For Homeschool Families & Microschools · Grades 3-6

From counting & writing numbers to reasoning & justification?!

Grades 3-6 is where fractions, multiplication, and place value decide how algebra will feel. The understanding was built early, so the advanced topics come quickly: naming the unit, drawing the model, explaining the math. What the schools on this page build, and what most home programs skip.

Math Success asks students to see it, draw it, and defend it, and they do.

Already behind? The lessons reach back to earlier grade levels on purpose, so real intervention is a natural part of getting up to speed. Twin Falls summer school saw multiple grade levels of growth in weeks.

Students folding paper strips into equal parts, building fourths before naming them
Paper folding into fourths: building the fraction before naming it
  • Complete K-6 curriculum + printables, download and keep them forever
  • Weekly live Office Hours with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail
  • Assessments that find the gap + the activities that close it

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

Trusted by 300+ schoolsLoved by 14,000+ teachersBuilt on 40+ years of classroom research
Get Instant Access$21/month for up to 2 students. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

Not ready? Explore some free lessons, prep, and practice →

+39pts
SBAC gains*
300+
schools
40+ yrs
of classroom research

*Iowa Elementary, Nampa, Idaho: 16% to 55% SBAC math proficiency over four years. read the principal's account →

Sound familiar?

Math time at your table is a special place.

“Do I look forward to math? Well....”
“I like math, am not a “math person”, but I do enjoy teaching it. There's just something missing...”
“That lesson was AMAZING! I can't wait for the next one. I could do this all day!”
Children move from “I know how to get the answer” to “I can explain why it works”, and the confidence to defend it sets a course for middle school and beyond.what math time can feel like at your table

What your 3rd-6th grader can actually do

Getting the answer is one thing. Naming the unit, drawing the model, and defending why it works; that's different, and it's learnable at every grade from 3rd to 6th.

Three fourths is three units of one fourth, and the day your child can say that, draw it, and defend it, fractions stop being a rule pile. Multiplication is the same idea at whole-number scale: 6 × 24 is six units of 24, drawn with an area model they can take apart. That's why our lessons put the model first and the procedure second, and why students stop rebuilding fractions every September. Watch the free Grade 4 lesson →

The area model and the bar model are the spatial engine.

The upper grades are where spatial reasoning either gets trained or gets skipped. The area model is that training in disguise: a student who can draw 6 × 24 as six units of 24 carries the picture into multi-digit work, fractions, and beyond. Students who never drew models are the ones rebuilding fractions every September. Measurement works the same way: units iterated and compared by hand before a ruler ever abbreviates them.

Where this goes next: the model carries the weight

When your child draws the 24 and splits it, 6 × 24 becomes something they can reason through, not recall and pray. When fractions arrive, they run on the same unit language and bar models they already used for multiplication: 3/4 is three units of one fourth, drawn, not memorized.

That's real place value and real fractions: ideas your child builds, draws, and explains. That's fluency that survives past the timed test, and it's why algebra goes easier later. Watch the free Grade 4 lesson →

Built in schools. Now in your homeroom.

This is not a homeschool experiment. It is the program and the people 300+ schools brought in for their classrooms, opened up to families. The lessons are the same ones that produced the numbers below, in grades 3-6 classrooms like the ones they came from. The weekly live calls are the same researchers behind them.

25 schools
4,618 students in the peer-reviewed cluster-randomized study
2.71
effect size (Istation), nearly unprecedented in math PD research
79.2% vs 65.7%
proficient or advanced, DMT classrooms vs comparison (RMC Research, independent evaluation)

Who benefits most? The students furthest behind. In that study, the students who started with the lowest math performance made the largest gains. Independent evaluation (RMC Research): 79.2% of students in DMT classrooms proficient or advanced vs 65.7% in comparison classrooms, with DMT schools serving more students in poverty and more English learners. If your child is behind, this is built for them. If your child is ahead, this is built to keep them thinking.

The words that do the heavy lifting: unit, compose, and decompose.

