math Archives - Intentionally Well

Develop Math Facts Mastery with AIM: Addition and Subtraction

January 9, 2023January 9, 2023by Emily SewellLeave a Comment

Everything was going along just great, or so I thought. My homeschooler did well in math. She progressed through her lessons just fine, and she was about to begin multi-step multiplication. She had just completed a quiz, and I saw these dots all over the paper. “Are you counting out your math problems?” I asked.

But I already knew. With a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach I realized she didn’t have the math facts mastery I thought she did. This was a big deal, and we needed some extra help. We needed to stop everything and master those math facts before we did anything else.

What’s So Special About AIM: Addition and Subtraction?

Luckily, I found AIM: Addition and Subtraction. AIM stands for Accelerated Individualized Mastery. It’s the supplemental branch of the Math-U-See curriculum. Students only work on math facts mastery with this program. And with only 22 lessons, it is short, sweet, and effective.

Research shows the overwhelming benefits of a multisensory approach to learning. Math-U-See incorporates this concept into every part of their curriculums, including AIM: Addition and Subtraction. Each lesson taps into various types of learning, including visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic. They all have the following format:

Image of a teacher at a chalkboard stating how AIM: Addition and Subtraction teaches each lesson. It introduces new concepts with videa, uses build, write, say method with manipluatives, uses draw, write, say method with colored pencils, and mastery is shown through flashcards.

My daughter loved working with the little blocks, and she became excited about math! This curriculum is so much more than rote memorization. The lessons actually teach the relationship between numbers and therefore easy strategies on how to quickly recall information.

The Results Speak for Themselves

Our goal with this curriculum was for my daughter to gain math facts mastery. And let me tell you, she met and surpassed that goal! At the beginning of AIM: Addition and Subtraction, her pre-test scores were petty low. Lower than I expected, actually. However, her post-test scores were almost perfect!

At the end of this supplemental curriculum, my daughter’s confidence increased, and I felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I confess I felt like I failed in some way because my child had a significant gap in her knowledge. Isn’t that every homeschool mom’s fear? That we will miss something? But let me tell you, friend, You are enough.

Final Thoughts

My favorite thing about homeschooling is the ability to change things when something isn’t working. Our previous math curriculum didn’t work for us anymore. But thank goodness we found something that does! We loved the supplemental AIM: Addition and Subtraction so much, that I am switching her (along with my other children) completely over to Math-U-See.

Tell me your thoughts! Have you ever had to change curriculums in the middle of the year? Let me know in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends!

Homeschooling

Catch Up on Math Skills with CTCMath

September 22, 2022December 13, 2022by Emily SewellLeave a Comment

As homeschooling parents, we know every child has different strengths and challenges. We do our best to choose curriculums that fit our children’s needs. We do everything we can think of to get the concepts mastered, whether it’s making flashcards, playing bingo, or having a nerf gun fight. Seriously, whatever it takes.

Even with all of that, sometimes we need a supplemental resource to reinforce what we are learning. So, when I found CTCMath, I knew I had to share it with you! Ever since I found CTCMath, I have been so impressed. Their Homeschool Family Membership makes an excellent tool to help students catch up on math skills.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free, and I was compensated for my time for this post. As always, my opinions are honest and true to my personal experience with these products and services.

What is CTCMath?

CTCMath is an online supplemental math curriculum created and founded by Pat Murray. Pat Murray is an Australian educator with more than thirty-one years of teaching and tutoring experience. Personally, math is and has always been my favorite subject. However, I know so MANY adults who still claim to hate it based on their negative experiences in school.

As we know, math is a subject that builds upon itself continuously. If one concept is not mastered, it can, and will likely, create future stumbling blocks. Children fall further behind and often lose confidence in their own abilities. This is why it is so important to have supplemental resources to help kids catch up on math (or any subject they might be struggling with!) available to homeschoolers.

This is where CTCMath can step in and fill in any gaps your child might have. With CTCMath and the Homeschool Family Membership, children will:

Have access for all grades K-12
Have lessons taught in a concise manner using animation
Learn at their own pace
Catch up on concepts not fully mastered
Gain understanding and confidence in areas of previous struggle
Develop an individualized learning routine where they succeed

CTCMath has won multiple rewards as a result of their success in helping kids match up on math skills. — Check out CTCMath today!

How Does CTCMath Work?

CTCMath utilizes a multi-sensory approach through visual and auditory learning. Every lesson introduces concepts with a four to nine-minute animated video. These videos are simple and concise, which is wonderful if your child can be easily overstimulated. Additionally, each lesson contains a printable PDF, so students can have something tangible in front of them to use as a guide and/or take notes. Children then assess their understanding of the lessons through interactive questions.

On CTCMath’s dashboard, parents have the ability to assign lessons and track progress. Searching for lessons is so simple. It is very easy to filter the entirety of CTCMath’s lessons by grade, topics, and lessons. You, then, assign lessons to your student, which shows up on their own personal dashboard. Furthermore, as your child progresses through their lessons, they celebrate by earning awards.

CTCMath parent dashboard helps parents assign lessons to help their children catch up on math skills quickly and confidently. — The parent dashboard is so easy to navigate!

Final Thought on CTCMath

CTCMath is an excellent choice for homeschooling parents who are looking for a resource to help their child catch up on math skills. Their lessons are simple and clear. This curriculum is the perfect choice for a student who struggles with overstimulation and overwhelms, because of the way lessons are presented. I know that when your child is needing extra help, you want them to master skills quickly and effectively. CTCMath enables you to track your child’s progress easily so that you can move on as soon as a skill is mastered. Check out CTCMath today with their FREE TRIAL and HALF PRICE DISCOUNT!

