You may decide to use literature for language arts, or take a unit study approach for nature study. Maybe you follow a Charlotte Mason approach to all of your subjects, and utilize notebooking for history. You get to choose what you teach and how you teach it, but there is one subject that will always be taught – math.
We have tried a variety of math curriculums over the years, allowing us to see what works best for our children. With two boys that have two different learning styles, it made it a little tricky finding the right fit for each.
But alas… we found our happy place.
Today I’m going to share with you our 3 favorite homeschool math curriculums (and the pros and cons of each).
Our 3 Favorite Homeschool Math Curriculums
1. Wild Math
Integrating the great outdoors and natural materials, Wild Math is a math curriculum that my hands-on learner has thrived with. Wild Math is offered for grades Kindergarten through fifth grade, and covers all of the math skills that are typically taught by each grade level. Rachel Tidd of Wild Learning® combines her years of experience as an elementary and special education teacher, along with her Masters in Elementary and Special Education, to create a rigorous, yet enjoyable curriculum for all young learners.
Pros
My children love that they are able to learn fundamental math concepts such as multiplication, by multiplying 3 leaf clovers from our garden. They were excited to learn that they could forego typical workbooks and worksheets, and instead use pinecones and sticks for addition and subtraction. We have counted many dandelions on our fabric ten frame, used our wooden dice to compare numbers and have broken sticks to recognize fractions. Yes – it is as fun as it seems. My children have learned so much from Wild Math, and have enjoyed it thoroughly.
For moms, it is easy to use. Rachel tells you exactly what you’ll need to put in your “On The Go Math Kit”, which you’ll grab before heading outdoors to do math. Once you’re outside, you will explain to your child what you’re learning, the activity you’ll do, and how to do it. Then, you can watch your child as they collect pinecones, sticks, and flowers for the day’s lesson. I enjoy watching my children’s eyes light up as they finally grasp a concept that I’ve been trying to teach verbally, or with paper.
The way that Wild Math is organized is so soothing to my ADHD brain, making it a math curriculum I actually want to use. It is organized by subject, so we can utilize a mastery or spiral approach to learning. If we want to go back over a topic, we simply flip back to that chapter and review the activities. Another thing I love is that when it’s printed, it is not a huge book to carry around – it is to-the-point and easy to bring along wherever you go.
Cons
For learners that enjoy a pencil-to-paper approach, Wild Math may not be the best fit. While some lessons to include writing in a notebook, it is predominately a hands-on curriculum. Another thing to consider is that it is an outdoors-based curriculum. While we want to be outside every chance we get, other families without backyard access may find it challenging. With that being said, this is an issue Rachel addresses in the very beginning of the curriculum by sharing how Wild Math can be used on the sidewalk, at a local park, or even on a balcony. She truly makes this math curriculum accessible to all learners.
2. The Good and the Beautiful Math
We have used many open-and-go workbook based curriculum for my learner that loves putting pencil-to-paper. But we often go back to this one because of how beautiful it is and it’s ease of use. A popular choice among homeschoolers, The Good and the Beautiful uses a spiral approach to teach math to learners from Kindergarten through sixth grade.
Pros
You can buy this curriculum and use it that day without previewing any of it. It’s that easy to use. The workbooks contain beautiful illustrations, and the colors are calming, making it more enjoyable to use on a daily basis. When purchasing on their website, there is also the option of buying the math box which contains everything you need to use for the year. While we have made our own math boxes in the past, in the end, it cost less to purchase from The Good and the Beautiful directly.
The Good and the Beautiful math combines hands-on learning with a workbook. Throughout the year, children will use manipulative to count, game pieces and dice to play included games, and wooden shapes for geometry.
Simplicity and beauty made this an easy choice when our life was busy, and I needed my learner to be able to do math “on his own” from time-to-time. On the pages, the parts for parents to read is highlighted and it literally says, “Read this to your child…”. When you’ve been up all night with a sick child and still have to homeschool your other children the next day, this makes all the difference.
Another amazing benefit to The Good and the Beautiful Math is that they offer the entire curriculum for free on their website. You can download the entire curriculum in a PDF format and print it at home. Seriously – they’re amazing for offering that.
Cons
Some learners do well with a spiral approach, which jumps from topic-to-topic in math. Others do best with mastery, which focuses on one topic for a period of time before moving on to the next. The Good and the Beautiful Math uses a spiral approach – so if your learner fits in the latter category, this may not be the best fit for you.
Another issue that we had with our ADHD learner is the amount of words on a page. Visually, it can be distracting to a child. While I appreciate that there is not a separate teachers manual, my ADHD child finds it hard to focus when there are so many words, numbers and pictures on a page. With that being said, you can print off pages to try with your child before you purchase the physical curriculum which is what makes it a no-brainer to try.
3. Math with Confidence
When I first read The Well-Trained Mind, my eyes were open to a new way of education. I had studied Charlotte Mason’s methods for quite some time, but I had yet to dive into the world of Classical Education. After reading this book, I was convinced I had a learner that would benefit from a Classical Math Curriculum.
After some research, we landed on Kate Snow’s Math with Confidence. It has been such a game changer for our youngest learner.
Pros
Math with Confidence focuses on deep, conceptual understanding of a topic before moving on making it a mastery based curriculum. While you move from one topic to another after mastering it, you still review what you have already learned.
In my own home, I found that Math with Confidence gave my child a thorough understanding of concepts compared to other workbook based curriculum. I found that he was retaining information better, able to do mental math with ease, and could apply what he learned to real-world situations.
Math with Confidence has a student workbook and an instructor guide. This makes it easier for the student to focus on what he is learning vs. all the other words on the page. The instructor guide is easy to use, and includes a lot of valuable information to teach your child. This includes the various ways of completing a math problem – which I believe is important to expose our children to.
The instructor guide for Math with Confidence includes checkpoints to ensure your child is ready to move on to the next section. This is great if you want to assess what your child has learned and what they may still need help with.
Cons
While having an instructor guide is a pro, it can also be a con. The guide is pretty thick. I find myself leaving it behind more often than I should, leading me to teaching my child with my own devices. While this may work for some things, you should really use the instructor guide to fully utilize the curriculum.
For example, there are so many addition strategies. If you do not use the instructor manual, you will not teach each addition strategy – instead, your child will rely on what they already know. It’s really important to use the manual.
Another factor to consider with this curriculum is that the grade levels currently available are limited. Each year, they intend on releasing a new grade level. At the time of this post, however, only grades kindergarten through second grade are available.
What We Currently Use
We currently use a blend of Wild Math, The Good and the Beautiful and Math with Confidence. While we have tried several others in the past, these are the ones that my children prefer and do best with.
With any curriculum, it is important to pay attention to how your children responds to it and whether or not they avoid that subject because of the choice of curriculum. After a few years, we have found their sweet spot (they are currently in 2nd and 3rd grade). In the future, I’m sure their needs will change – and so will the type of work they do. But for now, we’re grateful to have found math curriculum that works best for them.
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