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Baffled by Saxon 7/6 vs. singapore 4


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I've posted about our switch to Sazon 7/6 from Singapore 4A many times. I just wanted to point out that now we are running into issues...in a good way, but all of a sudden mid-year, we're hitting all this stuff that he already knows solid. I've merged a bunch of lessons but I thought I'd point out that this caught me off guard, since the placement test definitely said 7/6 and the first 50 lessons were pretty appropriate, but 50-65 are too repetitive of singapore 4A for us.

 

Brownie

Edited by brownie
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I know, but I've posted elsewhere how smoothly the transition went :) I was worried going in that we might belong in 6/5, but quite the opposite. Though there are certainly things we haven't covered before, we have had all the necessary prerequisite knowledge, and there are quite a few things that are review.

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Out of curiosity, which may help others, did you find the difficulty level or the process varied in those concepts that you feel you are repeating?

 

Saxon approaches things a little bit differently. It believes in covering a topic continuously, but with a different approach or appearance to the solution. This is a gradual process in the lesson. Having been a user for many years, we often find towards the middle or end that we are covering material once more but at a slightly different angle or level of complexity, a word I use loosely.

 

Learning to solve the problem with the same method and recognizing the need of the method versus the appearance of the equation are "gold" concepts to me.

 

Ex.

2+3=6

2+3=x

y+3=6

2+z=6

 

The appearance of the problem has changed but the "working" of the problem has not. These changes are why I like Saxon.

 

Let's not forget the mental math practice either! Make sure that you complete these practice problems. They are invaluable for higher math and reasoning.

 

Let me know what you think. :)

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I found lesson 55: common denominators, part 1 surprising...in sing4A we covered fractions extensively. It literally seemed to be an introduction, but not having used 6/5, I can't say for sure.

 

The led to comparing fractions in lesson 56, Adding fractions in 57, Adding Mixed Numbers in 59, Writing Improper Fractions in 62, Subtracting Mixed Numbers in 63. Since 4A is spent heavily on fractions, ds knew all this stuff backwards and forwards.

 

Additionally, there are a number of lessons on polygons that appear around the same time, which I think Singapore covers in more depth than Saxon earlier...what is a polygon? a square? etc...but again perhaps this was covered in 6/5 and is review. I just expected the review to be over by halfway through the book, so I had assumed it was new material.

 

Brownie

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I found lesson 55: common denominators, part 1 surprising...in sing4A we covered fractions extensively. It literally seemed to be an introduction, but not having used 6/5, I can't say for sure.

 

The led to comparing fractions in lesson 56, Adding fractions in 57, Adding Mixed Numbers in 59, Writing Improper Fractions in 62, Subtracting Mixed Numbers in 63. Since 4A is spent heavily on fractions, ds knew all this stuff backwards and forwards.

 

Additionally, there are a number of lessons on polygons that appear around the same time, which I think Singapore covers in more depth than Saxon earlier...what is a polygon? a square? etc...but again perhaps this was covered in 6/5 and is review. I just expected the review to be over by halfway through the book, so I had assumed it was new material.

 

Brownie

 

Both fractions and polygons are introduced in 5/4 (and students also work with both in the elementary program). The last lesson of 5/4 is "Adding & Subtracting Mixed Numbers with Different Denominators". Common denominators are first touched on on lesson 107, I think.

 

I've heard that the last 3rd or so of the book will be "new" material, though due to the incremental approach of Saxon, it's hard for me to tell exactly when something is brand new. We've used Saxon since the beginning, and my oldest is in 8/7. Because of this incremental approach, my boys rarely have any questions about what they're learning and they've rarely gotten frustrated because they don't understand something or they think something is too hard.

 

I'm glad to hear the transition has gone smoothly. Can I ask why you decided to switch?

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I love Singapore, but my oldest started struggling in 4A. He is strong in math concepts (he's in 4th grade) but lacking in attention to detail. He needed constant review as well. I was spending a lot of time creating that review and extra time tutoring him in the evenings in addition to regular math time.

 

Saxon holds us both accountable to make sure he is constantly keeping up (frequent testing) and reviewing. He still only has a high 'B' but that is a great improvement over Singapore 4A. We are still working on the silly errors, as I think he has only made an honest math error twice on a Saxon test but he still miscopies, makes simple errors, forgets to label,...

 

It has significantly decreased the tension between the two of us when it comes to math which is the most important thing.

 

Brownie

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I love Singapore, but my oldest started struggling in 4A. He is strong in math concepts (he's in 4th grade) but lacking in attention to detail. He needed constant review as well. I was spending a lot of time creating that review and extra time tutoring him in the evenings in addition to regular math time.

 

Saxon holds us both accountable to make sure he is constantly keeping up (frequent testing) and reviewing. He still only has a high 'B' but that is a great improvement over Singapore 4A. We are still working on the silly errors, as I think he has only made an honest math error twice on a Saxon test but he still miscopies, makes simple errors, forgets to label,...

 

It has significantly decreased the tension between the two of us when it comes to math which is the most important thing.

 

Brownie

 

Yes, this is our experience as well :banghead:. I'm glad that it's working out for you both :001_smile:!

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I will say that I plan on LOF - we will attempt it this summer. I am not sure. I know that many of the "new" things are not the greatest, but it seems that LOF will give some untypical problems and demand mental power. LOL

 

This is a thought for you too, with what you feel is quite a bit of "not new" material. It would get you dc using his math versus finding solutions. At least, this is what I am hoping.

 

I will need to dig out the name of the "real" math program I found for you to look at too ...

 

Hold tight. I'll get that name soon enough. :) It was in one of these many wonderful board posts.

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We've tried LOF as a supplement with both ds10 and ds8. I have to say it just hasn't worked for us. They enjoy it, but they both get to the point where they hit a wall working independently, and there are just not enough problems to work through the issue. DS8 just re-read the 1st 20 LOF fraction chapters as a review, but as 1st introduction to the material...it just hasn't worked here.

 

Saxon is working fine for us...however, having pointed out many times how easily the transition went elsewhere, I wanted to point out where I've since found overlap between Singapore and Saxon as well. I just didn't see it coming in time to plan for it. Saxon is open and go...I just opened it up one day and went 'uh oh! this is old stuff!' Often things have been sorta old but presented a little differently or worthy of review, but this week I found we were heading into material that we'd driven into the ground previously. Just a heads up.

 

Brownie

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