General Instruction
Explore different approaches to mathematics instruction, get support for teaching math in your homeschool, and access great resources to make learning math fun and easy.
Homeschool General Mathematics Curriculum
Making Math Meaningful
Making Math Meaningful is a wonderful beginning. It lays the strong foundation for understanding math. Every concept is introduced with a simple conversation (which is provided for you) using math manipulatives. You are spending quality time with your children talking about each math concept.
The conversations are simple. The activities are easy to do. The lesson plans tell you exactly what you are to do and what you are to say. Perfect for the busy mom.
There are no seminars to attend and no videos to watch! Simply pull the book from the shelf and start teaching. Each child has his own student workbook. Levels K through 4 give you a written script to teach each concept and skill. Levels 5 and 6 and Algebra are written directly to your child. Your child will simply pull the book from the shelf and teach himself.
There is no easier math manipulative program for mom.
RightStart Mathematics
RightStart Mathematics uses the AL Abacus to provide a visual, auditory, and kinesthetic experience. The elementary and intermediate program lessons guide the teacher day-by-day and year-by-year, helping children understand, apply, and enjoy mathematics. The RishtStart Mathematics homeschool program is set up with levels, rather than grades, so that your child can begin at the proper level and advance at their own pace.
Sonlight Math Curricula
Teach confidently with Sonlight's handpicked math resources — the programs are the best on the market for elementary math to Calculus.
Every math curriculum has potential strengths and weaknesses, so you'll find included information to help you find the best fit for your students.
They offer several math programs for the elementary grades. Young children benefit from an enriched environment in which they see math being used in different ways and in which they approach problems from different directions.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is a completely free educational resource site. Students can make use of their extensive library of content, including interactive challenges, assessments, and videos from any computer.
Math Essentials
This math program provides a math instruction system that gives students the best math preparation possible. There are workbooks and free online video lessons.
IXL Math Curriculum
IXL provides comprehensive math practice for K-12.
ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowlege Spaces)
ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) can provide you with the instruction and support you need to homeschool your children in mathematics for grades 3-12. ALEKS is accessible from virtually any computer with Internet access, making it a flexible and mobile educational solution for your children.
ALEKS is a Research-Based Online Math Program:
- Complete Curriculum Solution for Math with Access to Full Course Library
- No Textbook Required
- Artificial Intelligence Targets Gaps in Student Knowledge
- Assessment and Individualized Learning for Grades 3-12
- Master Account - Monitor and Direct Learning Progress
- Unlimited Online Access - PC & Mac Compatible
Ray's Arithmetic
Ray's Arithmetics teach arithmetic in an orderly fashion, starting from rules and principles, building knowledge piece by piece, leading pupils from simple to complex. From the very first pages, Ray's Arithmetics incorporate what has become the scourge of today's math students - story problems. Students must READ simple sentences which pose real life problems, decide whether to add, subtract, multiply or divide, and finally arrive at the answer - sometimes mentally - sometimes in writing.
Jump Math
JUMP Math is a numeracy program. JUMP Math is dedicated to enhancing the potential in children by encouraging an understanding and a love of math in students and educators. JUMP Math replaces the self-fulfilling myth that some people are born with mathematical ability while others do not have the ability to succeed with assumptions that all children can be led to think mathematically.
They offer educators, tutors and parents complete and balanced materials as well as training to help them reach all students.
JUMP Math draws on the latest cognitive science research to build upon the best aspects of math programs from around the world to provide a unique combination of depth, careful scaffolding, continuous assessment and a variety of innovative instructional approaches. Many parents in Canada and the United States use JUMP Math to homeschool their children.
In a homeschool, JUMP Math works by helping adults lead children through a tailored process of micro-teaching, guided discovery and practice that gradually extends student understanding.
JUMP Math has found that children learn better when they feel admired and are confident they will not be allowed to fail. Teachers therefore communicate their belief that all students can learn, and reinforce this belief with frequent and specific encouragement. This creates a positive learning environment, which in turn leads to more academically focused behaviour.
Professor B Math
Professor B Math delivers world-class mathematics and national precedents by means of a unique perspective on children's real gifts for learning mathematics.
Support
Math For Life
MathForLife is an email group that offers a forum to share math questions and math resources. It is an open group for those people who would like to learn to love math and use math well. It is especially for parents who want to home-school or after-school their children in math.
Living Math Forum
This is an on-topic list dedicated to the discussion of "living math" - mathematics education using living books and materials, as opposed to traditional curricula as the primary learning tool. Discussion applies to mathematics learning from birth to adult self education, with the understanding that arithmetic is only one feature of mathematics as a whole. Math history topics will apply as well. Educators using Charlotte Mason, Thomas Jefferson Ed (relaxed classical), Montessori, Waldorf and unschooling methods may benefit from the exchange of ideas.
Mrs. Glosser's Math Goodies Homeschooling Support Forum
Bring all your curriculum questions and math problems to this forum to share information and ideas with other homeschooling parents.
Let's Play Math!
This wonderful blog is written by a homeschooling mother who wants to make learning math fun. It is a place where you can learn about new ways of learning, teaching, and understanding math. Math is a game, playing with ideas. This blog is about the ongoing adventure of learning, teaching, and playing around with mathematics from preschool to precalculus.
Links
Printable Multiplication Tables
You'll find free printable multiplication tables, including a 0-10 and 12 x time table, a grid chard, blank grid charts, and more.
How I Teach a Large Family in a Relaxed, Classical Way: Math
A look at a tag team approach to teaching math in a large homeschool family.
Let's Play Math!
This wonderful blog is written by a homeschooling mother who wants to make learning math fun. It is a place where you can learn about new ways of learning, teaching, and understanding math. Math is a game, playing with ideas. This blog is about the ongoing adventure of learning, teaching, and playing around with mathematics from preschool to precalculus.
