• Math 3, Math 4, and Math 5 each cost $45.95.
• Math 6 and Math 7 each cost $58.95.
• Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and Geometry each cost $72.95.
• Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus each cost $74.95.

Every Teaching Textbooks course lasts 1 year and includes 3 months of additional pause time. When you purchase a course, you pick the day that you plan to start. Your enrollment period will begin on that day, and we will email you a start date reminder and the information you need to get started.

No. None whatsoever.

Our digital courses can only be used on a per-student basis. No enrollments can be shared; therefore, you can’t have multiple students using a single enrollment. Because of this, our digital apps are priced far lower than our old, disc versions, which could be shared and even resold. While the older physical products–comprised of printed books and discs–can be shared, they have many downsides in addition to the cost. For instance, most computers nowadays don’t have disc drives, and our discs won’t work on Macs with operating systems above macOS10.14. Therefore, a move away from disc-based media was inevitable. We are still continuing to sell these products as a courtesy for those who prefer them and have devices that will operate them.

Absolutely. Click here for more information about that.

Yes, our digital apps are available to both individuals and schools. Schools are welcome to pay with a purchase order by sending info to purchaseorders@teachingtextbooks.com. However, we don’t currently offer bulk pricing or site licensing options, and each school student will require their own fully-priced enrollment. The large-family discount is not available to schools.

No. Each digital course enrollment can only be applied to one grade level. So when you buy a course, you’re paying for access to the content of only that math level. When your student is ready to start the next level, you must purchase a new enrollment for that level.

Our apps should work on any device using the following operating systems:

• Windows 10 and up
• MacOS 10.14 (Mojave) and up
• ChromeOS (must have the Google Play Store)
• Android 10 and up
• iOS 12.0 and up
• KindleOS (must have Amazon App Store)

You will need to be connected to the internet to download and install the app and get it set up for your student. Once the app is set up, your student can work online (or offline for up to 6 lessons before needing to reconnect).

The material covered is identical in the 2.0 products (discs and books) and in the digital apps. The main difference is that our app is designed to run on a large range of mobile devices, such as Android, iOS tablets, and Kindle. This can greatly reduce the device bottleneck that is caused by multiple students needing access to the same computer.

In addition, the audiovisual presentation of the lessons and solutions has been completely remastered in the digital version, and we feel it is much clearer and easier to understand for the students.

The app now includes a scratchpad feature that allows students to write out and save the work for each problem right on their device. Also, the digital gradebook now calculates a running course average, and we send out emails to parents each day the student completes a lesson giving them a summary of what work was completed. The app has also been updated with much more engaging content for students, including more wallpapers, updated Buddies, stickers, and prizes that can be earned as they work through their lessons.

If you are still interested in the book and disc version, you can find out more here.

Each course comes with 90 days of pause time that does not have to be used consecutively. The minimum pause interval is 7 days, so if you need to stop for that length of time or longer, for whatever reason, parents may do so by going to the Manage Courses area in the parent section of the app, or the Parent Portal on our website.

Each of our courses can be finished within the 12-month time frame allotted by doing a lesson each weekday, even allowing for time to take several weeks off per year for holidays or vacations, but if you anticipate that you will need more time to complete your course, the pause feature is a valuable tool for managing your time.

Yes, your student can freely move between devices. You will need to download and install the app and set up your student on each device they will be using. Their work will be available on each of those devices since it is automatically uploaded to our servers as they do their lessons. Any work done offline will be available on all devices as soon as the device that the work was completed on is connected to the internet so that the records can be uploaded. There are a few older systems that the app will not run on. If you are having trouble getting our app to work on one of these older devices, call us at 1-405-525-3600 Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm CT, and we may be able to help.

No. Since each problem would print individually, printing would be expensive and not helpful as a means of showcasing a student’s work as one might do when presenting a school official with a student portfolio. If you would like to create sample work for others to view formally or informally, it would be better to have the student neatly work out their answers on a regular piece of paper.

The scratchpad was designed to be used when a student is on the go and needs to perform a quick calculation but doesn’t have a pencil and paper handy. It’s there to encourage students to work problems out instead of trying to do too much in their heads, and it also saves the work so that it is easy to go back and view.

Each of our apps is designed to be as lightweight as possible. We keep track of what lessons students are on and only keep the lessons they will need in the next few days downloaded on their devices. If a student opens a lesson that is not available on their device, it is downloaded immediately as long as they are online.

Once you finish a digital course, you can delete the app and all of the files from our devices since the grades are always stored on our servers and are always available in the Parent Portal.

