This post may contain affiliate links. Affiliate links use cookies to track clicks and qualifying purchases for earnings. Please read my Disclosure Policy, Terms of Service, and Privacy policy for specific details.
My chosen math program for the school year just wasn’t working out. When I found out about Evan-Moor’s core math curriculum, I did some research and knew I needed to switch. We were mid-year with our other curriculum and I was just spending too much time modifying what we were already using. I wanted to make the switch right away. I received Math Fundamentals grades 3 and 5 in exchange for writing articles about my experiences with the Evan-Moor math curriculum. This article explains how to switch your math curriculum mid-year to Evan-Moor’s math curriculum.
How to Switch Your Math Curriculum Mid-Year to the Evan-Moor Math Curriculum
Step 1: Buy the Evan-Moor math curriculum
To use Evan-Moor’s math products as a complete math curriculum, you will need to purchase Math Fundamentals and Daily Math practice. These books are published by grade level, so buy the grade level(s) you need for each of your children. The books can be purchased separately as both e-books or printed books. You can also purchase printed versions with a consumable student book (which may be more cost effective than printing or making copies) in a special homeschool bundle with an everyday 25% discount. This discount is already calculated into the bundle’s purchase price. CLICK HERE to go to Evan-Moor’s homeschool bundles.
CLICK HERE to read my review of Math Fundamentals.
CLICK HERE to read my review of Daily Math Practice.
Step 2: Find the suggested teaching sequence in your Fundamentals book
I have copies of Math Fundamentals for grades 1, 2, 4, and 5. In each of these books, the suggested teaching sequence is on page 7 or 8. The above image is the teaching sequence for 5th grade math.
Step 3: Compare the content in Evan-Moor’s Math Fundamentals with the content already covered in your previous math curriculum.
In order to efficiently switch your math curriculum, you need to compare the content between your previous curriculum and Evan-Moor’s math curriculum. Look at the content listed in the “Suggested Teaching Path” in the Math Fundamentals book. Compare this to what your previous curriculum already covered. For my child completing 5th grade math, the previous curriculum already covered the first 4 topics listed.
Step 4: Look for Gaps in Instruction from Previous Curriculum.
When you switch your math curriculum, you need to look for gaps in instruction. To check for gaps, I skimmed through the instructional pages in the Fundamentals book on the topics that were already covered in our previous curriculum. I noticed there was nothing new in the Numerical Expressions and the Using Operations with Whole Numbers and Decimals sections. I did notice some new information in the Use Place Value in Decimals and Exponents and the Analyze Patterns and Relationships sections. For example, although my child understands a lot about place value, he had not previously learned how to compare numbers in different places. Based on the new content, I decided we needed to start with 1 and 2 in the list, but could skip over 3 and 4.
Step 5: Plan out your schedule
The Math Fundamentals books I own include about 36 weeks of instruction if you complete 1 page per day. In order to calculate how long it would take to complete the content we are going to cover, I divided the pages from that content by 5. It will take us about 24-25 weeks. Since we do year round school, we will finish Math Fundamentals in April or May. We are right on schedule. If you need to do some catch up to finish by the end of the school year, more pages could be completed per day.
Step 6: Start using the Curriculum
To use the curriculum, you will have your child complete each school day:
- One or more pages (based on your schedule) from the Math Fundamentals book.
- One day’s worth of content from the Daily Math Practice book.
If you have the electronic books, print out the pages you need. If you have the printed books either make copies or write in them if you would like to use them as consumable books.
Step 7: Monitor Progress
Use the Daily Math Practice to monitor student progress. For my child working on 5th grade math, I am going to pay close attention to daily math scores, particularly for content I am skipping over in the Math Fundamentals book. If needed, we will revisit content from the Math Fundamentals book. This will ensure content mastery.
Data Collection
For data collection, I am using a sheet that come with the Daily Reading Comprehension book, another product I use and recommend. CLICK HERE to read my review of Daily Reading Comprehension. You can make your own data collection sheet or if you use Daily Reading Comprehension, use a copy of that one for math.
Summary on How to Switch Your Math Curriculum Mid-Year
Once you buy the Evan-Moor Math Fundamentals and Daily Math Practice books as your core curriculum, you will need to compare the content to that of your previous math curriculum. Look for gaps in instruction to fill in with Math Fundamentals. Use Daily Math Practice to monitor student progress. Students will learn expected grade level content based on educational math standards and you will be able to fill in any gaps left by their previous curriculum.
So many homeschooler need to switch curriculum mid-year, so I really appreciate you sharing your method. Excellent advise for any mid-year curriculum switch, too!
We switched math mid-year to Math Fundamentals, and it really did make a difference for my child and for me. The suggested teaching path really did help. I didn’t use it at first and realized I should have. it really did make things easier on my child to follow it.
Thank you again for sharing this!