After 4 years The Good & The Beautiful Math is no longer working for us 

It seems like there are a LOT of fans of Math with Confidence. If you’ve used Math with Confidence and/or Apologia math, what are the pros and cons? If you used both, which did you prefer?

I like that you gave examples of what was frustrating or not working for you and showing us. There a lot of videos like this but not many actually show why it isn’t working…just “it’s just not working for OUR family” so thank you for sharing with us. I hope you find something that works. 😊 we are loving Math with Confidence 💕

I feel way more confident and relieved after watching your videos! It’s helping me mentally prepare for homeschool in the upcoming years.. but yes! I taught elementary in a public school system for 8 years, and I agree that kids need that concrete math first before going to representational and then abstract math. Homeschool seems different than teaching at a public school, so want to make sure I’ll be doing it right.. so thankful for your videos! I’m learning a lot. Thank you!!

We used TGTB math last year for K and everything you are saying is exactly how I felt. After a LOT of research and finding something that was high quality that fits our budget we are using math mammoth this year and I really love how everything is explained and the why behind everything. My daughter loves it too!

We love TGTB math! Currently have kids in 5, 2 and K. Working great for us. I don't feel like there jmis ever a perfect cirriculum. We love the minimal manipulative and short examples.

MWC is fantastic! I'm using levels k & 1 this year and I'm thoroughly impressed. I had originally planned to use TGTB math but after looking through them over the summer I began seeing some of the same concerns you brought up. I last minute decided to switch to MWC and I'm so glad I did. It explains things clearly and thoroughly. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you go with it.

I am so glad this video popped up for me! We have done the old TGTB Math for levels 1-3 and are doing the new TGTB Math level 4 (free PDF) this year. My daughter went from loving math and desiring to do more, to hating it. I just thought it was getting challenging, but maybe you're right, it's just too much. Thank you for giving me courage to try something different that fits her learning style better! :)

You've put into words why we have switched from this to math mammoth and math with confidence. My daughter was already re doing 1st grade due to things at the public schools but this really set her back. She's slowly catching up again but thank you for explaining and showing why you're not using this anymore because it's the same reasons for us.

I think something that many homeschool moms do not realize is that you never have to do all the problems. They never do all the problems in school either. They are there to give you options. Not knocking your decision, but a public-school teacher would not do all those problems either. Just cause a curriculum gives you all the problems and does not tell you how many to do does not mean you have to do all of them.

I’m so glad u made this video. First time homeschool mama here. I’ve been all over the place with curriculum. Started my fifth grader with BJU math which I love for the most part and started my first/second grader (we’re sort of in between grades) w/ Abeka. But found the Abeka workbook just wasn’t enough so just started w/ the grade 2 TGATB. So far we’re enjoying it. However, I am now aware of what you said in this video so I’m thinking I’ll go back over the basics & do some more hands on tactile lessons. I guess the good thing about homeschool is we don’t have to follow the curriculum 100%! We can make it our own.

I like how you worked through what your specific frustrations were. We did our first year with TGATB 1 but we've really liked it coming from Horizons K last year. Math is a strong subject for her, but I found it hard to get her to practice the topics, so the games were helpful and we didn't need all the manipulatives that a lot of others had. I'm marking down your switch to's in case as we get find ourselves in a similar boat and needing to adjust. I'll also be considering what you said when my 2nd child works through K this fall. I'm not sure if she'll need more tactile work or not.

Thanks for doing this review and showing the pros and cons. I am new to homeschooling and have 9th, 7th, 4th, and 2nd graders and it has been very overwhelming to figure out what approach and curriculum to start with. I hear so much good about TGTB curriculum and it seemed that it was perfect for everyone, so to see that it doesn't work for everyone was a good check for me to do my own research and maybe trust my gut more.

I had the same issues with TGATB math. We switched and we are having a MUCH better year with math this year. We have been using math with confidence this year and we love it.

100% agree! I have been a HUGE TGTB fan for the last 4 years. This coming school year we will be using ZERO subjects from them. My girls are 5th and 6th and were doing level 5 and they hated it. We switched to Saxon and it's so much better!

I know exactly what you’re going through! Only 30 lessons in to tgtb math level 2 after the old level 1. It was definitely lacking and moved too fast and then went back to something we hadn’t had in weeks. It was bad. Glad to say that Math With Confidence level 2, has been a good fit. It moves a bit slower, but we are loving it so far.