The Parent Portal on our website is a convenient place to access many of the features of our apps all in one place. There, you can:

• access all gradebooks, both current and expired, for all of your students in one place.
• edit or delete answers to whole lessons or individual problems in the gradebook.
• pause enrollments in the Manage Courses area.
• change student settings.
• view and print the answer key and eBook.

No, absolutely not. Everything is backed up on our servers. If you lose your device or delete an app, you can just download the app again, and once you set it up all of your information will be there. The only time you could possibly lose work is if you delete an app from a device where work was done offline. In order not to lose work done offline, the device will need to be reconnected to the internet, and the app will need to be opened so that it can sync with our servers.

Yes, you can. We absolutely understand that you must spend time with a product before you can be sure it’s a good fit. That is why we allow each user 30 days from the start date of their digital course to opt out of their purchase. If for some reason you feel you need even more time to evaluate things at the 30-day mark, then contact us and we will try to work with you.

If you are worried about whether a grade level suits the needs of your child - perhaps because of placement issues - then we strongly suggest you start with our placement tests. You can also start a course as a Free Trial. This will allow you to do the first 15 lessons without committing to a purchase. After you purchase a full course enrollment, you should have time to do another 20 lessons or so as well as preview the later lessons before the return window expires. In general, we don’t recommend using the Free Trial alone as a placement guide. Our Free Trials only include the first 15 lessons of the product and therefore have a lot of review from the previous level.

There are lots of reasons but here are some of the most important ones.

First, Teaching Textbooks does the entire job for the parent. We eliminate the need for lesson plans and do all of the teaching with video lectures, video solutions for every problem, and hints for when students get stuck. Our program grades every problem as soon as students enter each answer, providing instant feedback. All student grades are recorded in a printable, easy-to-read gradebook that is permanently stored on our servers so they can be accessed online at any time. We also offer a free tutor helpline for any customer who needs extra help. Because of all of these features, TT is an incredible value.

Second, students generally love TT. It introduces new concepts gently and in plain language, making it easier for students to succeed. Also, our fun interface with buddies and customizable wallpapers keeps kids engaged and helps take the fear out of this notoriously intimidating subject. So much of what makes a homeschool year successful is the student's attitude toward a curriculum, especially math. It might be the kids’ attitude toward TT that makes it a curriculum that families stay with throughout their homeschool journey.

Also, Teaching Textbooks is mobile. There is no need to lug around a heavy textbook if you’re on the go, and since TT can be used on a wide variety of mobile devices, and even offline for up to 6 lessons at a time it’s easy to take it with you wherever you might need it.

In short, TT works. It usually tops the list of “homeschool keepers,” and veteran homeschool parents often say it is one of their best curriculum picks of all time.

Teaching Textbooks is much more flexible than a live tutor. You can use a Teaching Textbooks digital enrollment in the comfort of your home on your schedule. Most tutors require that you travel to a tutoring center. Also, hiring a live tutor to walk you through 4,000 problems step-by-step could cost several thousand dollars. A Teaching Textbooks digital enrollment costs just a small fraction of that. Numerous features built into the course–the ability to rewatch lectures, step-by-step solutions, hints, second chances, references to past lessons, and practice problems–allow a student to get extra help while working independently.

Co-op classes can be a huge lifesaver for homeschool parents, and many co-ops use TT for math. However, co-ops, especially ones offering high school courses, are often expensive. Moreover, since co-ops usually only meet once a week, students who have questions throughout the week can often be prevented from moving forward with their studies and staying on schedule. Of course, these students could try to enlist the help of their parents, but it can be very difficult for parents to be able to help teach concepts that they may have forgotten.

Teaching Textbooks, by contrast, offers a thorough explanation for every single one of the thousands of problems in each course–all at the push of a button–and these explanations can be rewatched as many times as the student likes. TT even offers a free helpline if students need to discuss a particular concept or get overall course guidance. So co-ops are great, but all in all, TT is pretty hard to beat.

Obviously, every student is different. Teaching Textbooks is designed to help each student succeed no matter what level of support they need. There are video lectures for every lesson that can be paused and rewound as needed. Every problem is read aloud to the student, and many problems include hints to help give the student a nudge in the right direction. Problems are graded right after they are answered, which gives students immediate feedback. Also, every single problem has a full, step-by-step video solution that is available after the question is answered so that the student can see exactly where they went wrong. On top of all this, we provide free phone tutoring for all users (see the next FAQ for more information on this).

With all of these safety nets, it is completely possible for a student to go through our program without a parent needing to get involved in the teaching process. If your students do ask for help, the lectures and solutions are an amazing tool for parents to use to jog their memory on topics where they may be rusty.

