Not a Saxon expert and haven't used the DIVE DVDs but I do have one ready for Saxon 1/2. It might be nice to have a matching set. I know there have been times where my dd and I turned to Khan academy to explain things if we weren't clicking with a concept. If it is a tool you think you will use, I say why not.

Yes! My kids do the same thing. Another reassurance: Saxon's first 40-60 lessons are very basic reviews. "Addition" is one entire lesson. Then 60-end introduce newer concepts or go deeper on stuff that was covered already.

Yeah I never use Saxon K. I just start on Saxon 1 whenever we start kindergarten. I have not actually taught anything past 6/5 which my dd just finished this week. I must say, I totally believe in going through the warm-ups outlined in the TM for level 1-3. It is a job, but it is like instant circle time that I don't have to plan out. I was diligent with my first child, who is really not mathy, and I am so glad I di. I can chalk that up as one of my most important successes so far because those warm-ups introduce concepts so gently and yet always with a variation to keep it interesting. It really built my daughter's confidence so that when she got to learning her 7 times tables, she already had them memorized because of weeks of discussing calendars and skip counting. Like a previous poster mentioned, a kid's confidence really grows when they are in this program that is predictable, routine, and leads them up the spiral staircase by the hand. I wouldn't potty train or teach piano concertos without these values, as bourgeois as they are. As far as middle school and high school, I would get Hunter's advice on that. I personally flourished on the 2nd edition (I think) of Algebra 1/2 in 7th or 8th grade. This thread gave me some food for thought about sequence and editions of books. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/473988-saxon-math-sequence/ I figure anything published before 2004 is safe because that is when Saxon was sold.

I know the way the boards work as far as cycles of popularity, and how if someone is having success with something you get people who have tried it and hate it. I just want to share some thoughts about this program for people who are starting out and don't know they are in a Saxon trough of popularity. I speak mostly of the original editions done pre-2004ish. I have tried to use Miquon and Life of Fred. They were nice, but I kept coming back to Saxon. I just want to establish that I am not totally close-minded. And now, for some anecdotal evidence: Saxon is what I grew up doing, and it is what my husband grew up using. He has, since calculus in college, continued working on all of their advanced books, including Physics, as a hobby. We have a good friend who just received his physics master's degree with honors at Rice University. He and my husband were being nerds together and doing some math and whatnot for kicks. My husband was solving a problem using one of the evil computational tricks you are forced to memorize in Saxon. Our friend was surprised and delighted to find such a simple elegant solution. He begged my husband to teach it to him. So what do I like about Saxon? 1. My kids, myself, my brother, and my husband are all able to use it independently. From grade 4 on up, it is pretty self-teaching. Tiny 10- minute lessons and then on to the problems. It does take a chunk out of your day to finish everything, but it is worth it. 2. It spirals. Spiral means never letting an inch of your brain get rusty. It really amazes me how Mr. Saxon can touch on so many subjects in just 30 problems. Everything stays fresh. And if you do forget how to do something, you have the lesson it came from written right there under the problem if you need to do some research. Spiral also means a gentle introduction, a few lessons getting the hang of something, then adding a tiny variation. So not intimidating. 3. Results. The mental math sections and the way they teach multiplication means I can be standing in a store juggling percents, taxes, and all kinds of variables in my head because I was trained to do so at a young age. I can read on Facebook about Common Core math problems someone's kid brings home and understand the problem, understand the Common Core solution, explain the solution, and give a way simpler algorithim for the poor kid to try (which may still get him a fail). 4. The connections it makes to the real world and to literature are interesting. Learning how to read an airport schedule on lesson, and references to Dorothy and Toto are par for the course. The connections the student who is paying attention will make within the lesson teach things even though it isn't explicit. For instance, problem 23 might have 20 divided by 4. Then problem 24 might be 40 divided by 8. So even though it isn't spelled out, you can figure out that hey, there's a relationship there. I am not saying it is perfect for everyone, but I just feel like it is not getting the chance it needs here on the boards. I am so grateful for Saxon giving me a solid foundation. I have no math fears, and neither do my kids. They see numbers as a language that they expect to understand. No big deal.

