Choosing the Best Homeschool Math Curriculum for your Child’s Learning Style
Trying to choose the best homeschool math curriculum for your family? Wondering where to begin to find the right math option for the way your child learns best? This post was written for you!
Math is considered an essential subject, but it’s one that’s associated with anxiety for many students – and for many a homeschool mom as well. Especially as their students reach upper grades and are expected to learn algebra and geometry. Let’s face it, even if we did pretty well in our own high school math classes, we’re often out of practice, and wonder how we’ll help our own kids to understand what we barely remember.
Choosing a math curriculum that is a good fit for the student can make a huge difference!
All the math textbooks teach the same thing, right? Generally, yes they do, but there are different approaches and sequences and media, and finding what works for each child can be the difference between success and frustration.
This concise overview provides some examples of popular math options and how they work for specific learning styles.
Not sure about your child’s learning style? Take this learning style quiz for kids.
Best Homeschool Math Curriculum Based on Learning Styles
Students that need to see and hear information, and can work well independently may do well with a comprehensive online math curriculum like CTCMath. My daughters have particularly done well with CTCMath. The lessons are presented in short video sessions with visual examples and illustrations, and are followed by student practice problems and quizzes. It’s self-paced and the teaching is done in the videos.
CTCMath is a simplified choice for parents who dread math, too. Progress reports are sent via email weekly so you can see how your children are doing and keep track of their assignments.
You can check out some free online math tutorials to see how it works. You can also grab a free trial or purchase at a half-price discount just for homeschoolers.
Students that need an uncluttered book to avoid distraction, and learn best by reading may prefer the traditional textbook style of something like Saxon. Saxon uses a spiral approach so there is continual review of concepts. The student will need to be able to understand the written explanation in the textbook; and the parent will need to do all the grading. Math Mammoth is another simply designed, uncluttered workbook style. Most of the major homeschool publishers offer a comprehensive math program, and the textbooks vary in the amount of color or graphics. Some kids need a colorful visual to help them understand a concept, and other kids are only distracted by those extras.
Students that “hate” math or struggle with it, but like a good story might be interested in the unique approach of Life of Fred. These books teach math using a story format, in which the title character, a Kindergarten aged boy who happens to be a math prodigy, teaches at Kittens University. Every day Fred encounters the need for math in his daily life, and it is through these humorous stories that the math concepts are taught to the reader. At the end of each chapter, the student is invited to have their turn at “playing” with math, and every few chapters there are “Bridges” to cross before proceeding with the next chapters. There is much less in the way of practice problems in these books, so they don’t seem as rigorous as traditional math programs. An unconventional approach to math might be a good choice for students that balk at pages of practice problems. If you’re concerned that there’s not enough written work, it can be supplemented with worksheets from various other sources.
Other living math books we have enjoyed:
What’s the Point of Math? (DK Books)
Sir Cumference series of books
Math Art and Drawing Games for Kids
Students with more interest in history or science might like to explore the background of mathematics. Exploring the World of Mathematics by John Hudson Tiner is a book that presents the history of mathematics as a scientific field of study. We’ve used this as part of an elective science course, and it provides a backdrop for understanding topics like the development of the calendar, measurements, monetary systems, computers, architectural design, and taxation. It even explains why we refer to numbers as rational or irrational, and that algebra was invented to make hard problems easier. You read that right! Algebra is supposed to make solving number problems easier.
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