Tips For Making The Most Of Online Math Programs
Homeschooling is an amazing opportunity to encourage a love of learning and to give your child a quality education. For some parents, not all subjects are easy to teach. Math is the most common struggle for families when it comes to teaching, but the good news is that there are so many excellent resources to make teaching and learning this subject easier and more fun. One such way is by using online math programs like Teaching Textbooks to make the most of your homeschool day.
In addition to math being difficult for some people to teach, there are many families, such as Military families, who benefit from online math programs because they move often and need something on the go! One of my favorite things about our favorite program, Teaching Textbooks is that it works offline for up to 6 lessons as long as the parents connect to the internet every 6 lessons!
I need to take a second here and attest that they are the only company currently that does this! I personally cannot say enough how beneficial this was for our family and would be perfect for an active duty Military family or just any active family.
The hard part won’t be teaching math. Instead, the hard part is choosing which online resource fits best with your children’s learning method. Once deciding to use an online program, how do you get started? What program should you go with? What are some tips and tricks?
Our family has chosen to use Teaching Textbooks. We have used this company for many years now and can attest to how top-notch the company and their curriculum is. We have watched them grow from disks we had to insert into our computer (circa 2010) to now having access to a program from every corner of the globe. As long as I have access to wifi or a hotspot, along with my computer or smart device, I have access to the online curriculum.
Tips for making the most of online math programs.
Set up a workspace
The great thing about online math programs is they can be taken anywhere. Traveling across the country? Use your smartphone as a hotspot. Spending time in France? Connect to wifi. The point is that an online program can be taken anywhere.
However, just because the online program is available anywhere there is access to the internet, doesn’t mean your student wouldn’t benefit from a workspace. When we aren’t traveling, our kids have a dedicated area free from distractions to do their work. Math can be challenging enough. But having a quiet area to work where they can focus can go a long way.
In your child’s workspace, they need a comfortable place to sit as well as the space to use scrap paper or a notebook to work on math problems or to take notes from lessons. If your child needs to work in the same room as other kids, noise-canceling headphones can be a great option for making it easier for your child to focus while completing their work.
Take advantage of manipulatives
Online math programs like Teaching Textbooks offer a lot of great interactive lessons your child can take advantage of. For some kids, the addition of manipulatives along with online math is extremely beneficial. So even when using an online math class consider using manipulatives or at least having them on hand for your child to use to help them understand things they may be struggling with.
Make learning math fun
Unfortunately, math is not a favorite subject for a lot of kids, let alone their parents. This means that you may need to make more of an effort to help make learning fun for your child. This is another reason we absolutely love Teaching Textbooks!
It isn’t just math, it truly is fun! I can’t tell you how many times my kids have jumped ahead and continued working past the assigned lessons, just because they were enjoying themselves. Before we found Teaching Textbooks, Math was not fun and they dreaded working on it. It was just as stressful for me.
Online math programs are a great way to keep lessons fun and engaging because of their interactive structure. To help make it even more fun, don’t be afraid to look at websites like Teaching Textbooks which is a full and complete math curriculum that again, is fun and engaging. Using this alongside great online math games as a supplement can help kids have great fun while learning.
Start your child off at the right level
Every child is different and ready for a different level of work. When you move your child to an online math program, pay close attention to their work. You want the work to be challenging, but you don’t want it to be so challenging that it’s discouraging. You also don’t want the work to be so easy that your children lose interest.
Using placement tests like the one offered by Teaching Textbooks is a great way to ensure your child is diving in at a level that works for them. This will allow your child to learn and be challenged without being overly frustrated because they are not ready yet.
Many programs will even offer a free trial that will allow you to see if the program is a good fit for your child. I want to point out that Teaching Textbooks is the only curriculum that offers the first 15 lessons of any level of math without payment information or time limits!
Most online math programs offer wonderful reports that make it easy to keep track of how your child’s progress. Check these reports regularly to make sure that your child is completing their work and doing well.
This will allow you to see where your child needs help and to make arrangements when extra help is needed for your child if it is not something you can teach yourself. A great program like teaching textbooks also takes this a step further and sends out daily progress emails to allow parents to know what their kids have achieved each day.
Enlist the help of an online math tutor
If you need help with teaching your child something they are struggling with within their online math program, don’t be afraid to enlist outside help. With the rise in online educational resources, you no longer have to struggle to find a tutor to help your child learn. You can enlist the help of an online math tutor that can help walk your child through math problems.
One company, Teaching Textbooks again raises the bar for any other company by offering free phone tutoring support if children encounter a topic they are not strong in. Parents can call customer service and have a tutor call them back and walk them through the problem.
Work your online math program into your daily routine
When using online programs and apps for learning, it can be easy to let them slide when you have so many more topics to teach your child. Instead, work these into your routine. A great way to do this is to keep a checklist of each thing that needs to be done for the day and mark things off as you go.
The great thing about online math programs that work on any device is that when you do need to take it on the go, well, you take it on the go. As long as your child is not working on a challenging topic and they have a good pair of headphones, math can go with you to the doctor’s office or a long drive during the holidays.
Math is a vital subject for kids to learn, but it doesn’t have to be hard or scary. Math can be fun and challenging and at the end of the day, it is more than worth the time and effort your family has put into it, especially with how easy Teaching Textbooks makes using an online math program.
I am honored to be a part of the Teaching Textbooks Ambassador Team. While this post is sponsored, all thoughts and ideas are my own. We do not promote products or companies we cannot stand beside, 100%.
