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Math and Logic - Our Steady Path

We are at week 2 of the 2016 Virtual Curriculum Fair hosted by Kristen over at Sunrise to Sunset, Chareen @ Every Bed and Roses and Laura over at Day by Day in our World. This week we are talking about Math and Logic. These subjects are very important in one's educational development. Math and Logic are used in almost every aspects of our lives, so giving our kids a good grasp of these subjects is a must, if we want to prepare them for life as best as we can.


In the younger grades, we used curriculum such as Alpha and Omega and Singapore Math, which I will definitely recommend. But then around grade 3/4 I stumbled upon Math on the Level which allowed me to invest in one curriculum once for up to grade 8. The idea pleased me as we are on a very tight budget here. So I plunged and that is what we used up until the last couple of years. Even though I do not used it exclusively now, I do have them as a reference. If you want to read more details about Math on the Level, check out my Curriculum Evaluation post on Math on the Level.


Being part of the crew since late 2012 I have had the privileged of reviewing a lot of Math curriculum, see my Review page on this blog. Among them, two have stood out, CTC Math and Unlock Math. I have reviews of these on my blog so I will not rehash them in this post. I have been using CTC with my 5th grader for the last 2 years successfully. We started with Grade 4 and he is now at the pre-algebra level. My 7th grader favors Unlock Math out of all the Math curriculum he has ever tried, and he has tried a few. They are both online, which makes my life easier, all the while having perfect confidence that they are getting good Math education.

Last year, I stumble upon a good deal for the before High-School Life of Fred books, which I had heard so much good about before. So, I jumped and gave it a try. The set comprised the Fractions book, the Decimals and Percents Book and the three pre-algebra books : Physics, Economics and Biology. We have gone through the Decimals and the Fractions books so far, and they are working their way through the Physics one. I utilize these books as complements as they teach Math in a different way,  I have found that if you did not start with that particular approach to math,it is a bit awkward to start mid-way. That said, the approach is very refreshing and definitely complements a more traditional way of approaching Math. The way I look at it, I would describe it as Math in real life and it helps round out one's math overall understanding.


The way I distribute the work load is that they do their online Math daily (4x/week), and every other day they work additionally on Life of Fred. The other two days I have them work on some Kumon pre-algebra books as extra practices. My husband who is more mathy/sciency than I insisted that they practice more than what is require from the online curriculum. This plan is working out well and they are doing well in understanding and working Math.

When it comes to logic, in the past we have worked through books such as Perplexors, and Orbiting with Logic, this year Johann is finishing up a book from The Critical Company Co, The Basics of Critical Thinking, and Zach is working his way through The Art of Argument from Classical Academic Press.

Looking ahead I am hoping to continue with CTC Math and Unlock math as long as we can and Continue utilizing logic books from both Classical Academic Press and The Critical Company Co..

Don't forget to check my previous posts from earlier Curriculum Fairs to get more ideas of what we did in our homeschool when it comes to Math and Logic: 2015, 2014, and 2012


Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses - Thoughts on Math and Science
Kristen @ Sunrise to Sunset  - From Counting to Calculus
Laura @ Day by Day in Our World  - How We Approach Math in This Homeschool Year
Annette @ A Net In Time - Struggling with Math, Loving Science
Annette @ A Net In Time  - Lego Pulleys and Levers
Yvie @ Gypsy Road Hands - On Math with Special Needs Learners
Chelli @ The Planted Trees  - Chemistry Using Living Books
Lisa @ GoldenGrasses  - An Appalling Lack of Curiosity
Edie @ Carter Chaos  - Our Favorite Ways to Study Numbers
Tracey @ A Learning Journey  - Robot Area and Perimeter Art Project
Jennifer @ A Glimpse of Our Life  - Math and Standardized Tests
Jen @ Chestnut Grove Academy  - Discovering Patterns: Mathematics, Logic, and Science
Sarah @ DeliveringGrace  - Learning Multiplication Tables
Kylie @ Our Worldwide Classroom  - Multisensory Multiplication
Kym @ Homeschool Coffee Break  - Science and Stuff
Kemi Quinn @ Homemaking Organized  - Math in Our Homeschool for a Later Elementary Organized Reader
Joelle @ Homeschooling for His Glory  - Math and Logic - Our Steady Path
Laura @ Four Little Penguins  - Math and Science Love


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Comments

Annette said…
still thinking through the life of fred books I'd want worksheets for him as well.

so many people love them.. but that's no guarantee either is it?

Visiting through the VCF.
March 13, 2016 at 6:28 PM
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