I'm considering using Beast Academy to supplement our main math curriculum Saxon. We do every part of Saxon--every part of every lesson, test and investigation--and my boys, (using 5/4 and 8/7, next year) benefit from the spiral/repetition/practice problems. I really believe Saxon is a solid, thorough program but I'd like to supplement with something more conceptually based for my 2 very math-inclined boys. I'm thinking to just get the BA Guide books for their correct level and have them read through that once or twice a week. Has anyone used BA as supplement? How did you structure it? Would the guide books alone accomplish our goals of teaching math more conceptually? or are the practice books truly needed for that? I've never had the opportunity to look at either "in my hands" so I can only look at what BA has posted online as samples--not really helpful to me. I really don't want to invest a ton of money if not necessary in a completely new math curriculum.

I'm considering switching out of Saxon and into Math U See. After reading the new edition of TWTM and her emphasis on conceptual learning, I feel like in the area of place value (which almost all of math seems to hinge on), Saxon is really weak conceptually in how they teach it. My son is in 2nd grade and doing Saxon math 3. He is extremely bright when it comes to math so I never really worried about him conceptually, until I started reading more about it. He seems to be doing great with Saxon, but I'm just worried it's not enough conceptually. I know in TWTM it says Math U See is a good option but that you should supplement some. Does that mean on memorization of math facts? Or something else? I don't want to be constantly having to come up with extra stuff. My daughter started Saxon 1 this year and I think the jumping around from topic to topic is confusing to her. She is definitely going to need more of a Math U See manipulative based program. Any thoughts? I'm fairly at peace with my younger student switching out to Math U See, but am slightly panicked about switching my son who has only ever done Saxon. Because he has much more of a math, science, computer mind, I want to make sure I'm doing the best thing for him. You used to hear homeschool communities and many classical groups rave about Saxon, but now that tide seems to be turning. Also, comparing the two (Saxon and Math U See), it seems like Saxon covers way more and that Math U See is so quick and "easy" with not much to it. Compared to Saxon, I feel like we would missing A LOT of stuff using Math U See. Or is it just different across the whole curriculum?

Would you consider Saxon at a lower level than other math programs? I'm just wondering because I've done Saxon Alg 1 & 2 and I have friends in public school doing similar level math but they cover many concepts I've never covered or even heard of. I just want to know where Saxon stands in the world of math books :P I want to know because I may have to do a little extra math prep before college (It's senior year for me). Thank you very much!

Hi! We bought Saxon Math 1 Parts 1 and 2 for our first grader. Thought that the Home Study Teacher's Edition would be of help, so we got that too (used). Here's the question. We know we'll be buying several math books over the years. Is it possible to save money by reusing the books for the younger child(ren)? How? Is it worth the trouble to photocopy the workbook pages? Is it legal too? We've looked at the workbooks. Our 6 year old has been doing first grade math for a while now and knows a lot of the stuff. But we want a thorough and solid foundation for him, and we aren't in a hurry. We wouldn't mind doing one lesson each day plus extra drills if it feels too easy. But is it more cost effective to photocopy or just buy new workbooks for each child? Or do you write the answers in a math notebook? Speaking of that, what does a first grade math notebook look like? Where do we get it? Can we use regular first grade notebooks?