The most powerful vocabulary in grades 3-6 is not a spelling list. It is the precise language of mathematics, and these words appear everywhere from here to college. Your child will use them for the next twelve years. You will know exactly what they mean.

unit

The thing being counted or measured. 3/4 is three units of one fourth. 6 × 24 is six units of 24. Inches. Square units. Halves. Quarters. Unit. A third-grade through forever word.

decompose

To take apart, in a way you choose. Students decompose 24 into 20 and 4 to multiply, decompose 3/4 into 1/4 + 1/4 + 1/4, decompose shapes to find area.

unit is everywhere: unit fractions unit price square units units of measure a unit circle

Because the words are precise, they align you and your child on the same idea. When we're consistent with unit, compose, decompose, iterate, partition, equal from the upper grades on, the math conversation never has to restart. It's the same through college and beyond.

See the language in a free insight →

What happened in Angela's classroom

Real teachers. Real students. This is the teaching your videos show you, step by step, before you bring it to your homeroom.

16% → 55%
fifth-grade SBAC math proficiency at Iowa Elementary (Nampa, Idaho), across four years of DMTI partnership
2.71
effect size (Istation), nearly unprecedented in math PD research
79.2% vs 65.7%
proficient or advanced, DMT classrooms vs comparison (RMC Research, independent evaluation)

“I saw light bulbs turn on and thinking turn on that I had never seen with math.”

ANGELA WILLIAMS · TEACHER

“This is it. This is how to teach math.”

MOLLY YORK · TEACHER
Rosie Ashcraft

“These kids aren't just saying math words anymore. They can explain them and show models to back it up.” Rosie Ashcraft, kindergarten teacher, on the growth and the math talk in her own classroom, the same talk your videos will show you.

Built for fifteen minutes a day.

You don't need a math degree. You need a clear path and a person to ask when you want one. Here is the whole loop.

1 · watch

Watch the lesson on video, taught start to finish with real students: the models, the questions, the language.

2 · teach

Fifteen minutes at the table. The printable, the activity, and the exact words to say are all in the lesson.

3 · ask

Bring your questions to Office Hours. Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail answer them live every Monday. Stuck on equivalent fractions? That's exactly what the calls are for.

The Math Activity Pack, shipped to your door.

Hands need things to hold. The pack is the physical side of the program: real manipulatives with a storage bag and activity guides that use them, the same activities our coaches run in grades 3-6 classrooms: fraction cards, patty paper, pattern blocks.

Fraction cards and games from the Math Activity Pack (pack photo coming) the manipulatives, the same ones classrooms use
Students using the pack materials to build fractions (pack photo coming) activity guides that make the math talk happen

K-6 Pack

  • Chips, pattern blocks, multi-sided dice, cards, wooden blocks, and connecting cubes
  • Stir sticks and patty paper, plus everything in the K-2 Pack
  • Premium Printed Activity Cards included
  • Includes 1 full year of portal access
  • Storage bag + activity guides included

K-2 Pack

  • Chips, pattern blocks, multi-sided dice, cards, wooden blocks, and connecting cubes
  • Premium Printed Activity Cards included
  • Includes 1 full year of portal access
  • Storage bag, sized for the homeroom

For a younger sibling starting alongside.

Every pack comes with a full year of Math Success. See the two ways to start.

Built for schools, growing for homeschool.

This program was built for classrooms. The homeschool side is new and getting new resources all the time: special calls and events just for homeschool families are on the way, and every homeschool family is welcome at our regular Office Hours every Monday, 3:30pm Mountain.

The models do not change. That is the point.

Grades 3-6 do more than hit benchmarks: they decide how algebra feels. The language (unit, compose, decompose, iterate) and the models (area model, bar model, number line) your child learns in these grades are the same ones that carry them through ratios, algebra, and college. Nothing to unlearn. Everything builds.

in grades 3-6

Fractions named by their unit, products drawn as area models

in middle school

Ratios, rates, proportionality: same words, new numbers

in high school & beyond

Algebra that scales: models still work, language still precise

See it for yourself. Free.

A lesson, a game, and the research behind them: the full experience before you spend a dollar. Yours to keep either way.

