Training Happy Hearts: Connect Faith to Algebra 1 {A Homeschool Math Curriculum Review}

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

When you think about Algebra textbooks, words like "faith-based" and "Biblical principles" don't often come to mind. Homeschool mom and math lover Mary Carroll sought to change that with her His Vessel Textbooks – Algebra I - an 11-unit, 64-lesson, hardcover curriculum book that weaves faith into math.

When my family was offered an opportunity to review His Vessel Textbooks – Algebra I, I was curious about how faith would be woven into its lessons, so spoke with my daughter about trying it out. She agreed, and, since we received our review copy, we've been slowly moving through it during portions of our 1:1 time.

In doing so, I have come to appreciate the time, effort, and God-loving thought that Mary Carroll put into creating this math curriculum. His Vessel Algebra 1 is organized logically and contains a number of unique faith-connected features per unit woven in with more traditional straight-up math ones.

Features include "A God Moment" sections at the start of each lesson. These "moments" have a scripture and short devotional-type paragraph that explains math concepts in connection to Biblical principles.

Next, there are "Objectives for This Lesson", which are written as "I Can..." statements and outline what you will learn in the lesson.

Then, there are "Vocabulary Terms", which come in handy for looking back at as the lessons progress.

After that come explanations, examples, "You Try" sections, and "Practice Problems". The examples are all worked out so you can follow along with them. The "You Try" problems require you to work them out on your own. Answers (not solutions) to them are given at the end of each unit.

Then, Practice Problems, of course, must be worked out on your own and answers to the odd ones can be found at the back of the book.

Sprinkled throughout the text are "Helpful Hints" and "Make It Clear" boxes which give you ideas for remembering things and/or clarify concepts.

There are also "Family Activity" sections that suggest fun activities that aim to make math concepts more enjoyable.

Finally, at the end of each unit, there are optional "Expressions Projects" which offer challenge ideas such as figuring how much Nebuchadnezzar's statue weighed or calculating descendants of a Biblical character.

My Daughters Thoughts about His Vessel Algebra 1

Here is what my daughter had to say about her experience with the textbook so far:

When my mother asked me if I wanted to review His Vessel Algebra 1 I wasn't completely sure, because my math skills are kind of all over the place. However, I decided to review it, thinking that maybe it would help me to improve my math skills. After making this decision, I was very excited about when the text would come in.

His Vessel Algebra 1 is quite thick, however, it is surprisingly light, which I liked. Another thing that I liked about the book is that the pages have plenty of white space; I've never liked books that are crowded on each page.

One of the setbacks I have had with His Vessel Algebra is that I am not able to use the textbook completely by myself. Explanations and examples in it are not written in a way that I can easily follow, so I had to ask my mother for help and ended up using the book with her during 1:1 study time. It has been a slow process.

I don't think His Vessel Algebra 1 is a bad book. In fact, I think that for some people it would be perfectly fine; they would be able to understand it. I just tend to take a bit more explaining to understand things, especially in math, and found that His Vessel was not as good at explaining things as some other programs I've used.

I would recommend His Vessel to someone who is willing to help their child with it. I would also have to say that if a parent wanted to make sure that all a child’s answers are right, the parent would have to go through and do some problems, because the back of the book does not give all the answers.

Overall I think His Vessel Algebra 1 has its pros and its cons, but I believe that it could be helpful for certain individuals.

So, as you can see the curriculum has not been a total success with my daughter, but she can still find good in it, and I can, too.

My Thoughts on His Vessel Algebra 1

For students that head into His Vessel Algebra 1 without prior "holes" in their math, I think the text would easily carry them through Algebra 1 while helping them find connections between math concepts and faith.

For students like my daughter who struggle with math, some hand-holding might be necessary.

I am not sure if we will continue to use the text with my daughter right now, because it is just going too slowly for her which is discouraging, but I will be saving it to use with her younger brother in years to come.

More Coming!

His Vessel Algebra I is currently the only text available from Mary Carroll, but she is drafting more books using her unique Biblical approach. She has plans to release a Geometry book in the fall of 2022 and Pre-Algebra, Algebra II, and Elementary Math in the future. She is also planning to offer a separate answer key for Algebra I in the summer of 2022.

Some Families Love It!

Some of the Homeschool Review Crew families who tried His Vessel loved it. To read what they appreciated most about it, click over to the Homeschool Review Crew to find links to their blog and Instagram reviews.