Overview: Get all the info you need to find the best homeschool math
Homeschooling math in high school, hello. Just thinking about it can send a chill up even the most math-y mom’s spine.
Cuz every kid is different, am I right? And just because it’s your kid doesn’t mean you can teach them how to solve an equation or form a proof or graph a parabola. (Say “graph a parabola” five times fast. I dare you.)
The days of looking over your kid’s shoulder and understanding immediately what their math lesson was about — and where they were going wrong — are over. Now you gotta leave it up to the experts — that is, the homeschool math
Yep, in high school most families let the math
As a former math teacher, I have set myself a goal to get my hands on as many homeschool math
As always, there is no one right or BEST homeschool math
You’ll make the best decision you can given all the information; no one can expect more.
If you end up not liking what you’ve chosen, it’s not the end of the world. You may decide to switch to a different
Sometimes a temporary supplement is all that is needed to get over a particular hump and get back to a good work flow. Often you can find extra practice on just about anything by hitting up your ‘ol friend Google.
So as you read the descriptions of the types of math
All righty? Let’s get to it.
Types of Homeschool High School Math Curriculum
Textbook
I am personally a huge fan of textbooks for math. I love having the use of a table of contents or index to find a topic that we know was covered but can’t remember when. I love being able to flip back and forth through pages of content. I love being able to gauge how much is left to do, or how hard a topic might be, by how many pages are devoted to it.
I also love textbooks because in my opinion they are the best for independent learning with math. Math is one of the easiest subjects to use to get your kid started on the path of independent learning, because it is always laid out in the structured format of a lesson with practice problems. And then after so many lessons, there is a test.
This means the student can read the lessons and do the practice problems on their own. They also check their daily work against the printed answer key or solutions manual and figure out why they got something wrong. If they have questions, you can consult the text to help them. And then all you have to do is grade the chapter test.
This makes life much simpler for mom, and it is also teaching the kid the very valuable skill of learning how to learn. More about independent learning here: How to Teach the Most Valuable Skill Your Child Will Ever Need.
Textbooks also tend to be one of the less expensive options, especially if you do what I did, which is have each kid do all their problems in a spiral notebook so the book would be clean for the next kid to re-use.
Some great textbook math
Saxon – all levels
We used Saxon for grades 4-8. I stopped for the high school years because I didn’t like the idea of Geometry not being a separate course, although I think they offer it that way now.
Saxon is known for its spiral learning method, so that the student never forgets how to do the types of problems they have learned previously. I think this is an effective idea for the younger years, but at the high school math level it might get confusing. That is just my opinion; if you love Saxon, don’t let me stop you from continuing to do so!
(My son actually did use Saxon for a year when we were in Classical Conversations; I think you need a teen who is more diligent than he was to succeed with the spiral method, so they will remember all the different topics from day to day. Just sayin’.)
Saxon can be found at many websites such as Christian Book Distributors or Rainbow Resources.
Jacobs Algebra & Geometry
I wish there were more Jacobs textbooks than just these two. They are both written to the student in an engaging style and provide a solid math education. I’m a fan of the Geometry because it still focuses on proofs the way I, as a former math teacher, think they should be done. (Many current math curricula have dumbed-down the topic of proofs.)
The nice thing about these is you can buy older versions from Ebay or
Read more about Jacobs here: Our Homeschool Math Curriculum Sequence K-12. (This article is actually a little outdated now, because it doesn’t reflect the curricula my two youngest kids used, but it’s still a helpful review.)
Lial Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus
These are also solid math texts that are written to the student, which makes them perfect for independent study. Which is probably definitely needed at this stage, if not before, unless you remember this stuff, which even I don’t any more, LOL.
These are actually community college texts, so you know they are thorough. My older three kids used them, and in retrospect I wish I’d had my younger kids stick with these, as well. Every kid is different, so that’s worth considering, but I’m impressed by these texts perhaps moreso than anything else I’ve seen at this level.
These can also be purchased in an older edition from a used bookseller or Ebay to save money.
For more details, read here: Our Homeschool Math Curriculum Sequence K-12 and here: Fall 2014 Curriculum Review.
Online
Online
When the kid has questions, though, they must find the answer on the computer. This is easier or harder depending on the
Online programs are often engaging, with cartoon characters or the feel of competition against the computer, and this might make kids more motivated to get to work. Online is definitely more interesting than a black-and-white, boring textbook.
Online math
There is a longer discussion about online homeschool math here: Using an Online Math Curriculum.
Here are some online mathUnlock Math
I am very impressed with what I see at Unlock Math. It’s one of the only online math programs with a REAL teacher in the videos. The interface is easy to follow, and mom has a lot of control over grades. Their customer service is top notch, and you can email them with math questions and expect a timely answer. There is built in review and as many practice problems as the student needs. I haven’t found a downside to this one yet!
