Many parents usually ask the question of which math homeschool curriculum would be best for their children. Which curriculum has the most resources? Which has the best textbooks? This one comes with a lot of math worksheets and quizzes, why don’t the others? There are a lot of questions and a lot of great curricula to choose from, but it’s often hardest to determine which would fit their child’s specific needs the best. This is why it’s important to establish a foundation to build on when it comes to picking the right math curriculum for your children.
There are a lot of popular curricula offered on the market today and they all target different learning styles. One of the most popular curricula out there for both classroom and homeschool teaching is Saxon. This type of curriculum provides an approach that is very similar to the approach of an ordinary Math textbook used in classrooms. Each new lesson typically contains exercises which would help the student understand a specific topic better. On the completely opposite end of the learning spectrum would be Math-U-See. This curriculum is heavily video oriented, and is targeted towards visual learners allowing the child to visualize the topics of the subject first. This is a much more creative way of helping a child who doesn’t particularly like math learn Mathematics.
If you’ve done any research into math curriculum then you’ve come across Singapore Math, which is a mastery-based type of curriculum. The focus of this type of curriculum is the memorization of certain topics and methods which are important to mastering the subject. Of course, there are still other curricula that are also preferred by parents such as Abeka Math and Miquon Math. All of these are tried, true and proven effective, which still leaves the question which one is the best?
Here are the two main determining factors in choosing; first is the teacher and the second is the student. The teacher should be an important factor in choosing the best math homeschool curriculum for the child. Yes, the teacher. Curriculum is a tool and an effective teacher is the key to learning. A teacher does more than provide a book, a teacher must be able to relay the information from the book in such a way that the child will understand it.
Great! More work to do, right? Math doesn’t teach itself, teaching is always part of the equation for homeschooling, that part is no different than in a classroom. The trick is being enthusiastic about teaching the subject matter. If you hate the curriculum how is your child going to enjoy it? If you can’t make a more rigid curriculum fun then choose a curricula that is designed to be more interactive and engaging to benefit the both of you.
In choosing which curriculum would be best for your child, identify your child’s learning method. Does your child tend to me more visual, auditory or a memory based learner? For instance, many parents end up buying Saxon, Horizons and Singapore Math programs because their children are so different in how they learn. They all work well, but typically, children who are more language oriented and don’t really care much for math tend to prefer Horizons. Children who are typically stronger in math prefer Singapore. Saxon and Horizons are fairly similar in approach, so many parents end up combining Singapore with either of those programs as Singapore is more of a critical thinking method.
It’s true, choosing a good math homeschool curriculum can be quite a tedious task, but to answer to the ultimate question of which curriculum is best. . . it would have to be a combination of curriculum. No, that’s not a cop-out, combining multiple methods ensures a better understanding and more well-rounded education and that’s what your really researching isn’t it?
