This past fall, we started using the Rod and Staff Bible and Nurture Series for reading and phonics. We absolutely LOVE the curriculum and my son has thrived with it, so now I've been wondering if we should consider switching to Rod and Staff math. For a little background, my son completed Saxon 1 last year and is now in Saxon 2. He has enjoyed Saxon and has excelled with it, rarely scoring less than a 100% on any assessment, but I, myself, have been frustrated with the slowness of the curriculum. As a result of the incremental approach, it seems to take forever for the concepts to progress. For example, my son was already counting change which included half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies, when Saxon introduced problems involving just pennies. Even by the end of the year, the money problems still weren't all that hard. For another example, most every worksheet had him drawing pictures to depict "some, some more" or "some, some went away" stories, though he got the concept after the first few worksheets and was more than ready to move on to more challenging problems. I've been wondering if Rod and Staff's mastery approach might be a better option. (I also really like the way Rod and Staff teaches the math facts and think their approach might be a better fit for my son, but without actually trying their approach, I'm not 100% sure if it would make a significant difference.)
One of my concerns about changing (as much as I don't like it to be, but I have to face reality) is with standardized testing. I've heard that Saxon produces good scores and I can vouch for that, as my son scored several years above grade level on the SAT-10. When I've looked through the Rod and Staff 1st through 3rd grade curriculum, it doesn't seem to cover any graphs, statistics, probability, calendar skills, etc. and those were on the SAT-10 my son took. I've heard that around 4th grade, Rod and Staff really picks up, but in the meantime, for those using Rod and Staff, how have your children tested on standardized testing?
Any input/insight would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!! :001_smile: