What does it mean to "work through TMM Naturals" to get our students ready for TMM Complex in Challenge A?

During the summer, we encourage the students who are entering Challenge A in the fall to simply read the instructions and copy or trace the lesson pages in TMM Naturals. This is only intended to give them an introduction to the curriculum and expose them to new grammar that they will see over and over again in the coming lessons this year as well as in future years.

For students who want to explore ideas more deeply, I encourage using conversation to probe what they know and their questions. Is the question about the notation - in that case (as unsatisfying as it is), it's really just a grammar exercise of memorizing notation and how to read it. If the question is about limits, I would simply explore the idea of a limit - use examples such as the speed limit, God's limitless grace, etc. Perhaps explore physical limits - how far can you run? how high can you jump? How low can you squat? and so forth. Once TMM Companion is published for you to see, there will be resources such as the glossary and explanations of the charts that may also help you to dive deeper. Keeping in mind that much of our study is about first becoming familiar with language guides us in first helping our children to use the language that they already have to explore these ideas.

Remember that we are learning how to teach math classically. In classical education, we do not “spoonfeed,” but engage the skills of classical learning - comparing, identifying, repeating. It is through the art of definition and comparison that we learn.

Once TMM Digits, TMM Fractions and TMM Complex are available in April, you will be able to compare pages in each level as well.