Level 1: Math Lessons for a Living Education with MasterBooks: All Hands on Deck: A Family Affair

As a parent who homeschools multiple kids and has to navigate daylight homeschool hours (haha) and give each child undivided attention, while keeping the others busy in order to limit unnecessary interruption, I understand how crucial it is to find the right resource and make it work for you.

I’ve been homeschooling for a few years now; seven years by the time this blog is posted.

Over the years, I’ve accumulated and used many different math curricula depending on my child’s needs. I’m sure you have too. So, for full transparency, MasterBooks Math is not the main math curriculum for my current kindergartener, however, it has earned a true place in our homeschool education this year.

To give a little background to our homeschooling life, I homeschool three kids, one in Kindergarten and two in middle school. I consider ourselves an eclectic homeschooling family that uses many methods and resources in our learning journey to meet my children’s level of success, so Level 1 Math Lessons with MasterBooks is another resource that adds value to our home education.

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Why Do I Use Living Lessons with MasterBooks?

I use the math book for two main reasons:

As a supplement to help my kindergartener review his math skills.
I can easily enlist my daughter’s help! Wait, what?!! (Oh, that’s why its a family affair)

How Do We Use Living Lessons with MasterBooks?

Ok, Ok, Ok….don’t get the wrong idea now. It is not what you think. My daughter is not in charge of her little brother’s education. Relax. But once a week, I schedule “Math with Big Sister” and “Math with Little Brother” on their respective printed schedules.

Of course, this is only after I asked permission from my daughter and only when she has the energy to help him. (because middle school work AND little brothers can use up a lot of her energy.)

How do we use the math lessons?

I tab out one, maybe two pages only. Why? Kindergartener’s short attention span and I don’t want to exhaust my daughter.
The pages that are tabbed out based on the skills that were already taught by me.
I set the table with the tools needed for the lesson; counters, white erase board with markers, and pencils.
We dedicate about 20 minutes to the lesson. *actual lesson time varies, but so far, lessons haven’t been more than 15 minutes.

What have I observed during Big Sister’s Lessons?

I’ve heard big sister’s use of math terminologies with her brother.
I’ve witnessed her patience and her kid magic to create games to teach her brother
Most times the communication between the two has been so sweet.
Lots of high-fives, hugs, and praises have been shared.
Little brother is so eager to impress his big sister that he really shows off his skills.

Where am I and what am I doing while this is happening?

I’m sitting at the same table right beside them or on the couch, two feet away from them, taking a breather, but actively observing. Yes, seriously. Sometimes, mama needs to step back from the 1:1 engagement but can’t mess with the flow of the day or else….chaos. #homeschoolmomtruth.

Why does this setup work for us?

There is only one reason….I can EASILY incorporate MasterBooks Living Education into our weekly learning without any overthinking or huge changes to our overall schedule. It is just easy. Flip through the pages, tab out the ones I will be using, and set up the manipulatives. Bam!