How to Survive Homeschool High School Math with Mr. D Math

I’ve never been easily frightened when it comes to homeschooling. I’ve always been very confident in my ability to teach my kids. That all changed recently when I started looking into homeschool high school math curricula and programs.

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I realized that while I can teach how to solve -12x – 5 = -4x + 19, that’s probably the extent of my upper-level math instruction skills. What happens when the girls reach Algebra 2, Pre-Calculus, and Trigonometry? Thank goodness I found Mr. D Math live online classes.

What Is Mr. D Math

Mr. D Math is a curriculum program founded by Mr. Dennis DiNoia, a former public school teacher. His approach to teaching math is what stands out most to me. The Mr. D Math program teaches math as a language, not a set of rules that need to be memorized. Presenting math this way changed our approach to learning math completely.

Mr. D Math offers a variety of both live online classes and self-paced math classes.

Mr. D Math Class Offerings:

• Pre-Algebra
• Algebra I
• Geometry
• Algebra II
• Pre-Calculus with Trigonometry

Mr. D Math Readiness Class Offerings:

If you aren’t quite sure your child is ready for one of the courses or think they might need a refresher before diving into a class, you can enroll in class readiness courses. These class are 6 weeks long and review previous skills as well as prepare the students for the upcoming class. Math readiness classes that are offered are:

• Preparing for Pre-Algebra
• Pre-Algebra Readiness
• Algebra I Readiness
• Geometry Readiness
• Algebra II Readiness
• Pre-Calculus Readiness

Other Mr. D Math Class Offerings:

The classes aren’t limited to math either. There are lots of great electives as well as test prep and study skills courses to choose from.

• Advanced Writing
• ACT Bootcamp
• SAT Bootcamp
• Study Skills
• College & Career Readiness
• Flamenco Guitar
• Flamenco Dance
• Training Like an Olympic Runner

Mr. D Math Live Class Format

Class Meetings

Live classes meet weekly according to their set schedule. Meetings are conducted via Zoom, so they are simple to access. Students are able to interact with each other as well as the instructor until class begins.

One benefit to the way Mr. D Math instructors have structured their class meetings – students can ask questions directly to the teacher via chat. This eliminates fear of submitting a wrong answer or asking a question they feel is “silly”.

Coursework

Each section of the class has corresponding coursework. This work is presented during the live class with some of the problems worked out together with the teacher. The students then complete the remaining coursework that week on their own.

The solutions manual to each set of coursework is available to the students. They actually check their own work each week and assign themselves a grade. Yeah, that was a bit mind blowing to us as well.

Here’s what we learned from this format:

• students have the ability to correct their mistakes
• instead of getting a grade and forgetting about the assignment, they strive to learn what errors they made and resubmit their grade
• there is low/no pressure in this format for the student

Quizzes

Quizzes are given for each section of work. These quizzes are online and are kept very short and concise.

Students have multiple attempts to take the quizzes and can use their coursework notes. This is another way that stress is reduced on the students. Learning to take good notes and then use them to solve problems is a very important skill needed for higher education.

Exams

Exams are given at the end of chapters and semesters. These exams are similar to the quizzes but contain more questions.

Again, having notes and the ability to go back and correct mistakes makes a world of difference in the confidence of the students.

Why Choose Live Online Math Classes

We have experienced a self-paced class at Mr. D Math and absolutely loved the format and easily accessible platform. I had mixed feelings about a live online class offering though.

How fast-paced is the live course? Would the instructor take the time with the students? Will I have to revisit the lessons with Amelia if they were too difficult to understand during the live session? These are all valid concerns when beginning a new learning format.

All my concerns were quickly erased after the first week of Mr. D Math Pre-Algebra. The class was exactly what we had expected from Mr. D Math. Well planned, easy to navigate, and in the fun, casual demeanor that Mr. D Math is known for.

Live classes can be a great way to differentiate your homeschool schedule (and give mom a break).

While Amelia didn’t get to have Mr. D himself (Dennis DiNoia does teach many of the courses) she was placed in a course with one of the other Mr. D Math instructors. She immediately felt comfortable with this instructor and the rapport she built with the other students from day one.

She has said that her favorite part of the live sessions is the first 5 minutes of class. The instructor poses some fun scenarios or ice breaker questions to get the students relaxed and ready for class.

