Thanks for your reply and clarification. I did not even realize there was a 4th edition. Are the 4th editions only available for the higher level maths? This helps confirm that I probably will not want to continue with Saxon. By the time I get up to higher level math it will probably continue to be harder to find and a pain to use. I would have no desire to use the 4th edition if it is confusing to use.

Thank you so much!

Thanks for your reply! Yes that is what I am afraid of and thank you for confirming. That is what I thought I had read before. I honestly have no idea what made me originally pick Saxon as my homeschool math choice (started homeschooling 2 years ago with my kinder and maybe that it was the most popular choice made me choose it) but I do not think I want to stick with something that has all these different editions and changes and that was bought out by a major publisher. Thanks again for replying!

What is the difference between 2nd and 3rd editions of Saxon? I know the publisher changed, is the 3rd edition common core? I heard the homeschool editions have not been common core aligned but I am not sure. I also heard the 3rd editions are confusing for some people to follow versus the older editions. I think I would like to use the second edition if I choose to continue with Saxon. What are all the different items needed? I seem to be able to find quite a few of the textbooks on ebay and amazon but not sure what else is needed. I am deciding between CLE or Saxon. I have Rod and Staff picked out on the side in case either of my children may need a mastery program but I think spiral currently is what they will do good with. I have used Saxon K and Saxon 1 but not sure about continuing with Saxon, and think I will move to CLE and do CLE 1st grade over and accelerate the pace and continue with CLE through Algebra 1 (if my kids do well with it, I know things can change). I do not like the idea of sticking with a program and then not being able to find the older editions when they are needed. I like the idea that CLE will be easy to purchase too and I have read good reviews and bought a light unit and my daughter seemed to like it too. I do NOT want to jump around in math at all. That is why I am glad I tried a few programs in K and 1st to see what would work for us before getting too far into any other grades.

That is a fantastic idea! I love it! I am going to try this!

Thats good to know, I had no idea! Thanks for your reply

Yes exactly, I feel comfortable with math but I am not the type of person that could just wing it in elementary without a curriculum. I have heard people say they do, wish I could be more like that, but I just am not that type of person. And i really want to make sure there are no gaps at all. I felt comfortable teaching saxon so far so I may just stick with that. My daughter did well with it. I think i may do the morning meeting as our first thing for the day. Then jump to another subject and later do the lesson and one worksheet. Then at the end of the day she can finish the other worksheet. If she doesnt like black and white worksheets, oh well. Maybe ill entice her with more art projects and fun things throughout the day after she does her black and white sheet lol. I like the script aspect, I didnt read it word for word, but it kept me on track with what to do next.

That definitely makes sense and is good advice. Pick a program I can teach well in elementary and then for middle and high take into consideration what the child needs at that point. You have been very helpful, thanks a lot!

What do you switch to after algebra 1?

i know, i need to stop getting catalogs in the mail and researching curriculum choices! Lol

I hear you, a saxon lesson can take quite long, especially that darn meeting every day. When we tried a light unit for CLE i just set a timer for 30 minutes and we got through 2 lessons in CLE. And i think my child might like the tiny workbook aspect too. Rod and staff is now intriguing me after I stayed up last night researching....oh decisions lol

Thanks for your reply. So would it be safe to say to try and stick with a program for elementary, a program for middle, and then a program for high school? I have been reading that Saxon teaches such a different approach that its hard to move into but others say its fine. I think i read so many forum posts and so many opinions Im confusing myself and just cannot seem to make a decision. I just found rod and staff math last night that i am told is mastery with review. I like the traditional math aspect. I know its great that homeschoolers have so many choices in programs.....but it also boggles my mind that their is so much to pick from!! Asian math interests me but i dont know if i can do just an asian program, maybe i will supplement with a challenging word problem book or something like that. So what factors for elementary math should i look for? I guess something easy for me to teach, makes my child solid in arithmetic and math facts, and lets my child like math. I cant really tell if a program will fit unless we try it so I guess I will just have to try them out to see what fits. I tried saxon k and 1, I have some light units for CLE, and I am going to buy the teachers manual and one workbook for rod and staff i suppose and try them out i guess. So maybe take a month and try CLE, take a month and try rod and staff, and then evaluate at that point. If we need to move back to saxon then we can jump in at saxon 2 and school through next summer to finish. Thanks again!