I've been using Levels K & 2 this year (the free pdfs) for our first year. I like the open and go concept but your video is bringing up excellent points that I haven't thought of before. Thanks for bringing attention to this! 😊

I appreciate hearing different opinions from other homeschoolers. Thanks so much for sharing! I’m glad there is so many different curriculums out there. Everyone has a different learning style and a different teaching style. We just finished level 1 & 2 of the good and the beautiful math and we love it! I love the idea of introducing concepts that will be taught in depth later. It kind of gives a preview and doesn’t throw it all on them at once. My kids love the games. We did Saxon for years and it was just boring black and white pages of problems. If you think the good and the beautiful is a lot of problems. You should see what some of the other curriculums have! 😮 I loved saxon but the kids struggled to apply it to life. They were great on paper but that’s not real life. Now they are constantly saying “we learned this in math!” ❤

Oh boy. The longer I watch this video the more grateful I am for RightStart Math and it’s color coded abacus. I have taught 3 boys (so far, I have 5 kids) number sense with the base-10 system, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and decimals with that abacus. Greatest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. RightStart has been so parent intensive for me, always have taught 2 kids at a time but it has been worth it. The transition to Saxon math in middle school was super easy and they don’t need my help anymore. My oldest son is doing Saxon Algebra 1 now and breezes through it, I dare say, thanks to the solid base of RightStart Math. RightStart is 100 percent conceptual which they need so much at the beginning like you mentioned and Saxon in middle school is totally procedural which they need to get after at the problems. Total win-win. I pray you find the right program for your girls. Is so much stressful when where looking for what we need I think.

We are embarking on our first year of homeschooling and this has been incredible helpful (both your video and other comments). Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I especially appreciate how you shared specific concerns.

I started my daughter out with Math with Confidence and she absolutely HATED it! She hated the games that went along with it. It was just too slow for her and not to the point.She usually loves games and hands on math but she wasn't with MWC. I switched to Singapore Dimensions Math and she LOVES it and has been doing amazing with it! She wants to use the same math for next year so that is what we are going to do!

I am experiencing the same issues with my 8-year-old daughter. She is frustrated, and I am frustrated because she can do the math, but she does not understand it at all. Thank you for this video because it confirms that I do need to change, unfortunately.

I also love how you desbribed teaching place value in detail. I've been struggling with how I want to teach it to my kinder kiddo. My oldest learned from tgtb but I'm going to go back and reinforce her place value with the advice you gave.

Everything you noticed about the curriculum was spot on. We didn’t use any formal curriculum through 4th grade. We used lots of Montessori materials - basically covering everything in the 6-9 album, and supplementing with free online worksheets from k-5 learning and math-drills. For 5th grade we used the Beast Academy level 4 curriculum. It was fantastic for geometry and solving out of the box questions. It wasn’t very straight forward though, and since she had all the Montessori conceptual ideas, we decided to use the ctc math online program this year (6th grade). After the super challenge of Beast Academy she just whizzed through ctc. She started the 6th grade program the beginning of October and finished right after Christmas. She’s now working through the pre algebra course- I suspect she’ll be finished with it by June. Then we’ll do beast academy 5 as fun review over the summer and do the algebra 1 ctc course next year. Ctc isn’t super challenging, since it presents straight forward problems, but at least I know she doesn’t have major gaps of knowledge. Eventually we’ll probably switch back to Art of Problem Solving (the older level beast academy).

MWC!!!! Yay! We love it for my Preschooler and 2nd grader. We switched from horizons to TGTB for my son in 5th grade and he loves it. He catches on very quickly though and has no problem only doing half the problems. I looked into TGTB for next year 3rd grade but didn’t like how they taught multiplication at all! I’m no math teacher but I am an electrical engineer by degree so I know math and there is a certain way I want it taught so maybe I’m just picky. Lol! But I will definitely be doing MWC for my youngest 3. After TGTB math 6 my oldest will switch to Shormann math. Good luck on your journey!!!❤

Thank you so much for explaining what you see missing to explain your perspective! This was very helpful as I am looking for something different for next year for 1st grade math.

