Preparing for the New Homeschool Year: Focusing on Math in K-5

It's vital for youngsters to begin or continue learning math skills throughout this break. One important focus is resolving any lapses in students’ understanding from the prior year.

Preparing for learning math over the summer

Reviewing and filling in gaps

It's essential to fill in gaps because math concepts build upon each other. If the essentials are weak kids may struggle with new topics. As an example, young students should have a grasp of addition and subtraction before taking on multiplication and division. Without this prior knowledge grasping new ideas can be discouraging, possibly negatively affecting their confidence.

So, taking a proactive way over the summertime is essential for homeschool preparation. This strategy assists in preventing learning obstacles and promotes a positive attitude towards math preparing the groundwork, for successful homeschooling.

Curriculum review

Now that school has ended and you have some free time, it’s good to use it for planning a new homeschool year while the previous year’s learning is still fresh in your mind. Start with examining your math program and taking notes on what works well (or not) for both you and your child.

Choosing the right math curriculum is key to help you and your kids succeed with their learning math! To assist you through that process, we have created a comprehensive guide that walks you through each decision and helps you select the most successful homeschool curriculum.

Use math in daily life

If you want to know how to be successful at homeschooling - use math in daily life.  Involve your kids in calculations when you cook by having them measure out ingredients. This helps to reinforce concepts about volume and fractions. Give them an allowance and let them purchase groceries to interest them in calculating totals and change. This will encourage practicing addition and subtraction almost daily.

E-Singapore Math

Utilize the E-Singapore Math website, which offers an interactive curriculum online and personalized math practice. The program provides engaging lessons and activities tailored to various grade levels. You should consider enrolling your child in the personalized program because you’ll be ready for homeschool from day one. Plus, it offers structured and enjoyable way to keep math skills sharp. For those families who use Eureka math, the E-Singapore’s videos will provide an invaluable support.

How to Prepare for Homeschooling - Get Organized

Creating a learning space

Select an area of your house as a learning space.  When all of the needed materials and computer are in place for easy access, kids will be able to seamlessly transition through activities without slowing down or interruptions.

Morning math routine

Make it a habit to include math practice every morning on a regular basis.  It’s helpful to have consistency in order for children to form a good habit of practicing math facts and retain what they’ve learned.

Getting started can be tough, but starting kids off with an easy game or engaging number-sense activities is sure to get those little brains moving! These activities can be done on the E-Singapore Math website, which contains interactive lessons that start with math practice games before engaging kids in the actual subject of a lesson.

Preparing for online learning

A separate and tidy workspace will also be essential in preparing for online learning for kids to work on a computer, laptop or tablet. It helps them maintain a clear divide between study time and online playtime.  This setup minimizes the urge to surf irrelevant sites or do other things like playing video games that may pull them away from what's really important.

Creating consistency of your learning environment will prolong mental focus and concentration. When entering their designated study space, kids switch gears, get primed to learn and engage with their lessons.

Get Familiar with the Expectations for the Grade

Review Lesson Plans

Reviewing good lesson plans are often helpful during homeschool preparation. And while parents shouldn't just let the book drive the learning, they also should not attempt to make up curriculum themselves as that requires specialized knowledge of mathematics content, instructional design, and child development most parents do not possess.  

It’s notable that when comparing math programs, often online math curriculum is better than textbooks. For instance, in most math programs students learn and memorize their multiplication tables and some fundamental properties of division in Grade 3. However, a few curricula, including earlier editions of Singapore Math start covering these topics as early as in Grade 2.

Get to know major concepts ahead of the upcoming school year

If you’re unprepared to help your child with learning multiplication and division, then it’s likely that you’ll both get unpleasantly surprised and frustrated. Therefore, it’s important to learn what major math concepts your children will learn this upcoming school year and start preparing for homeschooling over the summer. If you use a Singapore program for homeschooling - we have created a comprehensive guide that walks you through each major aspect of how to teach Singapore Math for parents.

Dive in – read through the table of contents and get to know the lesson plans.  While this is not an all-inclusive review, it will provide you with an overview of the topics that will be covered throughout the school year.  By doing so, you’ll be able to identify key skills your child will need to master and you’ll also be prepared to provide support when it is necessary.

Example: preparing for first grade math

While preparing for homeschooling over the summer - as we make this important shift between kindergarten and first grade - children need to be very comfortable with counting numbers in sequence (both forward and backward) as well as recognize numbers in different forms such as pictures of objects, ten frames, and numerals. These skills lay down a foundation that allow children to understand more complex concepts such as addition and subtraction.

Therefore, in preparing for first grade math, parents should provide their children with plenty of practice in counting to 20 and recognizing numbers up to 10 in different forms. Making these activities fun is important because math practice should be enjoyable. Strengthening these fundamental building blocks of learning is essential in making sure your children feel confident as they enter the first grade. 

Learn how our online curriculum may be just what you need to make teaching young children learn to count to 10 - an enjoyable experience that will stick with them.

Tips for Learning Math at Home

Real-Life Activities

Engage your kids in real life activities that utilize math, such as, cooking, shopping, budgeting, etc. Doing so helps kids understand why math is important to learn.

Positive Reinforcement

Foster your children’s willingness to try new things by offering support, encouragement and plenty of reassurance when they are learning something difficult or challenging.  Next, maintain your momentum by celebrating each of your small wins along the way.

Patience and Persistence

Nurture a positive attitude toward learning and making errors.  Remind your kiddo that persisting at solving problems and struggling are OK, because perseverance brings success!

Math Journals

Suggest to your children to keep a math journal where they can write about their growth, struggles and feelings as it relates to doing math.  It encourages self-assessment and improvement.

Math Games

Weave in some enjoyable and interactive math games into your day-to-day practice so that you can make mathematics more interesting, exciting and worth remembering for your child. One great example from our selection of unique games is Build a Robot. Click on that link to give it a try and see how our games can turn math practice into a fun learning adventure.