Other math programs do not have the same level of teaching and often do not have automatic grading, so they require a much more significant time commitment from the parent to help their student get through the program.

Yes, we do. And note that this is rare if not unheard of among homeschool curriculum companies, certainly math companies. Both the telephone call and the time spent tutoring is free to all customers. In fact, it’s been this way since we opened our doors. One-on-one tutoring is a valuable safety net for struggling students and part of our guarantee to take the entire burden of math off of parents’ shoulders.

Absolutely, TT covers all the standard topics for each grade level. To give you an idea of just how comprehensive the TT program is, note that the eBook for each grade level—if printed out—would be 500 to 900 pages long. Each grade level also has at least 100 hours of audiovisual teaching. If you would like to see a detailed scope and sequence for Math 3 through Math 7, click here. For Pre-Algebra and above, click here.

Yes, we do. This is a proven method for building skills and long-term retention, so each Teaching Textbooks digital course uses the review method on every single assignment. However, our approach to reviewing is less tied to memorization than the approach taken by almost all other review-based programs. Instead of reviewing rote procedures that have lost their connection to concepts, each Teaching Textbooks digital course reviews concepts as well as rote techniques. This builds skill while reinforcing the meaning of the material to the student. As a result, students who use Teaching Textbooks gain problem-solving abilities as well as understanding. Another difference between our approach to review and that of other math programs is that our assignments are not overly long, which means that students who take longer to do their lessons don’t get bogged down and students who grasp the concepts quickly don’t get bored.

Yes, each grade level of Teaching Textbooks strives to present its subject matter within the context of real-world problems. We think it’s important for students to see how math is used in a variety of applications. When students are shown how math is used in daily life, they are better able to accept the necessity of learning new techniques. Also, some students gain motivation once they understand that their learning serves a practical end.

In addition to covering all the standard school geometry topics, our Geometry program puts great emphasis on problems found on the SAT and ACT. In fact, nearly every problem set includes several problems that were modeled after those found on actual SAT and ACT exams. And since all Teaching Textbooks use the review method (see the question before last above), students become better and better at solving these important problem types each day.

The best way to tell is to have them take our Pre-Algebra placement test. The instructions for the test explain how to evaluate the results (see the first page of the link just given). However, if the results are somewhat inconclusive then you could also give the student our Math 7 placement test (Math 7 is the level before pre-algebra). If that test seems too simple for them then it’s probably best to go ahead and sign up for our Pre-Algebra Free Trial, especially if the student has had some exposure to basic math and can handle the concept of using a letter (usually an x) to represent a missing number in an equation.

The Free Trial will allow you to do the first 15 lessons without committing to a purchase. After this, you can purchase the full Pre-Algebra course and over the next 30 days, you can do the next several lessons and preview later lessons as well. If you decide within this time that this is not the right level for your student, you may request an exchange or a refund. We don’t recommend using the Free Trial alone as a placement guide since it only includes the first 15 lessons of the product and therefore has a lot of review from the previous level, so it may not give a good indication of how your student will do through the rest of the course.

The best way to tell is to have them take our Algebra 1 placement test. The instructions for the test explain how to evaluate the results (see the first page of the link just given). However, if the results are somewhat inconclusive then you could give the student our Pre-Algebra placement test. If that seems too simple for him/her then it’s probably best to go ahead and sign up for our Algebra 1 Free Trial, especially if the student is 13 or older.

The Free Trial will allow you to do the first 15 lessons without committing to a purchase. After this, you can purchase the full Algebra 1 course and over the next 30 days, you can do the next several lessons and preview later lessons as well. If you decide within this time that this is not the right level for your student, you may request an exchange or a refund. We don’t recommend using the Free Trial alone as a placement guide since it only includes the first 15 lessons of the product and therefore has a lot of review from the previous level, so it may not give a good indication of how your student will do through the rest of the course.

Mathematically, Geometry and Algebra 2 can be done in either order. However, if a student is in 10th grade or higher, it is probably better to take Geometry first for standardized testing reasons. Most public schools will offer Geometry after Algebra 1, then offer Algebra 2. For this reason, we officially recommend taking Geometry after Algebra 1. Note that Algebra 1 is a prerequisite for Geometry and Algebra 2. Of course, since we offer a Free Trial for every single one of our courses, we recommend that you take advantage of that option if you have any qualms about placement.

