The Difficulties of Teaching Homeschool Math
It can be hard to teach homeschool math.
The responsibility falls on the parent to
- put together a complete curriculum,
- provide well-taught lessons,
- have the experience to work through any questions,
- and help instill a love of learning and problem-solving in the student.
In contrast to traditional school settings, homeschool math teaching requires more self-discipline, effective teaching methods and a supportive learning environment, all in the home without much outside help. It may be hard for a parent to locate meaningful resources and build them together coherently as part of a meaningful curriculum. It is a challenge helping their student to understand difficult math ideas while getting them to stay engaged and interested to work through problems. As a dedicated parent you’re looking for the best ways to help your child’s mathematical journey while juggling all the other subjects you teach, and managing life at home. It’s a daunting task!
The Homeschool “Math Gap”
Researchers have identified a potential “math gap” in homeschool students. Studies have shown that homeschoolers scored better than average in all subjects except math. Homeschoolers on average score slightly higher than average in reading but slightly lower than average in math. For the reasons we’ve mentioned, this may not be surprising. Many parents are not qualified to teach higher level math, and students may be left to teach themselves from textbooks or other static online resources.
From the Medlin and Blackmer study mentioned above,
“Homeschooled children were more intrinsically motivated in reading and less intrinsically motivated in math than children attending a conventional school using grades to evaluate students’ performance… there is some evidence that children’s intrinsic motivation for school work is related to the amount of instruction they receive.”
In other words, the report surmises that perhaps in many homeschool situations, the parent, wanting to develop the student’s independent learning and having exhausted their level of comfort with the math being taught, resorts to providing external materials which the student must apprehend on their own. The suggestion is that in contrast, the more direct instruction the student gets, the more intrinsically motivated they are and the better they will succeed.
There is evidence of another unfortunate outcome: lower percentages of homeschool students choosing math and science courses in college, and lower GPAs in those areas. Studies in this area are very limited, but nonetheless something we want to keep in mind as we seek to inspire future independent, homeschooled students as they move on to college and life.
In a traditional school setting a student may have teachers of varying quality or connection, year to year. But overall there is some likelihood that they will encounter some inspirational math teacher(s) along the way. In a home school, a parent who is “not a math person”, dislikes or discourages the student from pursuing math, may be the only math teacher they ever have. This could have an outsized effect on the student.
Effective Teaching
The good news is that, given a sufficient level of teacher math proficiency, the right math resources, interest and enthusiasm from the teacher/parent, there are practical techniques to help both the teacher and student to experience effective instruction and maintain your child’s interest and motivation.
Sometimes, however, the solution is to outsource the math and science parts of the homeschool curriculum to private tutors or a high-quality online math course, especially by middle and high school.
The Jamie York Math Academy is an excellent way to relieve the burden and stress of carrying Math teaching at home by yourself. Offering a unique mix of recorded lectures, live teaching, and student collaboration, it combines the advantages of online learning with community-building.
Overwhelmed?
Jamie York Academy offers meaningful, content-rich, developmentally-appropriate online math courses for homeschool students taught by master teacher Jamie York.
We combine recorded lectures with live teacher-led group sessions and live student working groups to maximize the benefits of online learning while building community and student interaction. We also offer science and humanities taught by our master teachers.
Three Goals: Mathematical Thinking, Enthusiasm, and yes, Math Skills.
Here are some tips to keep in mind as you help your child become the best math student they can be. With the right approach, you can help them to thrive and develop a strong foundation in math.
Working through interesting problems and puzzles will develop and strengthen your student’s mathematical thinking. They will also maintain an enthusiasm for learning– everyone loves to get to the bottom of a good puzzle or problem. The skills will come by applying the mathematical lessons to these creative thinking exercises. Focusing only on skills, drills, and testing is one way to kill the magic! Students need context, a good problem has an internal engine in it. As the teacher-parent, remember it is also important to find ways to keep yourself enthusiastic about learning! After all, if you are excited about learning, then you are modeling exactly what we want to achieve.
To excel in homeschool math, focus on three main goals:
- Developing and deepening mathematical thinking
- Maintaining an interest or excitement for learning
- Building math skills through creative problem solving, not just rote learning
Things to avoid and embrace in teaching homeschool math
Avoid teaching by memorization and blindly following procedures.
