Thinking of switching to Saxon (from MUS)

[Staceyshoe]

We're using MUS Alpha now which ds will be finishing soon. I'm considering switching to Saxon after he's done with Alpha but I have a few questions:

 

1. We were gifted a TM from the 1994 edition. If I get the newer student workbooks, would they correlate well enough?

 

2. I've heard that Saxon is repetitive and I can see that in the TM too. I like the repetition but am trying to figure out how to reduce the repetitiveness if ds gets bored with it. Would skipping written practice or skipping certain lessons still work? Does anyone else skip things to reduce repetitiveness? What's the best strategy to use?

 

3. The manipulatives kit is pretty pricey, and ds placed ready for Saxon 3 on the online placement test. I think that's the last level the manipulatives are needed? I haven't seen the manipulatives on the FS board here. Do used ones come available very often? Has anyone piece-mealed the manipulatives for less $?

 

4. If you do the whole lesson with all of its components, approx how much teacher time can I expect per lesson?

 

I know that's a lot of questions! Just trying to figure out whether we want to make the jump or not.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Staceyshoe
correcting a confusing typo ;)

[Melissa in Australia]

I can answer q2. it is very repetitive, so we just do every second problem. if my child is having a problem with one of the concepts, then I get them to do every one of the problems on that concept.

can't help with any of the other questions though, sorry.

[Jenny in GA]

I've never used Saxon, but we use and like MUS.

 

I'm curious why you want to switch? I know MUS Alpha started driving us crazy by the end, but now we are really enjoying Beta.

 

I've heard that switching math curriculums isn't a good idea unless you have a really good reason, because the presentations and sequences are so different.

[nukeswife]

What grade are you looking at? If you're looking at grades K-3 then yes your TM will work fine with the current worksheets, as far as I know there hasn't been an update of the TMs for those grades.

 

I used Saxon 2 with my son a while back. Yes it can be repetitive and you can take things out. My son knew most of the things in the "meeting" part so we only did the things he needed work on. If he had mastered something on the worksheets we would skip them, there are 2 sides to the worksheets, usually in PS they do 1 side in class and take the other side home to complete as homework. We would only do the 1st side and if he bombed something then we'd do those problems on the back that covered that area.

 

One last thing, make sure he takes the placement test and then when you start if things seem easy you can just give him the Assessments in Saxon until he gets less than 80% and start at those lessons. This is the advice I got from Saxon when I called them before starting.

[Staceyshoe]

I've never used Saxon, but we use and like MUS.

 

I'm curious why you want to switch? I know MUS Alpha started driving us crazy by the end, but now we are really enjoying Beta.

 

I've heard that switching math curriculums isn't a good idea unless you have a really good reason, because the presentations and sequences are so different.

 

I plan to switch to Saxon at some point (I've heard MUS isn't as rigorous of a math curriculum in the upper levels) and thought this might be a good time since we were given a Saxon book. MUS does seem to be working for ds--he's learning his math facts quickly and absolutely loves math lessons. From what I can see, Saxon seems to have broader scope--incorporating things like dates, temperature, weight, measurement, graphing, etc. I had been thinking about trying to add these things in somehow and then saw that they are part of the Saxon lessons.

 

I am strongly considering trying Saxon when we're done with MUS Alpha just to see how it goes. If it's not a hit with ds, then we'll go back to MUS for a while.

[Staceyshoe]

I think we posted at the same time, Kel. ;) I'm looking at Saxon 3, so it's good to know that the TM will work with the newer workbooks. Your method of skipping over the things that have been mastered makes sense. (I'm such a box-checker type that I like seeing everything completed and in order, but I can see how that could bore ds to tears.) The info about using the assessments until he reaches 80% is incredibly helpful!! I will definitely do that! Thanks!

[HSMom2One]

We started out with Saxon and switched to MUS the following year at the suggestion of teachers at a classical school where I teach part-time. (The school had also switched from Saxon to MUS curriculum for elementary math.)

 

My dd HATED math when we used Saxon because it was so repetitive. She was BORED.TO.TEARS. When we moved over to MUS, she suddenly loved math and had a much better understanding of it. So we left Saxon with relief and never looked back. Since then we have moved over to TT, but only because it includes complete instruction in the box, which saves me a lot of time and works really well for my dd. If it weren't for this, I would have stayed with MUS hands down.

 

This was our experience, but I also have to say that it depends on the child. If your child is a visual learner and catches on to new concepts quickly, the repetition of Saxon may be too slow moving for him/her. On the other hand, if your child learns better with repetition and needs a spiral approach, then Saxon may be a better fit.

 

FWIW...

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Staceyshoe]

Thanks for sharing your experience, Lucinda. We'll give the Saxon a try and then switch back to MUS if it doesn't work well. It's kind of nice that I already know ds likes MUS so it should be an easy decision if he doesn't take to the Saxon lessons.

[momee]

Never mind, I don't think my reply fits here so I'll start it's own thread for what I was going to say about Saxon.