Kindergarten Math with the Crafty Classroom [a review]

Kindergarten Math should be one thing: FUN! When I was looking for an introductory program for my almost five year old, I wanted a program that would be engaging, simple, and fun so that she’d develop a positive relationship with numbers. When I heard that the Crafty Classroom offered an Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K, I thought it sounded like a wonderful fit for my crafty kindergartner.
​

​Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K offers a 36 week math curriculum for little learners.  The program follows a unique schedule that I felt was perfect for kindergarten, four weeks of learning followed by one week of game review activities to be sure concepts are understood before moving forward.

The curriculum covers numbers 1-20, counting, shapes, 3 dimensional shapes, number arrangement and number line addition, greater than and less than, counting by 2’s 5’s and 10’s, tally marks, subtractions, even and odd numbers, as well as practical math concepts like understanding calendar, clocks, and money.
​
As a mom, I’m not very craft. In fact, crafting with my kids tends to trigger a stress headache, so I was a bit apprehensive that this program would involve me having to cut and glue more than I’d like to, but that wasn’t the case at all! We already had most of the materials on the supply list (playdough, q-tips, dice, coins, candy graphing, beads for sorting, playing cards, money, and bingo daubers) and my daughter was able to use them to complete the activities with little help from me. My role in the lesson was reading the activity to her and helping explain the concept, and then she was able to jump in and do the fun activity!

Each lessons starts with a warm up quick, unscripted warm up time to review some foundational concepts. Cut outs are provided in the downloadable curriculum to create your own colorful review folder.​ After the material is reviewed, you can jump into the lesson. Each lesson took us 20-30 minutes to complete and consisted of three work pages, one that introduces a concept, a worksheet that goes a long with the concept, and a game or activity.

​One of our favorite games so far is called “Bank,” each player rolls a single dice and adds that number of counters to the row. The player to get to the 20th square wins. The game is simple; it helps build confidence with counting and provides a visual of the number all in one activity! 

Overall, Interactive Math Curriculum Notebook K by the Crafty Classroom has been exactly what I had hoped for, a simple and fun program that excites little learners about math. I also loved that this downloadable curriculum is only $25 and doesn’t require purchasing other materiel! My daughter has had a blast, coloring, cutting, gluing and playing and gained tremendous confidence along the way!
​
The Crafty Classroom offers many other resources, and members of the Homeschool Review Crew reviewed different materials, so be sure to check out the other products and reviews!