First, let me say that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!  This reviewer is the old dog, but these are definitely not tricks!  I've read and put into practice the method that James Watt teaches in this book.  It works!!

I have always been good at math, and when it came time to homeschool our children I thought it would be easy to teach math concepts.  But knowing how to do something and trying to teach it are very different.  The problems my children have had aren't in grasping the fundamentals of math.  It's with the careless math errors.  Eliminating Careless Error is a way where your children can check their work and fix their mistakes before ever turning them in to be graded.  This method will be a confidence builder to your children.

I put my 11-, 13-, 15-, and 17-year-old children to the test on the blackboard.  I wrote down many problems and when they were satisfied that I could check them, they were all correct!  This method had them check their own answers and fix any mistakes (usually adding mistakes) before they had me check the answers.

If your students know first grade math, they will enjoy knowing and using the method taught in Eliminating Careless Error.  I recommend that this method be taught to all students.  It is easy to understand and put into practice.  Eliminating Careless Error  can be purchased from the the publisher's website at www.backfencepub.com, and sells for $15.95.

Reviewed by Richard Hostler - August, 2005

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