Okay so my soon to be second grader has done Saxon Math K for kinder and Saxon Math 1 for first. We have about ten more lessons in Math 1 left. I was thinking about switching because she might like something more colorful. She has done well with Saxon. I ordered a light unit and the teachers manual for CLE and she seems to like it she says its more colorful even though its only black green and white. It might also be that the work is easier than what she has been doing. I asked her if she got to choose between Saxon or CLE what would she pick and she says she would pick CLE. I do not want to switch math much at all if I can help it that is why I picked Saxon. I know with CLE I will have to switch to Saxon eventually anyway. I was thinking of buying stickers and putting them on the Saxon worksheets to add some color and such. We have moved our Saxon lessons to the whiteboard instead of both of us at a desk and she seemed to like that much better. I just dont know what to pick. I like Saxon more because of the extreme script it provides as well as just being used to it. I know CLE is semi scripted too though. I have spent hours and hours scouring forums to see what people use and what people like more and why and I am still just unsure.

Thank you for your reply to my post! Yes I am new 🙂 I have been reading posts for awhile now but have just started asking my own questions 🙂 I will look into FLL and WWE, definitely like the scripted aspect. And I will look into the Teaching Writing program you mentioned! Thank you! And yes, it is what you are describing exactly. I want to start with some sort of intro to grammar before grade 3 just so my daughter can have some exposure and it might make it easier when we start saxon grammar 3. She is reading at about a 3rd grade level, maybe a bit higher, so I am going to continue with her reading a lot, start AAS, and then choose something for grammar for 2nd grade. Then start Saxon grammar. FLL might be a good fit, especially if it is scripted! Thanks again, these boards have been tremendously helpful! I only have a soon to be 2nd grader and an almost K'er so I still feel like a newbie homeschooler 🙂

I am wondering what people use for grammar and writing before the saxon program. I would like to use it starting with Saxon Grammar and Writing 3. I emailed the publisher and Mary said that you could start it with a second grader but then Cathy Duffy's review said it was an advanced program so I am not sure if I should wait until 3rd grade to start it and do something different for my second grader. We have not done any grammar, we dabbled in alpha phonics almost completing the whole book, a little saxon phonics k, and clp adventures in phonics k. After that we used phonics pathways along with the clp readers. So no grammar instruction so far. I am a big fan of scripted type programs, bju press grammar intrigues me the manual looks partly scripted.

I also may just buy both programs and try them out and see which one my kids take to better. I found the NL Science 1 teachers manual for extremely cheap so I would just need to buy the material supply kit and student materials. It looks like NL is 3 days per week and Mcruffy is scheduled 2 days per week. So we can try both for a few weeks and then drop one if the kids prefer to. I dislike decisions lol.......

These are the two science programs I am looking into. I have a K and 2nd grader next year and I was planning on using NL Science 1 or one of the Mcruffy Science programs (not sure if I should use both Mcruffy science programs for my kids or combine them into one). I like how they are both scripted type programs and come with material kits. I have realized I am not a very Charlotte Mason unit type person for some subjects, science being one of them. I did MFW this year and the science barely got done. I need a more structured science program. Has anyone tried both these programs or at least one of them and has a preference? Thanks for the help!

Im glad it was a pretty seamless transition. I had my daughter do Saxon K and Saxon 1 but now I am starting to look into different options. I love scripted programs which made me pick Saxon but the lessons get to be too long at times and my daughter is very artistic and would appreciate some color and finds Saxon to be pretty dull even though she hasn't really struggled at all. I think sticking with an incremental spiral type program would benefit her. So I was looking into Mcruffy and CLE. I printed off the first 5 lesson samples of Mcruffy and the first day we got done with lesson 1 and she actually asked if we can do do more and do lesson 2. She would have never said that with Saxon. And I also just bought the first workbook from CLE which was extremely cheap. I know it is not as colorful, but I am going to dabble in the two programs over the summer to see how she takes to both and then we can decide if we will stick with Saxon or change to Mcruffy or CLE. I wish they made a colorful version of Saxon lol. Thank you for replying, this forum is so very helpful!

Thanks for your reply!!!! Was it a pretty seamless transition? Was the switch from Mcruffy 5 right into CLE grade 6?

