Teaching Textbooks: An Honest Review and Analysis (2026)

Introduction

The pitch is simple. According to the publisher, the courses do all of the teaching with video lectures, the software grades every problem as soon as the student enters an answer, and the parent does not have to teach the lesson or mark the page (teachingtextbooks.com/faqs). In our assessment, for a household where the teaching parent is short on time or less confident explaining math, that is the main draw.

The publisher leans into that. Teaching Textbooks calls itself “the award-winning homeschool math app that experts describe as beyond open and go,” and its homepage headline reads “TT math does 100% of the job” (teachingtextbooks.com). Two questions follow any claim like that: whether the independence holds up in a real household, and whether the math is strong enough to keep college paths open. This review works through both. For the full catalog entry, method tags, and worldview classification, see the Every Homeschool Teaching Textbooks directory page.

What it is

The publisher describes Teaching Textbooks as a complete math curriculum offered as a series of apps, one for each grade level (teachingtextbooks.com/math3). It covers a single subject, mathematics, across ten levels: Math 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, then Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus (teachingtextbooks.com).

The publisher describes the app as eliminating the need for lesson plans, grading “every one of the thousands of problems,” and providing “step-by-step audiovisual solutions for every single problem” (teachingtextbooks.com). It also offers a free tutor helpline for any customer who needs extra help (teachingtextbooks.com). Here is the program at a glance.

How a lesson runs

Each lesson begins with a lecture (teachingtextbooks.com/math3). The publisher states that its courses do all of the teaching with video lectures, video solutions for every problem, and hints for when students get stuck (teachingtextbooks.com/faqs). The software grades every problem as soon as the student enters an answer, and students always have access to a step-by-step solution after answering a problem (teachingtextbooks.com). The publisher says this instant feedback keeps students from repeating mistakes throughout an assignment (teachingtextbooks.com). The reviewer in “Teaching Textbooks Review...8 Years Later,” A Place to Nest says she especially appreciates this after using the program for over eight years, because a child corrects a mistake right away instead of repeating it down the whole page.

The publisher says its placement tests will tell a family which level is best for a student, and calls them the best way to choose the right level (teachingtextbooks.com/free-trial). Cathy Duffy Reviews notes that the levels are roughly equivalent to grade levels, but that many families find their students, especially more advanced ones, need one level higher than their grade (Cathy Duffy Reviews). The reviewer in “Teaching Textbooks 4.0 Review,” Joyful Noise Learning with Ashley W., whose video description thanks Teaching Textbooks for sponsoring it, says the levels generally track grade but do not have to, and that placing a child a little lower than their math level can give a good review and let them move through the level a little quicker. That placement flexibility matters for the rigor discussion below.

What families praise

In the reviews cited here, the praise clusters around one theme: the program takes teaching and grading off the parent.

• It teaches so the parent does not have to. In A Place to Nest, the reviewer says finding a math program that taught math for her was the hurdle she needed to clear to believe she could homeschool, and that once that was solved she could pretty much handle everything else that came her way.
• Real independence for the child. In “Teaching Textbooks Math Curriculum Review,” Erica Arndt, the reviewer says a previous math program “wasn’t quite clicking” for her seventh-grade student, and that after two years with Teaching Textbooks the daily video lessons and in-app help have made the work “much more independent,” with the parent stepping in only when a concept does not land.
• It fits families with a lot going on. In the sponsored review “The Truth About Teaching Textbooks,” Mountain Mama’s Home, the reviewer says she has used it for around eight or nine years, that five of her children currently use it, and that it let her homeschool math while running a homestead and working part-time jobs. She credits it with removing the challenges and anxiety that used to surround math for her children and herself. She also says the high school portion has SAT and ACT prep built in; the publisher’s FAQ says its Geometry course includes problems modeled on SAT and ACT exams.
• Two reviewers report strong test results. The Erica Arndt reviewer says her student did “absolutely wonderful” on end-of-year standardized testing after Math 6. The Mountain Mama reviewer says her children take the yearly testing their state requires and that their results place them at or slightly above the grade level matching their Teaching Textbooks level.

The rigor debate

One criticism, which Erica Arndt and Mountain Mama’s Home each report hearing, is that Teaching Textbooks runs behind a traditional program. This is worth stating carefully.

The publisher describes the pace of its curriculum as gentle (teachingtextbooks.com). Cathy Duffy Reviews describes the series as college-prep “even though it is not as rigorous as some other courses,” and says the courses for the elementary grades “move at a gentler pace than most others” (Cathy Duffy Reviews). Reviewers raise the question too. In Erica Arndt, the reviewer says she has had some people say it is “a little bit behind a traditional program and that may be the case,” then adds that she has not experienced that so far, two years in, and that her student did “absolutely wonderful” on end-of-year standardized testing after Math 6. The video “Pros and Cons of Teaching Textbooks,” Calm in the Chaos Homeschool lists, among its cons, that the program might be on the easier side and might leave some gaps going into higher level math.

