Many homeschooling parents struggle to select the right math program. A good teacher is actually more important than books.
. A good teacher is the one who is very alert to the needs of the child and does not follow the book completely.
. A teacher should always be thrilled and enthusiastic about the subject, as this will encourage the student to study and also help him to develop a similar attitude. Many homeschooling parents dislike math and this may be perhaps due to the way they were taught math in their schooling days.
. A good math teacher should be able explain things and draw pictures to illustrate the concepts, regardless of the reference book.
. A good teacher should be able to work with the math book, which may be sometimes not suited to the aptitude of the child. He should be able to complement the text with other materials, by adjusting the pace, skipping some exercises, showing excitement about the concept, switching in between the topics and permitting the child to color shapes and numbers in the book.
A good teacher does not have to refer to any book. There are many curriculums to choose from and the following are some examples:
Saxon math is widely used by many, as it uses a progressive step-by-step approach. It is highly repetitive and therefore, it is not advised for gifted students. A fresh topic is added each day and the students solve few problems involving the new material. The remaining program usually consists of practice problems, which involve concepts that were used previously. Every assignment in this curriculum is based on the gathered review of all the material covered at that point.
Abeka curriculum uses the spiral method of education in the early grades, which involves constant review. They base their curriculum on various books such as basic math, plane geometry, pre-algebra, algebra, business mathematics and more. This curriculum is very thorough and the manual for the teacher is well put together.
Excel math is also based on the spiral method of education and it is designed for classroom use, but it is an inexpensive solution to the homeschoolers. Each chapter introduces new concepts, while reviewing the old ones.
You may find that all the basic books for grades K-6 mainly contain the same concepts. Choose the one that best suits the learning skill of your child. You can teach consumer math anytime. Parents should always buy solution manuals to save their time and energy, as they are helpful when you are teaching higher-grade math. They provide you with answers step-by-step.
Homeschooling is incomplete without a math curriculum. Homeschool supercenter is able to supply all the school math material that fits your needs.
The most important aspect to be kept in mind while choosing a curriculum is to ensure that it is adaptable, as learning is always not fun and you may have to change the curriculum if your child does not enjoy it.