This is great! I couldn't stop reading. Your daughter is a hoot. If CAP enables a sparkling personality like that to show through writing, I want to buy the whole program now.

I second the advice to follow your instincts. But since you asked.... Homeschool and public school lifestyles each have their unique challenges. For me, I like to just have one set of challenges if I can help it. I guess it would be akin to pumping breast milk and turning around and sanitizing bottles to feed it to your baby. Sometimes such an extraordinary process is necessary, but just sticking to one or the other keeps life simpler.

Love this. That is why I am a "finish-the-book" person. I think having a goals-based approach is a more efficient use of time and can be tailored to individual needs and work ethic. Growing up, my brother would always finish his huge list of grade-level goals before I did. Usually it was a difference of 4-6 weeks. It killed me to have to do my math and writing while he was on his summer vacation in April. But my learning style was just slower and more perfectionist. (And I swear my mom gave me more to do) I apply the same logic to my piano students. I have a goal chart for them to fill out each day and week. I don't care if it takes them 15 minutes or 50. No point in being forced to sit on the bench after you have accomplished the task. Also, I am loving the thoughts on what "counts" as a school day.

I hate to admit this but I just go until they are done with their books and goals for the school year. So my kids finish Saxon in April and May, and finish Writing with Ease in May or June. Stuff like that. I probably school fewer days than public school. Even though you had faulty logic, at least you had logic. Better than flying by the seat of one's pants.

Wow you are all so inspiring. I will be in my last trimester this summer, so I really want to take a break, and we aren't behind, so we could justify it. But, having a baby (c-section) in September means we are not going to have a normal life till Christmas. Then we really will be behind. So, we will probably do a Saxon math lesson every other day, and work on a classic literature list. I plan on hanging out in the pool and eating a lot of fruit and vegetables.

Homeschooled on and off until seventh grade when my mom became pregnant with twins (#5 and 6). So they sent me and my siblings to private school for a couple of years. Then public school till I dropped out as a Junior and just went to college. Growing up I remember a curriculum called Math-it. Hated that. Also Writing Strands. Hated that too. Tolerated Saxon math and loved the random projects we did together. We would pick any subject (Bach, gemstones, flowers, cats, china) and do a report, creative writing, art, and maybe a field trip. Unit study I guess. My mom also read aloud from vintage history books and let me read for hours on end. My dad taught computers and geography because those are his passions. We lived in a close-knit Mormon neighborhood in the 80's so everyone knew everyone and all their pets. We had many friends, but homeschooling was still a bit weird at that time and place. I am so grateful my mom did that for us. Private school was phenomenal. I really felt like I blossomed intellectually under the tutelage of several great teachers. I learned to love French, science, math, and especially Shakespeare and good writing. I worry that I won't be able to give that to my kids. I just trust that The Lord will provide what we need. I know in the middle of raising us, my mom probably thought it was all chaos, but it really feels like I got the best of all worlds. EDIT: my husband was homeschooled from fourth grade on until he was offered a scholarship in 9th grade to go to a community college after he did something amazing to the state standardized tests. They mostly did Abeka I think.

The Golden Books Family Treasury of Poetry edited by Louis Untermeyer. Illustrated by Joan Walsh Anglund Flog your librarian if this book is not available to you! It has story poems like The Highwayman, La Bell Dame Sans Merci, various Robin Hood ones. Yeats, Keats, Wordsworth, Cummings, Browning. Also a section of funny poems and limericks, seasonal poems, Christmas poems, animal poems. One I like for this time of year: So here we are in April, in showy, blowy April, In frowsy, blowsy April, the rowdy dowdy time In soppy, sloppy April, in wheezy breezy April, In ringing, stinging April, with a singing swinging rhyme. The smiling sun of April on the violets is focal, The sudden showers of April seek the dandelion out; The tender airs of April make the local yokel vocal, And he raises rustic ditties with a most melodious shout. So here we are in April, in tipsy gypsy April, In showery, flowery April, the twinkly, sprinkly days; In tingly, jingly April, in highly wily April, In mighty, flighty April with its highty-tighty ways! The duck is fond of April, and the clucking chickabiddy And other barnyard creatures have a try at caroling; There's something in the air to turn a stiddy kiddy giddy, And even I am forced to raise my croaking voice and sing. Ted Robinson

I wish someone would have told me to look forward to this day! My older kids have an assignment each day to read aloud to their younger siblings, and it works! It is something everyone enjoys because the kids get to pick what to read and it is easier than their other school work. No major revelations, just sharing what works for us.

