Most resources that public school advisers suggest for gifted or bright kids are a ‘mile wide and an inch deep’ – they don’t really go into depth on any one area. After traveling to dozens of home school conventions for several years across the country and seeing what math options are out there, I searched for more options than what’s traditionally on the exhibit floor.
After talking with math professors from Harvey Mudd, Stanford, Princeton, UCLA, and others, I thought you might like to know about their recommendations for resources that might be useful to you on how to deliver math skills in a way that really lasts.
For kids just starting out with Math: Dr. Wright’s Kitchen Table Math
For kids not quite ready for Algebra: Singapore Math Series
For kids Algebra through Calculus: Art of Problem Solving
These two work well together, and lead right into each other. If you’re looking for a DVD series, then you’ll want to get Arthur Benjamin’s 24-lecture ‘Joy of Mathematics’ DVDs.
More Math Resources
These resources are for kids that are really into math and enjoy diving deep:
- Go Figure A totally cool book about numbers that my kids love to read in carpool.
- Why Pi? is the second book that builds more on the ideas from Go Figure
- Story of Math is a 2-volume DVD set you can find at your library that focuses on how and why math was developed and the current ideas about who discovered what and when.
- Fractals – Hunting the Hidden Dimension This is a Nova documentary you can find at the library which has enough plain-English for everyone. By the way, fractals are fragmented geometric shapes split into parts, each of which is approximately a reduced-size copy of the whole thing. Fractals are between dimension 2 and 3, depending on their depth.
- Games for Math – this book is a treasure-trove of math games you can make out of papers, scissors, and a little time. We’ve done a lot of these with our kids when they were in K-2nd grade. Find it at your library so you can browse through it yourself.
- Ten Marks A math curriculum that’s aligned with state standards.
To Patricia J….
The Teaching Textbooks can be found directly from their website at http://www.teachingtextbooks.com. I had no problems with delivery. 🙂
Hmmm… no. I don’t have any experience with this one. I’ve have a look and let you know if I have any suggestions.
Wonderful! I am so glad you are enjoying the program. We’re currently putting together an HUGE section on math, but it’s still in the works so I can’t tell you more, but it’s going to be incredible!! 🙂
Have you tried amazon or ebay?
Where can I find the Teaching Textbooks math series?
Aurora,
Are you familiar with the Life of Fred Series? If so, what is your opinion on it? We have used it in addition to other texts for fractions and decimals, but I am considering using it alone for Algebra and Geometry since it has extra practice.
Thanks
HI there,
I just started using Teaching Textbooks for my 9 yr old son. He enjoys math but was losing interest and getting frustrated. Since using TT, my son LOVES doing math! The program allows him to work on it on his own (which he does), explains the concepts quite well (without me!), and allows him to do the lessons, quizzes and tests over and over if needed. He seems to do better on the computer than in a workbook so this was a definite bonus. I do find that the grades that TT work at are usually a grade behind. So for example, my son is in gr 4 but is working on the Grade 5 level of TT.
I would love to hear what you think of this too, Aurora! We just signed up with you and were delighted to see the section you have on math. I was HORRIBLE at math but I was interested in the one lesson you have on how to figure out the answer fast when you multiply a 2 digit number by 11! I couldn’t wait to ‘show off’ my new skill to my son who now is excited to learn how to do it! I am SO grateful to have found your site as you make learning exciting, interesting and fun! Exactly the opposite of what my own school experience was like.
🙂
Oops! I just saw your comment! Never mind!
Hi Aurora,
I would also like to know what you think about Teaching Textbooks. I am currently using this program for my elementary aged children.
Hi,
I’ve heard lots of great things about it from other families, but I have never tried them out myself. I will have to look into it… 🙂
Hi Aurora,
Have you ever heard/used the “Teaching Textbooks” math series?
I was wondering what your opinion is of this math series …