My Secret Homeschool Math Instruction
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I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I am not a math genius. Really! I’m not. In fact, I am not very good at math. My brain gets pretty befuddled when given a bunch of numbers and asked to make sense out of them.
I knew early on that my son however is very good at math. I also knew that he would very quickly surpass my ability to teach him.
How I Teach Math for Gifted Homeschooling
That point came during last years academic year. My 5th grader was doing Algebra! This year he’s doing geometry, trigonometry and pre-calculus. But, how do I teach math for gifted homeschooling?
Today I’m sharing how I err, um, teach, Homeschool Math to my Gifted Homeschool Student. Just last week I was sitting with him while he was working on his math assignment which happened to be square and cube roots. I watched in fascination as my 10 year old son was calculating large cube roots in his head in about a millisecond and with much delight.
But was I teaching him? No! I’ve become more of a facilitator instead of a math teacher. Last year I began using the online program Khan Academy. This program offers complete video instruction for all areas of math from basic math to advanced highschool math. In addition to the videos, their is a complete program which allows the student to work through problems giving answers to gain points.
Here are the reasons why I chose Khan Academy for Gifted Homeschool Math.
- Teaches a complete scope of mathematics from simple addition through Trigonometry.
- Includes an instructional video for each skill set.
- Teaches to Mastery stage.
- Allows student to work at their own pace and level.
- Material presented in fun, modern and user friendly ways.
- FREE! (yes, free!)
- Available 24/7
- Available in mobile download app. So student can practice math on the go.
Now that is just one way that I ‘teach” my son math. Another way is with gifted math supplements such as Calculator Activities by Carrie Cutler and published by Prufrock Press. These type of books take math out of the book and puts it in real world application, such as calculating the distance between South Dakota and Texas.
This post is a part of the iHomeschool Network Link Up “How I Teach”
see what the other subjects the iHN homeschool moms are sharing here:
This Post is part of iHomeschool Network’s The Massive Guide to Homeschooling Math.
We just started using Khan Academy math for our 3rd grader. He loved it and understood it more than when I tried to explain it! We will be using it more.
Marci,
I agree, my son definitely understands through the watching of the videos and practice far better than when I try to show him. 🙂 Thanks for stopping in.
We also have a 10 year old working on Algebra. I also “teach”, more like stare in wonder… while he works long equations in his head then writes the correct answers. heh.
We like Khan, and when he wanted more difficult questions, we went to The Art of Problem Solving. Its not free, but it is specifically geared toward the advanced and gifted math student, so it teaches more discrete mathematics, and how to prove the theories in many different ways. We really like both of these programs. Out of curiosity, is your ten year old gifted across the board? or in just a few subjects? I think you are the first person I’ve “met” who has a kid like mine!