After lots of mind numbing review (to me, anyway), I finally decided what algebra program to buy for ds. He was working on a pre-algebra text that neither of us were happy with, though it’s a popular choice. I decided to skip him up to algebra, since he was halfway though pre-algebra – it didn’t seem fair to start him at the beginning of another text, but with most programs, it’s really difficult to start in the middle.

The new program arrived yesterday, and I hope it will be a good fit for him. There are so many choices, and honestly, reading algebra books to figure out which is better just wasn’t much fun for me. Neither was reading endless reviews online of the various different choices a relaxing way to spend my time. It’s great to have so many choices, but in a way, it just makes it so much harder than it used to be – there used to be two or three main math programs, and you just had to choose the one you disliked the least. With so many choices now, it leaves you feeling you can match your child’s personality perfectly and should make the effort to spend as much time as necessary until you find the perfect match. That feeling isn’t productive after a certain point, and I definitely reached that point. So what I told ds, after all my exhaustive reviews, is that this is the program and that’s it. It’s a good program, I’ve done all the research into it I’m going to do, and if he doesn’t love it, well – he doesn’t have to love it. He just has to do it. 🙂

For those of you homeschooling older kids, and who may be interested, what I chose was Teaching Textbooks. I like texts that are written to be read by the child, and are user friendly for them. This seemed to have a pleasant, non intimidating tone to it. They also have cds available to supplement the main text, and the cds have lectures for each lesson. You don’t need to use them, but it’s nice to have to help a child help himself when he gets stuck on something. It’s not cheap, but then again, most textbooks at this level aren’t! (The book on it’s own is $80, including shipping; it’s over $100 more with the cds.)

Avivah