I haven’t watched this yet, but I will!! I have never done TGTB math but I started Kindergarten Math with Confidence with my Kindergartener and I LOVE it. He loves it too. It is just so thorough in teaching the concepts. He’s my youngest of four and I wish I had had this math curriculum from the beginning with all of my kids. I feel like they would all have better number sense and understanding of what they are doing rather than just “doing math”. I would definitely look into Math with Confidence ! I was worried that it would be too much prep etc to gather everything for the games. But there were just a few items I pulled and put in a basket to have at the ready and then there are other things that are super easy to just grab before a lesson if needed. I don’t have time for super teacher intensive curriculum, but so far KMC hasn’t been difficult at all to implement. Highly recommend this.

Math seems to be the hardest curriculum to get right for each kid, and what works for mine seems to change constantly! Luckily my two oldest I seem to have found the perfect for now online curriculum.

That's quite a step up from Level 4 to 5. I'm glad I happened across your video because I was seriously considering TGAB for at least math. That amount of problems and not all that much space to work them out would definitely frustrate and overwhelm my grandson who is also pretty good at math thus far.

I never comment on RU-vid videos but I previously watched your videos when I was trying to convince myself to stick with TGTB! After picking up on similar concerns you mentioned, I decided to switch my Kindergartner to Math With Confidence - we loved it so much I switched my 2nd grader last month. I love it. It is fun, scripted, and to the point. My only con would be that my 2nd grader really loved some of the fun, random things in the TGTB lessons. However, zero regrets switching and I very much recommend MWC!

I still recommend TGTB to friends to try, but it just didn’t work for my daughter. We are finishing up Math With Confidence Kindergarten and will move into the first grade curriculum. We enjoy the methods of teaching very much!

We have used Apologia Math 1, 2, 3 and now in 4 and it’s been great! Just the right amount of hands on and independent together. The activities included are not too much. They’re just enough I think and okay to skip some but they we usually do the majority of them. Also, the lessons don’t come with a ton of problems so that’s always nice. Not overwhelming at all. Good luck!

Here I am a week before I said I was going start homeschool and I have yet to order LA and Math because I’m at a total loss since deciding we were not going to use our beloved TGTB this year. My son will be going into 3rd grade and I think I’m going with Bob Jones for LA but I’m at a loss for Math. But this video and the comments section is giving me some things to look into. Plus I need to find your updated video to see what you ultimately went with. ❤️

I am struggling too because I want to change Math curriculum and have been using TGATB since Kindergarten. Apologia looks exactly like what I am looking for but there are barely any videos to really get a feel for how it works. There are so many curriculums that just aren't right for my family but this one looks like it could be a fit. Thank you for mentioning it!

I wish they didn’t change it why would they ? You can make this more hands on with counters and teach the decimal system with decimal system beads. I did that along with K last year, so when you get to double and triple addition you can bring those out.

I just bought this curriculum and now I’m sad I spend the money, we need hands on for sure

I love your videos! We use BJU 5 currently and love it. My daughter hated math before and didn’t understand the concept. We are new homeschoolers coming from a Christian private school that didn’t teach conceptual math. BJU has manipulatives, and teaches all of this. It has just enough color & problems that my daughter doesn’t get overwhelmed (or me). Also enough repetition so she doesn’t forget what she learned.

Glad you’re making this. As a former elementary school teacher, I found TGTB math incomplete for sure. It’s super pretty and fun, but I don’t think it’s a standalone at all. The minimal instruction for the parent is concerning, as well as the hop-around in concepts. I actually don’t even consider it true spiral, because the “spiral” they’re providing seems random at best. Children who are math-minded may catch on and move forward seemingly easily, but the real concern is that as they get older, the lack of a deep understanding of the concepts from the beginning is going to make those harder math concepts even more difficult than they need to be. We absolutely love Apologia Math. Katherine is a wealth of math instruction knowledge and the program is thorough and fun! My son loves the games!

Thanks for sharing:) My top choices for Math: CLE for spiral approach, Math Mammoth for mastery approach.

I love Singapore math! We are finishing up level K and will move forward with 1st after we complete it. So far it’s been wonderful!

Thanks for sharing 😊 I hope they enjoy their new math 💛

We love Apologia math and based on what you said you are looking for in this video, I think you will be very pleased with it for your younger daughter. We have done it since first grade and my daughter and I both love it.

Oh my goodness this is the video I needed to see! I’ve been having all these same frustrations and this is our first year homeschooling and so I was thinking it was me and I was doing something wrong. But now I can see that it’s not me - it’s the curriculum. My 1st grader was so confused when they went straight to double digits with no explanation and I was also wondering where it came from and what I missed. Plus all the fluffy stuff and games seem unnecessary and my boys do not enjoy them. They want to get through the lessons more quickly.

