One of the many benefits of homeschooling is the freedom to choose the best educational materials and methods. It enables you to adapt your children’s days to their unique abilities and uncover the best circumstances for their development. If you approach a math curriculum as an exercise in learning more about yourself as a teacher, it may be enlightening and gratifying.
Spending time early on to identify your needs can help you cut through the overwhelming amount of options, and it will pay off in years of fun math sessions. So, when sorting between math curriculums for your kids, consider the following questions:
1. How do your kids learn best in a certain math curriculum?
Do you have a kid that thrives on computer-assisted learning? Or if you have a youngster that thrives on drills and worksheets. Do you have a literature-loving youngster that prefers to learn via stories?
These are some important questions that you need to ask yourself before you choose a math curriculum. By that evaluation, you will be able to pick the right choice for your children.
2. How much preparation time do you (the instructor) have for each lesson in the math curriculum?
Do you require a written math program, maybe with a DVD-based teacher? Do you love creating and presenting a comprehensive math lesson to your child? Do not scrimp on math planning. If you don’t fully get what you’re teaching, your youngster will pick up on it right away.
3. Plan ahead of time and know what you want for your children after teaching them the math curriculum
Perhaps you have a youngster who has a natural aptitude for math and science. Will the math program you pick prepare them for high school upper-level courses? Is your objective just to provide your child with a rudimentary knowledge of real-world arithmetic?
4. What difficulty level are you choosing for your kids?
Most homeschool math curricula teach similar concepts, but their pace and complexity differ significantly. What one program considers a second-grade talent may be deemed a third-grade skill in another–and the first-grade skill in still another!
Some focus on the fundamentals of written calculations and simple word problems, while others go deeper into topics. The most essential step you can do is to select a program with a difficulty level suited for your kids.
5. Is the programming mastery or spiral-based?
Mastery courses concentrate on a single subject at a time. A chapter on addition, followed by a chapter on geometry, followed by a chapter on fractions, and so on, are common in traditional textbooks.
A mastery-oriented curriculum is generally ideal for children who prefer to get to the bottom of things and feel like they fully comprehend them.
Spiral curricula teach arithmetic in smaller chunks and rotate through subjects more often, allowing students to review topics more frequently.
Spiral programs are typically preferred by youngsters who enjoy novelty, and many children benefit from the constant evaluation. Some spiral programs stick on a single topic for a few lessons before switching to another, while others move from one topic to the next with each lesson.