Math is one of the 3R’s, one of the subjects that pretty much everyone will choose to teach their children – or be expected to teach, if their home education is to be judged adequate under local laws.
Example of Requirements:
The Quebec Education Act doesn’t specify that math must be taught, but it is one of the subjects that a school board would be looking for in evaluating a child’s educational experience at home. Our local school board representative tells me that it is one of the “core subjects” – along with English and French.
The MELS, Quebec’s education ministry, sets out the amount of time that is to be spent studying each subject in a classroom. In primary cycle one (grades 1 & 2) a teacher is to devote seven hours, or 28% of the weekly teaching time, to math instruction. In cycles two and three (grades 3-6) this drops to 25% or five hours.
While the law does not address the subject of time spent homeschooling and our board has no policies I can locate that require a specific amount of learning be done in a year, one would expect they’ll be looking for a math education that doesn’t stray too far from what’s offered in school. One of the things the board asks for evaluation purposes is a written list of math objectives. Those who choose to do third party evaluations (e.g. standardized achievement tests) can expect that the board will object if a child scores more than one year below grade level without a legitimate reason (e.g. disability, the child had previously been held back in math, etc.)
At the secondary level a math is a compulsory subject. Math is a required subject each year up to secondary IV, and students in regular academic programs must pass a senior math course to graduate. Requirements for CEGEP admission in all programs include passing Math 426, Math 436 0r Math 514.
How Home Educators Meet Math Requirements
For a good number of parents, math may not be a favourite subject. The prospect of teaching math is, for some, about as inviting as spending an afternoon under the supervision of the Spanish Inquisition. But I believe that most home educators recognize the importance of a good foundation in mathematics (numeracy) if for no other reason than it allows one to perform certain survival functions in life: drawing up a budget, estimating the grocery bill, calculating a tip, making sure the twenty hours of overtime worked this month is actually on one’s pay cheque, etc.
So how does a home educator (who is not a mathematician, or some other scientific type who feels quite at ease with numeracy) meet the requirement of teaching math?
As I see it, there are several routes to take:
- Find someone to teach your child math:
- A tutor or private teacher;
- A distance learning service or umbrella school;
- A cooperative class organized by parents in your homeschool group,
- An exchange with another home educator (for lessons in another subject area, childcare, etc.);
- Outreach services provided through your school district, if such support is offered.
- Piece together a math curriculum of your own:
- Consult your local requirements or other recognized (e.g. NCTM) standards;
- Use free or frugal resources such as workbooks, computer software, web sites, free printables, etc.
- Create your own worksheets and tests, especially in the primary grades.
- Purchase a (contemporary) commercial textbook or boxed curriculum, or follow a (usually 19th century) public domain textbook – see this page for some suggestions;
- Take advantage of contemporary math curricula available free online – see this page for information;
- Use living math to teach the history and concepts of mathematics through literature;
- Address math teaching needs through unit studies or delight directed education.
I hope to have more on the last two options available soon. Watch also for posts about individual resources such as Timez Attack, a high-end computer game that teaches multiplication tables. It’s very popular in our house! Math resources will also be found by reading through some of the current and upcoming posts on summer slide. Some of the suggestions are commercial items, and some are activities you can try or manipulatives you can make yourself. The price tag on these is always quite reasonable!
N.B.: Quebec home scholars who want to receive a high school diploma will be expected to write the provincial exams for the required courses. Although it is possible to defer writing the exams and later do them through adult education after age 16, no other diploma is recognized for students who reside here.
A GED or diploma issued by the home educator is not valid in Quebec, not is there any guarantee that SAT or other achievement test scores will be accepted by the MELS or a CEGEP as proof of high school equivalence. Getting credit for math and other required subjects is important unless your child has firm plans to seek employment elsewhere or to pursue post-secondary studies outside of the province.
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