In our assessment, two practices address most of this concern. First, choosing a level with the publisher’s placement test rather than by grade means a child works at the level that matches their math, not their age. Second, pairing it with another source can add depth. In Joyful Noise Learning, the reviewer uses Teaching Textbooks as a supplement to a core curriculum built on hands-on, manipulative-based math rather than as the sole source. In our assessment, the program is not built for competition-math intensity.

The app

The publisher offers each course as an app, and its FAQ says sales of its disc sets ended on October 31, 2024. Reviewers refer to the app as version 4.0, including Cathy Duffy Reviews and the Joyful Noise Learning review. In Erica Arndt, the reviewer says her family does everything online on an iPad they take to the library instead of the large physical books, and describes using the built-in sketch pad to work a problem on screen with a finger, mouse, or stylus. The Joyful Noise Learning review covers Math 3 and Math 5 on the app and reports being won over after initial skepticism.

The publisher says the apps can be used offline for up to six lessons at a time and that every course carries 90 days of pause time for scheduled breaks (FAQ). One nuance from the reviews is worth keeping in view: the reviewer in Erica Arndt keeps paper nearby anyway because she likes to see her student’s work when an answer comes out wrong. The publisher says scratchpad work is saved so that it is easy to go back and view (FAQ), and Cathy Duffy Reviews notes that Teaching Textbooks recommends writing out most problems and solutions with paper and pencil (Cathy Duffy Reviews). The Calm in the Chaos Homeschool video lists among its cons that it might be difficult for a parent to know what a student is struggling with. In our assessment, self-grading is convenient, but a score alone does not show a parent where a child’s reasoning broke down.

Who it fits, and who it does not

In our assessment, the program has a clear center of gravity: it fits best when independence in math is the primary goal.

• Good fit: in our assessment, families where the teaching parent works or is stretched thin, parents who are uneasy teaching upper-level math, large families that can use the Family Plan, children who benefit from immediate feedback, and learners who do better with lectures they can pause and rewatch (publisher FAQ). The Mountain Mama reviewer says she has used it with both neurodivergent and neurotypical children.
• Weaker fit: in our assessment, families chasing maximum rigor or competition-math preparation, and those who want a discussion-heavy or heavily manipulative, conceptual approach. Keeping paper alongside the app, as the Erica Arndt reviewer does, is one way to see a child’s written work.

If you are still deciding between approaches in general, the five-step process in how to choose homeschool curriculum for 2026 covers philosophy, goals, teaching style, and learning style before you shop, and the curriculum finder asks eight questions about grade, subject, worldview, method, parent time, budget, coverage, and learning needs, then scores publishers against your answers.

Cost and value

Pricing is per level, per student, for a 12-month enrollment, and higher levels cost more. Retrieved October 2026 from the publisher’s site: Math 3 is $48.95, Algebra 1 is $79.95, and Pre-Calculus is $83.95, and the publisher’s FAQ lists Math 4 and Math 5 at $48.95, Math 6 and Math 7 at $63.95, Pre-Algebra and Geometry at $79.95, and Algebra 2 at $83.95. Each enrollment lasts one year and includes three months of additional pause time for scheduled breaks (FAQ).

The Family Plan caps the total annual cost for households with 4 to 8 students at $239.95 for twelve months, and the publisher notes it is not always cheaper for a family of four, depending on the levels chosen. The publisher’s free trial covers the first 15 lessons of any level with no expiration date and no payment information collected (teachingtextbooks.com), and the publisher advises against using the free trial alone to choose a level, recommending its placement tests instead (FAQ).

How it compares

In our assessment, Teaching Textbooks occupies a specific niche: a self-grading course with taught lessons that asks little of the parent. In our assessment, the natural comparisons are programs that trade some of that independence for more rigor or a different method. The head-to-head in Saxon vs Teaching Textbooks vs Singapore Math for 2026 compares the three on method, parent load, rigor, cost, and fit.

For the wider field, the best math curriculum guide for 2026 compares twelve math curricula by method and price. For scheduling models and curriculum that runs without a parent teaching each lesson, see homeschooling while working.

The bottom line

In our assessment, Teaching Textbooks is built around one idea: the program teaches and grades math so a parent does not have to. We consider the independence and the immediate feedback its strongest features, and the app format makes the program portable.

In our assessment, the trade-offs are a gentler pace than the most demanding options, a single subject, and a self-grading format that can hide a child’s reasoning if nobody looks at the written work. We think choosing a level with the publisher’s placement test rather than by grade, paired with a glance at the child’s paper now and then, addresses most of those concerns. Families aiming at competition math or a heavily conceptual method should look at the alternatives above first. For a household whose main constraint is time, we consider it a defensible choice. Start at the Teaching Textbooks directory page for the full profile, then take the publisher’s placement test, which the publisher calls the best way to choose the right level (teachingtextbooks.com/free-trial).