Benefits of live online classes:

• allow for students to ask questions and get instant feedback
• make the learning experience more personal
• allow for a variety of learning styles
• provide flexibility but also structure

Things to Consider When Choosing a Homeschool High School Math Curriculum

There are some things to consider when you are looking for a homeschool program for your kids. High school math programs had a lot of requirements in my book and Mr. D Math checked all the boxes for us. Here are some things you’ll want to consider when choosing a homeschool high school math program.

Flexibility

Depending on your family’s schedule and situation, you’ll want to consider the flexibility of the math curricula you are considering. While homeschooling normally equates to flexibility anyway, live classes can pose a challenge.

Mr. D Math live online classes are easily accessible from any device with internet access. There is no special software or requirements other than accessing a Zoom meeting. This is a huge plus for us as we tend to travel, camp, or take last-minute field trips.

If a class is missed, the kids may watch the recording. The recording is usually available within 24 hours after the original class time. There is also the option to watch the pre-recorded videos with Mr. D. Amelia took advantage of the pre-recorded videos as a follow-up to the live classes. This helped her grasp some of the harder concepts a little easier.

One-on-One Help

Having access to one-on-one help can be especially important for homeschool high school math classes. Although the instructors at Mr. D Math do an excellent job of teaching the concepts, there are times that another voice may be needed to help the concept sink in.

Extra help sessions are offered twice weekly. They are accessible by all students – those in the live online classes and those enrolled in the self-paced courses.

Amelia was a bit nervous to attend an extra help session. She was struggling with a problem on her coursework and I wasn’t able to explain it in a way that made sense to her. She jumped onto the extra help session (you can come and go as needed) and an instructor spent several minutes on the problem for her. He worked through it with her a few times and even asked for her feedback on how he had explained it.

Not only was this extremely helpful for understanding and solving the problem, but it also boosted Amelia’s confidence level tremendously. Knowing that she had direct access to a teacher for one-on-one help kept her motivated and positive.

The extra help sessions are one of the most valuable benefits of being enrolled in a Mr. D Math course. This is probably the main reason (among many others) that we will continue to choose Mr. D Math for homeschool high school math classes.

Progression of Classes

We have jumped around between many different homeschool math curriculums over the last few years. However, now I’m recognizing that upper-level math will need a more consistent platform for the girls.

Knowing the main math courses as well as “readiness” courses are available with Mr. D Math is extremely reassuring. I would hate to have to find a new program for each high school math class as the girls progress.

You can view all the available courses as well as the upcoming schedules so you can plan your school year well ahead of time.

Prep or Readiness Classes

If you aren’t sure which class your child is ready for or think they may need to brush up before diving into a class, check out the readiness classes. These classes are offered for each of the Mr. D Math classes and help prepare the students in just 6 weeks.

We are planning to use the readiness courses as “summer classes” to keep up on skills and prepare for the new school year in the fall.

Mr. D Math is Mom-Approved

Most online courses or classes require a lot of guidance and assistance from parents. I normally need to stand by to help with logging in, print the required materials and look over the shoulders of the girls as they take online classes.

With Mr. D Math, the platform and routine of the classes are extremely well planned. Not only does Amelia log-in and access her coursework on her own, but she also is extremely comfortable with her live teacher.

I found that she will ask questions frequently and isn’t afraid to interact within the class when needed. Questions asked via chat go directly to the teacher so there’s no fear of other students seeing the question.

I won’t say that math was an easy subject for us prior to Mr. D Math. We had our trying moments. When a concept wasn’t easily grasped there would often be tears (by myself and Amelia).

With this being our first venture into the upper-level maths, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Pre-Algebra was definitely a change from her grade-level math programs that we had previously completed. She was a bit nervous to start but the encouragement and support from the Mr. D Math instructors were overwhelmingly positive.

Now I feel like I’m a cheerleader, standing on the sidelines to give support and assistance when needed. Mr. D and the other instructors are the amazing coaches, helping students to victory.

This has been a huge relief for me. It has taken such a weight from my shoulders knowing that I won’t be battling homeschool high school math alone.

If you’re looking for live online classes, homeschool high school math programs or test prep classes check out the course offerings from Mr. D Math.