Homeschool Math Blog

As many of you are preparing for school work again, please take note (and bookmark!) these comprehensive worksheet lists that include most math topics for any given grade: Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Best of all, the worksheets are free! They are dynamically generated so you get a different one every time you click on the link. You can also save them to your device and edit them in your favorite word processor. Also, I recently formatted the above pages so they look good on mobile devices.

In this video I show several strategies for learning the basic addition and subtraction facts: finding all the possible sums for a certain number; e.g. for 6, these would be 0 + 6, 1 + 5, 2 + 4, and 3 + 3; writing out all the fact families where the sum is a certain number; the 9 "trick"; 9 + 7 is the same as 10 + 6 (9 wants so badly to be 10 so that it "steals" one from 7); doubles and the accompanying addition facts; number rainbows and how to use them to practice subtraction; a structured drill for addition facts. Enjoy! Strategies for Addition and Subtraction Facts - Video

Great news! The LightBlue Series books are now available as downloads. These are designed to be a complete curriculum for a given grade. They follow the lesson format of my Blue Series books: explanations, then problems (worktext). In fact, the two series do share a lot of material. The LightBlue is for you if you need a math curriculum for a given grade that covers all the topics needed. These are practically no-prep for the teacher, and in fact, kids can probably teach themselves the majority of the time (assuming they can read). Please read more by following these links: Math Mammoth Grade 1 Complete Worktext Math Mammoth Grade 2 Complete Worktext Math Mammoth Grade 3 Complete Worktext I will have grade 4 ready sometime this spring, February or March I think.

I thought some of you (those who teach second grade) might enjoy my NUMBER RAINBOWS. The idea is that you connect two numbers with an arc if they add up to the particular number, such as 13. Then, the child can use it as a reference when subtracting from 13 or when doing subtraction drill. You could first drill subtraction facts WITH the rainbow (such as 13 − 4, 13 − 7 etc.) and then without. You would also ask the child to reproduce the rainbow - and color it, of course! These make for quite pretty math facts practice, don't you think! I'm going to add these to my Add & Subtract 2-A book.

Question: ...have an other question about using your worksheets for my daughter. She is six years old - home schooled. Currently, we are using Addition & Subtraction 2 She is able to add and subtract any numbers from 1 to 100 but when I try to explain "complete the ten" concept, she doesn't like thinking about it. She would rather solve 9+6 by counting on the finger 6 after 9 ... . She complains that I have to first subtract then add to make 10. My question is: Should I let her complete the exercises without making her think in this manner? It is important that she understands the IDEA in completing the ten. I gather that she does indeed understand the idea, but doesn't want to do it, since you'd have to both subtract and add, right? She just likes to do one operation, not two? The adding though, is really easy, because you add 10 + 5 or 10 + 7 or something to ten. If she's counting with fingers, she's not yet seeing the easiness of this adding. It...

I'm going to talk again about the new report released by NCTM, Curriculum Focal Points. For each grade, it describes THREE focal points, and also explains to which other mathematical topics these focal points connect to. By familiarizing yourself with these few points, you can see the basics of school mathematics unfold before your eyes. Knowing the basic goals is essential for being a good teacher. By the way, these aren't the only things kids might study on a given grade. They are the focus areas. Many of the other topics would connect with these. Go look at the pics at textsavvy.blogspot.com about the way textbooks and programs typically present the topics, versus a "VISION OF CURRICULUM" laid out by the Focal Points document. On grade 1, the focus is on addition/subtraction : basic basic addition facts and related subtraction facts. Learning to add and subtract two-digit numbers. Understanding whole numbers in terms of tens and ones Composing and decomposing ...