A family-centered homeschool math curriculum
Here are some of the unique ways in which Math on the Level can help you provide the best math instruction at home to your children.
The whole family can learn together
Have you ever been frustrated because each of your home schooled children is learning something different in math? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could have all your children working on the same general concept? You can!
With Math on the Level, you have the freedom to teach the concepts in any order that works for your family using activities the whole family can enjoy. For example, using the Fractions Teaching Guide and cooking as your Math Adventure, your youngest ones can be learning about half and whole (one of the beginning lessons) while the older ones are adding or multiplying fractions.
Math on the Level’s homeschool approach looks at math in a new way. By leaving behind the grade levels, it reduces math competition between siblings. Even if a younger child is stronger in math, the focus is learning together and reviewing individually instead of how many math books have been completed.
Teach at each child's best pace
The name "Math on the Level" describes its "Maturation Level" emphasis. When learning math, there are times a child simply cannot grasp ideas and concepts that are obvious to an older child or adult; once the child has further matured, the concept suddenly makes sense. This growth is mental maturation, and it is why it can be harmful to force a one-size-fits-all approach to learning.
The age that a baby first walks (whether 8 or 14 months) does not determine future athletic ability. Likewise, the age at which a child reaches the maturity to understand a math concept doesn't matter as long as he or she eventually does understand, nor does it predict future academic ability (unless accompanied by demoralizing stress and failure).
With the traditional grade-leveled approach, these three options seem the only choice if your child isn't getting a concept:
- Teach the child anyway to just do the steps without true comprehension (producing confusion); or
- Just move on, and hope that the child will catch up later (producing confusion, stress and failure); or
- Stay with the concept until the child gets it (producing frustration, boredom and pressure).
Is there any question why children who are slower to mature often end up feeling less intelligent or "bad at math? How can these undesirable results be prevented for your children?
The Math on the Level approach
Math on the Level has no grade-level expectations anywhere. You teach in the order and at a pace which works best for the child, whether fast or slow. If a child has difficulty understanding a concept in Operations, you can slow down or switch to a different concept in Geometry and Measurements, and then use daily activities to help the child get comfortable with the difficult concept. The concept chart keeps track of what has been taught, and the 5-A-Day review keeps the child sharp with what has been learned, so nothing is lost by waiting except the frustration and failure from teaching before the child is ready. Because no age or grade level is attached to any concept, you can catch your child up at any age without the stigma of working in a lower-grade book.
Combine real-life learning and long-term (5-A-Day) review
The classroom approach to reviewing math is to have the child work pages of generalized practice problem sets of 20 to 30 problems which usually emphasize the most recently learned concept. In addition to being not-all-that-motivating, this short-term drill approach does not achieve long-term retention. For the best results, math practice should be individualized, distributed over time, and concentrated where it is most needed. The Math on the Level 5-A-Day review system does exactly that using only 5 problems a day. This individualized review-over-time approach gives continual practice with every math concept that has been learned. Most children find the 5-A-Day review method far more motivating than pages of busywork.
How 5-A-Day review works
After a concept has been learned, it goes on the child's Review Chart on daily review. Other concepts learned earlier are also on the Review Chart on less frequent review. Each day, the 5-A-Day paper will thus include a mix of new and old concepts for the child to solve independently. Over time, concepts get moved to a less frequent review schedule (to every other 2 or 3 days, then weekly, etc.). This way, every concept gets practiced at least once a month (and more often as needed) for the duration of the program. If your child forgets something, you find out within a few weeks and can make necessary adjustments. A record keeping spreadsheet provides a convenient way to track and automatically schedule the 5-A-Day reviews. For those who do not want to write out 5-A-Day papers, the optional 5-A-Day online service provides an easy to create 5-A-Days papers and other practice sheets.
Children love having only 5 math problems to solve independently each day and often look forward to doing their 5-A-Day papers. And since the problems are chosen specifically for each child, those 5 daily problems effectively solidify the math knowledge in each child's mind for the long term and keep them sharp in all of their math, so both parent and child move forward with confidence.
Use every-day activities to teach math concepts
Math is often viewed as a formal paper-and-pencil exercise with little connection to real life. When taught this way, children often ask, "When am I ever going to use this?" However, everyday homeschool activities – like cooking, shopping, using money, keeping track of gas mileage, or even scoring games – all contain math! Therefore, instead of trying to imitate the classroom, the Math on the Level teaching approach takes advantage of your home learning environment. Math on the Level reinforces a child's understanding of math by having lessons involve normal daily activities like cooking, playing games, doing mental math, or even having a garage sale! Instead of being tied to a workbook or restricted to a specific set of manipulatives, the curriculum gives the flexibility to teach math while having fun with your family. Children enjoy the variety of activities and experience math instruction in ways that are meaningful and practical.
Include math in unit studies
Many families enjoy using unit studies to teach other subjects (history, geography, literature, language arts, etc.). With the Math on the Level teaching approach, you now can include math instruction in the unit study. Because you control the teaching sequence and are teaching math through life, this becomes a very straightforward task -- your field trips become Math Adventures.
Adapt math teaching to fit each child's individual needs
Math on the Level adapts to the uniqueness of each child instead of forcing all children into the same one-size-fits-all box. It helps you modify your math instruction to meet your child's specific needs. For a child with dyslexia, for example, problems can be solved orally. A child with what is called a “Right-Brained” learning style may prefer to solve his 5-A-Day review problems using colorful chalk on the sidewalk. Accelerated learners can cover several concepts in a day. Math on the Level lets you use any manipulatives you find effective, and it can adapt to any teaching or learning style.
Math on the Level is extremely flexible and can be as formal or informal as desired (it even has record keeping forms for those who wish to delay formal math). The curriculum provides parents with a complete set of tools for teaching math at home, with enough structure to guide and keep track, but also with the freedom to adapt to the needs of each parent, child, and family situation.
For example, here are some ways Math on the Level might look:
- Children of a variety of ages may participate in the same learning activity; or
- Each child can be working at his or her own level within the same general area (for example, the youngest might be counting pennies, the middle child learning to multiply money, and the oldest calculating compound interest – all working with Money and Decimals; or
- Each child can be working on completely different concepts.
At any time, these groupings can be switched or modified. If a child isn't ready to learn a particular concept, the parent can move to a different concept. There is no set sequence that must be used.
Spend less and achieve better results
Math on the Level lets you teach all of your children with one curriculum. The initial curriculum purchase covers K through pre-algebra for the whole family. The only incremental cost is renewing the 5-A-Day Online subscription each year.
Click here for more details.