Our Favorite Frugal Homeschool Curriculum Choices for Math - PreK through High School

Summary:  Are your kids struggling with their chosen math curriculum? Are you looking for another way to go that might fit their learning style better? How we dealt with math through the years when we needed to make changes in our curriculum. #homeschoolmath

Are you kids struggling with their chosen math curriculum?  Are you looking for another way to go that might fit their learning style better?

We switched out our math curriculum more than once in our homeschool, once in elementary, and then again in high school.

Sometimes our original choice in homeschool math curriculum just didn't make the grade, so to speak.  

So we did search around for other options again, and each time we found a math curriculum that worked better than the original one. 

It was hard to let go of our initial homeschool curriculum choice, and it did impact our budget, but each time it made for a happy math student in our house.  

And success in her math studies.  Let's start with preschool, and go through our favorites for math, all the way through high school.

1.  PRESCHOOL/K HOMESCHOOL MATH

Math has actually always been something that my daughter looked forward in our homeschool.  

From playful learning approaches during preschool/K to challenging courses in Algebra 2 and Geometry in high school, we have always taken a hands-on approach.  

And each of our math curriculum favorites showed us just how to teach math to our child.  And it was not hard to do.

For preschool and kindergarten, you really don't even need a math curriculum.

Counting, adding, subtracting, making sets....all of that can be discovered through play.  

To see how we did that in our home, I invite you to click here for my article on:

LINK;  HomeschoolingEarly Math - Making Your Manipulative Kit and More.  

If you prefer a math curriculum for kindergarten, Saxon Math has a very easy to follow math program for doing just that.

Amy, of the Curriculum Choice, has a review on Saxon Math Kindergarten. 

2.  HOMESCHOOL MATH FOR EARLY ELEMENTARY

Then in the primary grades, we chose to use Saxon Math, as it relies on lots of hands-on approaches.  

And again, Saxon shows you just how to teach math!

Young learners often need to see, feel, and touch objects to learn the processes of basic math.  There are lots of used Saxon curriculum resources on the web, under homeschool used curriculum.

Saxon Math is available all the way through high school.

3.  HOMESCHOOL MATH FOR UPPER ELEMENTARY

In fourth grade we switched to Oak Meadow Math.  

OM MATH  is based on Saxon Math, but has a few less 

practice problems, which felt less stressful for my 

daughter.

It is child friendly, and is not at all associated with common core.

Oak Meadow Math uses the spiral learning approach, with lots of 

review.  Through this, my daughter did work that built 

retention. She was remembering what she learned.

4.  MIDDLE SCHOOL HOMESCHOOL 

MATH

When we got into pre-Algebra I felt the need to get some  help with 

my math teaching. 


I did not recall my Algebra facts from my high school years.  We 

looked around and found the Saxon Dive dvd's.

I loved how they explained 

each problems, with a 

chalkboard approach.

The instructor wrote out each 

problem as he discussed them.

Saxon also has another product 

called video education. 

A sample 5th grade lesson, 

using this product is here.  

During these years, I also introduced my daughter to:

• family finances,
• introduced her to checking accounts, 
• how to balance a checkbook, 
• our household bills, etc.

5.  HOMESCHOOL HIGH SCHOOL MATH

Doing homeschool math in high school.....Many of us are leery of that.....But with a solid homeschool math curriculum, I found it to be more than doable.

We began Algebra 1 in 9th grade, and we decided to try Teaching Textbooks for that.  

I liked how TT offered even more dvd help and we were happy 

using all their dvd's, especially the ones that explained errors in the practice problems.

photo credit - www.aop.com

Then in 10th grade with ACT/SAT testing coming up.....We 

switched to Alpha Omega Publications's 

Switched On Schoolhouse. (SOS)

  

These were more thorough and more repetitive than the 

Teaching Textbook approach.  That helped my daughter a lot with 

retention.

I also loved how SOS was self-graded and included a video lectures 

for each lesson, plus lots of practice, and some hands-on math 

projects as well.

Living Math activities in high school centered on:

• getting and managing a savings account, 
• learning about taxes, 
• car insurance, 
• saving and compounding interest,
• as well as family budgeting.

Doing these living math acitivites above were easy to teach, just by 

including my daughter in our family budgeting activities.  That way she was 

exposed to basic financial management by helping and being a part of it, as 

things came up.

SUMMARY

As you can see, we used a wide variety of curriculum for math through 

the years. What are your favorites for math in your house?  I love getting 

and reading your comments.

Thanks for stopping by BJ's Homeschool,

Betsy

Betsy is mom to her now college grad, whom she homeschooled through high school.  She blogs at BJ's Homeschool, about the early years, highschool, 
college, gifted/2e and wrote -Homeschooling High School with College in Mind, 2nd Edition,   She offers homeschool help through messages at BJ's Consulting,  and has had some of her articles picked up by the Huffington Post.

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