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Best resources for self-studying math from K-12?

Hi, everyone!

I'm planning on teaching myself math all the way back from the basics, up to high school stuff.

It has been a long time since I studied math. I've never been a great student back in school. I daydreamed most of the time, and when it came to math, I always rote learned and memorized things just enough to get a passing grade, sometimes I got lucky and managed to get a perfect score, but those moments were rare.

Because of that rote learning, and memorization, I have forgot almost everything about math other than the basic arithmetic, and even there, it takes me a bit of time to calculate simple problems :frown:

However, now, that I'm older, I found out just how useful and great math really is. I would honestly love to go through it again, and hopefully with your help I can manage to do it!

What I'm looking for are (in your opinion) the best learning math resources that you can recommend. Anything that covers the materials from K up to Grade 12.

The type of resource is irrelevant, I'm not looking for only one type, it can be anything, whether it's a book, a website, videos, etc. Free, or paid also doesn't matter.

All that's important to me is to get a good book/video/etc. that properly explains the concepts I'm learning. I want to make sure that I actually understand the concepts I'm reading about and to be able to think logically on how to solve the problems for the topic I studied.

Which means no more rote learning, and no more memorization!

If necessary, for better understanding of the concept I'm learning, it would be nice to also learn the history behind that concept I'm learning about, that is, how did we manage to come up or create something like which we use to this day, what problem did the people back in the day need to solve in order to come up with such things, etc. (eg: numbers, base 10 system, shapes, algebra, logarithms, calculus, trigonometry, probability, statistics, etc.)

While I'm studying math right now mostly for fun, and because I find math to be such an amazing subject now than I did back before while I was at school, I do plan on taking my studies seriously, and actually trying to learn it, instead of what I was doing in the past.

Aside from the resource recommendation, I would also like to ask you guys:

* What do you believe is the best / proper way to study math? Instead of cramming or memorizing formulas and methods like I did back in school, what do you think is the most effective way to study to "make it stick", that is, how should one study math to better understand the content you're learning?

* What are some common mistakes people do when trying to learn math?

*Additionally, is there like a roadmap, or a guide for studying math? That is, from which topics should I start and how should I progress?

Also, apologies if this is posted in the wrong subforum, moderators feel free to move this thread to where you think is appropriate.

Thanks in forward, and apologies for the long post!
The best book that I found helpful is Edexcels Mathematics Textbooks. Along with the solution banks.

I find that book so much better than any other book tbh. You start from the basics, and the examples provide great step by step solutions and once you get to the exercises for each topic, they make sure you know it from the basics to the most hardest questions. Its in varying difficulty, where difficulty goes from easy to the hardest once you progress. Including exam past paper questions

And the great thing about that is that they have answer booklets that have step by step solutions for every single question in the textbook(Solution bank)

This is a book designed to give you the best way to actually apply what you learn in doing questions.

If you want a history on mathematics and how they are created then I am not sure, someone else can help you with that.



1. * What do you believe is the best / proper way to study math?

For this question also the textbook really helps. Do all the exercises and use what you learned to apply logic and solve them. If you find a question difficult then check the solution bank for the step by step solution so that you can understand.

I would say doing exercises is the best way to learn




2. * What are some common mistakes people do when trying to learn math?

Mostly algebra mistakes regarding signs and such as addition and subtraction
You have a ton of options. I used MyMaths in order to help me out a lot back when I was in college studying functional skills maths as well as a traditional vocational qualification. Make notes as well. There are some fairly cheap but recommended effective workbooks that are readily available too to functional skills math students so take a good close careful look online etc. Good luck.
Other handy and helpful options you could try include skills workshop - a great free popular website that is full of useful functional skills resources that are waiting to be used. I would start there. You can even find some proper but old FS exam papers online, check on the websites of the UK exam boards.
Khan Academy is perfect for your needs and free.

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