The Best Homeschool Math Curriculum for Every Grade Level

The Best Homeschool Math Curriculum for Every Grade Level

When you’re searching for the best homeschool math curriculum, you have your work cut out for you. Unless you landed here!

As a homeschooling mother of 19 years, I know that one of the most time-consuming tasks in homeschooling is researching curriculum. So I am saving your sanity by providing you with not just my top picks but a PDF of the top homeschool math curriculum options for every grade level. You can easily find the style of teaching, difficulty level, and time requirement that you’re looking for. You’ll easily see the best features and common criticisms of each. Plus, you’ll have access to the links to the best reviews. You’re welcome!

Download a List of the Best Homeschool Math Curriculum

Click the “Best Homeschool Math Curriculum” image below to request your complete list of the best curriculum. When you add your email address, you’ll also receive the Sanity Savers newsletter and updates on the schedule you request.

Best Homeschool Math Curriculum

The Best Homeschool Math Curriculum According to My Family & Friends

Math wasn’t a particular struggle for my kids, so my choices reflect this. I did include friends’ top picks that include options for those who find math more challenging.

Top picks for elementary math

Learn Math Fast

This curriculum helped my younger kids learn their math facts and operations better than anything else we’ve tried. And we’ve tried a lot of things! Save $5 on one volume with code SANITY5 and $10 with code SANITY10 for orders over $140.

Horizons Math

I used Horizons for my young elementary students before I found Learn Math Fast. I like that it’s straightforward, covers a range of introductory math, and does not have an inordinate number of exercises.

I have friends who recommend Singapore Math, Teaching Textbooks, Math U See, and CTC Math.

Top picks for middle school math

Learn Math Fast

My youngest two kids have loved using Learn Math Fast for middle school. Here’s a video review that my kids participated in.

Life of Fred

Most of my kids loved Life of Fred for middle school. I had one son who stopped using it and then came back to it. The funny story line and the lack of exhaustive exercises were popular with them. I interviewed the author on The Homeschool Sanity Show.

Teaching Textbooks is another top pick among friends for middle school math.

Top picks for high school math

Mr. D Math

My first exposure to Mr. D Math’s online, interactive math courses was when my high schooler took ACT Math Boot Camp. I have since enrolled two of my children in Algebra I and one in Geometry and Algebra II. I have a third student taking Algebra I in the fall and another son is taking Pre-Calculus. We are big fans of Mr. D as a math teacher. I have never once heard him be anything but energetic and enthusiastic when teaching my kids. I wish I could say the same about me!

Learn Math Fast

My kids love the no busywork, easy-to-understand algebra and geometry lessons in Learn Math Fast. Be sure to use code SANITY5 to save $5 on a single book order.

Teaching Textbooks and Saxon Math get high marks from friends for high school math.

Conclusion

Do you have a favorite math curriculum I didn’t include? Comment and let me know.

Are you looking for the best science curriculum? Check it out here. The best language arts curriculum can be found here.

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6 Great Summer Learning Ideas

6 Great Summer Learning Ideas

It’s almost summer and that means it’s time to plan for summer learning. Whether you homeschool year-round or need ways to keep your home education going during the lazy days of summer, I’ve got you covered.

6 Great Summer Learning Ideas

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#1 Summer reading programs

You’re likely familiar with this option. Even if your child is already an avid reader, the variety of summer reading programs available can make reading even more fun. The first place to check for reading programs is your local library. My church has run a summer reading program for many years as well. Barnes and Noble, Half Price Books, Chuck E. Cheese’s, and Sylvan also have summer reading programs. But you’re not limited to formal programs. Create your own! You can make a list of reading requirements such as what’s in my Reading for Treasure Map and offer a reward for completing it. Click the button below to claim yours.

Send me the map!

#2 Free kids’ activities

A second great summer learning activity are the free activity programs available. We recently signed our kids up to bowl for free all summer. Adults are just $30 if they’d like to bowl too. If you question whether bowling is educational, I’ll have you know I took bowling for college credit. There is a similar summer program for roller skating. Many theaters offer free kid-friendly movies in the summer. We saw a Disney nature film one summer that was excellent and definitely qualified as educational.

Zoos, science centers, museums, and even Home Depot offer free programs for kids in the summer. Check their websites or newsletters for details. You’ll want to Google summer kid or family activities 2017 for your area, too. There are many festivals, reenactments, and other opportunities that you wouldn’t think of otherwise.

