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It’s no secret that math is not my favorite subject, nor has it ever been my strongest subject. Over the years we have found a few resources that make math a bit more bearable as well as help the children grow in their math skills. Both important factors in my book.
Times Tales – When my 10 year old and 11 year old were struggling with their times tables, I ordered this book. I knew flash cards weren’t going to work (we tried them!), but these picture stories are just the ticket and they work! Great for visual kids especially, but any child who is struggling would appreciate a different approach to learning some math facts. Also, this book is non-consumable and can be used over and over again – perfect for homeschooling many kids.
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SPEED! – I did a  review of Speed! a couple of years ago. It’s a game we still use in our home. The game is easy to play, easy to learn the rules, and the games are short. All qualities I find important in a game 🙂 Most kids like to reinforce skills in a fun manner, and this fits the bill.
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Graph Paper – This is one of those simple little things that can revolutionize your day, or at least math! Often times kids know HOW to do a problem, but get the problem wrong during execution. Graph paper helps them to keep their numbers nice and neat while doing multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication and long division. Especially if you have a child with fine motor issues or struggles with writing at all – graph paper is a must.
It will save your sanity and that of your child.
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Teaching Textbooks – We switched to Teaching Textbooks for our older children this year. It has been an excellent decision for our family. One big reason is that it offers the older children more independence. Not only is that great for Mom in a large family, but it has given the children more ownership over their math lessons. Dad is still the primary math teacher, and when they have questions or when they need further help they can go to him. Mostly though they are able to do their lessons on their own. The other reason is that we have finally been much more consistent with our math studies this year. A huge bonus.
We still use Math-U-See for the younger kids, we like the hands on approach using the blocks.
What is your favorite math resource?
I have a 7 year old who will soon be learning the 1-2 times tables, would you recommend the Speed! Game for a younger child? It looks intriguing 🙂
We currently use BJU math, have you ever used it? I’ve considered switching to TT once he’s in 3-4 grade, I hear great things about it! Any ideas/games for helping with the memorization of add/sub facts (besides flash cards)? Many thanks!
The nice thing about Speed is that you can pull out the factors that you are working on and just focus on the 2’s for instance.
We were using MUS and both my boys were hating math and one was failing. I took a huge leap of faith and switched to Saxon this year. This is a much better fit. I was surprised by the program because I misunderstood how the program worked. Most of the reason I never looked at Saxon where false cons of the program. I would still do MUS in the very early years and switch to Saxon in 3rd or 4th grade though.
Cassie recently posted…Our First Week of Advent {2014}
I too have always lots of cons about Saxon, so I bought BJU. May I ask what are some of the reasons you like Saxon? I like BJU but feel like there isn’t enough practice sometimes.
We needed more review and Saxon provides that. The review schedule works better for my kids. They also understand the explanation much better. Just about every con I had heard about Saxon has turned out to be false, except for the too many problems. I’m hoping to do a review of it soon.
Cassie recently posted…Our Second Week of Advent {2014}
It does seem that people either love or hate Saxon! I used it briefly when my oldest was in K and never felt led to look into it again. I’m glad it’s working for you and your boys 🙂
Jen recently posted…4 Math Resources We Use in Our Homeschool