You don't have to be math-minded to effectively homeschool your child. This common misconception has intimidated parents, diminishing their confidence to pursue math. In this episode special guest Ken Hively, homeschool dad to 6 children and creator of My Math Assistant, shares practical applications for math at home.
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QUOTABLES
Ken: "...if you're going to learn anything, whether it's a skill or a subject, the way you learn that is through repetition over time. And so the way that Saxon Math was really set up was you're going to review these concepts, not just for a little bit of time to pass a test, you're going to review them throughout the entire book."
Ken: "I definitely recommend Saxon math. When it comes to switching curriculums, having homeschooled for like 12 years now, I think that sometimes we as parents, we are a little bit too quick to maybe blame the curriculum. If you're thinking, 'Maybe my math curriculum is not working well,' I would stop and ask some questions about why is it not working well. It could be that you're just not using it the way it was intended to be used. It could be that you don't understand it well enough. It could be character issues with your child."
Ken: "We don't do all of the problems necessarily. And especially if a kid has one of those brains that picks up math really well, it's possible they really don't need that much review. But if your child has any struggles with math at all, that review is there for a reason."
Ken: "Don't be afraid to slow down a little bit. You don't have to keep up with that family that's got the eight year old doing pre-calculus. We all know that family and that's great for them. You don't have to keep up with somebody else's pace. Go with the pace that your child needs to go at to really master what they're trying to learn."
TIMESTAMPS
02:24 Ken tells his background as a homeschool dad.
03:21 How different ages need different approaches with math.
04:41 Helping kids begin to be independent math learners at around grade 4.
05:02 Ken explains why he loves Saxon Math and tells a bit about its approach.
06:48 About the tests in Saxon Math and how Saxon uses repetition to teach and help kids retain.
07:41 How to troubleshoot when you feel your math curriculum is not working well.
08:46 How the time of day can affect your math success. HINT: Don't put math at the end of the day.
09:36 Isn't the repetition in Saxon boring? How can you make it more interesting? The importance of repetition and practice.
12:02 How to manage daily math lessons. Ken suggests doing math year-round instead of taking a summer break. This way, you can slow down the pace.
17:29 Why memorizing math facts is a counterintuitive solution for math anxiety.
18:16 Ken tells the story of his son who isn't naturally a math whiz. And when the child would forget his math skills, Ken assumed he was being disobedient. But actually Ken realized the problem was that he wasn't that great of a math teacher, so he adjusted his methods and used games to teach. It worked!
23:03 The fear of falling behind with math.
25:22 The ongoing struggle of grading math and how My Math Assistant helps.
