Saxon vs. CLE Math vs. Right-Start

[neveryoumindthere]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to decide on a math curriculum for my 6yo dd and I've narrowed it down to these three.

 

She is vey visual and a strong reader and though I could be wrong, it seems that pictures/bright colours etc distract her. She adds most things to 12 in her head, mostly out of laziness to get her manipulatives out, though she'll sometimes draw sticks or something to figure out a problem.

 

I prefer for her to still use manipulatives most of the time though.

 

She is constantly *bored* and always seeks some project or busywork, her brain is constantly seeking more of something..

 

Also, for saxon, when I did the placement test, she placed in saxon 1, since she's not strong on time/money (but we've never worked on them), but I read on here that saxon 1 was too easy. Of course I can't find the post now that I needed it. Comments?

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance!

[Mom0012]

I used RS A, B and most of C with my daughter and then switched over to CLE math for her this year. I really enjoyed doing RS with her and I think it is a wonderful program. I am so glad I did A - C with her. Towards the end of C, I started to feel she needed more systematic written practice. I know RS has practice sheets, but I really wanted something more systematic.

 

She loves CLE and it is a perfect fit for her. Since we have switched, she often tells me how much she loves math. She never minded doing RS, but she must be more of a workbook girl because she definitely seems to prefer CLE. If I had to do it over again, I would do things exactly as we did. RS for the younger years and then switch over to CLE.

 

Lisa

[PeterPan]

We did RS A-D and then went to BJU for the visual stimulation, the very thing you're trying to avoid. There's a big spread in the teacher interaction with those three. RS is totally teacher-driven, not at all independent at that level. CLE will send you a free light unit to sample, so you might do that, just to get a feel for it. Saxon I haven't used, but I gather it's sort of in the middle. The samples of RS on their website are very reflective of it. Print them and try teaching them to see what you think. The math *you* can teach and implement comfortably is the math that will probably work out best. All three are fine options, so I'd just narrow it down by the one that clicks with you and trust your gut.

[Sew happily ever after]

Saxon is very repetitive and boring. It teaches strategies similar to but not exactly the same as RS. you will likely find yourself crossing out or skipping much of the practice pages if you dd masters a concept. it is generally written for school classrooms and is very effective when used in classroom situations. That is not to say that it can't be effectively used in a homeschool situation, but you will have to adjust some things and not do so much of the repetition b/c it will kill the child's love for learning!

 

i've never used CLE, but have a friend who is using it and she likes it well enough and so do her boys.

 

I LOVE RS--wish I had been taught this way--I have picked up so many tips and tricks and had so many "AHA!" moments! It is WONDERFUL in the way it really cements math concepts. The kids actually UNDERSTAND why math works rather than just repeat formulas. They learn strategies which help them to know their basic facts, not just memorize them, etc. BUT it is very teacher intensive. We are doing levels B, C, and D this year and it takes a lot of my time (60-90 minutes) but I totally feel like it's worth it! Plus the middle dd who is in level C gets math super easily so it's really easy and fun to teach her--many times she can do an entire lesson very quickly. With the other 2 there is a bit of a challenge, but we just break it down and sometimes do a lesson over 2 or 3 days whatever it takes for them to completely understand what is being taught. You could always try level B...it would give her a good foundation of the facts and many other math concepts like money and time that you are looking for!

[black_midori]

We just (JUST) started Rightstart A with my 3yo & 5yo last week and so far we are liking it! My 5yo is the reason I finally switched to RS - he was having a huge comprehension problem with "just winging it" math teaching and also Singapore... he'd do the problems and get them mostly correct but I'd ask him something like "what is 5 plus 1" or "what is anything plus 1" and he'd give me a blank stare and things would quickly go downhill from there :( I tried doing tally marks and having him do it with coins but nothing got through.

 

I started RS at level A rather than the level B that he really "should" be at for two reasons. The main one is that he was having SO MUCH trouble with the basics that I wanted to start basics all over again (and pretend like we hadn't even tried before!). The secondary one is that he has a younger brother and I figured for awhile I could just do BOTH of them at the same time and get 2 for the time of 1 :). That way the younger wouldn't have the same math issues in a couple of years!

 

I'm finding that so far they enjoy it. Level A is definitely way too low for the 5yo - but he is putting his own "twist" onto things and I am encouraging it, so he's still having fun. For instance, when they ask you to point out two of something in the room he'll point out 3 and tell me that if you take 1 away it would have been 2... which of course leads his brother to try the same thing (except he one-upped it by taking 2 away and leaving 1 - when I reminded him that we were looking for 2 of something he grinned and put another back, calmly advising me that all we had to do was add another). They seem to really enjoy doing it together. When we did sorting today as a capper I let them sort colored M&Ms (throwing in "extra" things for the older - like put them in groups of 3) and eat them after, which of course went over great.

 

I've heard many times from many places that levels 1&2 of Saxon are not very good and should be skipped over, so we actually deliberately avoided them. In fact, I have level 3? Saxon and up (my FIL bought them when he homeschooled my nephew for awhile) and will likely use them in a few years, after we've finished at least RS B and maybe C. I'm liking the thought that the kids will learn to do better math, more mental and less memory, than I did!

