Struggling with math...

Math was never my favorite subject in school. It seems like all of my life I've personally struggled with this subject. Because of this I really did my best to prepare my kids to do their best in this subject. Until this year it seemed to have worked. However, this is the year that we started Algebra 1. I loved algebra in school. It was the first time I felt like I truly understood math after so many years of struggling. I actually got an A and enjoyed it so much I decided to take an additional year of math that I wasn't required to take. I should have known better because I took geometry and totally didn't understand that one little bit! Haley is struggling with algebra this year. She has always struggled with math. She probably hates it more than I ever did. But, she's better at it than I was, she doesn't like doing it. For the first time in several years we decided to try something different. We changed to Teaching Textbooks. We are longtime users of Saxon math. Its basic, boring, black and white, but it really gets the job done. But due to the fact that the kids are getting older, I wanted them to be able to do things themselves without me. So, I chose Teaching Textbooks.

The program is great and I love the fact that I don't have to be involved. That part is AMAZING! It really works beautifully for my boys who are in 7th grade. The few times that they've had some question with something they learned, I was able to take a quick look and explain. Easy peasy. Not so with Haley. Its been YEARS since I took algebra! I really don't remember how to do any of it anymore. When she gets stuck I can't just take a look and help her out. Algebra doesn't work like that. My math guru hubby can, but I just can't. So, we have a problem. He's a work when she gets stuck and unless I want to go back and take every single lesson she's already done, and then watch every lesson with her (which defeats the whole purpose of using Teaching Textbooks), we're stuck. This has led to many, many frustrating days. If we're having this many problems with Algebra 1, I shudder to think about doing geometry and algebra 2! Not sure where this leaves us. We may end up back with me teaching Saxon again. I really, really don't want to though. It is so much nicer to have the kids do things on their own letting somebody else explain things. Why can't life ever just be easy? I'll keep you posted on what we end up doing.