We just quit it on lesson 85 of Level 4, we loved it for previous years but just can't keep up with the jumping around. We just switched to Math U See and it's like a breath of fresh air! It was a hard switch because we loved how pretty it was and such but it just didn't work. We just switched our Language Arts too, which I didn't think would happen either.

I have been using Math W/Confidence with my Kindergarten and we love it. Definitely going to continue for next year. I see alot of people talking about teaching textbooks too. Maybe look into that on. Good luck!

We're loving the new math for grades 4 and 5. Just a simple qr code scan, the teacher does an amazing job, and its very thorough.

THANK YOU!! I needed some validation I am not crazy. My 7 year old did public k and he always seemed to come home with the right answers and his work looked good. He could use ten frames, fingers, circles to solve problems both add/sub. So when I took TGTB placement he was level 1 and it made sense! About half way through the year I realized I was so frustrated I wanted to cry b/c he wasn't grasping concepts. He has an 'engineer' mind so I feel like whether he likes math or not he's got to have foundational skills there if that's the direction he ends up going. Things JUST like you mentioned. Why in the world would a curriculum who gives manipulatives not give base 10 blocks? I understand we can cut them out but it's just different IMO. I felt like he wasn't given different ways to solve problems or if he was it was so spread out it was hard to put together. He was reviewing things then building upon them but it was like he didn't really have the foundation. I realized when you talked about procedural math that's what we are missing. He can solve something but he has no idea why it's solved that way. It really worries me. I started doing research and am continuing to do research and I keep hearing 3 different things. "don't worry or have anxiety over it just pick something" but you know, I don't want to keep swapping OR spending the money on all of these different programs as I am afraid it would confuse my kids. "he will eventually get it that's the process of spiral math" and while I get what they are saying at the same time how in the world can I expect him to grasp a concept when it's like he can't have the foundation before we are building upon something. and the last I hear is to supplement but that just seems like so much work to constantly feel like I've got to use 2 differnet maths to build the foundation I need. I looked in to MUS singapore and MWC. MUS we attempted one lesson but my fear is that they will only know that one way to do math and that it will be too mastery my son didn't even want to complete the placement test because there were so many problems. He did enjoy the demo video but I think it's because he got to play with the blocks. We did singapore primary and tbh it was almost TOO indepth like too much talking not enough doing from me constantly asking why, how many ways, why do we do it that way and what other ways can you do it, with every single problem. I really didn't enjoy it and finally I asked my son and he said he missed 'the old math' b/c of the activities (the 'new' good and beautiful math is what he is referring to) so I went back b/c I felt like we were already all over the place. I keep hearing rightstart math but people say that when you have multiple children it's a lot b/c it's so hands on and teacher intensive and it just eats up your time with math for all the kids you are teaching. I also heard saxon was hard bc it's 'boring' and kids really don't enjoy it. I've heard MWC is slower and that there are so many 'cards' and things to keep up with which sounds like 0 fun lol I know I could move ahead but with him technically going into '2nd' grade for math Im nervous that we would get to a point where i would have to slow down b/c it's not going to be released yet (the level we'd need). He really needs a better foudnation with money, place value, clocks and even figuring out missing numbers/counting up (which correlates toa dd/sub over 10) and I think it is because he's not had the foundation he needed and we are moving on before he's practiced enough. part of me wonders if the old math we would've really enjoyed and it's sad b/c I want to love TGTB I love the idea of it, the concept, the fact it's balanced teacher/independent well, etc and that my son loves it. I feel very overwhelmed on what to pick and fill like I've not found a math curr I feel confident enough in switching to but also feel like I'm just wasting my time

The nice thing is that they make every lesson available on their website, so anyone can go and see if it is taught in a way that they think will work for their child. Obviously you can’t always know for sure until working through it, but the things you mentioned can be noticed in the sample pages they give online. Sorry it’s not working for you anymore. It’s great that your willing to bend and pivot to find a better fit for you kids!

