A reader asked if I had any recommendations for a good consumer math program for homeschoolers.
There are a number of good Consumer Math programs out there. Let me just outline my favorites and give you a brief overview of each. Hopefully that will give you a good starting point.
Do you remember bank books? How exciting it was to head to the bank with your deposit and get a stamp in your book that not only tracked your deposit but also the interest you had earned?
Do you remember life before the check card? When you kept a careful tab of your spending in your checkbook as well as a running balance?
My eyes are opened more and more every day to the fact that the History our children study through secular publishers is inaccurate.
A recent US History textbook I examined dedicated three full pages to the settlers who came to Williamsburg in the search for gold. It never mentioned those who came for religious freedom.
Thanksgiving is a perfect time to teach about gratefulness. And as homeschoolers, it is easy to go beyond the “Pilgrims and Native Americans” and teach the truth behind this inherently religious holiday.
Where many schools make Thanksgiving a time to discuss the Pilgrim feast with the Native Americans, that feast actually has nothing to do with Thanksgiving.
Some more great ideas for teaching your children about Thanksgiving:
1. Show a picture of The President and talk about what a President does.
One of the greatest freedoms in homeschooling is the freedom to explore your child’s interests.
Because of my role as a homeschool consultant and evaluator, I receive many calls for information about homeschooling.
One common struggle that parents have is determining their reasons for homeschooling.
For some, their reasons for homeschooling are a toss-up between academics and school aggression; for others, it is a desire to raise their children in an environment that does not undermine their belief system; for still others, their reasons for homeschooling include a need to help a struggling student as well as a desire to avoid labels.
Diagramming, identifying sentence patterns, finding parts of speech . . . every student’s favorite element of grammar, right? How many times have you heard your child ask, “Why do I have to learn this?” As a writing teacher, I loved that question because it was always the perfect lead in to a unit on the value of sentence patterns in writing.
Someone asked me today what the difference was between Saxon Math and Singapore Math.
The difference is fairly simple. Saxon’s instruction is cyclical. It provides instruction, gives clear examples, then gives plenty of practice. It will then cycle back to review the concepts again later in the course (often with practice). Saxon does include some critical thinking skills, but its primary goal is to help students learn the skills involved in math. Therefore, you will find a lot of repetition in Saxon Math.
I usually recommend Singapore for students who have strong math skills. Singapore approaches math with the goal of developing mental math skills. It begins by teaching a concept, providing some practice, then taking the concept further with mental math activities. With Singapore, you will see a lot of word problems as well as graphs for analysis, etc.
Sometimes the task of spelling lists, writing spelling words, learning definitions, and preparing for spelling tests can become mundane. Students who are excellent spellers often rush through the activities while those who struggle see it as another unwanted chore.
