Math Paper

When my children switched from workbooks to textbooks, they had trouble producing a neat, orderly math paper. Checking their work was very difficult! So, out of necessity, I had them work their math on paper that had blocks drawn on it. One math problem was to be worked per block. This helped with the orderliness, but not with the neatness. My solution to the neatness problem was to have them write the numbers 0-9 neatly across the top of the math paper before each lesson. This helped to remind them to write neatly throughout the lesson. During grades 4 and 5, it helped each of my children to have a multiplication table handy when they did their math and by the 6th grade they had no need of the table any more. 

The sheets below have all of the features that might help your child make the switch for workbook to text. After a while your child will not need to use these sheets. My children now use composition books, the SEWN ones. I wrote about that below.

These sheets are divided into 10 blocks which has graph lines. The multiplication chart is printed all around the edges. Paper is also available without the multiplication chart.

Graph with Multiplication
Graph Without Multiplication

We use the sewn composition books for our daily math work. They do not come apart and they are comfortable to use. My older son has used several of these for math in the past and I expect he'll continue to use them throughout high school. He used to divide the page by drawing a line down the center and then several horizontal lines to make several blocks. He does not draw the lines any longer, he does neat work now. We prefer to use the "Mead Five-Star in a Class By Itself" composition book. It has 100 sheets of college ruled paper and a very flexible back. They cost between $2.50 and $3.50 depending on where you find them. They are pricey, but worth it! I especially like them because the covers are flexible. For younger kids, the card board backed, wide rule Mead Composition books works well. They usually can be found for around $1.00 and they often have handy math charts in the back.

These sheets are divided into 10 blocks. The multiplication chart is printed all around the edge. Paper is also available without the multiplication chart.

Block with Multiplication.
Block Without Multiplication