In reviewing our math curriculums this month, we have to start with Saxon Math for Homeschoolers. This is our best selling math curriculum.

Why? Because it works!

Based on over 20 years of research and teaching success, Saxon Homeschool Math is the most complete, comprehensive and thoroughly researched math curriculum available to Homeschoolers today.

Saxon uses an incremental “building block” approach to help your child develop a complete mastery of math concepts from kindergarten through advanced high school levels.

Textbooks feature easy-to-follow scripted lessons, providing you with the best and most effective teaching techniques.

Some parental involvement may be required, especially in the beginning of the lesson and to check daily assignments.

For more information regarding Saxon Math click here

When selecting curriculum for your Homeschool, an important consideration is the amount of teaching that is required for successful completion of the course. Some curriculums are designed to do the teaching and others are designed to be taught by a teacher.

Choosing the right “tool for the job” is an important aspect of successful Homeschooling. Do you want to teach your child the subject or would you rather supervise their learning?

If you have the time, ability, and desire to teach the material, then you will want to choose a curriculum that favors a more traditional “classroom style” curriculum. If you are uncomfortable teaching the material or lack the time to commit to teaching it, then you will want to choose an independent study curriculum.

Independent Study

These curriculums are designed to teach the student with little or no involvement from the parent. Textbooks or smaller consumable worktexts written in this format include text for students to read, follow up questions and quizzes. Tests are usually given at the end of each topic to ensure material comprehension before moving onto the next topic. No direct teaching of the material is required. Parents often operate more as a supervisor than as a teacher.

Some examples of independent study curriculums we offer at PWL are:

ACE/School of Tomorrow
AOP LIFEPAC
Saxon Math with DIVE
Switched On Schoolhouse

Traditional (Classroom) Study

These curriculums most likely were written to be used in a classroom setting and have been adapted to be used in a Homeschool setting. They require parent/teacher involvement and preparation. The teacher’s guide is usually the most valuable component of the curriculum.

These curriculums are a great choice for parents who want to be directly involved in teaching their children. Many of these curriculums offer greater ability to adapt to multiple learning styles.

Some examples of traditional (classroom style) study curriculums we offer at PWL are:

Bob Jones Homeschool
Christian Liberty Press

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

This month I am reviewing the math curriculums we offer as well as researching some new curriculums we hope to add. If you have any suggestions for a math curriculum you would like to see at Pennywise Learning, please let us know.

When we started PWL, I figured all math curriculums where created equal. Math is math, right? Since that time I have learned that I couldn’t be more wrong. Perhaps math is math but the approaches to teaching it can be very different. Start researching various curriculums and you begin hearing terms like traditional math, new math, mastery based, incremental approach, spiral based, applied math, standards based math, integrated mathematics, etc.

Like everything in Homeschooling, I do not believe that there is a one size fits all solution. It is important for home educators to determine their own educational philosophy, identify their student’s abilities and style of learning, then choose the educational approach that fits best. Most home educators favor a more traditional math approach. Our personal education philosophy favors traditional/mastery based approaches to learning.

Most all of the math curriculums offered at Pennywise Learning are considered traditional approaches. We can break them down a little further as well:

Mastery Based Approach

The first is mastery based. A mastery based approach introduces a new topic and then drills on that topic until it’s mastered. New concepts are not introduced until mastery of that topic is achieved. Of the math curriculums we offer, we would generally categorize the following curriculums to use a mastery based approach:

ACE/School of Tomorrow PACES
AOP LIFEPAC
Liberty Baptist Curriculum
Switched On Schoolhouse

Incremental/Spiral Based Approach

The second is spiral or incremental based. With this method, mastery is not required before the introduction of new topics. Topics are introduced and mastered incrementally over a period of time. The following are curriculums we offer that we would consider use this approach:

Bob Jones Homeschool
Horizons Math
Saxon Math

Knowing the approach used is important when matching a curriculum to your student. Some students do very well using a mastery approach where only one concept is taught at a time. This is especially true for students who struggle in math or in special needs circumstances. For others a mastery based approach can be very boring but they excel when using an approach that is a little faster moving and multiple concepts are being learned and worked on at the same time.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments by clicking on the “comments” link below.

Yesterday our family celebrated Rosh Hashanah for the first time and we loved it. Rosh Hoshanah, the Feast of Trumpets is considered the Jewish New Year. For our family it also signified a time of remembrance of God’s blessings in our lives. I truly wish I had the opportunity that my children are having to celebrate and understand the significance the Jewish holidays.

As we prepare for Yom Kippur, I am truly amazed at how the Biblical Holidays are so interwoven and interconnected with our spiritual heritage. This season is a time of reflection, contemplation, and putting things in order and getting right our relationship with God. We see celebrating the Biblical Holidays as a great way to pass our faith to our children and teach them about the nature of God and our responsibility as His children.

A couple of months ago we featured A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays. This 585 page book is a great resources for understanding the Biblical Holidays from a Christian perspective. It even included a special Homeschool curriculum unit study. If you are interested in learning more about Biblical Holidays, click here!

Say it isn’t so. Using calculators with our Saxon Math? Like most Home Educators, we try to be organic with the math curriculum’s we use with our kids.  No additives used.  We want our kids to know how to do the math manually.  Step by step.  Using a calculator to solve an equation has most always been out of the question.

My oldest daughter, entering her senior year is getting ready for college.  As we were preparing  for her to take the SAT test, we came across the SAT Calculator Policy, which allows a student to bring a graphing or scientific calculator to be used on the Mathematics level 1 and 2 of the test.  We didn’t have time for her to purchase and learn how to use an advanced calculator so she took her SAT with a basic four function calculator.  She did fine on her test without an advanced calculator, but it did make us reassess our personal policy on allowing calculator use.  Would she have done even better on the SAT’s if she had a good calculator and the know-how to use it?

Because of this we have added a complete line of affordable calculators as options to our Saxon Math Homeschool curriculums.  These calculators were designed for academic use.  We still believe in having our kids learn how to do the work manually, but we are also implementing calculator “know-how” into our teaching.

Our family favorite calculator is the Intermediate Calc-U-Vue.  We love this calculator because it allows you to see the problem and the answer. It also allows scrolling. See below:

For primary grades, we have a simple combo package of 4 function calculator and activity book.  The Primary Calculator Activity Book has 63 pages of problem solving using the primary calculator in patterns, measurements, number sense, and data and chance. 

I’d love to hear your comments and experiences regarding calculator use in your Homeschool.