Need to introduce some new math concepts to your kiddo, but want to avoid information overload? Or maybe you need to reinforce math skills you’ve covered before, but don’t want to resort to the kill-and-drill approach. Either way, we’ve got you covered with three super simple ways to supplement math in your homeschool.
*This post is sponsored by Beast Academy. Also, some referral links are included. See this disclosure to learn more.*
Having a solid curriculum to guide your math education is an awesome thing, but sometimes it’s best to put the curriculum aside and take an outside-the-box approach to math education. That’s where these math curriculum supplements save the day!
Easy Ways to Supplement Math Education Without a Curriculum
1. Play math games.
One of the coolest things about supplementing your math curriculum is that you automatically have permission to approach things differently than you do through traditional lesson plans. Because of this, we can supplement with a play-based approach to math with zero guilt.
Fred Rogers wisely stated, “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning.” Since play and serious learning are a packaged deal, it’s extra awesome when we can bring math and playtime together.
Simply put, practicing math through games is a win-win for you and your kids. When they’re having fun, they want to have more fun. That means supplementing with math games leads to more fun and effective math practice.
Not sure where to start when it comes to supplementing with math games? Beast Academy Playground can help! Their offline math games are designed with kids 4 years old and up in mind and are perfect for turning math practice into play time.
Turn Math Time Into Playtime with Beast Academy Playground!
Put the textbooks and practice problems away and learn math through free tabletop math games the whole family can enjoy together.
Better yet, all of these games, crafts, and math activities are FREE. And, since new videos are released each week, Beast Academy Playground is a resource to keep in your back pocket for any time you need to introduce a concept, log some practice time, or add some fun to your math plans.
2. Explore math in daily life.
Another easy way to supplement your math curriculum is to use math with your kids naturally. This gives them a chance to see how math is used outside the context of lessons and practice problems.
Need some real-world math inspiration? Here are some ways that math skills and life skills go hand in hand.
- Meal planning
- Preparing meals or baking
- Measuring furniture or art for a room
- Planning travel and arrival times
- Budgeting
- Banking
- Sports
If you can think of other real-life math applications that naturally come up for your family, tap into those and get your kiddos involved in using them with you. Not only will exploring the real-world applications will help them grasp specific math concepts, these opportunities will help them understand why math education is important for everyone.
3. Read about math.
Books are a go-to for teaching lots of subjects, but we sometimes assume that’s not possible when it comes to tackling math outside of standard homeschool lessons.
Fortunately, we don’t have to skip reading when it comes to supplementing our math curriculum. There are plenty of good options for helping kids grasp math concepts through story. See this list of picture books that teach math for reading suggestions, but we particularly love how the Sir Cumference series does this.
For example, Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens teaches place value, Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map teaches coordinate geometry, and Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi introduces Pi.
Other books in the series tackle area and perimeter; circumference, radius, and diameter; charts and graphs; and measuring angles. All that to say, stories like these make it super easy to work math education into your homeschool read aloud time in an organic way and supplement your math curriculum in the process.
Math Curriculum supplements: Putting It All Together
Now that we’ve talked about these easy math education ideas, keep in mind that you can use them individually, together, and even along with your curriculum if desired.
For example, you can check out a fun Cartographer game to explore the Four Color Map Theorem or combine Sorting Through Spring and with this pop up card craft to learn about patterns.
In closing, remember that supplementing your math curriculum doesn’t have to be complicated. Just remember that reading books about math, playing math games, and using math naturally all go a long way in introducing and reinforcing math skills.
