Choosing the right math curriculum for homeschooling can be a game-changer in nurturing a child’s mathematical skills and their overall love for learning. In today’s post, I’m thrilled to share a carefully curated list of some of the top homeschool math curriculums that stand out for their comprehensiveness, engagement, and adaptability to various learning styles. These programs not only aim to make math learning accessible and enjoyable but also ensure that each child can thrive and excel.
Best Homeschool Math Curriculum
Whether your child is a visual learner, thrives on hands-on activities, or needs things broken down into bite-sized chunks, there’s something here for everyone:
1. Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers a comprehensive math curriculum that starts from the basics such as counting and early math and goes all the way through high school and college-level courses, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, and linear algebra.
The curriculum aligns with the U.S. Common Core standards, which can be useful for homeschooling families who want to ensure their curriculum matches what is taught in traditional schools.
Students can learn at their own pace through engaging video lessons, interactive activities and quizzes. They can pause and rewind videos, practice problems as much as they want, and master concepts before moving on to the next.
When students practice problems on Khan Academy, they receive instant feedback. If they answer a question incorrectly, they can see the correct answer and an explanation right away.More importantly, Khan Academy’s system can identify gaps in a student’s understanding and suggest targeted practice problems to help fill those gaps.
The platform includes tools for tracking student progress. Parents, teachers, or students can see at a glance how many skills a student has mastered, and where they might need more practice.
2. IXL Math
IXL Math is an online math platform that offers a comprehensive, curriculum-aligned math program from pre-K through high school. It’s part of the larger IXL Learning suite, which includes subjects beyond math, such as language arts, science, and social studies.
IXL Math covers a wide range of math topics following the standards of common core. This includes everything from basic number sense, through fractions and decimals, all the way up to calculus and statistics.
IXL provides an abundance of interactive practice questions for each math topic. This allows students to gain proficiency in each skill through repetition and application. IXL provides immediate feedback when a student answers a question. If the answer is incorrect, IXL will not just reveal the correct answer but will also provide a detailed explanation to help the student understand the concept better.
The questions on IXL are adaptive, meaning they adjust to the learner’s level. As a student answers questions correctly, the questions gradually become more challenging to continually stretch the student’s learning.
IXL provides detailed reporting on student progress. To keep students motivated, IXL uses virtual awards. Students can earn awards for reaching learning milestones, which can be motivating for many students.
3. Saxon Math
Saxon Math is another helpful resource for K-12 homeschool math curriculum. Saxon Math introduces new mathematical concepts in small, manageable increments. Concepts covered include algebra, geometry, and many more. After a new concept is introduced, students have the opportunity to practice this new concept along with older concepts they’ve already learned.
One of the hallmarks of Saxon Math is the continuous review of older material. Every lesson includes mixed practice problems that cover both the new material from the current lesson and review material from previous lessons. This ensures that students retain what they’ve learned and that older concepts stay fresh in their minds.
Each Saxon Math lesson begins with a “warm-up” section that includes facts practice, mental math, and problem-solving exercises. This is followed by a new concept introduction and lesson practice, where the new concept of the day is introduced and practiced.
As for assessments, Saxon Math includes regular assessments to monitor students’ understanding and retention of concepts. There are also “investigations,” which are activity-based lessons focused on real-world applications of math.
4. Math-U-See
Math-U-See is a multi-sensory, mastery-based homeschool math curriculum for grades K-12, designed to teach students math concepts in a logical and straightforward way. Math-U-See uses blocks and other manipulatives to represent math concepts visually and tangibly. This hands-on learning approach is particularly useful for tactile or visual learners, helping them to understand abstract concepts more concretely.
The curriculum is divided into levels, each represented by a Greek or Latin prefix (like Primer, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.). Each level focuses on a specific set of skills or a particular area of math (like addition and subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, pre-algebra, etc.)
Additionally, each lesson begins with a video where Steve Demme (the creator of Math-U-See) teaches the concept. These videos are designed for the parent-teacher to watch and learn from, but they can also be watched by students. Lessons also include plenty of practice problems so students can reinforce what they’ve learned. This also includes review problems from previous lessons to ensure retention of those concepts.
As for assessment, Math-U-See offers periodic tests to assess comprehension and mastery of the material. These tests serve as a helpful tool for parents to track their child’s progress.
5. Time4Learning
Time4Learning is an online curriculum that offers homeschooling programs for students from pre-K through high school. While it includes multiple subjects, its math curriculum is particularly noteworthy.
Time4Learning’s math curriculum covers all the main areas of math from early number skills to more advanced topics like algebra, geometry, and calculus, depending on grade level. The curriculum is aligned to state standards.
Time4Learning’s lessons are presented in a multimedia format, combining text, audio, animations, interactive exercises, and more to keep learning engaging and varied. This can be particularly helpful for students who struggle with traditional textbook formats.
Additionally, the program includes numerous interactive activities designed to reinforce the concepts taught in the lessons. This can help students solidify their understanding and apply their new knowledge.
For additional reinforcement and practice, Time4Learning offers printable worksheets that accompany the online lessons. This allows students to practice offline and provides a balance between screen time and traditional pencil-and-paper work.
As for assessments,Time4Learning offers regular quizzes and tests to assess student understanding and track progress over time. Parents receive detailed reporting on their child’s progress. To ease the burden on homeschooling parents, Time4Learning automatically grades lessons and keeps detailed records of student progress.
6. ALEKS
ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) is an online, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to accurately determine a student’s knowledge in a specific subject area. The system, developed by McGraw Hill, covers a wide range of subjects, including a comprehensive math curriculum for grades 3-12.
ALEKS uses artificial intelligence to adapt to each student’s knowledge level. When a student begins a new topic, ALEKS assesses what the student already knows and what they’re ready to learn next. The system will then present the student with problems and lessons based on this information, ensuring the student is always working at the appropriate level.
Periodic knowledge checks are used to re-assess student learning and recalibrate the learning path as necessary. This helps ensure that the student has retained what they’ve learned and can apply it effectively.
ALEKS uses a unique “Learning Pie” to visually represent a student’s knowledge. Each slice of the pie represents a different topic, and the portion of the slice that’s filled in represents what the student has mastered in that topic. This provides an intuitive way for students and parents to track progress.
Based on its assessments, ALEKS creates an individualized learning path for each student. The system focuses on teaching the concepts that the student is most ready to learn, while also ensuring they maintain mastery of what they’ve already learned.
When a student answers a problem, ALEKS provides immediate feedback. If the student answers incorrectly, the system shows the correct solution and an explanation to help the student understand their mistake.
ALEKS provides detailed reports to track student progress. These reports can show what a student has learned, what they’re ready to learn next, and what they’re struggling with, helping parents or teachers to identify where the student might need additional support.
Final thoughts
From the structured and comprehensive approach of Khan Academy to the personalized, adaptive learning experience of ALEKS, there’s a program to fit virtually every learning style and educational need. The continuous review and real-world application focus of Saxon Math, the tactile engagement of Math-U-See, the interactive multimedia format of Time4Learning, and the challenging adaptability of IXL Math all play crucial roles in a well-rounded math education.