#3 Park Events

Parks frequently offer nature programs for kids during the day and music events in the evening. Use these opportunities to expose your children to new musical genres. Our outdoor theater in the park allows standing attendees to watch musicals for free. Your local park service’s website and newsletter are important places to look for educational events. But park learning doesn’t have to be formal. One homeschool support group here has park play dates in the summer. Activities can include sports and crafts or just the chance to build friendships. If your support group doesn’t offer this, start your own play dates!

#4 Outdoor learning

Summer (especially in the cooler morning hours) is an ideal time to do nature study. Go for hikes, observe ants at work, study life in pond water, and more. If you’re going on vacation this summer, the opportunities for nature study expand. We’ve learned a lot about shells, sharks, crabs, alligators, sting rays, and jellyfish while at the beach.

A Sane Approach to Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

It’s a wonderful time of year for enjoying a variety of sports like baseball, swimming, and tennis. We love playing four square and will be playing with our new pickleball set as well.

When you and the kids are bored, use a resource for games you can play outside. Games for Everyone and Great Big Book of Children’s Games are great resources.

Anything using water will be well received in the heat of the summer. Night-time games are fun, too. My kids have a glow-in-the-dark capture the flag game they’re looking forward to playing.

I’m also a big fan of doing messy art and science experiments outside in the summer. Whether the kids use traditional paints or paint with water or use sidewalk chalk outside, summer is a great time to learn art. I don’t think my kids will ever tire of the Mentos in cola experiment. It’s definitely one we want to do outside. Check out the Outdoor Science Lab for Kids.

If you have a comfortable area outside or can go to one, why not spend some time reading and doing tradiitional lessons there? There’s just something about a change of venue that makes learning more fun.

#5 Classes & Camps

Summer is also the time when traditionally educated students sign up for classes and summer camps. I used to be very wary of these classes because I didn’t know the students or teachers. Having my child attend with a friend made me more comfortable and we’ve had good experiences. You can find classes and camps on just about everything. Again, Google summer camps in your area for 2017 and you’ll probably be overwhelmed. You can limit your options by asking about your child’s interests first. You could ask for recommendations on Facebook as well.

Summer is a good time for your student to attend or help with VBS or church camps. If your church’s schedule doesn’t fit with yours, consider having your child attend or help at another church’s event.

#6 Coursework you didn’t have time for

Summer is the perfect time for getting caught up on subjects. Without all the regular school-year activities, your student can make quick work of the last lessons — that is, if you schedule time for it. Even though for many homeschoolers summer is a relaxed time, we still need dedicated time for reading, activities, and studying if that’s your plan. A mastery curriculum like Learn Math Fast (use code SANITY5 or SANITY10 for a discount) or Grammar Galaxy are a wonderful means of helping your student catch up this summer. The lessons are short and even fun!

Learn Math Fast Books

Use codes SANITY5 / SANITY10

I love summer as an opportunity to complete the subjects or courses we didn’t even have time to start during the school year. We have cooking, music, videography, and coding classes to do. The best times for us to do these will be in the morning or on rainy days.

Speaking of rainy days, I have to mention again my recommendation of playing educational board games. Summer is a great time for these.

The Ultimate Guide to Language Arts Board Games

Learning definitely doesn’t have to stop in the summer, even if you take a long summer break. I hope you have lots of ideas.

My best idea for you, though, is to create a plan. Put the events you’re most interested in on the calendar. Add an idea to your planner for every week and you’re more likely to use them.

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Easy Ways to Make Math Fun

Easy Ways to Make Math Fun

Math hasn’t been much of a hassle in my house, probably because we keep it fun.

We’ve done timed speed tests using Learn Math Fast, played great board games like Sum Swamp, and use Life of Fred which adds humor.

math games for kids

Here are some more games to make math fun, including board games, printable games, and DIY games.

Multiplication Practice Paperfolding by Kids Activities Blog – By simply folding some paper into cootie catchers, you can actually create an informative math game for students focusing on anything from addition to fractions.

Math Wall Stickers (Reusable!) – Play with math on the walls! This set of reuseable wall decals are a great way to turn math into an interactive experience. Play Simon Says with math on the wall! “Simon says show one half.” Love it!!

