SmartSeries Books

In 2010, I wrote about the book series, The Complete Canadian Curriculum. At the time, I had just discovered these books (by accident) and thought they’d be a great addition to a Canadian homeschool curriculum. I was recently contacted byΒ the distributor of the series and they let me know all about their expanded collection of books – the Smart Series. They sent me a few to check out and try with my boys.

The series actually covers a large variety of subjects.

There’s Math Smart, French Smart, English Smart, Read Smart, Science Smart …. and then a whole lot of extras – like things that target Preschoolers, testing skills, spelling, and summer refreshers. Right now, they are working on the Complete FrenchSmart series too! And, for my French language readers – I’m excited to tell you that they have a French Math series, Les Maths Faciles. Yay!

Each book makes learning fun with cartoon characters, interactive lessons, and lots of easy to read explanations and highlighted key-words. I like that as the students get older, the information is presented in more complex paragraphs while still being age appropriate. The early years books require more parental involvement as there is quite a bit of reading involved, but still easy for kids to understand and grasp.

I love that in the Science book – they’ve included experiment suggestions to expand on the book knowledge. The French and the Reading books are in colour – which is a nice change from the black and white of the other workbooks.

In our house, we’ve been using the MathSmart series for a few years. I love that they build on lessons – giving lots of opportunities to make sure concepts are understood. There are answers in the back of the book, too, so if can’t solve the problem or are confused by the wording of things – you can find out what you are supposed to be doing. It’s easy to teach, and easy to learn from.

And, don’t forget the Complete Canadian Curriculum books, which include a section on Math, English, Social Studies, and Science. I love using these books as part of our bigger curriculum – using the Math section for additional review if a child needs more practice, the Science section for additional worksheets on our hands-on plans, the Social Studies section to build a larger curriculum plan, and the English book to practice reading and comprehension in addition to our library books and other activities.

Lisa Marie Fletcher
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46 thoughts on “SmartSeries Books”

  1. I have a few of these i picked up second hand to use for curriculum for next year .. ive been looking thru and they look really good and cant wait to use them

  2. I would love to get grade 3 science or math for my daughter. We are currently using grade 2 book and it is so easy for Emma to follow along.

  3. We have Basic French and Complete Canadian Curriculum 1 and LOVE them. The Basic French is great for my littles who can’t join in with our French studies yet. I’m excited to hear about the Complete FrenchSmart series, and I hope they come out with grades 1-3 as well. It would be so handy as an added bonus to our French curriculum since it still seems like we’re missing something, and good (bilingual) French material is hard to come by.

    I’ve also been thinking of adding their EnglishSmart to our line-up. Though I’d probably get them all if I could. πŸ™‚ Thanks for the giveaway!

  4. It’s so hard to choose! The science series looks wonderful, but so do the ones on various Social Studies topics πŸ™‚

  5. I would love to win a set of these for my son! I’m not familiar with this series but I’ve been wondering what to use for next September once our current program is done. This sounds like it would be very good. So hard to find Canadian content!

  6. Would love the French smart series. I’ve used some of their other books before, but wasn’t aware of the French books.

  7. I used the French Smart books when I taught grades 4-6 a few years ago. I LOVED how easy it was to use even though I’m not a French teacher.
    I have also used some of the Math and reading curriculum for tutoring students who were behind. LOVE this series.

  8. Amie Heaslip-Cosgrove

    We used this series last summer with Mason. I believe it had a lot to do with him increasing two levels in reading over the summer. He is still behind, but he has ambylopia and is legally blind in his left eye. These books are fun! We would love the grade 1 curriculum!

  9. Canadian material?? Definitely a must-have! I need some help with science for sure.

    (I’ve sometimes seen these books in stores. Where can they be purchased?)

    1. I have bought them from Chapters and Costco in the past. They are also on Amazon. I’m sure there are lots more places, I just can’t think of them atm! πŸ™‚

  10. I have used the math smart for two years at home and supplement in the classroom with the resource, before that.
    I noticed that this year, 2012/2013 several of the mathsmart books were reviewed, and I really liked the improvement to them. Last year we used grades 8,6,4, and 1; this year we used only grades 5 and 2.
    Again, we should be encouraged as educators to pick and choose for our children. |The books contain lots of drill, concepts and problem solving. I found the grade 1 book had a big intro into new concepts that my daughter did not need, but since she is an academic, she would do them for fun!!
    The grade 5 book this year I am very happy with. I contains two step math problems and whether or not my son integrates back into the Christian school system or public |( of which I am a teacher), I am confident that he is getting a depth and breadth of practise necessary.
    My favourite grades of these math books so far have been grade 2 and grade 5.
    I also found that grade 2 this year was particularly well done. It contained lots of data management practise and interpretation, which is usually the skill that elementary students struggle most with in this strand of math. I also like their money section. Not only is it in Canadian coins, but it takes them into more problem solving and thinking processes.
    We have really enjoyed our math smart- grade 2 and 5 books this year!!

    The only negative comment, I think was already corrected by the company when they redid the books for 2012. From what we noticed, they remove some of the unnecessary repetition and the size of the book was reduced.
    My oldest did not do so well with the grade 8, although she has been a strong math student, but I think the fault was mostly mine. For her, we switched to a resource that included lectures, a grade book and is done on the computer. It has been very effective. Having said that, I will still be using math smart books for my children for grades 1-6.
    One last note, I do also from time to time my own problem solving questions as a review/ testing method. This is not to prove marks, it gives me a snap shot of knowledge retention and independent work. As a teacher, I also believe that it helps them be better prepared if they ever re-enter traditional schooling.
    Hope this helps,
    Susan

  11. I have seen these about, but not the Basic French one. It’s too bad the French curriculum doesn’t start until grade 4, as my Quebecois wife wants the kids to all learn French at a young age

  12. In a way it’s sad that people like us, with kids in public school, have to research curriculum activities because the schools don’t appear to be preparing the kids adequately (in my opinion). I am interested in picking up a grade 3 book because my boy has little if any structure or routine at all and when homework starts to pile up he will be, um, uncooperative, I think. I am very concerned about the dumbing down effect that I see to some degree already in these early years. I appreciate homeschooling blogs since they give so much insight to schooling, and children, and learning in general, and I am happy I stumbled onto this one. πŸ™‚ (I write on my blog about our school experiences, please feel free to visit it. Just click on the school tab).

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