I’ve often said that there is no perfect “ADHD curriculum,” because kids with ADHD are just as varied as kids without. Any curriculum you choose will need some adjustments, and just about anything you use can be adjusted. With that in mind, these ADHD homeschool math options are quirky and creative, colorful and engaging, or hands-on with lots of variety. Plus, these particular options for ADHD homeschool math are items we have used personally. Though these homeschool math curriculum choices won’t solve all your ADHD challenges, choosing from this list may help you find something that, with a few adjustments, could be the perfect curriculum for your child.
The ADHD Homeschool Math Curriculum List
Before shopping curriculum, I highly recommend taking the time to know what it is you value in your homeschool and what your child is like when it comes to a particular subject. Take some time to jot down a few notes about your child, or at least take some mental notes.
Write down strengths and weaknesses, personality and character traits, and any anxieties or interests.
- How does your child relate to math?
- Does your child have a short attention span in this subject, or tend to hyper-focus when it comes to math?
- Does your child tend to stay more engaged online or with something in his hand (pencil and paper, math manipulative, etc.)?
Once you’ve got a few notes either on paper or, at the very least, in your head, we’re ready to start talking curriculum.
Life of Fred Math
If you have an active, creative kid with ADHD who loves to laugh and is just a bit quirky, you’ll love using Life of Fred math. This curriculum teaches math problem solving through story-telling. It’s a story of a five-year-old genius professor and the ridiculous situations he gets himself into. The math presentation has a loose structure with lots of randomness that weaves in and out. The problems are challenging and involve critical thinking and are just as ridiculous as the rest of the book. But what really amuses me, is that the book is like being inside one of my kids’ brains. This is how they tell me a story, and these are the types of questions they ask. And it’s all just as random as Fred himself.
Pros: Very engaging! My kids have loved Life of Fred math. The lessons are short—perfect for short attention spans. The problems involve lots of advanced math concepts and critical thinking as well as plenty of review and spiraling through the entire series.
Cons: If you have a child that prefers black and white, straightforward math, Life of Fred will be frustrating. There is no straight-forward with Fred. Sometimes the instruction can get lost in the story. If you have a child with weak reading or comprehension skills, or a child that gets lost in the story and forgets he’s doing math, you may have trouble with your child not fully comprehending the math concepts or missing important information.
CTCMath
If you are looking for an ADHD homeschool math for short attention spans, CTCMath might be the perfect fit. CTCMath is an online math program with short PowerPoint-style math presentations and math quizzes organized by grade and by topic, similar to Khan Academy. And by short, I mean the videos are usually under 10 minutes with 10 quiz questions per lesson.
I have loved pairing this resource with Life of Fred and other curriculum options, when we need something a little more straightforward or a little more in-depth instruction. The concepts are broken into many individual lessons, so yes, while the videos are short the overall content does have depth. We’ve also used it for periods of time as our sole curriculum. It is mastery-based, with no spiraling unless you incorporate the “semester review” exercises.
Pros: Short, simple instructional videos with 10-question quizzes are perfect for a child who easily gets overwhelmed with too much material or needs a fast pace. Topic test and diagnostic tests allow you to see just what your child is understanding. Regular weekly email reports help you to monitor your child’s progress. It is one of the easiest online math systems I’ve used; very user-friendly. Also, customer service has always been prompt and helpful.
Cons: If you have a child that needs to see concepts several times to get the hang of them, this curriculum will be frustrating. It is mastery-based; once your child masters the lesson, you may not see the information again. Though there are “semester review” activities that you can assign, These worksheets review all the concepts for the year, which your child may or may not have covered yet. We found these frustrating, and my kids very often were in tears anytime I attempted these “review” sheets (so we skipped this and reviewed concepts in other ways).
For a better look at CTCmath and how we’ve have used it in our homeschool (for over 3 years), check out either of these posts:
- Homeschool Math Help with CTCMath: a review
- Creating a Customized Homeschool Math for your Unique Child
Teaching Textbooks
Another great online math option is Teaching Textbooks. This curriculum has much more substantial instruction and quite a few problems to solve for each lesson, while incorporating automatic grading and record-keeping.
So for your techie ADHD child, who stays engaged well with anything online, this might be a great ADHD homeschool math option. There are lots of options to customize the dashboard and backgrounds, the characters and rewards, etc. Plus, it’s a quality math program that does the grading for you.