3D Lego Multiplication Graph via Frugal Fun for Boys – We love Lego, but did you know because of their shape they are great tools for multiplication? This graph will help kids visualize multiplication in three dimensions.

lego-multiplication-1

 

Numbers & Counting Quiet Cubes Game – This game designed for ages 4-7 uses dice rolls to help teach ABCs, counting and basic addition. The best part is the foam dice are designed to be super duper quiet for a truly peaceful learning experience!

Math Explosion Volcano Game – With this fascinating game, players are able to customize math facts with a math fact creator so that players of all ages can play for many years to come. Be the first player to explode the volcano by getting your math facts correct!

volcano math game

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Connect Four Bingo GameEveryone loves Bingo, and when you can take a game that’s already fun and turn it into something educational everyone wins. Children will be paying close attention so they can be the first to exclaim BINGO!

Aliens on Vacation multiplication game by Deceptively Educational – This printable board game requires a little setup, but it provides children with a chance to put their math skills to the test to get their alien home from vacation.

Factors and Multiples Games – Play Monster Mash! A game that helps students understand greatest common factors and lowest common multiples.

factors and multiples game

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Crazy Daisy Multiplication via Deceptively Educational- Looking for something a little more cute? The Crazy Daisy Multiplication printable math game will help kids visualize solutions as they color in a crazy daisy.

Whack It! Place Value Math GameIt’s no secret that kids love any game where they can get a little bit physical and give things a good whack, so why not teach math at the same time? This game helps with place values, but can be adjusted for other lessons.

 

What are your favorite ways to keep math fun?

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Fast, Fun Preschool

Fast, Fun Preschool

Fast Fun Preschool. Encompass Preschool will let you save prep time so you can enjoy teaching!Preschool is probably the most fun age to teach. Have you seen the crazy fun ideas for teaching our youngest students on Pinterest? My post about creative ways to occupy preschoolers has been very popular, so I know you have!

The Problem with Preschool

With the collective ideas of homeschool moms and teachers online, creativity isn’t the problem when teaching preschool; organization is! Preschool teaching, activities, and crafts require time to organize. And most moms who have preschoolers just don’t have that time. We get so busy, we put preschool on the back burner. And that’s a shame for our little ones and for us.

Encompass Preschool curriculum

There is an Answer

What if all the ideas were organized and the materials were prepared in a 26-week curriculum for your three or four-year-old so you were ready to teach whenever you could find the time? That’s what Encompass Preschool is.

Morning board Cards Encompass

 

Four days a week there are morning board activities–this is like a bulletin board you create to focus attention on what you’re learning. Everything you’ll want to add to your morning board is ready for you to print. Don’t have a bulletin board? A large piece of cardboard (like those at craft stores for science projects) would work beautifully.Encompass Lesson Plans

Encompass also includes group activities for siblings or friends, making your preschooler feel like a big kid! My older kids always loved doing preschool games and crafts with their younger siblings.

Workbox activities are also included. Workboxes are like learning kits for little ones. Fortunately, you won’t have to come up with the ideas for these, because Kathy Gossen, the creator of the curriculum, has already done the work for you!

Encompass really does encompass so much. Kathy shares that after completing this curriculum, your preschooler will have developed fine and gross motor skills, music, art, math, Bible, recitation, literacy, and cooking skills. They’ll be ready for kindergarten learning because they will be able to recognize all basic upper and lower case letters, numbers 1-20, basic shapes, colors, time to the half-hour, U.S. coins, write his/her full name, and demonstrate basic reasoning skills. In addition, he/she will have the opportunity to memorize several well-known Bible verses, poems and nursery rhymes that will hopefully have a life-long impact on behavioral development.

I can tell you that my preschoolers didn’t accomplish all that, but I wish they had!

Power Point presentations Encompass

 

With “over 400 exclusive printables, 3 PowerPoint presentations, editable lesson plans, a detailed scope and sequence, and nearly 300 links to the best supplemental resources found across the web including more free printables, YouTube videos, music downloads, computer games, iPad games, and more,” you would expect to pay a LOT for the convenience and breadth of this preschool curriculum.

Encompass Worksheets

That’s why I’m shocked and delighted that it is JUST $10.

After reviewing the quality of these materials and appreciating the incredible value of them, I asked Kathy if I could be an affiliate for Encompass and share it with my readers. I’m so crazy about it, I wish I had a preschooler to use it with!