If anyone has done Mcruffy K-5 math, what did you switch to after? Also for CLE math, is there anyone who used it all the way through? Did anyone switch to Saxon?

I really appreciate everyone's responses! I am like 15 lessons away from finishing Saxon 1. Today we did it a bit different. We did calendar time on the big wall calendar and did stuff on the whiteboard instead of sitting to do it while she stood up. I set the clock to time how long it was taking. It took us 40 minutes to get through the meeting and the lesson. But i heard no complaining this time at all. And she loved doing it on the whiteboard I have. It made it more fun for her, she even wanted to do extra number patterns. We have a big dining table where we usually work but she got some chairs and tv trays for her and her brother to be their school desks in front of the whiteboard. They played school and it was fun for them. Then we took a break and did the worksheets later in the day. Again no complaining. And I did not make her do the back of the sheet since she got them all right on the front (which felt uncomfortable for me since I like them doing it all! lol) But math went by fun and not dreadful like it usually is. I think everyone is right, just find ways to make it fun and dont be dragged down by the curriculum. I am going to finish out Saxon 1 within the next few weeks. I will probably go with saxon 2 for next year 4 days per week and then on the 5th day do math games and such. I asked her what things she wanted to do for school next year and she said art and logic. We use the mind benders books now by critical thinking press so i may use their mathematical reasoning book for grade 2 and let her work in that on the fifth day. I am looking into mcruffy math and may try a sample lesson with her but i do own the saxon 2 so i am going to go through the lessons and try to find some ways to "fun it up". I do want some conceptual math concepts taught but cant go with a program like singapore i had it and the teachers manual didnt seem to have anything written just pictures for the kids to look at even i was confused. I may look into adding in math mammoth some but i dont know if just one day a week for all these extras would be beneficial or not. I certainly do not want to jump all over for math at all. So if i do choose another math curriculum i will try it at the beginning of our school year in fall for a few weeks and if it doesnt work out i will just start up with saxon 2 and we wont really be behind any. I think my main problem is that i need to be more flexible and not let the curriculum rule me.

Thank you everyone for your replies! Yes I am very hesitant from switching to a different program because I am not interested in doing curriculum hopping much at all. I hated doing it for phonics (finally found wonderful phonics pathways after starting in saxon phonics k, which ending up being discontinued) and do not want to constantly switch for something as important as math. I have been reading the forums and so many people did so and so until this grade and switched to something else and then went back and it seems like things might get missed that way. I know i need to become more confident in teaching, I have that new homeschooling "im going to screw them up" attitude still. Im also the type that loves checking off boxes and some people say only do one side of a worksheet or only so many problems and skip this or that and my personality is that i want to do it all. I also think kindergarten and first grade she just wants to play and all of school might feel boring to her because she would rather be drawing and doing art and being creative. I would love to stay in one program all the way through. Maybe over the summer i will try some examples from other programs and such and see if something might be a better fit but if not i will just continue in the fall with saxon 2 and like many have mentioned do some more whiteboard work, math games, maybe do some of the worksheets orally. I know i need to be more confident teaching and being more flexible. I also understand opinions about not asking the children for their input picking out programs because they cant really tell what would be good, i think in a way some feedback from them is good about specifics but maybe not advice to choose a program as a whole. I will definitely look into math with confidence also to see if it might be a good fit. I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer, I love these forums for the honest and truthful answers and advice you get it is very helpful. Thanks everyone!

I love scripted programs abd that is why I chose Saxon Math. She did Saxon K and did not mind it but then we moved to Saxon 1 and she always hates when we do math and it takes so long. She is not struggling with many of the concepts but I am unsure if it is the curriculum or she just does not like math in general. She is a very creative kid and wants to always be doing art and such and loves colorful stuff. I get annoyed about the meeting part of Saxon but know it is good. We have started to split a lesson into two days and do the meeting and the lesson 1 da and the worksheets and math facts the next day which made things much better but I want her to like math. I am wondering if i need colorful workbooks and such. I showed her an example of math mammoth and she said she liked the color. I also do not know if i should do spiral/incremental or mastery with her either. She didnt seem to like the examples of CLE probably because they are not colorful. I just love scripted programs and I feel Saxon is the way to go for me but maybe not for her. I wish all curriculum was scripted!

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