Watch a free Grade 4 lesson

Equivalence & unit fractions: a complete lesson taught start to finish, with the interactive practice that goes with it.

Watch it free →

Play the fluency game

Students play 2-minute probes; you get a report showing exactly where your child stands on their facts.

Play it free →

Take the Foundations course

The free 7-part course on how children actually learn mathematics, taught by Dr. Jonathan Brendefur.

Start it free →

Read: Five Interpretations of a Fraction

Dr. Brendefur on the five meanings that make every fraction topic click.

Read it free →

Read: Fraction Misconceptions

What goes wrong and when, first learning then operations, with the fixes that work.

Read it free →

Play: Unit Fraction Match

The matching game that trains the eye: same whole, different units.

Play it free →
Want to see the teaching live? Office Hours every Monday: bring one stuck lesson, leave with a plan.
Dr. Jonathan Brendefur laughing with math manipulatives
Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, founder

40+ years of research.
And he still answers the weekly call himself.

“Multiplication and fractions are the grades' hardest work, and it is never the kids' fault. Let me show you the unit-first version where it finally clicks.”

Our service promise to parents

  • Real people answer: portal Q&A and live weekly Zooms with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail
  • Start today. No contract, no committee, no district approval
  • One click to leave: cancel anytime, no forms

Not a program. Actual math learning experts, on your side.

The people behind 40+ years of classroom research don't hand you a workbook and disappear. They're in the portal, on the weekly calls, and, when you need it, building a plan for your child with you.

A DMTI math specialist teaching an open number line lesson: students' hands up, everyone in Coach in the room, number line up
Dr. Jackie Ismail and Dr. Jonathan Brendefur (DMTI founder) coaching a teacher over Zoom, the real weekly virtual session Real coaching, live over Zoom
Dr. Sam Strother teaching fractions at the board Fraction questions? He's got them.
1

We listen first

Your child, your pace, your days. You tell us what math time actually looks like at your table, and we start there, not with a script.

2

We build the plan together

Diagnostic → instruction → activities that close the gap, mapped to your child. You'll know exactly what to do tomorrow and why it works.

3

We stay in the room

Weekly live calls with Dr. Brendefur & Dr. Ismail, portal Q&A answered by people who've taught the lesson. When your child hits a wall, we're there.

Dr. Jonathan Brendefur
“Effective mathematics instruction isn’t more complicated. When the adults understand the mathematics and what to look for in student thinking, they can focus on what matters most, and the work gets easier, not harder.”

Every parent is in a different place. Our goal is to meet you where you are, help you understand the mathematics and your child’s thinking, and make good decisions about what to do next.

Tell us about one concept your child is stuck on, or one lesson that keeps falling flat, and we will build the plan with you. That is the partnership: parent-led, expert-backed. We do not push a system downward; we listen, advise, question, and support.

Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, founder, DMTI

Everything below is included. Here's the honest math.

This is what each part is worth on its own. Inside the Complete Math Success Program, it's all yours, built around your family.

What you get, and what each part is worth

Every line is included in your membership

Complete K-6 curriculum & unit resourceslesson plans, printables, varied practice: print them and keep them FOREVER$250+
Foundations Masterclassthe full research foundation, taught by Dr. Brendefur$895
MLP Assessments with targeted intervention activitiesfind the gap, teach the gap$1,495
Games & Reportsmathematical play that reinforces the ideas$195
Coaching, live & on demandreal math experts on the weekly calls (coaching runs $100/hr elsewhere)$100/hr
The Coaching Natalie series8 full coaching sessions, from flat scores to breakthrough$395
All of it, valued atover $3,000

Yours included: $21/mo or $210/yr for up to 2 students

Plus at least an hour of expert time free, and as many questions as you can ask, answered. Join today, and everything you download is yours to print and keep. FOREVER.

It's the level of a Masters program: PD content and discourse for $21, month to month.

You don't need one more thing on your plate. You need a clearer path. Start with one routine this week, and let the rest build from there.

Two ways to start.

Both give you the full K-6 program: every lesson, printable, and assessment, yours to print and keep forever, plus homeschool support from our team.

