Disclaimer: I was compensated for my time in exchange for my honest review. Opinions and viewpoints are my own.
Math is our homeschool’s favorite subject. If it’s got numbers my learner loves it. Because of this love, we are making it a personal mission to take a look at all of the homeschool math out there. So let’s take a look at Master Books, Math Lessons for A Living Education.
Master Books provides faith based learning for homeschooling families with a focus on integration of Christian principles with everyday practical learning. Their math curriculum, Math Lessons for A Living Education, explores Math using real life situations and stories to help learners connect closely with the “why” of learning mathematics. Depending on the grade level, you’ll get a Student Course book and a separate Teacher’s Guide. Both books are perfect bound, sturdy, and punched/perforated for easy filing and access. Work directly in the book, or pull out pages at your convenience. Everything you need is in the books, but you can access a placement test if you’re coming from another curriculum on their website.
How we used Math Lessons for A Living Education
Cash and I took a look at Level 6 of Math Lessons for A Living Education. Written by Angela O’Dell, a homeschool mother with an affinity for Charlotte Mason pedagogy, this was one of many series she has written in both math and history. Both books were in full color, with easy to read text and eye catching photos and illustrations. Though we are secular homeschoolers, we enjoyed the gentle reminders that God is in everything including Mathematics as Christians.
Now if you’ve worked with story based curriculum before, Master Books Math will feel very familiar. Each lesson begins with a story related to the lesson. The stories themselves are well written and colorful, but sometimes felt a little long, and you could easily use the math to reinforce reading and comprehension. For me, I use to leaving Cash to complete math on his own, but with the extensive reading passage, I was compelled to join into the beginning of the lesson with him. This is done intentionally, so that you as the parent stay active in the lesson and they even explain their philosophy in teaching in the Teacher’s Guide. After the story, you’ll find some math vocabulary, discussion questions and exercises for each day. At the end of a lesson you’ll be able to administer a quiz for review. The entire course covers 36 weeks, using a 5 day week, and each lesson should take around 30 minutes. At the beginning of the Teacher’s Guide you’ll find a detailed, suggested schedule of study that will keep you on track and give you a spot to record progress and grades. Master Books left no part of the curriculum without direction and the Teacher’s Guide includes all quizzes, answer keys, supplies needed, and a helpful appendix in the back.
Cash loved this. It’s been some time since I sat down with him for math and was really excited to get started. He did bring along his Stuffies as additional students and because of this did the reading aloud, himself. I let Cash hold onto the Teacher Guide to check his work and I sat back to observe.
Now let’s talk about rigor. Cash is officially a fourth grader this year but does math work around sixth grade or higher. We reviewed Level 6 of Math Lessons for A Living Education and he found the work fairly simple. Instead of completing work per the suggested schedule, on average he did about a week’s work in one sitting. For a child accelerated in math this is pretty normal and to add in additional rigor you may need to go up a grade level or a supplement. For a student that struggles in math, this Charlotte Mason style, real life math approach may just peak their interest and the short, daily lessons could make the learning more enjoyable.
Overall, we are still enjoying and using Master Books art and math. Level 6 of Math Lessons for A Living Education has been a fun addition to our homeschool and Cash often picks up the books on his down time to work on. The math covered – from Addition to Decimals and Fractions is foundational to middle grade math and builds on the skills needed for Algebra. This gentle review of the basics keeps the learning fresh while connecting math to both practical learning the way previous generations learned math and connecting to faith.
Want to check out Master Books for yourself? Head to their website to: Take a Placement Test, Browse their Math Curriculum, or Look at everything Master Books has to offer.
By the way, be sure to Enter To Win a FREE course of your choice to Master Books Academy!
@Mamasweetbaby 
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