One of the number one questions I get from non-homeschoolers is “how are you going to teach math?” I understand math can be one of those subjects that makes us uncomfortable because there are so many concepts and different ways of solving problems. At the end of the day though we use math all the time in our everyday life, addition, subtraction, money, and yes, even fractions for those of us that cook throughout the day. So, today, I am sharing with you all of the easy ways of how to teach math for homeschool. I am even including my favorite resources to use to help add more to our math curriculums.
Using Everyday Resources
Honestly, to teach math you don’t need an expensive curriculum or special manipulatives. You can use what you have at home. All you need to teach different concepts are:
- Counters, such as legos, blocks, toys to teach counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
- Ruler or tape measure to teach how to measure
- Measuring cups to teach fractions
- Money to teach about money (we love to play store with money)
- Pencil and paper to simply write out math equations
- Calendar to teach months and days of the week
These simple things are what we use everyday in our everyday life. Sometimes it feels like we forget how simple we can keep our homeschool.
Khan Academy
One of my favorite free, yes free, resources to use for math, especially with my oldest is Khan Academy. It is a free resource that teaches from preschool math to college history courses. This has helped us so much in our math curriculum when I can’t help my 7th grader and need outside help. But he can also take courses that interest him for free.
A+ Interactive Math Curriculum
Another resource we have used in the past was A+ Interactive Math Curriculum. We loved this curriculum as a supplement. You can read my whole review on this curriculum with the link above.
Horizons Math Curriculum
For the past three years, we have used Horizons Math Curriculum, and it’s my favorite on the market right now. It is very simple and my children actually learn the concepts because it is repetitive. You can read my whole review here.
Teaching Money
Of course, a part of math is teaching money. This can always be fun but also complicated for little ones to learn. For teaching money I love to use hands-on materials, real money, or fake (we use Melissa and Doug money). There are tons of games and play you can use to teach money successfully. One way is through playing cashier or restaurant. My kids love imaginary play and this is an easy way to incorporate money. We also love board games for money we use Money Bags. Such a fun easy game that my 3-year-old can even play with us.
A money activity we use is these money boards I created. You can print them down below for free! I circle a few and allow my 3rd grader to get that amount out of our Melissa and Doug cash register. We try all different ways too. The possibilities are endless! Check out my Instagram for a more formal example of using money boards.
Bundles
Lastly, one of my favorite ways to help my children with math are bundles I find right here on the internet or creating my own. This is a simple way for me to help my children with whatever extra practice they may need. Worksheets are great ways to incorporate all of their curriculum or specific varieties of the subject. You can check out my shop for many of the math resource worksheets that we use daily.
So the next time you or someone else is wondering how to teach math for homeschool remember how simple it can be. All you need are the basics but there are other resources if you want help too. It’s your homeschool it can be whatever you and your children want it to be.