This is a repost of our email series from 2025, with minor changes and additions to reflect the most up-to-date content. It is our hope that by including it here on our website it can be a helpful resource to you and your family.
Welcome Back To Homeschool… Week 2!
There are more Math programs than you can shake a stick at. So many, in fact, that it can feel impossible to choose just one. How do you narrow down all the options? Especially when you can only see samples online, and cannot touch and feel and smell them?
We wish we could tell you. We all wish it was always as simple as 1 + 1, but the truth is there is no one-fits-all math program. What works for your Type-A eldest may fall short of meeting the needs of your youngest. The bright new shiny math program YOU want to teach might not be working well for your kids. It can be a true struggle to find the right program that lets you teach well, lets your child understand well, and keeps everyone’s hair attached to their head.
In the interest of trying to help you in your quest for the perfect (or even simply functional) math program, there are a few highlights we would like to share with you. Some are our personal favourites, some are new to us, some come highly recommended, and some are included because they are great programs, so you can make the best choice possible.
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A math program fairly new to me (and everyone else) is All About Math from All About Learning, with Level 4 now released, and Level 5 coming this fall. All About Math takes the colourful, hands-on, educational fun from their Language Arts series and translates that into the understanding and application of Math. A carefully selected Manipulative Kit will accompany you through all levels, and preplanned lessons make prepping easy. |
| This mastery-based program with a bit of animal fun could be just what you need to kickstart your future engineer’s (or veterinarian's) love of math. Providing lots of hands-on tools, engaging games, and interesting activies, All About Math succeeds to inspire even those children who claim to hate arithmatic whole-heartedly and skillfully guide each student through an mathmatical adventure both fun and educational. |
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Singapore Math provides a rigorous, spiral-based math option that is fantastic at introducing and reinforcing math concepts. Their multiple streams give you variation in the approach without sacrificing quality. It is recommended that once you have started a stream you stick with it until the end. Most streams are grades K-6, with Dimensions going up to Grade 8. |
| My recommendation is to look at the Dimensions stream first. Our most popular Singapore program by far, Dimensions Math provides rigorous content and engaging visuals to teach your children well. Textbooks and Home Instructor’s Guides can be used and reused with multiple children, while the workbook and perforated test books can be ordered separately when your younger children aren’t so young anymore. This is a wonderful, affordable math program that will challenge your child and provide solid understanding and application. Take the placement tests provided on our website to see where your child will fit within the programs. Often Singapore is a half or full grade level above other programs, both because it is a more rigorous program, and because they slightly change the order in which topics are introduced. |
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| If you already love your current program, Singapore has some supplemental products that can be used for any curriculum. Check out their newly-completed Sprints series for drill-type worksheets, and their Challenging Word Problems to bring the theory of math into everyday situations. Find all these and more detailed explanations of the different streams on our website. |
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Math Lessons for a Living Education from Master Books has the same colourful story-based style as their Language Arts series. One workbook is all you need to be engaging and instructional, and each one is filled with stories showing concepts in real life (albeit slightly fictional) situations. These workbooks are in the style of Charlotte Mason, and are close to what could be considered a living math book. 180 daily lessons make adding it to the routine easy, and answer keys included in the back of the workbooks make it a complete, comprehensive curriculum that will bring the joy of math into your home.
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| The program is available for grades K-6, with grade 6 consisting of an additional required Teacher Guide. There is not an abundance of quizzes; in true Charlotte Mason style, there are few quizzes in the early levels, but are incorporated in Level 6 through this additional teacher guide to prepare your student for higher-level math and test taking. Does the idea of only one workbook sound too good to be true? Optional Practice Makes Perfect books accompany levels K-5 to supplement and reinforce your child’s learning. |
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Have you been struggling with conventional math programs? Is it impossible for you to convey the concepts in a way your child understands? If math time is never a good time, you can try looking to Life of Fred for an alternative, one-of-a-kind math program.Story-based texts with alphabetical titles take your elementary child on a math journey from Apples to Jelly Beans through the eyes of Fred.
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| Your new 5-year-old math professor will showcase and reinforce math concepts through storytelling, and provide a few practice questions to mull over at the end of each chapter. Upon completion of the Elementary Series and the K-M Intermediate Series you can move on to advanced mathematics in the same loveable Life of Fred style. Fractions, Pre-Algebra, and even Calculus are understandable and achievable through this unique take on math class. |
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Saxon is a mainstay math program that has been available for longer than I have been alive (Here is one time you don’t need to do the math). My mom was taught with it, I was taught with it, and it is still teaching the younger members of my family. Incremental practice provides you with the building blocks of a solid foundation. The Manipulative Kit for Grades K-3 is an essential element of the early years, and the included teacher’s manual lists all the necessary components for each lesson.It is important to know that this is a skill-based curriculum, not grade-based. Saxon Math 5/4 will not have 2 years of math in it (unless you procrastinate like I did) and instead encourages you to use the course at the level that best benefits your child. Master initial concepts first. Then start learning, building, and reinforcing knowledge all the way up to Advanced Mathematics and Calculus. |
| One thing to note - While the lower level box kits include handy teacher’s manuals and workbooks, those are quickly replaced by textbooks for independent learning. Limited answer keys are included in the back of the textbook, but for the higher levels you may need to check if the comprehensive Solutions Manual is included in the kit or must be purchased separately. (Unless you have the time and the brainpower to solve all the problems yourself, I aspire to your level of dedication.)The consumable Tests and Worksheets are also available individually through CHER. Once you have made the initial investment, you can continue to use Saxon for as many children as can find the program useful. |
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Colourful, creative, and intentionally designed, Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Mathematics provides practical examples on how to integrate math into everyday life. Best known for their comprehensive Science Curriculum, Apologia takes that Christian worldview and shows students how to see the beauty, order, and truth of creation through math. Let your student begin to comprehend how mathematics gives a glimpse of the Creator. |
| The Student book is required for this course, and the optional Teaching Guide provides solutions, a recommended schedule, and tear-out pages for reinforcing taught concepts. Find all 6 levels, samples, and placement tests on the CHER website. |
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Developmental Math is fairly new to the CHER website. Available only as an eBook, you can enjoy no shipping costs and access to the material within 72 hours of placing your order.16 levels take your child from Kindergarten through to Grade 7 or 8. This mastery-based, straightforward and streamlined program is self -instructional, perfect for your naturally independent learner. It takes the fluff out, letting concepts such as temperature and measurement be taught through real life, focusing on the straight mathematics of it all. |
| Four higher levels are available, should you want to continue into the high school years, or you can transition to a different high-school math program (such as Saxon Algebra ½) once you have completed the first 16 levels. |
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If you haven’t fallen in love with any of these, there is no need to worry. You can take a deeper look and explore other options on our website. Sample pages, tables of contents, and placement tests are included wherever possible to help you find a program that will fit your family. Armed with all this information, you now have the ability to order your essentials before we get too far into our busy season. We will keep sending you Back To Homeschool tips and suggestions; next week is all about History and Geography. Enjoy some retail therapy. Happy Shopping!
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