.This year we are working on Grade 1 Math with Little Fox. Before I get into what we are doing, let me give this little disclaimer:
Our core program is Kate Snow’s First Grade Math with Confidence. This program targets 6-7 year olds. (Though Little Fox started it at the end of her 4th year). And it is advertised as a “middle of the road” program, so it should work for most families. Little Fox happens to be mathematically inclined, so she is using this program in Kindergarten. And, because she loves math so much, we are making some adaptations and supplementing with other programs to make her math experience more in-depth than necessary. But First Grade Math with Confidence is also a great program on its own.
Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, here is how we adapt the various math programs we are using to suit our family!
How We Use First Grade Math with Confidence
First Grade Math with Confidence contains 11 units of Math Skills, with each unit being around three weeks long. This allows children to spend a long time focusing on each topic and to really grow in understanding, which I really appreciate about this program. In addition to this mastery approach, a little bit of review is built in to each lesson and workbook assignment. And this prevents math concepts from being forgotten. As well as helps build skill over time so that if a skill wasn’t mastered at first the child has a chance to keep approaching the topic.
So this program is really good for building number sense and mathematical understanding.
I also appreciate how uncluttered the program is. The instructor guide is black and white, but uses large print and clear labels for providing information. Meanwhile the student workbook is in colour, but still not overwhelming! Each page has only a few exercises, mostly because the bulk of the learning is done through oral and hands on work during the lesson. These workbook pages are really attractive to Little Fox. And she appreciates that each unit has a different coloured border on the sides of the pages, because she can see her progress through the units this way. So Little Fox is always excited to do her workbook page! But I am just as happy that these workbook pages aren’t overly intensive for kindergarten and first grade students.
Each lesson in First Grade Math with Confidence lasts around 20-25 minutes. And the workbook only takes two to four minutes. So if your child has a short attention span, this program is still great for learning math. And if your child has a longer attention span, you can spend extra time playing the math games again.
The Instructor Guide
The bulk of the course is in the instructor guide. But while this means the math program is parent intensive, it is not a challenge to get through at all. In theory, a mom only needs to set aside 20 minutes to do math one on one with the child. Also while there are a lot of hands on activities and games, it is super easy to substitute materials and activities. So whether you are 8 months pregnant or homeschooling with a newborn, this course is so easy to teach and follow.
Unit Overview + Checkpoints
At the beginning of each unit there is a Unit Overview. Coupled with a checkpoint for the end of any previous unit. The check point is there to help you determine how well your child is doing with the math program. If any remedial work is needed, suggestions are given in the checkpoint for how to build any slower-to-develop skills. I also appreciate how the checkpoint shares where it is okay for the child to not have mastered a concept yet. Reading the information in the checkpoint is essential for this math program.
The rest of the unit overview provides some extra information for reference/to be helpful. It is not really necessary to read these pages. But if you want to see what is coming up it is informative.
The overview covers what the weekly topics are for the unit, what skills the child is working on, and a list of optional picture books for the weeks in the unit. This way you can place library holds/prepare as necessary for if you want to do the math read alouds. But these picture book suggestions are totally optional and not necessary for the program. We did buy a few of the math picture books, but we have only read these separately from the lessons. If your family likes crafts or special activities, at the end of each week there is an optional enrichment lesson which includes the picture book and a bonus for-fun activity. As a pregnant mom I didn’t even read these pages, and I still love First Grade Math with Confidence without using this bonus content.
Week Overview
The word week is meant very loosely in the instructor guide. It is more like a sub-unit of 4 lessons plus the optional enrichment content. Because Little Fox loves math so much, we sometimes do 6 lessons a week, or one and a half sub-units. And sometimes we only do two First Grade Math with Confidence lessons, and use our supplements on other days. When we did the Kindergarten math program, we did two lessons a day to keep her engaged, which meant we accomplished 10-12 lessons a week. The instructors guide explains that the word week isn’t meant to show what you should cover in a week. And I want to reinforce that we totally change up how many lessons we do in a week to suit our families needs.
The week overview gives a list of the lessons for the sub unit (.1, .2, .3, .4, and bonus .5). The main thing I use this page for is the section for more information about what you are teaching and why. Sometimes I will read through this while my child is working on a lesson activity or the workbook. I really appreciate how this frames what the purpose of our homeschool math work is in the long term.
Finally, the week overview lists any extra supplies used in lessons this week (so you can prep or plan substitutes). I don’t pay attention to this part since I am not always using each lesson from the sub-unit straight and I always find it easy to substitute with what we have nearby.
The Actual Lessons
Each core lesson begins with a short Warm-up/review. This bit helps children who struggle with math to build confidence, or children who are confident in math to begin focusing. There are usually three or four short prompts. One example of this is counting to 30 with your child, tossing a bean bag back and forth while saying each number. Another example is “tap your head with your left hand.”
The meat of the lesson comes after the quick warm up review. This section has many engaging activities, sometimes with pretend play and games. The work done here is very hands on, but still simple to accomplish. The lessons are scripted so if you want you can simply read the bold text. And then you check if your child understands by seeing if they are responding in a manner described by the italicized text. Sometimes I use the script for the lessons, particularly on days where I feel extra tired. Another time I appreciate the script is when I am not confident in how to explain a concept to my child. However, most of the time I simply read through the content of the lesson and then present the activity to Little Fox without reference to the script in the book.
So if you don’t like scripted curriculm, don’t feel that means you can’t use First Grade Math with Confidence.
Further Adaptations
If a lesson seems to be more challenging for Little Fox, I sometimes repeat the activities from the lesson or present a related Montessori work for her to help build her skills. Also when she really loves an activity (like make 10 solitaire) I also offer it to her outside of lesson times to continue to reinforce her math skills.
