5 Helpful Tips For Choosing Your Homeschool Math Curriculum

Summer is here and that means we are planning and preparing for another fun-filled year of homeschooling! Yet I don’t want you spending all summer long tied down to the computer doing research and reading reviews, so today I’m going to help you choose a homeschool math curriculum with 5 helpful tips.

This post is sponsored by CTCMath. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Choosing Your digital Homeschool Math Curriculum

Over the years our family has worked with a wide range of homeschool math programs… perhaps someday I’ll share them all!

We started with a book-based program that I loved, but the kids did not.

Then we tried a few different online options, dabbled in book programs, and reviewed a few others.

We’ve used traditional programs, relaxed math programs, and even tried a few out-of-the-box options. And over the year I’ve learned that selecting a homeschool math curriculum is a BIG choice – and I haven’t always made the right one.

Yet, every time I chose I math program for our homeschool the experience of selecting the program as well as the time we used it, helped me to create a system that makes choosing your math curriculum pretty easy to do.

5 Helpful Tips To Choose Your online Homeschool Math Curriculum

All of our trial and error, plus our years of homeschooling have led me to develop a system for selecting a homeschool math curriculum that will take some of the trial and error out of it for you… saving you time and money.

Oh, and giving you more time for a relaxing summer vacation.

Tip #1 – Know your child’s Math Learning Style

Perhaps the most important aspect of choosing your homeschool math curriculum is to learn how your child learns best. Commonly known as a learning style, this piece of information will help you narrow the field.

If you know your child learns best from textbooks and workbooks, then online programs should not be at the top of your list.

Although, I wouldn’t write them off completely, because some online math programs, like CTCMath, offer hands-on elements such as worksheets and printables!

And if you know your child does better with video-based math lessons, then you are going to want to look for digital and online math programs, such as CTCMath.

Tip #2 – Read Curriculum Reviews

Yup. This is the most time-consuming part of the process, but I assure you that a few moments of reading your favorite math reviews will save you a ton of time later.

Online curriculum reviews aim to help the reader learn the pros and cons of the product and they know that honesty is always the best policy.

And when an online business works with a particular brand multiple times, you know that there is an ongoing relationship being built on trust and respect.

It’s one of the reasons I love working on CTCMath reviews! I’ve partnered with CTCMath several times in the past to review the CTCMath Family Membership, learn how to customize our family’s math curriculum with CTCMath, and found numerous ways our family enjoyed using CTCMath’s online math program in our homeschool.

Tip #3 – Check Out Free Trials & Samples

If a program you are considering offers any sort of free trial, grab it!

This is a great way to get first-hand experience with a math program before you commit to purchasing the whole thing.

Most programs offer samples on their websites, even textbook-based programs, and nearly every online math program I’ve tried offers a free trial.

CTCMath offers users a 14-day free trial of their entire program. This gives parents and students alike a great opportunity to try this award-winning math program before ever committing to a purchase.

Tip #4 – Ask Other Homeschoolers

If there’s one conversation we homeschool moms love to have it, it’s about the programs we are using and why we love them!

We love sharing how a particular homeschool math curriculum, like CTCMath, helped our children master multiplication thanks to speed drills and fun games.

We will boast about how easy a program like CTCMath makes our life with short, dedicated video-based instruction for each and every lesson saving us the hassle of explaining PEDMAS… again.

And we will shout from the rooftops how effective automatic grading is for our children (a feature that CTCMath offers!)

Oh, and won’t hold back about features we dislike either.

Nope. Never.

Whether in person or online in groups and forums, we homeschool moms will sing the praises of the programs we like and warn you about the pitfalls of a poor program.

Tip #5 – Look for The Awards

Yup. Programs that have earned rewards are going to want you to know about them, and will proudly share the accolades they earned.

Whether they have earned Blue Ribbons from the Homeschool Review Crew, Parents Pick Awards, or a coveted space on Cathy Duffy’s Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum, a homeschool product that earned a prize will share the honor with you.

And for years, CTCMath has earned top spot in a variety of categories and from a wide range of programs because this top-rated program is loved by many, many homeschooling families around the world.

Choosing a homeschool math program with Ease & Confidence

It may be a daunting task to start from scratch and find a new homeschool math program, but once you find the right fit for your family, you will know it!

And if you are looking for an award-winning math program that offers both online video lessons and printable worksheets, with speed drills and games to help work on foundational lessons, and that is affordable and beloved by families all over the world, I can say that CTCMath is always one of my top recommendations for homeschool families.

Not only do they make choosing a homeschool math program easy, but they also make teaching math to my homeschool children a breeze.