 

Laura

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Have you looked at Miquon? Sorry to throw more into the mix, just a thought. :)

[Annabel Lee]

I just want to share my experience w/ choosing grade levels w/ Saxon. My older son was in 1st, and his scores on the placement test showed that he should go into Saxon 2. He missed level 3 only by 1 1/2 more questions than he should have. If your dc is very close to a level like this in Saxon, go ahead with the higher one. It really is very repetitive and every level is written assuming the child has not previously done Saxon math. Most of what he did in Saxon 2 was far too easy for him. I really should have put him in the next level up. HTH!

[anabelneri]

I have to echo what others have said about trying sample lessons from each program. I personally love Right Start, but my visual-auditory 6yo dd did NOT.

 

We were working on Level B, and I know she got a lot out of it. But it drove her nuts! She really wanted to be more in control of her work, and she hated the "warm-up" exercises -- some days we'd end up spending almost an hour on them, because she was too bored to bother with giving the right answer. Like I said, I know she got a lot out of it. I wish we could still use it. But the daily yelling and frustration was not Ok, so we're with Singapore now.

 

I wish you luck!

:)

Anabel

[siloam]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to decide on a math curriculum for my 6yo dd and I've narrowed it down to these three.

 

She is vey visual and a strong reader and though I could be wrong, it seems that pictures/bright colours etc distract her. She adds most things to 12 in her head, mostly out of laziness to get her manipulatives out, though she'll sometimes draw sticks or something to figure out a problem.

 

I prefer for her to still use manipulatives most of the time though.

 

She is constantly *bored* and always seeks some project or busywork, her brain is constantly seeking more of something..

 

Also, for saxon, when I did the placement test, she placed in saxon 1, since she's not strong on time/money (but we've never worked on them), but I read on here that saxon 1 was too easy. Of course I can't find the post now that I needed it. Comments?

 

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance!

 

RS is not visually distracting, unless the manuplatives themselves are for the child. It works a lot of mental addition, so if your dd enjoys that (and it sounds like she does) then RS might be right up her alley. The Abacus is also great because it is so easy to use and is a more grown up type maniplative. My kids adore the games (which you can view on youtube by searching on alabacus).

 

I agree that probably the best first step would be trying a sample of each.

 

Heather

 

[Guest aquiverfull]

I may not be of much help to you, but I'll share my experiences. We have used BJU K, Horizons 1-4, the very beginning books in CLE 5 , and we're now doing Saxon 7/6. My dd really struggles with math. It is her weakest subject by far. She often felt very frustrated with Horizons. She always felt that they moved way too quickly. We bought CLE this year. We worked through 501 and 502. She still felt rushed and so on a whim, I decided we would try saxon since I had it out in the garage (bought it for another child who I didn't end up homeschooling). It has been the perfect fit for her. She obviously needs the repetition that it provides. She is so much more happier and our school is flowing much nicer this way.

 

As far as presentation, I really like CLE over Horizons. It is less visually distracting and has more open white space on the pages. I think those two programs are very similar overall. If you as the teacher need help with teaching I don't recommend either of them. I find that neither are very strong in teacher notes. The workbooks are supposed to teach the kid themselves. However, I found that my daughter often had questions that weren't answered and I admit sometimes I had to go and find the answer because it had been a long time since I've done some of that stuff...lol. Math was never my strong subject either.

 

I think Saxon does a better job at explaining how to work the problems, but maybe that's just my opinion.

I know there are many people who are very against Saxon on this board. One reason why I've steered clear of it. Now seeing how well my dd is doing with it, I should have tried it long ago.

[skaterbabs]

I was deciding between RS and CLE for Dot, RS was way out of our price range, so the decision was prettyv much made for us. Dot is thriving with CLE math and is almost finished with LU 105.

[Crimson Wife]

I started my DD in RS B as a not-quite-5 y.o. kindergartner and took it slowly. It took us 13 months to finish the program. By that point, I was in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, so we just did informal math for the rest of the semester. We started C in the middle of last spring and are just finishing it up now.

 

I loved, loved, loved level B. It provided her an excellent foundation in math. Level C has been just okay. She's capable of a lot more in the way of abstract thinking than she was when we first started using the program. Back then, all the hands-on use of the manipulatives was really helpful to her; now she prefers to do math on paper. Also, I think she'd benefit from a faster pace than the one in levels D & E.

 

So what I think we're going to do is to switch to the Activities for the AL Abacus plus Singapore and/or MEP. Also, I'm considering adding in the Life of Fred series once she's ready for that.

[neveryoumindthere]

Thank you everyone! I've decided to go with CLE. She likes workbooks and it looks like the one I'd enjoy teaching the most. Even though I have a feeling she'll fly through it that's ok with me, we'll just start the next level earlier.

 

I'm now looking into RS for my touchy-feely 4 yo...............but that can wait... :)

 

Thanks again!