Ray's Arithmetic (TOS Review)

Treehouse Review Week

Dollar Homeschool Home Page (publishers of the Eclectic Education Series)
Ray's Arithmetic

"The Ray's CD is a complete collection of the Ray's Arithmetic textbooks. The Ray's series includes a total of 38 books. These include the 12 core Textbooks, + Answer Key's, Teachers Editions, and several intriguing books of mathematical pursuits for the aspiring student, such as Surveying and Navigation, Astronomy, Book Keeping, and Physics. Click here to view a list of the entire collection of Rays' Arithmetic provided on the CD."

"The entire collection of Ray's Arithmetic is now available on CD for only $59, less than the cost of an average textbook--- and your satisfaction is guaranteed."

The Charlotte Mason homeschool movement has been faulted on more than one occasion for making too much of "dusty old Victorian books." My third grader is learning geography from a vintage 1930's book, and Canadian history from H.E. Marshall's equally vintage (and sometimes terribly non-PC) Canada's Story. We read Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, Kipling, Dickens, and Anna Botsford Comstock. My seventh grader has started Plutarch. I don't even laugh when the Squirrelings occasionally use literature-learned phrases and British-isms like "he looked about him" or "Shall I fetch it for you?" I say that so that you know we don't have any undue bias against using old books, and in fact you might expect that, if anything, our preferences would be slanted the other way.

Many homeschoolers, including CMers, enjoy the challenge of teaching with reproduction Ray's Arithmetic textbooks. Mary Pride wrote admiringly of the honest mental effort that it required from children, and there's obviously real enthusiasm in the online homeschooling community for using at least the first couple of levels, including an e-group. (An active e-group for anything is always a good sign.) It's easy to admire the concentration and mental dexterity that allowed clerks to make change without a cash register readout, and farmers to calculate amounts of seed without a calculator.

However, like Emily Litella, I can respect Eagle Rights without wanting to sit next to one on the bus, and I can appreciate the interest in studying the methods of certain old textbooks, particularly those of a technical nature, without seeing much use for resurrecting them as-is in our own homeschool. In mathematics, particularly in the upper years, I believe there are alternatives to the current scandal of "fuzzy math," without having to resort to outdated terminology and small scanned pages. I also wonder--and I'm saying this carefully, not trying to fall into the trap of saying newer is better, not trying to mindlessly echo the "this is the 21st century" mantra--if our children's environment now calls for a new approach, rather than trying to fit today's feet into the math equivalent of button-up boots.

The focus in the first book (Primary Arithmetic) on "number" and on oral teaching does line up quite easily with Charlotte Mason's methods for primary-level arithmetic, and it seems there's enough information there to at least give it a good try. But my admittedly brief excursion around the Ray's support material (e.g. the extra schedules available at the e-group) seems to indicate that most parent interest is focused mostly at the lower levels. If I'm wrong about this and there are high schoolers using Ray's all the way through Calculus, I'd be interested in knowing how that's working out for them. The Apprentice, who just finished Grade 12 Functions and Relations, looked through the Higher Algebra book, and pointed out several places where either the terminology has changed, or the method of working out a problem has been simplified in the hundred-plus years since the book was published. Some problems that used to take pages just aren't done that way anymore. (Not to mention that we no longer need logarithmic tables.)

Perhaps it's just a minor matter of vocabulary, but I'm still concerned that an older student moving from one of the higher Ray's books, such as Algebra, into a current high school or college math text would have a real and unnecessary need to re-learn a great deal of what he/she had been taught.

Final take: I would consider using Primary Arithmetic, for Crayons, or possibly the next book, for Ponytails, to provide supplementary work, particularly in oral work and mental arithmetic. But I'm not sure that the whole program would be a good fit for us. As a homeschooling parent, especially one whose gifts are not in maths and sciences, I would prefer to stick with something more current.

The price: For $59, then, you get the impressively long list of e-books (including answer keys and original teachers' manuals) that I've linked above. (The cost and time of printing them out will be an issue, unless you read from the computer or have some kind of reader.) The real question, though, will be how many of those books you'll actually want to use with your students. If your plan is to use only the first couple of books, then $59 for three or four years' arithmetic teaching is not a bad deal at all.

And you might want to pick up a slate to go with it.

To read more reviews of this product, see the Review Crew Home Page.

Dewey's Disclaimer: This product was received free for purposes of review. No other payment was made. The opinions expressed in this review are our own.