Not doing the whole thing and still getting it done.

I'm sure that this will not be a surprise to veteran home educators.  It's a relatively new practice to me, however, since it's rarely practiced in a classroom sitting.  Here it goes...you don't have to do all the problems.  Not all the problems on a page need to be done in order to prove competence!  Imagine the possibilities!

Yes, sometimes in the classroom I would say, "Do all the odds," or "Do all the evens," but that was the extent of skipping some of the problems.  Doing all the problems in a classroom is necessary to a certain extent regardless if it's a class of 6 or a class of 26.  This is because of the wide range of abilities within a single classroom.  There will be a few students who "get it" after only one or two problems.  The majority will comprehend after a few more problems while the remaining few will need all of them (and possible more) to understand.

Of course, I've just described one of problems with a classroom education.  It requires that you teach to the median which then leaves the above average and slower than average students to become either bored or struggle.  Educating at home allows you to modify according to the needs of your student.

For instance, when I was faced with 15 problems of the same type, I selected four different problems. If she got them all correct, that would be it.  We'd be done.  If she missed a few, I gave her a few more or possibly even demonstrated how to do this again if I thought it was necessary and then gave her a few more.  Repeat as needed! 

This helps to really limit frustration and saves time.  It also allows you to move on as needed.

Sometimes, the next day, I might return to the page and do one or two more problems in review before continuing on to the next concept.  It's actually helpful as a review, but also, since they've been mastered already, it starts math out on a big positive.  I find that setting that positive mindset really helps with my daughter.

Learning as I go.