The Free Trial will allow you to do the first 15 lessons without committing to a purchase. After this, you can purchase the full course, and over the next 30 days, you can do the next several lessons and preview later lessons as well. If you decide within this time that this is not the right level for your student, you may request an exchange or a refund. We don’t recommend using the Free Trial alone as a placement guide since it only includes the first 15 lessons of the product and therefore has a lot of review from the previous level, so it may not give a good indication of how your student will do through the rest of the course.

The best way to tell is to have him/her take our Pre-Calculus placement test. Your student will need to have taken - and done reasonably well in - Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 courses first, though. Also, don’t forget about our Free Trial option.

The Free Trial will allow you to do the first 15 lessons without committing to a purchase. After this, you can purchase the full Pre-Calculus course and over the next 30 days, you can do the next several lessons and preview later lessons as well. If you decide within this time that this is not the right level for your student, you may request an exchange or a refund. We don’t recommend using the Free Trial alone as a placement guide since it only includes the first 15 lessons of the product and therefore has a lot of review from the previous level, so it may not give a good indication of how your student will do through the rest of the course.

Our placement tests and Free Trial option are designed to ensure that students end up in the correct level, but if a mistake in placement occurs, we also have a generous refund and exchange policy.

No, it doesn’t. Each app is “all digital,” but each course does include a multi-hundred page eBook that can be viewed directly in the app or printed off (by parents, not students). If you would like to purchase a physical version of the eBook for a particular product - along with the answer key for that product - you may do so here.

There are several things to discuss in relation to this question. Yes, we do still sell physical textbooks and answer keys, but we recommend they only be used in conjunction with our digital products. The main benefit of the books is that they offer parents a quick way to scan the entire contents of a course. They can also be handy when there are device shortages in the home that prevent students from being able to work on math at a time that’s convenient for them and/or the rest of their family. However, we do not think it is best to use our physical books and keys by themselves, as substitutes for a digital app course. That’s because the amount of teaching in the physical textbooks is far lower than the amount that’s in our digital products. Each digital course offers at least 100 hours worth of teaching that cannot be found in the textbook for that same grade level. Also, you should note that each digital course has the complete textbook for that grade level built into it in the form of a searchable eBook; therefore, many of the unique benefits of a physical book - such as being able to quickly scan a course’s contents - are also present in each digital course purchase. Finally, our digital software provides students with a great user experience that simply can’t be duplicated by a print product, such as animations, sounds, rewards, and other features that deeply engage students and help them to stay focused and motivated. Generally speaking, the higher the engagement, the more the student will learn/remember.

No, the two product lines are absolutely not equivalent. The discs that we continue to sell are generation 2.0; therefore, they are two generations behind the current digital version, and we have made many improvements to the product since they were published. Here are some notable differences.

• Our digital products will run on just about any device, both desktops and mobile devices. Our 2.0 discs, however, require a disc drive, so they do not work on mobile devices. Also, the 2.0 discs will only run on older Mac operating systems (before 10.14) because Apple ended support of 32-bit software. So the majority of Mac users are unable to use the discs.
• Unlike the 2.0 discs, the apps each have a full, searchable eBook that can be viewed in the app or printed out by the parent.
• We added parental controls into the digital apps that allow parents to pace the students by limiting the number of lessons they can complete in a day, as well as requiring students to finish lessons before moving on.
• Much of our video content has been remastered to improve the quality of the audio and also update the visual components to make the explanations easier for the student to follow. We feel this vastly improves the user experience.
• On top of all of these improvements, we have also added unlockable prizes like animated wallpapers, stickers, Buddies, and sound effects that are truly engaging for the students and help to encourage them to do their assignments each day without having to be reminded. (Note: Parents can turn off any or all prizes if they find that they are distracting for their students.)

Our discs are “legacy products” which means they are not updated and may not be compatible with your Mac computer. Some Mac users have found that the discs are compatible with macOS 10.4 through 10.14; however, we are not able to guarantee they will install or work properly.

Older versions of our Math 5, Math 6, & Math 7 - ones where the 2nd set of digits in the serial number starts with a 1, such as MATH5-1XXXX - are NOT Mac - compatible. Also, our 1.0 editions of Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, & Pre-Calculus are not 10.7 compatible. We do have a 10.7 patch (see here) for each of these, but again, we are not able to guarantee the use of our discs on Macs.

Yes, absolutely. However, we ask that you call us before you attempt to return the product so we can give you a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number. Also, you will need to pay for the return shipping, and the product needs to be postmarked within 30 days of receipt and still be in a resalable condition. If it is not in resalable condition, it will be returned to you. When we receive your products, we will refund the purchase price of the returned items; the initial shipping cost is non-refundable.