We’re well over halfway done with TGTB math K and haven’t found any issues other than the fact that my son who just turned 6 does it so quickly and there’s not enough to do (in my opinion) so I was going to supplement with Abeka just like you did. I’ve also found math is definitely his strongest subject, which why I was thinking maybe he needs something more rigorous and challenging without me having to skip a grade level and leave gaps in his learning. I really appreciate you making this video, I’m sure it was hard to be honest like this since you’ve loved this curriculum for so long. Definitely let us know what you end up going with! 😘

Have you ever looked into Singapore math? They are big on the concrete pictorial abstract. I ended up switching to that because the curriculum I was using did pretty much what you explained here. It has even helped me because like you said - i was in the generation that just computed numbers without understanding what they represented.

We really like Math Mammoth. It’s in the same vein as Singapore Math but there isn’t a teacher’s guide- all the instruction is right there in the workbook. I do recommend doing the main books (light blue series) four days a week and then the review book once a week. The mastery approach can make it challenging to remember what they’ve already learned.

Definitely agree with your review of level 1. When I first started homeschooling I looked up so much about The Good and The Beautiful because everyone loved it. It never looked good enough for me to buy and definitely doesn't seem like it would fit my fam and your review is exactly why. I have found sometimes it's just time to move on. Sometimes you just need a change you know? It's hard because you almost feel like you're cheating on something you swore by but we have to know it's okay to move on. We can still be grateful for the years we used it and how it benefited our family for a time. I have looked a lot into Math with Confidence and was about to choose it for next year but then I found RightStart Math. That will be my new math curriculum for my 2 grader next year and It definitely looks like I'll be sticking with it (or so I hope) for many years to come! If I didn't find that I was definitely going to go with Math with Confidence. I know RightStart is more teacher intensive and would prob not work for y'all with a new baby so I definitely think MWC is a great change for your fam!

Thank you so much for this video. We are in the same boat and switching from TGATB next year. I related to everything you said about level 1, which I used with my daughter last year. I’m using level K with my son this year and finally decided enough is enough. Haha. I love how colorful and whimsical it is, but I agree, it’s just not explaining concepts enough and I’m seeing that especially with my 2nd grade daughter this year. I’m a little sad to leave it, but it’s time to make a change. I ordered Apologia for both my kids next year and we are all excited to use it for many reasons. I’ve not come across many flip throughs or reviews, so it’s encouraging to see you considering it. I’ve heard great things about MWC & Math Mammoth as well. I feel the mastery approach is going to be better for my daughter. The jury is still out on my son, haha, I’m still learning him as he is still so little. Your videos have been a great encouragement to me as a “newer” homeschool mom, thank you Lauren!

We love TGTB math but I didn’t think my younger son would switch to Singapore math!!! We never used the old math tho!!! I add in extra practice for certain math topics!!! We love a hand on approach especially with having dyslexic kids!!! We teach mental math differently tho, thru extra practice and then ask randomly once my kids have mastered a math topic!!! We started math k recently but we have Singapore math and math u see for her as well. We do we math u see blocks with any curriculum as we have them from my childhood!!! One lesson isn’t enough to teach!!! I definitely understand the switch !!! I’ve not thought of math with confidence for my youngest!!! We’ve used the blue series form math mannoth!!!

This was so helpful!! Thank you :) For now, we’re going to stick with 5th grade TGATB math, but now I won’t feel guilty about him not doing all of those problems! It was taking 2 hours :/ whew!

Wow! That is a lot of problems😳 Easton would not like me anymore🤣 I hope you find something that you love because you and your girls have always loved TGATB so much!

Thank you for this! It is really helpful and please update us on what you decide to go with 💕

Also, thank you for this video. It is super helpful. My oldest daughter is in first grade and we’ve been doing TGATB Math 1. I like it, but I have been wondering if it’s the best. I’m new to homeschooling, so I just have no idea! I’ll have to look into those two curriculums you mentioned.

I just switched too to Saxon 5/4 and my kids are loving it. They loved TGTB math also but our days were taking too long and it was affecting us!

Jfyi - if you use a medium weight yarn or string and wrap it around the edges of the spine, essentially sewing it together, the pages don’t come out 😊

Yes, I realized that with their level 1and 2 as well! I did it with my son first and had to supplement addition facts that stick, etc because it wasn't concrete teaching (i just thought he was having a tough time). Then with my daughter struggling as well through Leven 1 i realized the problem was the concrete ideas weren't being taught. I switched her to MwC and it has been much better! My son is so going with tgab about to start level 4. He's doing well now! I definitely cross out problems because it is over kill if they are figuring them correctly.