Homeschooling

Hate Teaching Math? I got you.

November 2, 2020December 2, 2021by Emily SewellLeave a Comment

Being an enneagram three, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that I like teaching math. I have always enjoyed the subject. It’s completely black and white. There’s no gray area with math. You’re either right or you’re wrong. My mother was even a math teacher, so it runs in the family. However, I can appreciate how many homeschool parents find teaching math difficult. Just like poetry makes zero sense to me (seriously, I cannot interpret symbolism for the life of me!), I understand how math can be difficult for others.

What to do?

Now, this isn’t really something that effects a typical person in every day life. We have our calculators on our phone, and that works just fine. But what if your a homeschooling parent, and you’re now the one that has to teach all the math to your kids? What then? Well, my best advise? Fake it ’til you make it. I’m serious! Fake that enthusiasm for your least favorite subject, so it’s not your kids’ least favorite subject. My second piece of advise is delegate the hard parts to someone else. From such an early age, kids are duped into believing they are bad a math, especially girls (which is a whole other can of worms that I’m not going to get into here and now). But in reality, kids just haven’t been taught in a way that they understand.

In our family, we use a few different approaches. You can read about our main math curriculum here. We do take a pretty traditional approach to math, and that seems to be working for now. However, I was recently approached by a company who has put together a really great online math curriculum. A+ Interactive Math by A+ Tutorsoft Inc. has been a really great addition to what we were already doing. And my kids look at doing math on the computer as a fun treat.

Online Homeschool Math Option

A+ Interactive Math operates in the traditional lane of homeschooling. They actually line up their lessons with public school, so it is a great resource for keeping your kids on track if you are only planning on homeschooling for a short time (hello 2020 pandemic). We have the Family Math Package, and it allows my kids to work mostly independently at their own pace. They can work from anywhere as long as we have internet connection. I can view their progress from the parent account as well. This helps me to see where they might be struggling, and what we need to spend our time on. The Family Math Package includes up to 10 students accounts, which is perfect for Pandemic Pods or an entire family. It includes 7 different grade levels (1st-6th, Pre-Algebra) which gives you an option to place each child in a desired grade level and even change the grade level when ready. This curriculum includes video lessons, interactive review, practice worksheets, chapter tests, step-by-step solution to each problem, easy to read progress reports, automatic grading & tracking, eBooks (lessons, worksheets, chapter tests, solution guides) and much more.

I hope enjoy this program as much as my kids and I do! It has been a great addition (ha! get it?) to our weekly math routine. It fits in seamlessly to what were already doing, and my kids as to do this program literally every day. You can check it out for yourself and try one month free at https://www.aplustutorsoft.com/freestuff/family-math-package . USE MY CODE: EMILY20 AT CHECK OUT FOR 20% OFF THE FAMILY MATH PACKAGE

Homeschooling

Christian Light Education Math Review

August 19, 2020June 27, 2022by Emily Sewell2 Comments

I am so thrilled to share my Christian Light Education math review with you. I know we are not all thrilled to teach our children math. Hopefully, we can teach our kids not to hate it, though. I actually really enjoyed math in school. It was my favorite subject. Side note: I’m a child of a math teacher…so maybe it’s genetics? Math made sense to me. It was like solving puzzles, and my Type A personality savored the fact that there is always a right answer. I’d probably still do Algebra problems for fun. Joking, not joking!

Choosing Christian Light Education

When it came time to choose a math curriculum for my early elementary aged kids, I was here for it! However, I became quickly overwhelmed. There are a LOT of choices out there, and there are a lot of different methods for teaching math to kids. I googled, I polled Facebook groups, I asked friends what they were using, and so on. A few curricula were mentioned over and over again, so I did a deep dive.

I was all set to spend a bunch of money on a super trendy program. It looked so fun, but I hesitated. It was a really expensive curriculum, and I was having to make a choice with never seeing the books in person. I decided to poll my homeschool mommy friends one more time. See, I already learned math. I am good at it, and I one hundred percent did not want to have to learn new methods for myself. I wanted a curriculum that taught to “carry the one” in addition. Did you know that’s not taught in public schools anymore?? At least it’s not in our’s. So, come to find out, the curriculum I was about to buy did not teach the 90’s way of math I was looking for.

Pin it

When I told my homeschool community exactly what I was looking for in a math curriculum, I had one sweet mama recommend Christian Light Education. It is definitely in the Traditional category of homeschooling. You can tell parent book is made for a teacher in the classroom setting. But for math, I feel like that is okay. We don’t need a lot of fluff. Best of all, my kids are learning to carry the one! Added bonus: this curriculum is pretty budget friendly, which is so nice when having to buy for multiple grades.

Why Do I Like It?

I can only speak to their math program, but Christian Light Education is simple and straight forward and has a spiral approach. This means that the child learns a new skill with the parent, then reviews previously learned skills independently each day. There are ten units per grade level, and each unit includes quizzes and a test. We use these just as an indicator as to what we need to continue to work on. There isn’t a dedicated Kindergarten math level with this company. It starts in grade one, so your child needs to have a basic knowledge of numbers and counting. My kindergartener learned a lot of the basics in preschool, so I felt comfortable starting her in grade one for math. She has done really well with it. My second grader is right on schedule with grade two, and she tells me that math is her favorite subject. She especially loves the Speed Drills. Child after my own heart!

I hope you have found this Christian Light Education math review helpful and informative.

Helpful Links

Math with Roblox!

Math materials we use:

Unifix Cubes

Learning Clock

Play Money

**Some links are affiliates which helps to support my little passion blog here at Intentionally Well. Thank you for your support**