Pros: The lessons are engaging with a number of customizable features for your child to create a fun virtual “workspace.” The instruction is lengthy and in-depth with example problems woven throughout for the child to interact with during the lesson. Problems are sufficiently challenging with plenty of review incorporated throughout. Overall, a really thorough engaging option for your kid that learns well online.
Cons: There is no speeding things up or skipping lessons really. If you have a child that likes to master things quickly and move on, this option might not be the best fit. Also, not all kids do well with online learning for two reasons. First, I have kids that would prefer to try to answer in their heads rather than write things down, resulting in inaccurate answers they could have gotten right. Second, a couple of my kids just don’t seem to latch on to concepts the same way on a screen as on a page. Again, not every ADHD kid is the same.
Want a little more in-depth look at Teaching Textbooks? Read Homeschool Math Curriculum for Independent Learning.
Math Mammoth
Math Mammoth is a good fit for the ADHD kid who likes to approach things differently, who just sees the world through his one set of lenses. This curriculum presents several ways of approaching a problem, which allows your child to select the method that works best rather than being forced into the box of one particular method.
Math Mammoth is another really thorough math option that is mastery-based but with plenty of review incorporated at the end of each unit. It’s available as printable pdfs or as purchasable texts. It works really well as a primary curriculum as well as a supplement if your child needs a little extra instruction or practice on a particular concept.
While it could possibly be used independently, my kids have never been able to use it this way. Thus, it usually requires me to be available to give a little more explanation or instruction.
Pros: Great for out-of-the-box learners that need more than one approach to solving a problem. The curriculum does a great job of logically working through the small steps toward understanding complicated concepts. It also presents several ways of approaching a problem. While my kids don’t always enjoy the options, I encourage them to try each one and discover which one they prefer. After that, I let them choose how they want to solve the problem. Really great for those who don’t tend to opt for the “traditional” methods of learning.
Cons: The pages can seem overwhelming with lots of content. If you have a child who gets overwhelmed by looking at a page of math problems, this might not be a good fit. You could choose how much to do each day or what to skip, but I know sometimes it’s hard to move past a mental block once your child feels overwhelmed. Also, while I’ve always felt there was sufficient instruction, it’s not always written in a way my child understands. I have to be available to translate sometimes. And sometimes there are insufficient directions for the puzzles and Bonus problems. If you are okay with skipping things, it’s not a problem. But if you feel like you have to finish everything on the page, these might be super frustrating.
RightStart Math
If you are looking for an ADHD homeschool math that is hands-on and game-based, RightStart Math is a great option.
A wonderful, hands-on math with lots of creative manipulatives and a game-based approach. It is teacher intensive at all levels, but provides very adequate scripted teacher guides to help. I loved this math, especially at the younger levels, and learned a lot alongside my kids. It really does a great job of explaining what’s happening in the math.
Pros: If you have a child who really struggles to understand the abstractness of math, this is a great option to make math concepts concrete. Especially at the lower elementary levels, this is a fun engaging way to introduce math and build a foundation. In addition to lots of manipulatives, there are also lots of game options to choose from as well.
Cons: This is a pricey option initially when you are investing in all of the manipulatives. And yes, I personally think it’s worth the investment to buy the manipulatives. Also, the teacher-intensive part of the program always got to be too much for my kids as they got older (3rd or 4th grade). They wanted a math that was more straight-forward and with a little less MOM involved. Another consideration is that the lessons, as written, really aren’t one-a-day lessons unless you want to do math for an hour or so. My method was to set a timer for about 20 minutes and put a sticky arrow wherever we stopped; we’d pick it up the next day and get as far as we could. I also saw the games and manipulatives as optional; we didn’t ever do everything everyday.
There are a number of great options for homeschool math that work well for kids with ADHD, many of them aren’t on the list simply because I don’t have personal experience with them (Math U See and Beast Academy among them). If you have experience with other options and would like to add them to the list, please comment below and tell us what you think!
While there is no “perfect” one size fits all homeschool math for ADHD, I don’t think any of us really expect that could be the case. After all, these are the kids that don’t fit in any of the “boxes” of education anyway. However, I do believe you can find an ADHD homeschool math that is perfect for your child, even if it takes a little bit of adjusting to get there.