Option 1

A year of Math Success + the Math Activity Pack

  • 1 full year of access to mathsuccess.io
  • Print it and keep it, forever
  • Specialized homeschool support
  • The Math Activity Pack, shipped to your door

What's in each pack

K-6 Pack$325one-time, shipped to you K-2 Pack$275one-time, shipped to you
Option 2

Just the access

  • Full access to mathsuccess.io
  • Print it and keep it, forever
  • Specialized homeschool support
  • Cancel anytime, 30-day money-back guarantee
Monthly$21per month Yearly$210per year, save $42

Teaching more than one child, or running a microschool? Add students at checkout, or talk to us about a bigger group.

Join Office Hours

Live every Monday, 3:30pm Mountain.
Bring your questions.

Free weekly Q&A with Dr. Jackie Ismail and Dr. Jonathan Brendefur, the researchers behind the program. Homeschool questions welcome: a stuck lesson, a child who puzzles you, a routine you want to sharpen. Send your questions ahead of time or drop them in the YouTube chat during the call.

Join Office HoursFree · every Monday · no signup needed to watch ▶ Subscribe on YouTube for the reminder

“Bring one stuck lesson,
leave with a plan.”

Questions homeschool parents ask before they join

Straight answers, the same ones we'd give you on a call.

My child is already behind in fractions. Is it too late?

No, and this is the band where it matters most. The diagnostics find the gap underneath the grade level (often a unit or place-value idea from an earlier year), and the activities close it. In the research, the students who started furthest behind made the largest gains.

How much time does this take each day?

About fifteen minutes at the table. The lesson video, the printable, and the exact language to use are all in the lesson. Most families start with one routine a week and grow from there.

What if my child is behind? What if they're ahead?

Both are the design case. In the research, the students who started furthest behind made the largest gains, and the diagnostics find the gap and hand you the activities that close it. Children already ahead get the harder thing: explaining, defending, and proving, not just bigger numbers.

Is it aligned to standards?

Yes. The lessons target the concepts grade-level standards expect (number sense, place value, the operations, fractions), so whatever your state requires for homeschool reporting, this covers the concepts underneath it.

Do I need special tech or a printer?

Printables print on any printer; the demo lessons and interactive games run in your browser. Nothing to install. The Math Activity Pack adds the hands-on manipulatives, shipped to your door.

What if I can't make the live calls?

Coaching is live and on demand. Sessions live in the portal, so you can catch up whenever it works. Office Hours runs every Monday at 3:30pm Mountain if you want it live.

How does billing and canceling work?

$21/month for up to 2 students, $10/month for each additional student ($100/yr on the yearly plan). Month to month, no contract. Cancel anytime in one click, and everything you've downloaded is yours to keep. If it doesn't make math time clearer within 30 days of your first charge, we refund you. No forms.

Are you ready for Math Success?

You don't need another box on the shelf. Start with one lesson this week, watch your child explain their thinking out loud, and take it from there.

Enroll NowFrom $21/month. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

Month to month · no contract · cancel anytime.

Plus the 30-day money-back guarantee: if it doesn't make math time at your table clearer within 30 days of your first charge, email us and we refund you. No forms, no explanation required, and you keep the materials you already downloaded.

P.S. for the skippers

Here's what you get instantly when you join the Complete Math Success Program (from $21/month):

The Grades 3-6 Pack, free on this page: the Grade 4 demo lesson, Unit Fraction Match, Five Interpretations of a Fraction, and fraction misconceptions, yours either way.
Full K-6 curriculum map + lesson videos from real classrooms: exactly how to teach each lesson, not just what to say.
Office Hours + diagnostics & intervention activities + varied practice sheets & games: understanding, not repetitive worksheets.
Enroll NowFrom $21/month. 30-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime.

30-day money-back guarantee: full refund, keep everything you've downloaded

Not ready to subscribe? The free stuff is still yours. No card, no signup.

Try the free Grade 4 demo lesson  ·  Take the free Foundations course

Both open with an email. That's it. Yours to keep either way.