Maximum Math

Maximum Math is a fairly large (over 200 pages) paperback reference book for teaching math to students in kindergarten through 8th grade (pre-algebra). When I first opened this book and looked through it, my first thought was “Wow!” I have heard of this book for some time but had never actually looked at it. Once I had a chance to look it over, my only regret was that I had not been using it all along.

This is a very comprehensive book, which could be used as the basis for an entire math curriculum for the elementary grades. It is not a workbook and does not include any student worksheets. What it does include are graded lists of objectives, teaching suggestions, and activity ideas for each math concept that needs to be taught as a part of basic math. If a student is using a traditional math curriculum, this reference book could be used as a supplement to help reinforce areas of weakness. It could also be used to provide additional challenges for an advanced student who finishes their math assignments quickly and wants more. With a little more time and energy invested by the parent/teacher, this guide could form the basis of an entire math curriculum without ever purchasing a single workbook or textbook. The process is outlined very simply on the beginning pages of the book. In answer to the question, “Where do I begin?” the author states these steps to follow:

• Choose an objective.
• Select materials.
• Introduce the objective.
• Help the child see the usefulness of mastering the objective.
• Provide practice applying the skill.
• Proceed to another objective.

This is a much-abbreviated version of the author’s method of teaching math using this manual and a variety of suggested manipulatives and resources. The author gives a great deal of guidance in how to choose objectives, how to teach the material, what resources to use and how to find them, in what order to teach the concepts, and much, much more. I believe this method of teaching math could work for any student, but particularly for a student who shies away from traditional workbooks or textbooks. The material here is presented very clearly and can be easily understood by the parent or teacher. An older student could even use this book on their own as a reference for dealing with math challenges they are facing. Obviously, the younger your student is when you begin using this book, the more usefulness you will get out of it. But even though my youngest two children are now in 5th and 6th grades, I feel this will be a valuable asset to our homeschool library at least for the next few years.