The top question that I hear from homeschool parent to another: What are you using for a math curriculum?
There's a good reason for this preoccupation with math curricula. They are very different. And getting the right sort of math curriculum for each student does make a difference.
At one extreme, there are students who can basically read and understand a math textbook. These are the same students who deal well with factual logical math videos of Khan Academy. Very conceptual logical and dry. If a student has the motivation and logic to digest these materials then they would probably be bored with other approaches to math.
At the other extreme are the highly visual and animated math curricula. I'd place Time4Learning Math, Math U See, and Aha Math in this pile. Very effective with visual learners or with students who have difficulty with the language and logic of math. These curricula btw, are not watered down. They are just as thorough as other approaches but the presentation of the math concepts is packaged with analogies, visuals, and humor which avoid triggering the panic anxiety feeling that so many students have about math.
Other math programs to consider that go up to 8th grade: Aleks, Thinkwell (8th - calculus), Virtual Nerds (only a portion), and of course, there are others.
The math sequence for homeschoolers is also an issue. In public schools, they often have a very complex map of how they bring students of various capabilities through the math curriculum. For the fastest kids, there's an advanced 6th grade math, pre-algebra in 7th, Algebra 1 in 8th, Algebra 2 in 9th, Trigonometry in 10th, Calculus 1 in 11th, and Calc II in 12th. For the slower ones, there's 6th grade math followed by 7th grade math, then precalculus in 8th, Algebra 1 in 9th, General Algebra in 10th, Trig in 11th, and College Algebra in 12th. In between these two extemes, there's plenty of other paths.
There are people who heavily criticize the entire high school math curriculum and suggested a different math curriculum as more motivating and better preparation than the current approach. BUT, be aware that many colleges expect the standard curriculum to be followed (To learn more about how homeschoolers should handle college expectations and plans, look at LetsHomeschoolHighschool.com's section on College Planning for Homeschoolers).
An alternative view of high school math curriculum starts with the point that except for very few areas of specialities, nobody ever deals with quadratic equations or calculus outside of math class. However, logic would be more refined and more useful skills built if students all studied:
- probability and statistics - basic skills for making decisions including medical decisions
- basic finance for business and personal use -
- computer programming
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