Comments on: A different way to look at math (Updated!) https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/ Never let your schooling interrupt your education. Mon, 16 Feb 2026 16:05:01 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 By: Blenda https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-725113 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-725113 In reply to Melissa Jones.

I LOVE life of Fred! I wish all teachers used these books with their kids. 🙂

]]> By: Jamie Martin https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-293404 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-293404 In reply to Cameron.

I would definitely recommend Life of Fred if it’s shorter time that you’re looking for. But it is definitely a very different approach to Saxon, so you’d need to check it out and see if it might be a good fit for you. The author recommends starting in 1st grade, but you could certainly take a peek. Each lesson/chapter takes about 15 minutes: http://lifeoffredmath.com/lof-elementary.php

]]> By: Cameron https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-293232 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-293232 I am following this series! We are having trouble with math for our kindergartner because of lack of TIME. I have a 3yo and 12m old, and for kindergarten I’ve dedicated just an hour of time 4x a week for academic work. We chose Saxon 1 for our daughter (5) because my husband was familiar with the company, having used it as a homeschooler himself (though at an older age/level), and she seemed ready for the concepts. My complaint is that it takes too much time. The level one lessons look designed to take an hour of a teacher’s time. Ironically, my daughter likes it; grasps the concepts; and never struggles with wanting to do math. She is getting it, and learning. I like the scripted format. But there are too many elements to each lesson and I simply can’t spend an hour on math every day for her. I don’t think that’s appropriate for a kindergartner and it doesn’t fit our schedule anyway. So, I’m in a quandary. I tried skipping the meeting book entirely for a while, but we seemed to be missing some key components then. I’ve also tried spreading each lesson out over two days, with the intent of finishing half the book by June, but I always feel behind. A friend let me look at her Horizons 1 books, but with just three months left in our school year (we do plan to continue slowly, irregularly, over the summer) I am loathe to try a new method in which concepts are introduced differently and in different sequence. So I will likely keep trimming the Saxon stuff to fit our needs; really wish we had time to do the whole thing, because I do think it’s well done and it fits my daughter so well! I would love any tips on shorter curricula (time per lesson) if people have them.

]]> By: Rachel https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-292859 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-292859 Great post and I am so interested to read your upcoming related posts as well! We decided to home school for first grade this year after public school kindergarten. All I have done this year is make sure we play a game each day that is sort of math related whether that be with numbers or logic or strategy. Next year I feel like we need to do something a bit more formal but I agree that really in the younger years anything outside of really practical daily use kind of math seems too much.

]]> By: Terri https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-291695 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-291695 In reply to Heather.

Heather, I know exactly how you feel. When I pulled my son out of 3rd grade public school, we started math completely over. He was having trouble with subtraction. I too, worried at first, now not at all. He has actually progressed to the point, we started his 6th grade math after Christmas, and he is in 6th grade. I really thought Math would be a battle for us during the homeschool process. I believe taking the time to go back and give him a chance to grasp, has made all the difference in the world!

]]> By: Kim https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-291344 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-291344 Im really looking forward to your coming articles. A couple of my kids have really struggled with math. Last year we encountered tears and frustrations on most days. I have used a handful of popular curriculums, but just kept coming back to the thought that I needed to ditch the curriculum at least for now if I really wanted to see success. So this year we did it. Threw out the math curriculum for the ones who needed it. Its been really good but also quiet a challenge for me because I can’t depend on a book anymore to just tell me what to do.

]]> By: Pamela @RedWhiteandGrew https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-291315 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-291315 Looking forward to your series. I just compiled what we’ve learned about math anxiety in a new post, and I’m eager to see your thoughts on home math education in the coming weeks. Thanks for tackling an important, complex topic!

]]> By: Andrea https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-291125 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-291125 I’ll definitely be staying tuned for more of your thoughts! This is a great topic to explore. I too was an excellent memorizer which made math come quite easily for me until calculus when I had to work a lot harder to understand. I never really questioned when I’d use it because I was good at delaying gratification and trusted adults who told me math would open doors, even when it seemed pointless at times. Plus I had a high tolerance for pure academic exercises without connections because I like the patterns and order and “perfection” of math. My son is only 5 1/2, but his personality is so vastly different that I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ll teach/guide him without creating unnecessary frustration and killing his natural curiosity and love for learning. I’ve backed down quite a bit from my pre-child homeschool plans and am cobbling together something a lot “looser” than I could ever have imagined accepting even 3 years ago. He seems to be pretty “mathy” even without traditionally structured lessons so far. And he’s leaning by leaps and bounds when we focus on things that are meaningful to his everyday life. We recently started giving him an allowance so suddenly his money skills are blossoming. And since he LOVES board games with Mommy, Sum Swamp has been awesome for cementing basic addition/subtraction, odds/evens, and thinking of + and – as going forward or back. I smiled when I saw it in your picture as he begs to play it daily. Since starting it at 4, he’s gone from using counters to doing 95% in his head.

]]> By: Amanda https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-290406 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-290406 In reply to Jamie Martin.

Thanks, Jamie! I’ll look into those. I know you don’t have any lack of valuing beauty – based on this post and the other things you’ve written here and at SteadyMom, so it was hard to describe what I was trying to say. I’m glad you knew what I meant.

I look forward to the rest of the series. Our oldest (so far) has no problem going from nitty-gritty and abstract to appreciation, but that’s probably personality, and maybe age. I’ll have to pay attention as the others get older, because they probably won’t respond the same way.

]]> By: Jamie Martin https://simplehomeschool.net/different-math/#comment-290317 http://simplehomeschl.wpengine.com/?p=37058#comment-290317 In reply to Jamie Martin.

If you haven’t read A Mathematician’s Lament, Amanda, you absolutely must! I think you’d find it very inspiring, based on your comment: https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf

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