Math Math Math

If you're looking for FREE Printable Worksheets for Kindergarten, click here. But read on, first. Then come back here. Better yet, I'll remind you at the bottom, too. And here- is an entire printable math curriculum for 1st-6th grade.

OK- so I'm a math-a-holic lately. My oldest two missed out on over a year's worth of really good teaching because we opened our family business and success swept us away, I ended up working 7 days a week over 12 hours a day and no home school fairy came to help them with their 3 R's. (I'll have to call the agency!)

I wasn't too concerned, I've heard of other families taking time off before and jumping right back in without serious setback. Also, the education they were LIVING was just as valuable. My oldest helped get the cash registers programmed, they learned a lot of real-life skills about running a business that I wish I had learned before we started. My 6 yr old is one of the best pizza-dough-tossers I know!

BUT- we're back now, and working on Math (among other things).

For my very oldest I went ahead and put her into Saxon 5th grade, with the intention of zipping her through the program so that eventually she'd be caught up at the start of high school. I figured that starting off at a lower level would get rid of her math-phobia and help her realize she really is math-brained. It's working beautifully. She finishes each day's lesson in less than an hour and gets everything right. She understands the concepts quickly. There are 120 lessons in each book, and she's passed the halfway mark. I have only had to help her twice to understand the lesson. She's technically in 8th grade and we will continue with the 7-days-a-week of Math until she's ready to start 9th grade math (around the same time she actually starts 9th grade) and then I'll let her go back to 4 or 5 days a week worth of lessons. She isn't requiring extra drill at this point, which is nice for her. Her confidence is growing. Mission accomplished. Nothing can hold a person back more than believing they aren't capable of moving forward.

Saxon Math 7/6: Home School-tests, worksheets

Saxon Math 6 / 5: Home School-tests, worksheets

Saxon Math 5/4: Home School-tests

For my second-oldest daughter I chose the Saxon 4th grade level. She's in 5th this year. She is driving me nuts. She will spend over an hour on each lesson. Not that she's actually looking at the lesson the entire time, she's doodling, drawing pictures, talking talking talking or playing. FINALLY when she's "finished" I will look it over and there's always more than half the lesson answers are wrong. Some are skipped. Some are miscalculated. Some of the directions haven't been followed completely, some not at all. SO... I erase her wrong answers and have her do them again. She always focuses better for this second half, and usually only misses 2 or 3 in around 30 minutes time. Sometimes, when I am going over the missed problems with her, I will have to re-teach whatever the lesson was about. If she doesn't "get it" it's very obvious. Lately I have been sitting by her side to do the entire lesson, keeping her focused. She does work better this way, but with 5 kids I like the idea of her working independently. She requires more drill than the regular lessons supply, so I have her doing timed fact-sheets (part of Saxon) and she kicks butt on those, thankfully. She's also more than halfway through with the 4th grade program. She is currently in the 5th grade and by the end of this coming summer she will be beginning the 6th grade program and the 6th grade. She isn't expected to do as much as her sister, but she currently IS. I am allowing some time for her to get reinforcement instead of learn new things if she needs it. (So far she hasn't really) She's doing well but the frustrated environment needs to end. I need to focus on sideswiping her study habits, I think the side-by-side thing will work well for that.

My 1st grader is using Primary Mathematics 1A Textbook (Singapore Math). I didn't get the teacher's edition, so maybe I am doing it wrong. I don't see nearly enough drill here, but I do like the way they are training her brain to fast-compute. She's doing very well with it. We just started the 1b book, a month into 1st grade. 1b is supposed to last the entire second half of first grade. I'm thinking it might be more challenging than the 1a was. I don't know. I'm not finding enough drill in the Singapore, so to supplement, we play flashcards, I give her photocopies of the Saxon drills my older kids are using, and I print things from online. She really enjoys Math and if she thinks we're going to skip it one day she gets upset. "How will I ever learn to count my money when I grow up if you don't teach me math?" When we're done with 1st grade Singapore, I will go ahead and get the teacher's edition for 2nd and 3rd. Once she's ready for 4th grade Math I intend to switch her to Saxon, too. I hated the Saxon K-3 math with a passion.

My 4.5 yr old is using Mathematical Reasoning form Critical Thinking Press and the Singapore 1a books. She is doing very well, she just loves the sit-down time with Mommy. She has worked through the Mathematical Reasoning Pre-K book (Book A I think) and is now working on their Kindergarten book (Book B?) I think it would be cool to have a kid who is actually grade levels ahead in Math for once.

My 2 yr old counts to three.

The baby in my belly kicks in rhythm to loud music.


Here are some great FREE resources I have found lately for Math:
EdHelper.com
EdHelper has tons of printable worksheets and coloring pages.


Coolmath.com has several really fun math games kids can play online. In my house, kids earn time online by spending time on educational stuff. SO if they want to go to stardollz.com and dress up dolls, and shop for virtual dress-up stuff with pretend money they have earned by voting for whose dress-up doll or house was the best, then they have to spend an equal amount of time on websites I choose. This is definitely on my approved list. The only problem is they have so much fun with the Math games that they end up earning hours on stardollz, which must kill brain cells, I am sure of it.

Fun Brain is another good one. I don't think they have as many games, though.

BrainPop has math, science, language Arts, History, Art... LOTS of resources here. Enjoy!

Songs For Free is the blog of a lady who makes educational CD's her music is great for memorization, and her blog is a fun read.

Redwood Games has a customizable printable worksheet generator

Big Brainz has a free downloadable version of their program that the kids (and I) have enjoyed. It's called Timez Attack and it is a fun way to memorize multiplication facts.

This one- I admit- I haven't tried. It's free videos for teaching math. I just found it yesterday.

Another one I found yesterday is like a complete (school-y) Math curriculum I browsed through the blackline master .pdf files looking for drills and found a bunch of really cute math songs in Kindergarten, and several good looking worksheets and printable manipulative for older grades. WHen dd#1 was small, I photocopied the tangrams so that she could glue them onto the worksheets for permanence. These blackline masters have printable tangrams, yippee! It's split into grades K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 And the last thing I found on the same site was printable "problem solving decks" which look fine enough- but each "card" is actually reproduced on the corresponding "student sheets" with space to work the problem- so when I print these up I will just be printing the student sheets instead of the entire deck of cards.


Lesson Plans from Learning Styles: Using Learning Style to Plan Lessons Helps Homeschoolers Learn

Homeschool Lesson Planning: An Organized Elementary Lesson Plan Helps You Achieve Goals.

Choosing A Homeschooling Method: Before Purchasing Curriculum, Pick a Homeschool Philosophy

Homeschooling for Kindergarten: Homeschooling Kindergarten Curriculum, Supplies and Help for Parents


I hope these resources help make you a math-a-holic, too. Happy homeschooling! And don't forget to go check out the Free Printable WorksheetsAnd here- is an entire printable math curriculum for 1st-6th grade.

And- from Samantha in Dallas.....Math Worksheet Wizard