Example From 4th Grade:
Usually long division is taught as a blind procedure, perhaps with an irrelevant story to help the students memorize the steps. Usually, they don’t understand why long division actually works. I like to introduce long division through a practical example which the students can relate to and understand, as follows.
I ask the students: “Imagine that you have found $465 and wish to share it equally with five friends?” I then have five students come to the front of the room, or create five imaginary students, and in turn using play money, I give them each $60, and then $20, and $5, $3, and finally $5. In the end, each child has $93, which demonstrates that 465÷5 = 93.
After a few days, our lessons can progress to “flexible long division”. Here is an example of flexible long division that shows us “giving away” 200, 150, 20, and 12, resulting in a final answer that 2292÷6=382.
Show the value of learning from errors, mistakes and trying again! Embrace mistakes as valuable learning experiences, analyze them, teach through them, and learn from them.
Strive to teach the fundamental ideas behind mathematical procedures and apply those ideas to meaningful problems, this is far more important than memorizing use-case scenarios.
Look for a greater context. This can help students learn to think critically and solve problems. Success in math means developing confidence and maintaining an interest in learning and mastery.
Effective Strategies– tips for success in math for homeschool students
- Organize your work to keep things clear and keep track of your progress. In general, use the space given on a test or in a workbook. Write down your thoughts on how to do it (perhaps a few words, an equation, or a formula). Don’t do your hand calculations (fractions, multiplication, etc.) in the same place; do them on a separate scratch sheet, but be sure to label it in case you need to find a mistake later. Also, it is usually best to cross out larger mistakes rather than erasing them.
- Understand Deeply. Good math students are never satisfied with going through a procedure without understanding what they are doing. Always question why something is true, and never be satisfied until you understand it deeply.
- Short Term vs. Long Term. Don’t fall into the trap of quickly getting through assignments just to get them done, or learning things superficially for an upcoming test. Take the time to actually learn things deeply. This will save you time in the long run, and lead to greater success.
- Be Present. Be fully present in class at all times. Every minute you spend in math class is an opportunity. Before the start of each math class, tell yourself that your goal is to get as much out of class as possible.
- Ask questions that will help you understand things better. Asking good questions is an important skill to develop in order to become a successful student. Find the courage to ask questions in class even if you are afraid of what others might think. Check your understanding often and clear up any question right away.
- Keep Up. Ask yourself every day if you understand the material. Try to clear up any confusion now, even if there is no test on the horizon. By keeping up on a day-to-day basis, you will not need to panic just before the test.
- Follow Up. Don’t avoid your weaknesses. When you encounter something you don’t know how to do, make a note of it, and get your questions answered. When you get a problem on an assignment wrong, be sure to follow up – find out why you got it wrong, and figure out how to do it correctly.
- Be Determined. You learn math best when you get confused and then work through that confusion. Struggle and frustration are part of doing math. But never get discouraged; get determined!
- Responsibility. Take responsibility for your own learning. Find the inner motivation to do your work for yourself – not for your teachers or your parents. By the time you graduate from high school, you should be fully independent.
Learning about Life Through Learning Math
You will notice that most of the above tips can be applied to other subjects and other areas in life. We learn much about life by learning math! If math (and life) were always easy, we would miss out on important opportunities for personal growth.
Overcome the Challenges
You can get through the challenges of homeschool math teaching and do well if you have clear goals, use good strategies, and keep a positive attitude. Don’t forget that math skills, mathematical thinking, and enthusiasm are important not only for school growth but also for personal growth. Math gives you chances to learn and grow, so take advantage of them and enjoy the process of learning and finding out.
Jamie York Academy offers valuable holistic Waldorf Math Education books and resources for grades 1-12 that help teachers and students craft meaningful and rigorous lessons. We teach children the “why” behind math ideas, enhance their critical thinking skills, and encourage enthusiasm for learning. Our books, worksheets and teacher workshops help relieve the burden of organizing lesson plans from scratch or tracking down material for lessons.
Know When to Outsource
If you find that homeschool math teaching is too challenging or that you need to focus your attention on other subjects, we offer a successful Waldorf-based online math academy for homeschoolers using the Making Math Meaningful™ curriculum we developed over decades of math teaching. Let us do the teaching! Parents in our Academy serve as tutors, or support for their students. Recorded lectures by master Waldorf math teacher Jamie York can be reviewed at will, live group teacher/tutor sessions work through the material of the lectures, and studend collaboration groups engage in problem and puzzle-solving together.