If you will be teaching a preschooler, don’t miss this opportunity to spend less time preparing for preschool and more time enjoying it.  Give yourself and your child the gift of Encompass Preschool.

 

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Life of Fred Math Review

Life of Fred Math Review

Life of Fred Review: a math curriculum for kids who love to readFirst, let me say that I haven’t been paid and have not received any free or discounted curriculum for this review. I’m not even an affiliate! I did have the privilege of interviewing the author, Stanley Schmidt, on the Homeschool Sanity Show, however.

I started using Life of Fred when my oldest (now beginning his first year of college) was a fifth grader. I had read a review of Life of Fred and thought it sounded perfect for my son who was a voracious reader. Rather than present basic formulas with lots of mathematical equations to solve, Life of Fred read like a story about a kid named Fred. Fred encountered many funny situations that required math. The author would speak directly to the student and would offer not pages of problems, but a “turn to play.”

Life of Fred with Advanced Learners

My oldest, an advanced learner, loved it! I often found him chuckling while doing math. I found him motivated to get at least 9 of 10 problems correct so he could pass the “bridge” and not have to do a different set of ten problems. As a psychologist, I thought this approach was genius. Why should a homeschooled student want to complete a page of problems when he would just be faced with another?

My son sailed through the books until Algebra. I should say that he used Beginning Algebra before the curriculum was revised. Then it sat there untouched. I explained to him that he could be doing college-level math while in high school if he would complete the books quickly. That motivated him as did the fact that his private-schooled friends had completed algebra ahead of him (he’s a little competitive). He then flew through beginning and advanced algebra, geometry, and trigonometry and was so enamored with it that he wanted to major in math in college. Then he took Calculus BC AP through Pennsylvania Homeschoolers. He did well, but told me that college math wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as Life of Fred. My oldest didn’t use any other math curriculum in conjunction with Life of Fred and scored very well in math on the ACT.

Life of Fred with Different Learning Styles

After my oldest son’s success with Life of Fred, I assumed that all my children would use it. Then I presented it to my second oldest son (two years younger). He hated it. I was stunned! He also liked to read. What was the difference? My second oldest is a detail-oriented young man of few words, so he couldn’t really explain why he didn’t like it. I had him using traditional curriculum instead until last year. Because he is meticulous, it was taking him a very long time to get through traditional math texts with oh-so-many problems. And he wasn’t happy about not doing them all. You know the type, right? I finally convinced him to give Life of Fred another try and he is happy as a high school junior, for nothing else than he doesn’t have too many problems to solve.

I also have a freshman in high school, a third grader, and a fifth grader using Life of Fred without any difficulty this year. They don’t complain about math and that makes me happy! But I have a son who has had some challenges you should know about. My 7th grader just wants to get the work done. I bet you know that type, too! He is using Pre-Algebra with Biology and will tell me that he hasn’t been given the information he needs to solve the problems. It’s nowhere in the book, he says. To be fair, he does this with other subjects, too. But I have since realized that this is a concern for kids who want to see a mathematical example of what to do at the top of the page. If you have a child who has trouble maintaining focus or comprehending what he is reading, this may not be the best curriculum for you. However, I will say that I am so glad this curriculum has pointed out the problem with skimming material to my son. He can’t rely on the little cheat for how to do the problem that he is used to from using Mastering Essential Math Skills last year. He has to remember what he is learning. The bridges are super motivating for him, too.

Other Issues

My children haven’t started with the elementary books because they weren’t available when I invested in Life of Fred. I sought out other options. I have read critiques that there is not enough focus on memorizing math facts in elementary math. I haven’t verified that, but I do recommend doing everything possible to ingrain math facts in your children’s heads. I have talked about using Learn Math Fast for this purpose. I love its 30-second and one-minute tests that have to be passed before students can continue. I am also enjoying using the free online flashcards from Fact Monster. Nothing motivates my kids to commit facts to memory more than a treat of some kind. Hint, hint.

Conclusion

Life of Fred math is a superb curriculum for advanced learners, for students who prefer to learn math by reading, and students who are motivated to mastery by getting out of work. Students who prefer to focus on numbers or who struggle with reading comprehension, may not like it. Check out the sample pages on Life of Fred.com and these additional reviews:

Cathy Duffy’s review

Guest Hollow review

Blog, She Wrote review

The Happy Housewife review

Be sure to follow the Elementary, Middle School, and High School Curriculum review boards on Pinterest for more reviews like these.

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