I am right there with you. Our son who is doing Level 1 Math from TGTB is doing fine. He grabs on to Math very quickly and easily, but there have been things that have made me say, "I don't understand why they are asking you to do this.". Our youngest who will turn 5 next month, loves doing school and has already completed the Level K Math. I already had the Level 1 book for her, but I just don't feel like she truly understands what she is doing. Last week I ordered Math With Confidence Levels K and 1 and am excited to see how that goes. They should be arriving on Monday. I didn't know that Apologia offered Math. That might be one that I consider down the road if things don't work out with TGTB or Math With Confidence. Thank you for such a thorough and well presented video! Praying for wisdom in your decision making. ❤️

What did you decide? Would you consider Abeka?

We’ve used math mammoth since first grade (we’re in fourth now) and highly recommend for math minded kids. For lower levels I really like Math With Confidence but they only have up to third grade - third grade being released soon. Solid, solid math foundation. I do K then move them to math mammoth from 1st on

Hi , I love your channel! I'm glad to see I was not the only one noticing this problems. I'm currently doing level 1(new edition) with my daughter and level K (old edition) with my son. It is a big difference. The old math yes, it did had a lot but it gave you so many ways to understand one concept. I been pulling manipulatives to help my daughter understand, with the fraction lesson I used tortillas 😅she had so much fun cutting them. Right now I'm on ebay trying to find a good deal on the old edition.

I heard a similar concern about TGATB Simply math. My youngest daughter needs something more hands on and I almost bought Simply Math until I saw multiple people saying the exact same things. I had someone else recommend Math With Confidence so we ordered that and got it in last night. I looked at it for weeks before I ordered so I'm pretty hopeful that it will work out. I also noticed the same thing with Horizons Math. Kindergarten and the first half of first grade were great but then they randomly dropped double digit addition and my son freaked out because there wasn't any build up and clear understanding. He switched all the way from Horizons 1 (book 2) to Teaching Textbooks Math 3 and ironically TT provides a much better understanding and build up to double digit addition. Its just been a few months since the switch and he's now adding two digit numbers without getting frustrated and freaking out because of the way they teach it.

That’s so weird about math 1! We did something else for 1st grade last year and now doing Tgtb math 2 this year and absolutely love it! Love it so much I bought 3 and 4. It’s weird I’m noticing a lot of RU-vidrs going away from Tgtb just when I started to LOVE it lol. 🤔

Thanks for this video! We are making the switch too but not sure what yet. We are on math 2.

I had this same issue with level 1. Also I feel like we didn't have addition facts down very well (like 6+4) and they already had them doing double digits addition. It was stressing him out. We are switching to Math With Confidence for him, and for my 3rd grader I think we will do math mammoth. The busy pages has been a struggle for my 3rd grader.

Excellent Video ❤ many parents will overlook these conceptual math issues because most kids will be fine until the upper levels that rely heavily on the foundation of number sense and conceptual/relational fractions.

I do feel like it could have more practice in some of the stuff but I just use the answer key and make an extra sheet for the lesson the kids need a little more practice on until they get it down

We are almost done with level 1 TGATB, for that adding 3 lesson we held 3 fingers up and started with the number given 😊 we didn’t need anything additional to count. I love your videos, love seeing your opinions on this. I started using an official program after I found you on RU-vid❤

We love Math with Confidence! We have used level 1 and 2.

We experienced these things with the new math which was so sad to me, because I love their curriculum! I feel like the new math is all about being a more “advanced” program, but then skipping over important steps!

I am trying TGTB math for the first time this year. The curriculum we were using was mastery approach with no manipulatives. I am doing the K and the 3 so I ran and looked at the K and they do number bonding in this level. Perhaps part of what is going on is too much relying on a previous level to support the next level. I am liking this math for my kindergartener but I am on the fence as of right now for level 3. Some things are way better than our previous curriculum but it does take more time than I would like which was a major problem before. Thank you for this video!

This is exactly the video I have been needing! Thank you so much for going so in depth about why you are switching. I’ve noticed with my son, the level K just isn’t clicking with him like I had hoped. It’s like the beauty is distracting and the concepts are skimmed over. I’ve been researching other options like crazy, but wondering if I was over thinking it. Now I know I’m making the right choice in switching after seeing your concerns with level 1. Math is the subject I am the least confident in teaching. I need some hand holding for sure. Looking into math mammoth, Singapore, and now I will also look at math with confidence thanks to recommendations from the comments!! Also wondering if you are switching mid-year or finishing out this school year with TGATB?

