Percent and taxation
Setting a tax rate is a percent problem with a happiness penalty attached. Students test rates, record revenue, and find the practical maximum.
Grades 3-12
Mathematics — Homeschool Curriculum
Percentages, ratios, and growth curves with money on the line.
Most math complaints start with 'when will I use this.' Running a nation answers that in the first week. Tax rates are percentages, trade is ratios, population is exponential growth, and a bad estimate costs the treasury real money.
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Free sample pages (Mathematics PDF)
Three printable sample pages from the Mathematics unit: the unit overview and learning goals, a sample lesson, and a student worksheet with the weekly plan. Free to preview, print, and use with your students right now.
Full Mathematics unit PDF
The complete unit, every worksheet, rubrics, and answer keys are available now in the Homeschool Nations curriculum packages.
What students learn
- ✓Calculate percentages, tax rates, and net income confidently
- ✓Use ratios and proportions to evaluate a trade deal
- ✓Read and build line and bar charts from live data
- ✓Model linear versus exponential growth with population and treasury numbers
- ✓Estimate, then check, then explain the gap
A sample week
- • Monday: set the week's math goal, record starting numbers
- • Tuesday: skill practice on the target operation
- • Wednesday: apply it to an in-game decision
- • Thursday: graph the results
- • Friday: written explanation of what the numbers proved
Topics covered
Ratios and trade
Resource trades are ratio comparisons. Students decide whether a two-for-one deal is actually favorable once bonuses are counted.
Growth and sequences
Daily population growth and compounding income introduce sequences and exponential behavior in a form students can graph by hand.
Budgeting and negative numbers
Military maintenance can outrun income. Deficits give negative numbers a real meaning students remember.
Activities you can start today
- 1.Run three tax rates for three days each and graph revenue versus happiness
- 2.Compute unit cost per soldier including upkeep, not just purchase price
- 3.Predict tomorrow's population, then check the actual and find your percent error
- 4.Build a one-week budget spreadsheet by hand and compare it to the in-game numbers
Questions parents ask
Is this a full math program?
No. It is the applied half. Keep your regular arithmetic or algebra program and use this for real-world practice.
How much math is required to play?
Basic arithmetic. Everything past that is optional depth for older students.
Can two students share the work?
Yes, siblings often split analyst and ruler roles, then swap.
Other homeschool subjects
Ready to run a nation?
The complete Homeschool Nations curriculum bundle and standalone digital book are available to purchase and download now.