We Play Math Curriculum
Our Math Philosophy
Anyone can succeed in math. The idea that some people are naturally good at math and others are naturally bad at math is silly. Given excellent instruction, support and materials any child can thrive at math and love it, too! Kids don’t hate math, they hate feeling frustrated and We Play Math eliminates that frustration through gamification. We Play Math is ideal for children of all skill levels to achieve more than they imagined possible because it challenges advanced learners, helping them to unlock their full potential, while building confidence in struggling learners by allowing them to learn at their own pace and providing exceptional support. All children have the potential to become high achievers through time-tested, proven teaching strategies, good, old-fashioned support and a solid, principle-based foundation. We Play Math teaches critical thinking skills and problem-solving strategies for success in math, on standardized testing, through college and beyond, and we do it in an appealing way.
Our Core Ideals
Math is not just apolitical — it transcends politics. Math isn’t racist, it isn’t elitist, and it doesn’t subscribe to any particular religion. Math is so incredibly beautiful and pure that it transcends race, ethnicity, gender and time. The mathematical principles discovered by Archimedes and Newton are still valid today. Great math teaching is not dumbed down, it is not imbued with social activism or propaganda and it is not bloated with bureaucratic standards. Rather, great math teaching is simple, concise and natural. It feels sensible to learners, because it is the epitome of sense.
We Play Math Content
Each day’s coursework consists of a brief video explanation of a concept, an online activity or game for the purpose of practicing skills and a daily assignment from a consumable workbook (links to downloadable the workbook are also provided if you would rather print it yourself).
Student dashboards will also include links to enrichment activities, including math labs, math mysteries (the history of math concepts and study of great mathematicians), math art projects, investigations and more. Many of the enrichment activities are only provided to Premium Subscribers, but a few are provided to all subscription levels. Most enrichment activities are optional, but we hope that they are appealing enough that students will choose to use them voluntarily.
Our Structure
We Play Math is spiral based, meaning that concepts are introduced and then revisited repeatedly, more deeply each time, in order to familiarize students thoroughly with each concept. We feel a conceptual understanding is critical to student understanding and always introduce new topics conceptually before providing students with the procedure, or algorithm, from which to solve problems. Rote memorization and/or mechanically following algorithms doesn’t lead to true understanding. We ensure conceptual mastery through a combination of multi-sensory learning techniques. We believe that math requires a great deal of practice in order to gain the necessary fluency (math is a language) and a profound number sense. We love that math games can provide much of the skill practice required, but we also believe that the importance of pencil and paper and the physical act of writing should not be overlooked. We believe that a blend of the two is ideal. We believe that parental involvement is the single biggest predictor of student success and you, as a homeschool parent, have already made that commitment. We just want to help!
Created by Homeschool Parents for Homeschool Parents
Have you ever researched curriculum for various subjects and wondered if you would EVER find something that was the right fit for you? After 18 years of homeschooling, I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been through that. So much curriculum is geared to government institutions, and much of what claims to be homeschool friendly is published by the same publishers that cater to government institutions. No thanks!
Personally, I cannot say enough good about Saxon math. I love John Saxon’s philosophy, the scope and sequence of his textbooks (the older versions before the company was sold to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and the richness he accomplished while also being concise (because he did not cater to the bloat caused by modern redefinition of standards). But I am a self-proclaimed mathophile and I also work from home and set my own schedule, so I am able to be available to my children. I understand that other homeschool parents may not have the time or inclination that I do, or they may have insufficient experience, so Saxon remains inaccessible to them. Those parents (and their children) are my reason for building We Play Math. It is what I want for my own children, content-wise and what I would want for myself if I was unable to spend a couple of hours per day working with them on math concepts.