinking about dropping EPGY, too, but there is a big part of me that is saying, NOOOO, he's in a STANFORD program. That will be GREAT for him someday if he wants to go to college. Even if he doesn't want to go to college (he wants to be a glass blower), I still think it's top notch and is really geared towards teaching gifted children. It just uses a different way to teach, which TT and any other math program we have seen does not get into. kwim?
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Heather Mitchell
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That's what I'm wondering, Heather. Thanks for your input.
OK, so when they taught multiplication, like 24 x 8, they didn't just teach the PROCESS. It taught WHY we do what we do for long division. I had no idea! I had learned HOW, but never knew why. It was great.
So, I'm wondering, do the other programs do that? I see the one Irina linked it's more of just the process. I also don't think he'd do well with a completely written lesson like that. But he will love it for the problems, etc.
I asked Erik after he spent a long time on the TT demos. () He said he likes EPGY better. But I did like TT, and it will cost us less.
Heather, I also wonder about keeping it just for the name of it. When I say that he's in 4.4 grade level in EPGY math, it means something. If they don't know the program, and I say he's in Level 5 of TT, it doesn't convey anything.
FYI--I chose EPGY. Erik likes it, I like how they teach math, even if it's kind of dry and boring.
Heather, I noticed that TT 4 is coming out in December, I think. And Erik is in EPGY 3/4 (somewhere in the 4th grade, IIRC), and passed the placement for TT 5. So TT 4 might be a good fit if he's doing math at about 3rd grade level. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea what Liam's level is anyway.
If you're not sure of his level, but want a good foundation, EPGY starts them at current grade level. Erik went through very very quickly last year, since he started at K. We did three months, and he went from K to mid-4th. But I was glad for him to have the foundation, and it did fill in some skills he'd not known.
I think he is probably around 2nd currently, but i have no doubt that if we actually gave him open rein to really explore it he would be at 3/4 by Christmas. The kid writes pages and pages of math problems out for fun LOL. I really didnt realize until they started addition last spring in kindy what a love for it that he has.
and LOL Liam doesnt really mind dry and boring much. I am really looking for something that teaches the why behind things. He can memorize facts all day, but I want to be sure that he understands it conceptually as well and that it isn't just his amazing memory coming into play
You'd probably really like EPGY, then. Erik did the K level REALLY fast (like in less than 3 sessions). 1st grade went slower for him, and he started getting tired of it, but I would encourage him to persevere. After that, he's been fine--there's been enough new mixed in with what he already knew to keep it fun.
Erik will come out of his room after being in bed just to tell me a math problem. I so understand.
The money commitment is what is really holding me back right now. We have some money issues going on, and until they get straightened out, I am not sure that I can come up with the extra money each month. Liam would love it-- I know that he would. a funny thing-- Liam is not an artist. At all . lol He rarely draws, he colors stuff that he needs to for school but not really much else. This weekend I saw him cutting and coloring and taping and all sorts of things., and I was like Liam what are you DOING. He had replicated his math workbook and made pages for it with problems, down to having them in boxes and having the directions. Soooooooo funny. He had even drawn unit blocks and colored them to represent the addition and subtraction because that is how the workbook started. All of this was from memory btw, because the workbook stays at school.
Liam is not an artist. At all . lol He rarely draws, he colors stuff that he needs to for school but not really much else. This weekend I saw him cutting and coloring and taping and all sorts of things., and I was like Liam what are you DOING. He had replicated his math workbook and made pages for it with problems, down to having them in boxes and having the directions. Soooooooo funny. He had even drawn unit blocks and colored them to represent the addition and subtraction because that is how the workbook started. All of this was from memory btw, because the workbook stays at school.
Military wife of a deployed soldier. 
) He said he likes EPGY better. But I did like TT, and it will cost us less.
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