Homeschool Math
HomeschoolMath.net is a comprehensive math resource site for homeschooling parents and teachers: find free worksheets, math ebooks for elementary grades, an extensive link list of games, a homeschool math curriculum guide, interactive tutorials & quizzes, and teaching tips articles. The resources emphasize understanding of concepts instead of just mechanical memorization of rules.
Singapore Math
Singapore Math books are clear, logical, and sequential. There is a strong focus on mental math. Word problems and geometry are integrated throughtout the series. Singapore Math® books are a popular choice of homeschool families and for parents looking for math activity books to support what their child is learning in school. There are also titles to help home educators understand the foundations of Singapore Math® methodology, giving you tools to help your student be successful and have fun.They offer math texts from pre-K to 12th grades. This series challenges children to think through and understand mathematical concepts instead of simply memorizing facts and algorithms. One of the benefits of using this program is its affordability. The textbooks are inexpensive and are reusable. The consumable workbooks are priced so that even families with multiple children using this program will find it affordable.
Virtual Manipulatives for Interactive Mathematics
This website features online games and interactive activities designed to help children learn and understand mathematical concepts. You can choose any grade level from pre-K to 12, and subjects including numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurements, data analysis, and probability. You'll find virtual peg boards, geoboards, fractals, charts, games, and much more.
Math Goodies
Math Goodies is a free math help site featuring interactive lessons, puzzles and worksheets. They also provide free homework help. There are more than 400 pages of activities for students, educators and parents.
MATHCOUNTS®
MATHCOUNTS® is a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program that promotes middle school mathematics achievement through grassroots involvement in every U.S. state and territory. After several months of coaching, participating schools select students to compete individually or as part of a team in one of the more than 500 written and oral competitions held nationwide and in U.S. schools overseas. Winners at the local level proceed to state competitions, where the top 4 Mathletes® and top coach earn the right to represent their state or territory at the national level. At all levels, MATHCOUNTS challenges students' math skills, develops their self-confidence and rewards them for their achievements. Students enrolled in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades are eligible to participate in MATHCOUNTS competitions.
Articles
Just Do the Math
"Not possible," homeschool mom proclaimed glumly, shaking her head.
I had just explained how the Sudbury Valley School - a democratically managed, child-directed learning environment that has been around for almost 40 years - has demonstrated repeatedly that a child could learn math - all of it grades K through 12 - in eight weeks. Average (if there is such a thing), normal (never met one), healthy children, hundreds of them, learned it all, leading to admissions to some of the leading colleges and universities in the nation.
"Must be some kind of trick," she insisted dolefully, remembering her own dark days in the classroom slaving over the seemingly inscrutable, all joy wrung out as from a wet sponge, then as an elementary school teacher herself, and now finally daily fighting what she was convinced was a losing homeschooling war with her nine-year-old over the required workbook pages.
"Nope, no tricks, no special techniques, magic curriculum, or innovative teaching method," I informed her. The secret, if there was one, was to wait until the child asked for it, indeed insisted upon it, and had a use for it, even if the use was just college admission.
Math Mania: Get Your Child Excited About Math
This article lists some great tips to get your child excited about math, including ideas for incorporating math learning into your daily life.
Read Any Good Math Lately?
A look at an alternative way to approach mathematics instruction, with a list of good mathematics books for all levels.
Ten Ways to Boost Your Child's Math Success
A short list of some simple things you can do to help increase your child's understanding of math concepts and how to work efficiently and accurately while retaining important mathematical information.
Featured Resources
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A Twaddle-Free Education: An Introduction to Charlotte Mason's Timeless Educational Ideas
Are you disappointed with dumbed-down reading material (“twaddle”) written for children? Do you wish for your children to feast their hearts and minds on noble ideas, fine art, and great literature? Are you hoping your children gain an appreciation of nature and a deep understanding of natural sciences? Most importantly, do you want your children to develop a lifetime love of learning? If you answered “yes,” you may discover a Charlotte Mason-inspired twaddle-free education is just what you’ve b...
Explode The Code
Explode The Code provides a sequential, systematic approach to phonics in which students blend sounds to build vocabulary and read words, phrases, sentences, and stories. Frequent review of previously learned concepts helps increase retention. Each workbook in this series contains exercises that incorporate reading, writing, matching and copying. The consistent format of the books helps facilitate independent work. This series includes primers—Get Ready for The Code, Get Set for The Code, and Go...
Why We Homeschool
It is a common misconception that most parents homeschool due to bullies, school shootings, or bad teaching content. While these things are important, there is a higher purpose for choosing to home education your children. Even if all those things were corrected, there are stronger reasons to stay committed to the homeschool model. So why do you homeschool? This book looks at the meaning and significance of a true Christian education.
So You're Thinking About Homeschooling: Fifteen Families Show How You Can Do It
Confused and intimidated by the complexities of homeschooling, many sincere parents never get past the "thinking about it" stage. Now Lisa Whelchel - herself a homeschooling mother of three - introduces fifteen real families and shows how they overcome the challenges of their unique homeschooling situations. This nuts-and-bolts approach deals with common questions of time management, teaching weaknesses, and outside responsibilities, as well as children's age variations, social and sports invol...
Montessori: A Modern Approach
Montessori: A Modern Approach has been called the single best book for anyone -- educator, childcare professional, and especially parent -- seeking answers to the questions: What is the Montessori method? Are its revolutionary ideas about early childhood education relevant to today's world? And most important, especially for today's dual-career couples. Is a Montessori education right for my child?Paula Polk Lillard writes both as a trained educators and as a concerned parent -- she has many yea...