A free, online format for using the classic Ray’s New Arithmetic series to learn the elements of arithmetic, grades K through 5, as well as the more advanced levels of mathematics.
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If you would like to know more about the author of this website, . . .
My name is Paul Ramirez. I’m a husband, father and grandfather. I’m also a firm believer in homeschooling–not only as an “alternative” to the failed public education system, but as the ANTIDOTE for it!
My wife and I raised two kids. Both of them are now married and have kids of their own. Their educational experience while they were growing up included a combination of public school, homeschool and private Christian school. They are now grappling with the ups and downs of educating their own children just as we did when they were young. I don’t envy them.
The public school system is worse than it was 20-30 years ago. Private schools aren’t that much better, morally, spiritually or intellectually. And they’re a lot more expensive! Public schools may be “free,” but your children do pay a price.
Homeschooling has become a superior option for millions of parents and families. It is a growing phenomenon all over the world. To me, it is the new “progressive” education.
Since before my own kids were born, I was convinced of the responsibility I had as a parent-to-be to take control of their education and make sure that their primary educator was NOT the State. There were times when we had to resort to public schooling out of necessity, but only briefly — a semester or two — when we had no other choice. Otherwise, for the duration of their academic years, I am proud and grateful to say that the State was not their primary educator!
WHY THIS SITE?
As I mention on another page, I have always had an appreciation and admiration for Ray’s Arithmetic. The books are deceptively simple-looking. They are actually very powerful and sophisticated. I regret that I did not take full advantage of them with my own kids because I did not learn about them soon enough, and I did not make use of them until rather late in my daughter’s school-age years (she was the younger of the two). I still have that set of Ray’s that I bought for her.
When the Ron Paul Curriculum launched in September 2013, I was interested to see that it was using Ray’s Arithmetic. The economic benefit of doing this is obvious: free, public-domain textbooks that are readily available either online as PDF downloads, or as high-quality, inexpensive, bound, printed editions sold through various booksellers online and offline. I favor both formats. But then, I have always liked books and I have always liked math.
The educational benefit is even more obvious. Ray’s Arithmetic was in use in the public schools — long before the days of Progressivism — since before the Civil War and continued until well after World War I. That’s a long time for a series of textbooks, of any subject, to hold sway. They were in print and in use for as long as they were because they worked.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does educational progress. When I learned that there was some interest in a video format for Ray’s Arithmetic math lessons, I decided to dive in and take the challenge! The phenomenal success of Khan Academy tells us clearly, and has proven beyond all doubt, that an online video format for childhood (and adult) education really does WORK! The “experts” and academic elitists are being proven wrong and are relegating themselves to functional obsolescence on a daily basis. Good. We are only witnessing the early stages of this.
This site is a reflection of my philosophy of education: train up a child in the way he should go and when he is older, not only will he not depart from it, he will cling to it like a life preserver! Designed right and built appropriately, a child’s education should be a foundation of rock for him or her, not a sinkhole of sand and gravel. I don’t believe in letting our children either drown or sink. I do believe in giving them the best start possible to get them on the road to success — academic, personal, spiritual, moral (and hopefully financial) success!
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Ray's Arithmetic 
This is a wonderful site, and you are doing a great service. Thank you very much.
Thank you for the PDF copies of Ray’s Mathematics! I had Google copies and they were inconsistent, hard-to-print scans. Your copies print much better.
You have a nice family, you and your wife look “uber young” for grandparents. 🙂