So I’ve told you what you could expect in this “How We Homeschool Tour & Series” and so far shared in Part 1: How I Organize and Part 2: Our Homeschooling Goals and the goal chart I made which give me a visual of where I want the boys to be by Christmas.  Today is Part 3: Eclectic Homeschooling Math.

You’ll see my nine unit shelf and a close up of my Math shelf. There isn’t much on it because I print out the lessons I want from Math Mammoth (I own a digital only version for 1st Grade and have a cd for 2nd Grade) and  any other online sources and put them in a folder marked with that boy’s name.  Now, my oldest is in 3rd Grade and I’m holding off on buying that level till he’s mastered as many of the basics I want him to have under his belt. I’m not interested in fast pacing him through all sorts of math subjects that he doesn’t need right now.

I often reflect back on my own private and public school experiences (I was never homeschooled) and there were things that I was “taught” that didn’t stick with me, that I didn’t understand then and that I do not use now. So those types of things I’m not sweating to put my boys through this young. The nice thing about homeschooling – well, one of many- is that you can’t really compare your kid to others in the class or worry about the class moving faster than your child’s ability.

Teaching Math Eclectically:

Here’s most of what’s on my Math Shelf and some of what’s not.

• Math Mammoth Light Blue Series

• Various sets of flash cards (multiplication, addition, subtraction- check Target for $1 sets)

• Telling Time flash cards (I’ve bought from Amazon and found for $1 at Target)

• Skip Counting Charts (free printables– see this post about “teaching multiple subjects at once” for more info)

• Dry Erase Math books

• Egg Carton Game (for teaching Place Value- we haven’t used yet)

• 100 Chart (free printable)

• See my Homeschooling Pinterest Board for lots of ideas I’m storing there. That’s where I found the Egg Carton Game and maybe the 100 Chart.

• Dry Erase Multiplication book (see my son on couch using) – bought at a dollar store I think.

• I’ve used dry erase boards in the past and made my own worksheets and use counters like in this post about Homeschooling Free, Cheap and Easy (has video too).

I just want to stress that Target has been a great source for $1 sets of flashcards (animals, math, time, space, historical, flags…) and workbooks and (thanks to a tip from another blogger)  $1 Index Card holders/boxes (colored plastic) to use as flashcard cases! Check your local dollar stores as well for more cheap teaching tools.

Pinterest is also the bomb-diggity of resources. I follow real teachers there- lol. So if you follow my homeschooling board you’ll see what I’m pinning and might just find many things of use for your own homeschooling experience.

• Be sure to subscribe to get my posts delivered to your email inbox. If you’ve missed a post you’ll find it below at these links:

How We Homeschool Tour & Series Introduction
Part 1:  How I Organize
Part 2:  The Goals and Chart for My Boys
Part 3:  Eclectic Homeschooling Math
Part 4:  Eclectic Homeschooling Reading, Writing & Language Arts
Part 5:  My easy, laid-back way of homeschooling Science