My oldest switched from TGTB math after grade 3 and does Saxon 5/4 with Nicole the math lady. It’s been awesome but long even with us doing only odds or evens. But she prefers it over tgtb because she’s a no frills person. My other daughter does tgtb level two and loves it.

I’m curious to know what curriculum you’re switching over to. I’ve heard lots about so many but it’s always so difficult to decide, I would love to see your review/opinion on the new math curriculum you’re using

Hello! Thank you for sharing. I think everyone has different preferences. I personally do not like reading a lot to my kids and I feel this math curriculum is short and to the point. If my son does not understand it then I will explain it further. I also purchased extra manipulatives so that if I need to explain it further I will use my own manipulatives. However I feel that the topics taught, were efficient and still taught him everything he needed to know. My son also loves the games since he has ADHD, the games really help keep his focus. So really it just comes down to your individual child.

I think the idea is to introduce the concepts early in a simple way without going in depth so that when they are ready to learn the concepts later it won't be the first time they've seen it.

Just learning & found TGB 1st & so excited. (Another peersons video expressed the bordeom with 9t. I just watched your other video when you compared TGB & Abeka where you inferred TGB was best. The TGB sounded good for our 4 1/2yr. old. So this must be after that one, so starting 1st grade possinbly Apologia or Math mamoth. Thinking of summer program. Apologia concept sounds good for the mindset of the 10+ yr old in 5th grader but now maybe Math Mamoth...?

I did notice how they jump to huge concepts fast when not previously taught why… all the same things you pointed out… I wish it was more tactile for my daughter who needs that hands on approach… I didn’t know they had that in the first one. When she subtracts I’ve had her jump backwards to help her now she jumps back in her head and she does that! Lol thank you for this video maybe we’ll look into that for her

Totally, I preferred the old math! However, the begging is the review of the level k. We just finished level k.

Ok now that I’ve watched…..wow! This is such a helpful video for those using TGTB math! I have never been tempted to use this math because it has always seemed too “busy” for my kids and too much in one lesson. Over a hundred problems?!?! 😂 That is hilarious your daughter has to complete them all. The lack of manipulatives is concerning as well. Some kids don’t need it (I guess??) but mine certainly do and I totally agree with you on the remark about parents being taught the procedure without the conceptual teaching and it negatively affecting our relationship with math. I know that’s me! And like you, I don’t want that for my kids!! I have four kids and I’ve used Masterbooks math with the older two and it has worked for us. However, like I said in my other comment, I’m using Math with Confidence with my younger two and we are loving it! It is very conceptual and then it moves to pictures/abstract with the workbook page. Thanks for putting this method into words for me. This is exactly what I want for my kids with math! I still stand with Math with Confidence! Check it out for your little one and maybe Math U see for your older daughter?? She might like that and it’s the same method. Math with Confidence goes to 3rd grade (releasing this spring I believe) and if they had all the way to 7th grade I’d have my kids in that program I do believe. My second child is 5th grade but behind in math (all my kids are b/c they have special needs) and I am considering doing Math with Confidence with her to just make sure she has these concepts down. I don’t know. Still trying to think that through. She is in level 4 Masterbooks and doing pretty well but I want her to have conceptual knowledge and while I think Masterbooks does an okay/sufficient job with this I think Math with Confidence knocks it out of the park! Math curriculum is SO difficult to find. Drives me crazy!!!! We’ve done Horizons, CLE, Saxon, Masterbooks, and now Math with confidence! My kids are 13,11,8 & 6 and we’ve been homeschooling since the beginning. I really enjoy your content!!! It is so good for this to be out there b.c I’ve seen a lot of RU-vidrs moving away from TGTB without a detailed explanation of why. I really enjoyed seeing your why and I totally agree with you. I hope you find something that will meet your expectations for math curriculum soon!!! Hope you are feeling well 💕

I am changing my (next year) 4th grader away from TGTB. Math is so hard for us! My younger is doing MWC and we love it, but they don’t have 4th grade yet. Looking into Apologia.

