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September 2006
(*Updates to this article can be seen below the article itself.)

I have been asked so many times about what math we've used with our children that I've finally decided to write an "article" about it so I can save my poor fingers from having to type it all out again in email!

Please take into account that these are our "personal" opinions and in no way are we telling you what will or will not work for you and your children, but rather what did and did not for ours.

First a little background. I am NOT a math whiz. I never liked math in school and embarrassingly ended up in the "stupid kid's" class during elementary school. Part of that was due to the fact that we moved around a lot when I was young so I missed some very basic foundation skills. You know, things like: how to add without using your fingers or what are we really doing when we multiply(?). You just CAN'T miss out on a basic in math before moving on to another skill set! I became "branded" and labeled by the school and was decidedly math "phobic". When other kids asked me which subject I hated, my answer was always without any hesitation, "MATH!". I stumbled through up to the 2nd semester for 2nd year Algebra and then quit. I had had enough with something I really didn't like and never really understood. Math was a foreign language I just couldn't speak.

Fast forward many years. Now I have children and I'm homeschooling them. I have to teach them....MATH. OH YUCK! How am I going to do this? What am I going to use? How can *I* possibly help my kids to be successful in this "hated" subject AND get them to be GOOD at it and *gulp* even like it?

I was in a position that many homeschooling parents find themselves in. I wasn't any good at something I needed to teach and felt understandably overwhelmed by the task ahead. I had no clue as to what to use or who to turn to. It was just me...and a big stack of catalogs. That was over eleven years ago.

Fast forward again, to the present. I have a twelve year old son who is going to start Trigonometry in a month. He's won a trophy in a Math Counts competition. He LOVES math. He likes figuring out mathematical puzzles and doing math problems and reading books about math. Is this really MY child?

I have another child who is concurrently taking Algebra II and Geometry together (to prepare for the PSAT next year). She doesn't like math, but she understands it. It isn't her gift, but she certainly doesn't count on her fingers!

I have yet another child who is learning how to multiply and divide and do fractions. He's doing very well and get this...I'm sad this is the last time I'm going to be teaching multiplication and division facts. *Sniff*! It's really true! I'm going to miss what I once hated. I like math. I understand it. I enjoy figuring out the problems. Is this really ME? LOL. Yes, homeschooling has a way of doing that. It can not only change your children, but it can change YOU.

So what in the world did I use to get me and my children to this point? We've actually tried all sorts of curriculums and materials and all of them didn't work out. Some things that worked for one child turned out to be a total flop for the other. I'll try to cover all of the major things we've used and let you know what we thought about them. The following section of the article will not cover all items we used or tried or what we used for very "early" math. A lot of that was "natural" learning and a combination of items best left for a future article. :-)

One of the things we first started out using was Saxon. Saxon math was in just about every homeschooling catalog at the time and everyone seemed to rave about it. It appeared to be the quintessential math program for homeschoolers. So I bought it and the big package of manipulatives that were needed and plunged in. I ended up using levels K through 7/8 . My oldest however started with the 2nd grade level. She had already used Calvert's traditional textbook for 1st.

I liked Saxon. I loved how the lessons were "scripted". I loved the manipulatives. I liked the "daily meeting" where we did calendar work, patterns and so on. I thought the idea of spiral review was great and would reinforce everything my children were being taught. My kids flew through the material and scored very high on "standardized" tests. I was thrilled with our apparent success.

When we got to the higher levels of Saxon though I started to notice something. If my kids did math out of a "different" workbook or were presented with a "real life" math problem, they were stumped. I'd hear things like, "What do we do? Do we multiply or divide or??" I started noticing blank stares for most "higher level" type of math related thinking. How could my bright children be acting so...dumb? My daughter started missing more and more problems. She started disliking math and getting frustrated. What used to be a fun part of our day became a part of the day beset by tears and grumbling. My son kept flying along, but those blank stares during real life math were troubling. Something wasn't working.

I got online and started asking some questions and doing some research. I read an article written by a student who had used Saxon and was just starting college. I listened to other experienced moms about math programs and higher level math and so on. Something started to dawn on me. My kids could DO math, but they didn't UNDERSTAND math. That's why, when they were getting to the higher levels of Saxon, they were getting bogged down and couldn't apply their learning anywhere but on their worksheets which were "formulaic". I knew we were going to have to use something else. This isn't to say that Saxon doesn't work for other families, it just didn't work for ours.

I discovered Math-U-See. Math-U-See turned out to be just what we needed. My kids could SEE and understand why we did this or that in math. Later we discovered Singapore. That was also a blessing. Singapore makes you THINK. It stretches a young (er old, in case of mom's) mind with terrific word problems. Later still, for a younger child, I found Miquon. He got to use THREE math programs all at once. O.K. maybe that's a little nutty but he's GOOD at math and he likes it. Miquon was terrific for teaching things in a concrete and exploratory way that are sometimes left for the older grades. We also, as we progressed, found Video Text and most recently Teaching Textbooks. Sprinkled in between them all we've used supplementary workbooks like : From Here to There with Cuisenaire Rods, Exploring With Pattern Blocks and more. As you will see from the chart I've included below, some programs were better suited for my math gifted son and others for my daughter (who doesn't care for it much at all).