I really appreciate the flexibility of First Grade Math with Confidence for all these adaptations!
We started grade one math before the start of the school year. And so I have been worried about us going too fast. Even though Little Fox seems to understand math easily, I don’t want to go so fast. What if we end up pushing her beyond her maturity level? And so to slow down our progress through First Grade Math with Confidence we sometimes use other supplements instead.
Supplement One: Singapore Math: Prim 1A and 1B
Our first mathematics supplement is Singapore Math. The version we have is Primary Mathematics US edition. The reason we have these books is that I bought 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B at a homeschool convention back when I was still pregnant with Little Badger. We have just the textbooks and workbooks, and not the teachers manual.
So, since we had these books anyway, I decided that I could add them in. Specifically, to slow Little Fox’s pace through our core program.
Using the supplement has been really beneficial for us. First of all, some concepts are presented differently than in First Grade Math with Confidence. This expands Little Fox’s math experience so she is really comfortable with what an idea really means. Also the presentation of ideas in the Singapore Math textbook take more time than the lessons in our core program. Sometimes there are several pages of textbook before any worksheets are assigned. And the length of the worksheet assignments vary greatly.
This builds Little Fox’s attention span since sometimes she has to spend a lot longer doing the same activity than she does in First Grade Math with Confidence. But also I know if she is a little hungry, tired, or otherwise unwell, I don’t want to supplement with this program because it may be too intensive for how she is feeling.
Supplement Two: Addition Facts that Stick
For anyone using First Grade Math with Confidence, Kate Snow’s Facts that Stick series is unnecessary. However, we added this program in because Little Fox is moving so quickly. It is meant to be a six week program, and especially helpful as a summer math supplement. However, I am using the program a little differently.
The beginning of Unit 2 in First Grade Math with Confidence works on the +1 and +2 addition facts. By the time we got to the end of the sub-unit I didn’t feel Little Fox was ready to move on. But in our Singapore Math, we were already about to start a unit on subtraction! And so I decided to take a look at Addition Facts that Stick. In this program we spend 5 days on the +1 and +2 facts, and then the next 5 days on the facts that equal 10. And I thought, this is perfect! We can do the weeks of Addition Facts that Stick as they match up with out work in First Grade Math with Confidence.
So we took a week and a half off both other math programs to do the first two weeks of Addition Facts that Stick. Doing this really built up Little Fox’s confidence with these facts. And prepared her for moving forward in the other first grade work. We will go back to this supplement again once we have moved forward in First Grade Math with Confidence addition instruction. So rather than doing the six weeks in a row, we will cover each topic when it suits us based on how our other math is going.
Bonus Points!
Also, for the addition facts that equal 10, we replaced the game suggested in the book with make 10 solitaire from First Grade Math with Confidence. I definitely appreciate the wide variety of math games and activities I can use. And that I can choose which ones suit our family best!
Supplement Three: Beast Academy
Given my concerns about Little Fox moving too quickly through math, I reached out to Kate Snow. Because she is the author of First Grade Math with Confidence and Addition Facts that Stick. I asked her what she thought would be best given Little Fox’s pacing in mathematics. And her suggestion to me was to add Beast Academy Mathematics as a supplement.
Beast Academy provides an advanced maths course for mathematically inclined students. It is definitely not for a child who struggles in math! Basically Beast Academy provides more difficult math problems for the child to spend time thinking about and coming up with strategies to solve. And if necessary, there are hints that may be given to help solve these problems. Personally, I thought this sounded amazing, as I was often bored during math in school. I like the idea that I can offer Little Fox a challenge where she needs it. So in the fall I am going to order Beast Academy Mathematics 1A, 1B, and 1C.
Since we don’t have the books yet, I am not entirely sure how we will use this supplament. Since Beast Academy is meant to be challenging, I might wait until we are finished First Grade Math with Confidence and our Singapore Math books before getting started. However, I might introduce the topics after they have been covered in both First Grade Math with Confidence and Singapore Math.
We’ll see how it goes.
The Future of Math Supplements
Doing three math programs in a year might seem a bit over the top. However, since this is just grade one math and we are learning what works for Little Fox, I am not at all concerned about that. I could always pull things back if it seemed like she was getting overwhelmed. But if anything, she is still begging me for more and more math!
I also have the 2A and 2B for Singapore math, so we might at least use that next year. I don’t imagine we will need to slow her down so much with extra supplements by third grade though.
However, if the extra challenge of Beast Academy is a success this year I might continue with that as a “summer supplement” to keep her busy when she finishes her regular courses. At this point, I really hope we will stick with the Math with Confidence series. Because I love it so much, and it is so cost effective. I really don’t mind buying a new workbook for each child at these prices. Plus, even as our family grows larger, the Math with Confidence series is not too time consuming.
The Byzantine Life
Thank you for checking out this week’s article. For more about homeschooling, be sure to check out our other articles, and many free homeschooling printables.
Please share our article on social media! On our Pinterest we have boards full of different homeschooling ideas! Also, you can follow our Facebook to see our latest blog posts as they publish. The Badger Dad also runs our Twitter (@TheByzLife) and Instagram accounts (username: thebyzantinelife)!
Do you appreciate our work at TheByzantineLife.com? Consider joining us on Patreon for as little as $5 a month. In other words, you can help us run this website and produce quality content. And in return, you get exclusive access to special posts, photos, and updates from our family! As more people join, we will be adding bonus faith and family resources too. In short, click here to find out more: https://www.patreon.com/thebyzantinelife
