The teacher's guide gave me some ideas for games and hands-on stuff that I wouldn't have come up with on my own. If you're good at that sort of thing, it might not be as useful to you as it was to me. But I thought it was worth the money a LOT more than the textbook was, given my use of the materials.
Some people really like to have their kids do the work completely independently, and I respect that. But I usually work with DS7, so I like something with a bit more meat to it, you know?
I do like very much that SM has options, and that you can tailor the curriculum somewhat based upon your child's needs. It's one of the strengths of the program, especially for a GT child. (And it's cheap! Love that!)