If you are considering purchasing the discs but have not done so yet, we strongly encourage you to consider our digital version instead. Our digital software versions are far superior, and even though our discs are resalable, you might find it harder and harder to resell them as the number of computers they will run on continues to decrease.

If you buy a new textbook from us, its contents will match up with the content covered on any of our 2.0 discs or our newest digital product line.

However, some of the very first bound textbooks that we published for Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, and Algebra 2 do not match the contents of our 2.0 discs or our newest digital courses because they were changed substantially after their initial release. If you are attempting to buy an old textbook in the used book market and are unsure about compatibility, compare the table of contents for that copy with the table of contents that we show for that product on our website. You can find the table of contents for Pre-Algebra here, for Algebra 1 here, and for Algebra 2 here.

Unfortunately, this is not possible. If you have been using our discs and you decide to switch to our app, none of your grades will show up inside your digital gradebook, and there is also no manual way to transfer grades associated with our disc products to the app.

Yes, replacement discs are available and can be ordered by calling us at 1-405-525-3600, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm CT. Please have your serial number ready when you call.

Yes, you can resell the books and discs, and there is no limit to the number of times the discs can be reused. If the serial number has been lost you can give us a call and we can help you activate your product. We strongly advise that you ask the buyer to check out our system specs for the discs here before finalizing the purchase.

Also, you might want to explain to the new buyer that if they plan to share a single set of discs with multiple students, there is a 3-student limit per grade level on the same computer at the same time; however, there is no theoretical limit to the number of students per school or per household that could share a set of discs as long as you have enough different computers. Sharing a single set of discs with multiple students becomes increasingly inconvenient as the number of students rises, and impossible if you want the students to work at the same time.

The different version numbers can be identified by either looking at the serial number of the product or the table of contents. The version number is not noted anywhere on the packaging. If you need help differentiating what version a product is, contact us and we can help with that.

These are all the titles for products that we classify as our 2.0:

• all Math 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
• Pre-Algebra (2.0)
• Algebra 1 (2.0)
• Algebra 2 (2.0)
• Geometry (2.0)
• Pre-Calculus (2.0)

For 2.0 products, the system requirements are:

• Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, or 10
• Speakers or Headphones

We no longer sell Pre-Algebra (1.0), Algebra 1 (1.0), Algebra 2 (1.0), Geometry (1.0), or Pre-Calculus (1.0). They can only be purchased in the used market. The system requirements for 1.0 products are:

• Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1, or 10
• Speakers or Headphones

For information about using the discs with a Mac, click here.

You need to first set up the user account as a computer administrator. Then, you can install the program under that user name and activate it. Next, just change the account back to the standard or limited account.

You may need to add our program to the trusted applications and exclusions in order to keep the anti-virus program from possibly deleting the data file that stores the grades.

Yes. If you have purchased newer versions of the discs, you will see a Settings button in the lower left-hand corner of the interface. This button will give you control over Buddy and hint sounds. The Settings button even allows the student to remove the Buddies from the screen entirely if they find them to be too distracting or annoying.

Discs that were manufactured many years ago don’t have this Settings button. Those discs only allow students to turn the sounds that a Buddy makes on or off. They give no control over the hint sounds.

Finally, if your discs don’t have the Settings button, you can download that feature here by following these step-by-step instructions. This Settings feature download also includes some code that will enable parents to import and export grades more easily. If you do have older discs, we highly recommend updating with this download.

If you are using the 2.0 discs, your child's gradebook is saved directly to your computer. If you want to save your child's gradebook after they've finished a course, the easiest way to do that is to print it out directly. Click the Print button inside the gradebook in the lower-right corner. If you want a digital copy of their grades, we recommend printing it to a PDF. To do this, just start to print the gradebook as normal, and then when the print dialogue box comes up where it asks you to select your printer. you should see an option to print to a PDF. You'll then be able to name the file and save it to your computer.

You can back up and transfer grades from one computer to another by using the Gradebook Transfer option provided in our program. Depending on the version of our program that you are using, you may need to download and install the Settings Menu Update located on our website (https://www.teachingtextbooks.com/updates#settings). Once it is installed, you will be able to access the Gradebook Transfer utility by logging in to the parent account and clicking option 5.

If you need more help, while you are logged into the parent account click the Help button in the lower left and Sections 6 and 7 will outline the process to transfer or backup respectively.

If you don't know what the application or start menu is, you might want to give us a call to have us help you.

Also, please be aware that uninstalling the program from your computer will erase your child's gradebook. Unless you made a backup using the Gradebook Transfer tool, there is no way to restore their grades at that point, so please be careful when uninstalling a Teaching Textbooks 2.0 program.