Do you love math? I do! (Don't throw anything at me!)
I know that not everyone loves math, and not everyone did well in math when they were in school, but that doesn't mean we are not able to teach math to our elementary age children. Really. If you have the resources and the encouragement and confidence that you can, you will be okay.
I know that not everyone loves math, and not everyone did well in math when they were in school, but that doesn't mean we are not able to teach math to our elementary age children. Really. If you have the resources and the encouragement and confidence that you can, you will be okay.
In our seven Rs of homeschooling, 'Rithmetic is number five. We have been using, and loving, Saxon math: An Incremental Approach for the last three years. We skipped the kindergarten level, and began with level 1 in kindergarten, level 2 in first grade, and level 3 in second grade.
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We bought the K-3 manipulative kit, too, and have found it to be really handy. Could I have assembled it myself for less money? Maybe, but I value my time, too, so it was a worthwhile investment. In kindergarten, we also used Abeka's Kindergarten math book, which is much more colorful and cute than the black and white Saxon workbook pages, but we also really liked Saxon's approach of reviewing older skills again and again, and gradually introducing new ones.
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In our homeschool day, we divide our math time into three sections.
Memory work: We spend a few minutes each day orally reviewing our math memory work from our Classical Conversations curriculum, both the current week and previous weeks as well.
Math lesson: This is the learning that we do from the Saxon Teacher's manual. Honestly, we skip a lot. We used to do the little workbook that comes with the curriculum, but it got old really fast, so we leave it out now. If there is a skill that my daughter already has cold, we skip it or just do it quick. [Side note: That used to drive me nuts (because we need to do what "it" says, right?) but then I realized - I'm the teacher! I'm not a slave to the curriculum! It is a tool, not my master! Okay, rant over!] This generally takes about ten to fifteen minutes, and the teacher's manual tells you exactly what to do and say, so even if math scares you, you can do this, I promise.
Math practice: This is where we use the Saxon workbook. Again, we don't do all of it. There is one two-sided worksheet for each lesson. We only do one, unless she struggles with a topic, and then we can do it a second time, later that day or the next day.
We also use a website called IXL Math which is incredible. You can purchase a membership which keeps track of your child's process and sends you reports from time to time, but if you don't need all that (I didn't) you can do up to twenty practice problems a day online for free, and I am all about free. When you get to twenty, they tell you to stop. It has all kinds of skills from kindergarten through precalculus, so we will be using it for a while.
Memory work: We spend a few minutes each day orally reviewing our math memory work from our Classical Conversations curriculum, both the current week and previous weeks as well.
Math lesson: This is the learning that we do from the Saxon Teacher's manual. Honestly, we skip a lot. We used to do the little workbook that comes with the curriculum, but it got old really fast, so we leave it out now. If there is a skill that my daughter already has cold, we skip it or just do it quick. [Side note: That used to drive me nuts (because we need to do what "it" says, right?) but then I realized - I'm the teacher! I'm not a slave to the curriculum! It is a tool, not my master! Okay, rant over!] This generally takes about ten to fifteen minutes, and the teacher's manual tells you exactly what to do and say, so even if math scares you, you can do this, I promise.
Math practice: This is where we use the Saxon workbook. Again, we don't do all of it. There is one two-sided worksheet for each lesson. We only do one, unless she struggles with a topic, and then we can do it a second time, later that day or the next day.
We also use a website called IXL Math which is incredible. You can purchase a membership which keeps track of your child's process and sends you reports from time to time, but if you don't need all that (I didn't) you can do up to twenty practice problems a day online for free, and I am all about free. When you get to twenty, they tell you to stop. It has all kinds of skills from kindergarten through precalculus, so we will be using it for a while.
One more thing about math - like all of our other areas, when we hit thirty minutes, we stop. Even if we are not done. If we need two or three days on a lesson, so be it. Remember, you're the teacher, you make the rules, and you decide what is best for your child.
What math curriculum have you found to work with YOUR child?
What math curriculum have you found to work with YOUR child?
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