Unlock Math website
Read my full review here: Unlock Math Review.
Teaching Textbooks
I love all the new aspects of TT 4.0. Now it is an APP, rather than an online program, and this means your kid can work on any device at any time. There is a scratchpad so your kid can do their work on the device itself. You will receive a daily email to see what your kid accomplished, and you have more control over how many lessons they can do, etc. TT 4.0 is more of a “cartoon” experience, if you will, with graphics and animation presenting the instruction.
Teaching Textbooks website
Read my full review of TT 3.0 here (similar in many ways to 4.0): Teaching Textbooks 3.0.
CTCMath
CTCMath is what we got my youngest daughter going with AFTER she had worked on Jacobs Algebra for awhile and decided she hated it. I was feeling more lenient as a homeschool mom by then, so we tried another online program first — hated that, LOL — and then CTC. It was with CTC that she finally finished the course! It’s thorough and doesn’t have some of the frustrating quirks that other programs might have.
CTCMath Website
Read my full review here: A Math Teacher Reviews CTC Math.
Aleks
We tried Aleks on the recommendation of someone whose kids were Ivy League material, and for them it might have been great, but we didn’t do so well. There is a requirement that you get so many problems IN A ROW correct before you can move on, and my daughter got very frustrated with that. I think for a very detail-oriented student, though, it would provide an excellent math education.
More info here: CTCMath vs. Aleks.
Live
Live classes are almost like being in a classroom. There is an actual teacher who instructs in real time. Kids can ask questions as the class progresses. Again, absolutely NO work for mom!
Classes are usually held once per week, and you do have to make the effort to be online at the right time. This does affect the family schedule, so it is something to keep in mind. The rest of the week is for homework and quizzes and tests. The nice thing is that these do get graded on the computer or by the teacher.
My daughter (again the youngest; we tried SO MANY math
Possible live classes:
Mr. D Math
Mr. D is the icon of live classes; EVERYBODY loves him! He also offers self-paced videos if you’d rather not be tied to a schedule. And there are multiple weekly live help sessions to attend if your student has questions about the work. Mr. D used to teach in the school system, so he’s got the experience with teens and the know-how to make it all understandable.
Mr D Math website
Read my full review with exclusive interview here: Mr. D. Math Review.
Dreaming Spires Home Learning
This is math taught differently than anywhere else. Dreaming Spires uses living
Dreaming Spires Home Learning website
Read my full review of Dreaming Spires here: Using Charlotte Mason Methods in High School.
Supplements
Learn Math Fast
I can’t say enough good about this program. The author explains concepts in a way that kids understand. It’s as simple as that!
I caution anyone from using this as a stand-alone
If you do decide to go with Learn Math Fast, use code ANNIE for 10% off!
Learn Math Fast website
See my full review for more details: Learn Math Fast Review.
My Math Assistant – for Saxon math users
This is a great way to make Saxon more user friendly; they will do the grading for you! So you get the flexibility of a textbook with the ease of an online program. What’s not to love?
My Math Assistant website
Here is a review of My Math Assistant (scroll down when you get there): Sanity-Saving Homeschool High School Math Tips.
The best homeschool math curriculum for your teen?
That’s the one that YOU have chosen with full information not only about the
You might even narrow the selection down to two or three and have your teen make the final decision. That definitely helps with motivation, and it also gives you ammo when they start to complain: “Hey, you chose this one, not me!” LOL.
I’ll add more math
Ann has written Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Manual for Research and Planning, Save Your Sanity While Homeschooling High School: Practical Principles for a Firm Foundation, and recently Taming the Transcript: The Essential Guide to Creating Your Teen's Homeschool Transcript from Scratch (without overwhelm). She also founded the popular Facebook groups It's Not that Hard to Homeschool High School and It's Not Hard to Homeschool K-8, and in addition she voices the It's Not That Hard to Homeschool High School Podcast.
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This is SO helpful. My son has dyslexia, dyscalculia, among other diagnoses, and he has had a (fantastic!!) tutor for the last three years. She has now graduated college and has a full time job, and she’ll be finishing up with him in a few weeks (sob). She had originally told me through the summer, so I felt I had some time to figure out what we were doing in the fall, but now this is a bit quick! (We do math year round to help with retention.)
This post now gives me some hope–I had heard of Mr D and CTC but really know nothing about them. Now I am going to go to those posts, along with Unlock and try to figure out which one may be best. I really appreciate all the time to review and link everything together here! It’s a great starting point for me.
This is great! Im Curious what your thoughts are on videotext? We are leaning towards this because it is more independent. Love To know your perspective. Thank you!
I completely agree Learn Math Fast. Is not full curriculum. Great as supplement for kids or in my case adults. Who struggle with math or really advanced kids. That want to move ahead quickly. I don’t use it for all of my math needs. Supplement with extra practice workbooks. I do like it a lot and never realized math can be fun.