My Favorite Math Supplements

We went through 2, 3, okay 4 different math curriculums before finding the one we love. And it turns out the one I loved wasn’t exactly the one my boys loved. So, after trying MCP mathematics, Saxon, RightStart and then finally Singapore… we got into a groove that makes my boys both efficient and successful.

But I like to change things up a bit. My oldest son tends to fly through his material at a pace that leaves a small vortex of rustling papers behind him. He needs a little pacing. My middle son, on the other hand, is a classic dawdler. Math doesn’t grip him the way a good map or geography book can.

So I found two resources that help shake things up a bit that have been successful for my Speed Racer and for my Lollygagger.

The first is: Primary Grade Challenge Math, Zaccaro.

We do these together. Since every topic has several levels, we can go until we get stumped, and save the stumpers for later after they’ve mastered more math and logic. And since we work on it together, it’s never “too hard” or “too boring”. Some have even been challenging for me to solve, and my boys love to see my eyebrows crease in hard work over a math problem. The illustrations are silly and cartoonish, which is tres appealing to boybarians. I’m guessing little girls would like them, too, but that data hasn’t been verified in my house. The problems are often funny or outrageous, and math just seems more fun if it’s about something silly like spider legs or huge messes.

My other favorite resource is Schoolhouse Technologies’s Free Math Worksheet Maker. Now I am a Mac girl, and this is only compatible with PCs. But I hope that Schoolhouse Technologies will soon right that wrong and make their software available across platforms. But, since it is free, I do appreciate the program very much even if I have to access it from my boys’ computer instead of my own. You can make random worksheets, drills with as few or as many questions as you need. You can even print the answers if you need them. We use the 12 x 12 times table grid. Starting in the first grade, both boys skip counted their way through this 12×12 table until they had the until thing down to about 5 minutes flat. Now that they are older, multiplying fractions and doing Challenging Word Problems aren’t as challenging because they’ve had the times table grid downpat since they were 6. Great foundations mean much less hassle later! I appreciate Schoolhouse Technologies’s ease at help me make that happen.

image credit: Schoolhouse Technologies's website

I hope one or both of these resources can be as helpful in your homeschool math as they’ve been in mine.