I can't pinpoint exactly what has helped us be successful with math as it's been such a combination of things, but Math-U-See got us going on the right track and the other programs helped fill in the blanks where Math-U-See didn't meet our needs exactly (no one math program ever will). I have found in the present moment that Math-U-See is not as rigorous as I need it to be for my math gifted son or easy enough to understand anymore for my "math hating" daughter, so they are moving on to yet another curriculum in the near future. I am in the process of writing detailed reviews for each of the programs so you can really see what worked for us and what didn't in each of them as well as what "we" consider to be strengths and weaknesses.

Hopefully my sharing this will show you that while math can be overwhelming for some parents to teach, you CAN be successful. If you aren't good at math, your children can be! The great thing is that there are curriculums out there that can help make math hopefully more enjoyable and at least understandable. Sometimes you just have to throw out what you are using and try something new. Sometimes just hearing from another parent who's been there can help! I hope you can see from our experiences that one curriculum definitely doesn't fit all and hardly any homeschooler progresses according to some predetermined chart. That's the beauty of homeschooling. We are free to use what works for us and our children at whatever pace our child's ability and understanding allow for.

Now my problem is: what am I going to use past Calculus if my son continues at his current pace and is ready for more in just a year or two? How can I get my daughter to "like" math? Anyone out there been there and done that? *Smile*. Maybe you can share your experiences over at our forums.

Update 9-20-06: Please read my daughter's article on Teaching Textbooks. We've never seen her so excited about math! I guess one of my questions above is answered (how do we get her to like math?)!

Update 2-3-07: Our oldest son scored high enough in the Chapter Math Counts competition to make it to the state finals! He may also be attending another math competition in April with his sister! This is the first math competition she has ever wanted to participate in!

Update 2-15-07: We've solidified plans for our daughter's next couple of years, with her input. She has decided to take Chalkdust's precalculus.

Update 4-20-07 We have started using RightStart with our youngest.

Update 9 - 07: Our daughter is using Math-U-See and will be using Life of Fred books soon. Chalkdust just didn't work out for her, although our oldest son likes it just fine.

What we used math tables:

(Sometimes I really like to see what other parents have done, even if I don't do the same. It's helpful and gives me ideas and is just fun to look at.) The following tables do NOT include supplementary workbooks and literature based math books we've come across. You can read about those in our math supplements sections.

Those are my thoughts and some of my experiences with math. Specific reviews are coming soon! Please share your own questions, thoughts and experiences on our forums!

Links to the curriculums mentioned:

Apex Learning: They offer online AP level math classes. You can preview the first chapter of their AP statistics course online for free.

Art of Problem Solving : An excellent site for those who want to go above and beyond regular math "curriculums". There are online classes to help students prepare for math competitions and more. They also offer excellent books on problem solving.

Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching : This U.K. site offers free online PDF math practice books, lesson plans, and copy masters for grades 1 - 6. These are high quality math programs with attractive graphics, easy to understand lessons and great practice problems.

Chalkdust :Chalkdust offers DVD based math courses. You can watch samples at their website or order a sample CD.

Life of Fred math books by Polka Dot Publishing: Engaging "living math" books with lots of humor and engaging stories. See our review here.

Math-U-See : A hands on math that helps you see and understand the "why" behind math. Math lessons progress in a "natural" order.

Miquon Math : A hands on math curriculum for the younger grades that encourages exploration. This is not a "by the book" curriculum. It's also great for exploring math concepts that aren't typically covered until more advanced grades. For example multiplication is explored in the first grade, but it's so concrete that it's easy to understand.

RightStart Mathematics : I wish I had researched RightStart a long time ago. I really like this program. "Practice is provided with math card games, minimizing review worksheets and stressful flash cards, presenting a variety of repetition, and creating hours of fun learning math facts and concepts. Understanding and problem solving are emphasized throughout the curriculum."

Saxon Math : A math curriculum that has a hands on element only in the younger grades. We thought it was too "formulaic" and dry (for us).

Singapore Math : An excellent, rigorous math curriculum that encourages higher level math thinking. Makes kids think "outside" the box at times.

Teaching Textbooks : A great looking curriculum with each and every problem's solution explained in detail (no more wondering: "How did they get that answer?"). Has animated computer lessons and a text. Good for a variety of learners and has great, easy to understand explanations.

VideoText Interactive : Explains concepts with NO short cuts. Very visual (DVD's). A great algebra program but it didn't work for our daughter.

Our Los Banos .com also has some other math sections on our site:

Main Math Page

Math Printables

Math Comparison Chart