Homeschool Math Curriculum Reviews
How to Evaluate Reviews for Home School Curricula
When families first begin looking at curriculum options for math, one thing is easy to calculate. A thousand options multiplied by a lot of uncertainty equals mass confusion. Luckily, homeschool families readily share their successes and failures online, which makes it easy to find feedback about the most popular homeschool math curriculum programs.
Finding Homeschool Curriculum Reviews
The best place to find reviews of homeschool math curriculum is in your local support group. Begin by asking other families what they've found successful. As you're listening, be sure to ask for definitions of unfamiliar terminology. Different math curriculum developers advocate and recommend a variety of manipulatives.
If you’re having trouble finding local families to learn from, check online homeschool websites or message boards for curriculum reviews. It should be easy to find families willing to share their experiences
Evaluating Curriculum Reviews
Now that you have all of that information, it’s time to evaluate the differing perspectives. Likely, some will have told you that they loved Singapore Math while others will claim that it was horrible. It might be easier if all families agreed, but they don’t. Learn how to extract the facts from each review.
Reviewing Curriculum Reviews
Ignore references to curriculum that isn’t relevant to your child’s age group. For example, Saxon has an entirely different program for Kindergarten through third grade than it does for the middle grades, and it changes yet again for high school.
Consider the amount of time spent teaching each program. Is everything you need in one box or one book? Some programs require teacher preparation time and hands-on participation. Other programs involve scripted language that some parents feel comfortable with and others do not.
Consider the cost, also. Homeschool math curriculum prices vary greatly. If there are a lot of required materials that are each sold separately, you can sometimes pick and choose which ones you’ll be using. In the lower grades, some families choose to do without the answer books. Saxon Math requires a manipulative kit with a balance, plastic clocks, rulers and several counting tools, whereas Miquon and Math-U-See require only one simple manipulative set to get started.
Keep in mind your child’s learning style. Some children enjoy the black lined drawings and playful pictures in the Singapore workbook while others prefer the colorful Miquon book, with its ever-changing variety of exercises and activities. Math-U-See uses a repetitive workbook page that basically stays the same all year long and some students thrive with the repetition and consistency while others find it boring.
Sharing Your Math Curriculum Reviews
When you find what works for your family, you might enjoy sharing your expertise with others. Keep in mind the specific reasons why certain programs did or did not work for your family instead of just deciding that “Brand X is good” or that “Brand Y is bad.” Your review will be more useful to other families if you know what went wrong and what went right.
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