Your Quick-Start Path
Not sure where to begin? We've got you!
Follow these five simple steps to confidently start your learning journey at home.
1. Find Their Starting Point
Focus on where your child truly is: current grade, previous grade for foundational work, or use a simple assessment conversation.
Forget "should be."
3. Pick Your Activities
Each concept guide includes everyday activities (5-10 minutes) and focused activities (15-30 minutes). Choose 2-3 that fit naturally into your routine.
2. Pick One Core Concept
Choose based on curriculum sequence, your child's curiosity, school learning, or an area needing support. One concept.
4. Build Your Routine
Aim for 4-5 times a week, mixing daily activities with 1-2 focused sessions.
Stay flexible; some weeks you'll do formal activities, other weeks everyday moments.
5. Watch for Understanding
Each concept guide shows you what to look for: signs they're getting it, signs they need more support, and how to adjust your approach.
Add Resources (Optional):
Supplement with books and tools only if you want. Each concept guide includes suggestions, but the activities work with what you already have.
Permission to Start Imperfectly:
You don't need all the materials or a perfect schedule.
You need one concept, a few activities, curiosity, and grace for yourself and your child.
Building Your Learning Rhythm
Creating a successful routine isn't about rigid schedules; it's about finding what works for your family.
Make It Work for YOUR Family
There's no single "right" schedule. Consider your natural rhythms:
Morning people? Math after breakfast, when brains are fresh
Afternoon energy? Post-lunch activity to power through the slump
Evening bonding? Math games after dinner are quality family time
Monthly Check-Ins
Take time each month to:
Celebrate progress and growth
Assess informally what's sticking
Reflect and adjust: What worked? What didn't?
Weekend learners? Longer dives on Saturday or Sunday
Throughout the day? Ten minutes here, activity there, math book at bedtime
Never do math when anyone is sick, upset, tired, or hungry. Sometimes less is genuinely more.
Daily Time (Flexible by Grade)
K–Grade 1: 15-20 minutes daily
Grade 2–3: 20-30 minutes daily
Grade 4–5: 30-40 minutes daily
Quick warm-up + main activity + learning moments woven throughout the day
Weekly Balance
Do 4-5 days of focused learning plus daily activities throughout your week.
Work on 1-2 concepts deeply
Try one hands-on activity a week
Read 1-2 picture books together
Keep revisiting previous concepts through games
The Real Talk: Life happens. Some weeks will be amazing; others, you'll barely manage basics. The long game matters more than any single week. Progress over perfection.
When to Adjust Your Approach
Signs Your Child Needs More Support
Watch for consistent frustration, reliance on counting by ones, inconsistent answers, negative self-talk ("I can't do this"), inability to explain thinking, or avoidance behaviors.
What to do:
Go back to concrete materials (manipulatives, real objects, drawings)
Simplify numbers while keeping the concept intact
Break into tiny steps; master one before advancing
Connect to their interests (dinosaurs, sports, building)
Make it playful to reduce pressure
Signs Your Child Needs More Challenge
Watch for finishing quickly with accuracy, solving without supports, clear explanations, deeper questions ("What if...?"), calling work "easy" or "boring," or exploring beyond grade level.
What to do:
Use bigger, more complex numbers or multi-step problems
Remove scaffolding when ready (mental math without manipulatives)
Ask "Why does that work?" and "Can you prove it?"
Encourage multiple solution strategies
Have them create their own problems or teach concepts
Assessment That Actually Tells You Something
Formal tests don't reveal what young children truly understand. Real insight comes from observation and conversation.
You're not assessing to assign grades. You're assessing to guide instruction.
Watch Them Work
Do they use manipulatives or work mentally? Use efficient strategies or count by ones? Try multiple approaches? How do they handle mistakes? Their approach reveals their thinking level.
Listen to Their Explanations
Ask "How did you figure that out?" and "Why does that work?" If they say, "I just know," that's memorization.
If they explain the why and show the how, that's understanding.
Notice Real-Life Application
Do they spot concepts without prompting? Apply learning to new contexts? Use vocabulary naturally? Real-world application shows true mastery.
Quick Checkpoints
Ask them to teach a concept to someone else, create their own word problem, or explain everything they know about a topic.
Teaching and creating reveal true understanding.
The goal isn't to create
a genius.
It's nurturing a confident, curious learner who sees learning as a tool for understanding their world.