What does the fox say?

Yay! Thank you for pointing me in the right direction(s). I had never heard of some of these and I am excited to research them now.

My very different children just eat and breathe Michael Clay Thompson books. The entire first level was magical. My DD9 is pretty right-brained, creative, and visual so the diagrams, pictures and personification appeal to her. My DS7 is logical and seems to see things through the eyes of an engineer. And yet, he also begs for MCT. It is incremental, interesting, and logical. MCT gives him the tools to help him pull sentences apart and look at them. So here is the question: we all want to find a Latin program that has the same stuff we like about MCT. Does it exist? We have tried Prima Latina twice and it lives in our memories as one of the most infamous homeschool books we have ever used. Also, we have Caesar's English, and it is okay, definitely our least favorite MCT book so far, but not unusable. What I want is for my kids to have the experience of learning an organized language and working with foreign grammar so they can understand English better.

I grew up using it, my husband has used it all the way through calculus, and we are on year 3 of using it with my kids. It is a spiral approach which means the first time you encounter a new concept, you are not intended to master it. He teaches a way to solve it, along with cool tricks. he is very thorough about mental math and memorizing facts.You practice that concept every day for months but only a few problems of each kind. So everyday you get a new challenge as well as practicing 15 other things they are still cementing.

The World And the Prophets by Hugh Nibley A Tale of Two Cities Boundaries How Capitalism Saved America by dilorenzo (we read the chapter about the Pilgrims each Thanksgiving) Moonwalking With Einstein by Foer

I like what I see. Thanks for always sharing your vintage gems with us!

At first I was like 3 hours? Where does she get the time? But on reflection I spend that much time on light stuff (tv and internet). Your post helped me re-evaluate what I can do to actually feel rejuvenated instead of sour. I love it!

It is in Salt Lake City in the Conference Center. It is just across the street from temple square. I have been in it and it is just awesome. You can fit 2 Boeing 747s side by side in it and yet it feels almost intimate because every seat is a good one.

Huh, I have never noticed dirt on my walls. We even have a long upstairs hallway between everyone's bedrooms and it is fine. I just went to examine it. My kids are all compulsive hand washers though. Like, get up in the middle of a sandwich to wash your hands compulsive. The only way I have found to keep my house under control is to spend the better part of an hour each night doing dust/polishing/scrubbing stuff. And since it is at night, I only get around to doing windows like, once a year. Hmmm maybe today should be that day. My kids never get presents from grandparents and so far only twice in their life from any other relative, so I am in almost total control of what comes into our house. I rarely shop at garage sales or thrift shops.

Heck, I just turn on the education unboxed videos and let my son work through them on his own. He likes to race the little girl on the video. I am still reading through the first grade diary and annotations. It has only been a week since the whole package came in the mail, but we all love it and I am excited to use it. Billy's consistent testimony finally won me over and I am so happy with the choice.

Lulu has 20% offer on any order till sept 7.

My mom hated Lego and we never had any growing up. Not a one. I had a brother and two sisters and we all grew up and are fine. We found things to play with. Not having Legos will not ruin them. My husband and his brother had tons of Legos and my husband still has his sets all organized with their instruction manuals. He gets them out and plays with our kids. Each of my kids has their own tackle box with Legos. They play for hours day after day. If we find Legos downstairs they lose them for a week or so. I have never stepped on a Lego. I go barefoot all over our carpet. The wrath of Thor will own them if they dump out Legos in the sitting room. They know this and we are all happy with it.

All I can say is something like this would have changed my life. All I ever wanted to do was look at and design dollhouses. My mom didn't know how to help with that dream, so it is still a bucket list item for me. Oh I hope you find something. I will be watching this thread.