Thank you! The games! All the games drive me nuts 😂 I thought I was being a mean mom because a lot of the games just made no sense and felt thrown in there. My son loves games but I felt like they caused more confusion than help to him 😂

We're finishing up TGTB Level 1 right now...I felt like it was mostly too easy for my daughter while also not teaching things...like it never did a lesson on numbers that add to 10 but then she's supposed to know that when adding 3 numbers. She said to me today in her own words how she wished they reviewed some things more often instead of expecting her to remember. We're going to start Math With Confidence next week and see how that goes. My twin daughters are doing Level 5...it's really weird but I feel like they struggled a bit with Level 4 but are now doing ok with Level 5 and it's going well. That said, despite all the mental math practice, they are sorely lacking conceptual knowledge. It really frustrates me and I think they would benefit from another curriculum or some supplemental resources for that.

We ran into the same thing. It was great for littles then we hit about middle school and needed something “more”

I loved GB math for level K but not after that. Their books are great visually but I found it didn’t explain or repeat big concepts enough for my kids to really solidify skills. We switched to CLE math right before the holidays and really like it. It is ALOT so we skip whatever I feel like they know really well already. Math with confidence looks great too. As my kids get older I might also consider Saxon with Nicole the math lady videos. I hope you find a great fit for your girls!

Also please please please give the Math Mammoth placement test. I spread it out over a week- not all at once. Some of MM is pretty advanced so don’t worry about having to go back a half or whole level.

Knowing what you know now, would you still use TGATB Math for preschool and kindergarten if you could go back?

My daughter is starting kinder next school year and I’m so overwhelmed with curriculum options. I’m a former teacher too 😮

We used TGTB math K (new version)last year in our vpk year and I had the same issue with going into the abstract without solidifying it with physical objects first. We switched to rightstart math and haven’t looked back!

I was so sad when they got rid of the old Math curriculum! I do not like the new one at all. I don't think it's so "simple" at all! Even Saxon only has between 31-35 (If you include the practice problems) questions per lesson and doesn't jump around. Thankfully, for my youngest, I do have the old Math K-4 (K-2 physicals and 3 & 4 PDF). I don't know that I will stay with TGTB Math after he finishes level 4. My older kiddos are doing either Math-U-See or Saxon now depending on their needs or learning styles! It's not as pretty but it's so much easier. I do use some of the things from their free downloads practice and the PDF files to reinforce or use for additional practice. But it's purely supplemental now and very infrequent!

We’ve been using math u see for 9 years, 3 kids, mastery math for the win, works for procedural math kids as well. Follows the trend of other countries where you learn math before you recognize written numbers using manipulatives. It also reinforces base ten math, which is what the entire metric system follows, so any science kids will thrive later when using metric.

TGTB Math 1 works great for my son... he's a mental math person and it seems to just click with him. (I probably do a little side explaining, but not much) However as you were talking about the fractions, etc not having manipulatives... I can see where that hindered my daughter. She's more of a visual learner. She is on level 3 and I'm happy with it, but there were several concepts, I either busted out my own, or made my own manipulative to better explain a concept. Fractions being one of them. It's definitely "each child learns differently". I have heard great things about Math U See. It's very visual, with a lot of hands on concepts. I also am already preparing to be in your position as my daughter progresses. I don't see 1.5 hours of math working for her. She already starts getting fatigues with 45 mins. However, she will gladly skip problems, so we may be able to keep using it. I'm keeping an open mind!

I use Math with Confidence for my daughter in 1st grade (it's by far my favorite so far). My boys both use TGTB for math (3rd grade & 5th grade). My oldest is very quick with math and I haven't had to cut out any problems so far. My younger son though definitely gets burned out (luckily he doesn't mind skipping review problems that he already knows by heart). We also have Math Mammoth (to try after he finishes this level of TGTB) for my younger son and I think it's going to be a better fit for him. I started to find it really funny how one math curriculum would work for one of my children, while another prefers a different one.

We use Math Mammoth and Math With Confidence! Love them both!!!

We are starting my youngest with Math With Confidence for K, but will be transitioning to MUS. I have similar concerns with MWC being so new and not even having the levels finished. I just don’t want to be a guinea pig for another program. My other child uses Saxon with success also.

This type of experience is how I learned to pay more attention to the tried and trues when it comes to something as important as math, instead of the new shiny thing.

I noticed this too with the kindergarten level too. My daughter was doing a lesson on one more and one less with numbers 1-3, then the next lesson was one more and one less with numbers 13-16 and the assessment was scheduled right after. So of course she struggled with that part of the assessment. I had to pause the book to print out more practice.