BJU Press Online Math K5 REVIEW (with Mrs. Rulapaugh)

BJU Press offers an online math K5 course with physical workbooks and online lessons. Lessons are a mix of writing, coloring, and manipulating objects. Lessons are interactive, and students speak aloud with the teacher as the lesson progresses. I have been using the BJU Press online math K5 course for around three months with my son Luke. 

Rebbecca Devitt

I hope you enjoy reading this blog post. If you want to do my course on how to homeschool, click here.

We love the course, and I’m so pleased it’s interactive and encourages children to understand numbers using manipulatives. We’ve often used the counting blocks and number cards outside of lessons as games.

There are affiliate links in this article. Affiliate links are a way I can earn income to stay at home and homeschool my kids 🙂

What’s included in the BJU Press Online Math K5 Package?

Because I opted to do the math course online, I didn’t get any physical teacher’s manuals (digital ones are available as PDFs in the hub).

This was a nice change as I used a Teachers Manual in the Focus on Fives Reading and Writing Program.

Instead, I created an account on BJU’s homeschool hub (free).

Homeschool Hub.
Homeschool Hub by BJU Press.

I added Luke as a student and found the video course waiting for me there.

In addition, I received the following package in the mail:

  • 100 Unifix cubes and Activity Book (great for spontaneous play),
  • Packet Manipulatives Packet (range of pop-out pictures, images, shapes, etc.),
  • Student Handouts,
  • Video Lesson Guide,
  • and the BJU Press Math K5 Workbook.

I’ve put a little picture below which has everything we got in the package.

Full BJU Press K5 Math program including manipulatives packet, unifix cubes, workbook, video guide and student handouts.

100 Unifix cubes and Activity Book

The Unifix cubes come with an activity booklet showing activities to help children learn math through playing with the cubes. They’re also used in the video lessons themselves…so don’t lose any!

Unifix Cubes

Student Manipulatives Packet

The Student Manipulatives Packet is excellent (#3 in the picture below). It has an assortment of mats with pictures to use other manipulatives on (#1 and #2). It also has many pop-out images and shapes (#4 and #5).

Full BJU Press K5 Math program including manipulatives packet, unifix cubes, workbook, video guide and student handouts.
Complete BJU Press K5 Math program, including manipulatives packet, unifix cubes, workbook, video guide, and student handouts.

For example, students match the pop-out numbers (see picture below) with the pop-out dot pictures in one of the activities. This means they have to get physical and use their hands as they learn math.

BJU Press Online Math Student Manipulatives Packet dot cards and number cards.

If my child is slower to get a concept than the video lessons allow, I’ll play games with the manipulatives so he learns them outside. This is a fun way to learn math, and Penny can join in too!

Student Handouts

The Student Handout packet (see below picture on the right) has an assortment of other things you will need to do the video course. These include pages to write on and additional paper elements to manipulate.

You can put the student handouts in a ring binder to organize them.

Student Handouts.

Video Lesson Guide

This black and white document (see above picture on the left) provides a condensed course overview. It shows you what are optional materials and assignments.

It shows parents the content for the day, the materials you will need (although they tell you on the video what you’ll need), the worktext number for the day, the assignment, and facilitator instructions.

There are no assignments for K5 online math as all worktext pages are teacher-guided during the video.

I haven’t needed to refer to this much, though.

BJU Press Math K5 Workbook.

The Workbook has an assortment of activities and is particularly useful for learning to write numbers.

Children do various counting, matching, and pattern-recognition activities, for example.

Student Handouts.

The chapters in the workbook (or the course) include:

  1. Geometry (Shapes)
  2. Classifying and Comparing
  3. Numbers 0-5
  4. Numbers 6-10
  5. Measurement
  6. Numbers 11-19
  7. Time
  8. Numbers to 39
  9. Addition to 5
  10. Calendar
  11. Money
  12. More Addition
  13. Fractions
  14. Numbers to 100
  15. Subtraction to 6
  16. Geometry
  17. Money
  18. Measurement
  19. Time
  20. Addition and Subtraction to 10
  21. Calendar and
  22. Fractions

The workbook is very colorful and exciting. Luke was immediately excited to use it, making me feel math lessons would be a fun time of the day.

The Homeschool Hub

The Hub was easy to navigate. After creating a profile for Luke, the BJU Press K5 Math course showed up. We clicked into it and hit watch the video, and the video came on.

After the lesson is finished, you can check:

  • a box which shows you’ve completed the lesson and
  • another box that shows you’ve done the assignment/worktext.

Homeschool Hub Course Progress Overview for the BJU Press Online K5 Math program.

The Teacher: Mrs. Rulapaugh

I love the teacher in this course, Mrs. Mulapaugh. She is kind and gentle and quietly explains a concept.

My husband often tells me he can tell when he meets a Christian person because their character speaks for them. Mrs. Rulapaugh strikes me as a lovely Christian lady. You can see a little video of her talking here.

Biblical Teaching Through the BJU K5 Math Course

BJU Press infuses biblical values into this K5 course by telling children mini bible stories throughout the lessons.

For example, when we were learning the number 10, Mrs. Rulapaugh talked about the ten commandments that God gave the people of Israel.

After spending so much of the day hoping, praying, and thinking about my children’s spiritual growth, it’s lovely to see it coming out in the BJU video lessons too.

Why We Went with the Online Option

I’m a massive fan of doing homeschool offline as I think there’s too much video content in our kids’ lives. This said, my son doesn’t watch any television or play any video games. So he gets only a tiny amount of video content.

When he does, he pays attention.

Because I struggled with math growing up, I wanted my children’s experience with math to be fun! Hence, I decided to go with the online option.

In addition, I have an almost two-year-old girl, Penny. Penny can be disruptive at times, so I like playing with her in the background while Luke does his online lessons.

But, if you want to teach the course yourself and have a break from online lessons, you can use the teachers’ manuals (available as PDFs) in the hub.

How Do I Purchase This Course

You can buy the BJU Press Online Math K5 course here.

Conclusion: BJU Press Online Math K5

If you’re looking for a fun online homeschool math course, BJU Press is a great option. We’ve enjoyed this course so much, and I’ve enjoyed seeing Luke growing in math knowledge.

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Rebecca Devitt

Most adults don't particularly want to relive their schooling experience on a daily basis. They would gladly move on to a new life devoid of homework and teachers. Very, very few adults will passionately blog about their schooling some 15 years after graduating. This makes Rebecca Devitt somewhat unique. As it happens, she was homeschooled. And she loved it. Still does. And she wishes every kid could get a taste of homeschooling at its very best. Her website How Do I Homeschool, is a springboard for parents to see what a life of homeschooling could be for both them & their children. When she's not blogging Rebecca is still homeschooling her-adult-self by learning Latin, growing weird vegetables and most importantly looking after her two children Luke & Penny. She has a husband Tristan and is a participant at Wollongong Baptist Church. She's also written a book about why parents should homeschool called 'Why on Earth Homeschool'.

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