Saxon users: How long does your math meeting take?

[mlbuchina]

We are in Saxon 2, and the math meeting seems to take forever. Of course, the dawdling doesn't help.:glare:

 

I was just wondering how others' day goes.

 

Thanks!

[mlbuchina]

OK. After another very trying time with math today I am seriously considering dropping Saxon and switching to Singapore. I have PM 1A and B, and have really started thinking about just having her do that.

 

Has anyone else done something like this?

[EKS]

Yes, we did. I think this would help immensely.

 

After dropping the meeting because it was taking too long, then dropping the second side of the worksheet, finally dropping the fact sheet as well, and still having tears almost daily, I finally got the clue that maybe I should be using a different curriculum. We switched to Singapore and things got much better very quickly.

Edited April 19, 2010 by EKS

[mommylawyer]

I like Saxon, but I only do one meeting every two or three weeks - or I do an element or two of a meeting each day of math (it just depends on my mood and my daughter's mood). So, I might have her do a pattern one day, some calendaring activity another day, etc. Also, when we come to a lesson with a concept she has a good grasp of (or if we come to a lesson that is quick), we may do 2 or 3 lessons in a day. As for the worksheets, I have her do one side of the worksheet and I give her a timed sheet only once a week (talk about tears; whipping one of those out always brought out the waterworks when we did those daily). I tried Singapore once at it wasn't for us. My modified Saxon works well though!

[kmacnchs]

I agree with PP - modified Saxon works very well for us. We do parts of the meeting (parts she enjoys, parts she needs work on), then we do the lesson until she understands the new concept (may or may not be all that they suggest), then she will do 1 line of the fact sheet (if it is perfect, she is done; if she gets one wrong, she will try again w/another line - she is learning to slow down & think!), then we will do one side of the worksheet. I am saving them so dd2 can do the other side when she does Saxon 1 :)

[fractalgal]

We are in Saxon 2, and the math meeting seems to take forever. Of course, the dawdling doesn't help.:glare:

 

I was just wondering how others' day goes.

 

Thanks!

 

We are using Saxon 3 this year. We only do the oral counting section of the meeting book. I've never used any of the flashcards in the program. Today we learned about secret patterns of functions (Lesson 119 - Identifying a Function Rule). It was interesting.

 

Saxon would not have worked for us if we were to do everything in the meeting book every day. The nice thing is that you can just skip that section, and check every once in awhile that they still remember that idea.

 

During days of assessments, that is the only thing we do. We modify the program and make it work for us.

 

Another idea is to add Singapore 1A or 1B. Singapore approaches concepts from a different angle which can be helpful - even for a student who is not struggling.

 

We do Saxon 3 days a week and 2 days of Singapore IP.

 

You might consider the Singapore Intensive Practice and CWP Books. At Level 1, I prefer the IP books to the CWP books.

 

Good luck.:)

[Just Robyn]

Yes, the meetings can take a long time. We stop doing things when I know my kids have got them down really well. For example, I am certain my middle ds is not going to forget the days of the week, so it is not necessary for us to talk about that every day. We may go over them once/month just so I am positive he hasn't forgotten them for some reason. The same is true with patterns. (He is doing Saxon 1 right now).

 

When my oldest was doing Saxon 2 I found it unnecessary to do the coin cup. Given his interest in money, both having and spending it, he caught on to counting coins pretty quickly. Plus we have a board game that we use for that anyway.

 

Those are some examples I can remember, but I'm sure we have made more modifications. We also skip lessons or do more than one sometimes if the lesson is very easy. I think Saxon has a lot of repetition just in case you need it. Maybe their thinking is that it's easier to take stuff out if you don't need it than it is to add stuff when there isn't enough?

 

I sometimes feel like I cannot take another minute with Saxon. It takes too long. There is too much repetition. Neither of my older children is gaining a love of math. I have tried Singapore and it will not work for us. I wish I could try every math program so as to find one we can all love (or dislike less).

Edited April 20, 2010 by crstarlette

[TracyR]

We do a modified version of the meeting, you can check it out on our blog. I just recently video taped it. It takes us a couple of minutes doing it the way we're doing it now. (link in my signature) Plus only doing the front if my daughter doesn't have problems( if she does I make her do the back the next day).

 

If that doesn't help then maybe Singapore may be the better fit.

[Chris in VA]

We skipped some of the meeting occasionally. You have to be careful, tho, not to skip some things, because it will bite you later to not have them to the point of automaticity.

[mlbuchina]

We skipped some of the meeting occasionally. You have to be careful, tho, not to skip some things, because it will bite you later to not have them to the point of automaticity.

 

This is why it makes me nervous to skip things in the meeting. What kinds of things would you suggest we NOT skip? I do think that skipping some of the patterns and the money cup would be ok. I still think she needs work on skip counting, but the calendar is so... well :ack2:.

[kmacnchs]

This is why it makes me nervous to skip things in the meeting. What kinds of things would you suggest we NOT skip? I do think that skipping some of the patterns and the money cup would be ok. I still think she needs work on skip counting, but the calendar is so... well :ack2:.

 

how organized are you? you could do 1 section/day (but you'd have to keep up with it). There are more than 5 sections so it's not like you'd do calendar only on Mondays :)

[EKS]

This is why it makes me nervous to skip things in the meeting. What kinds of things would you suggest we NOT skip? I do think that skipping some of the patterns and the money cup would be ok. I still think she needs work on skip counting, but the calendar is so... well :ack2:.

 

The problem with Saxon (and the meeting is just a manifestation of this) is that it requires the child to drill to the point of automaticity many disparate elements. This takes a lot of energy. It is not necessary to drill a child continually to get them to be able to do certain things fluently. For example, once a child has had enough experience with the 7s multiplication facts and with a calendar (just by existing in the world), he/she will be able to easily do all that calendar stuff the meeting drills (this may actually be in Math 3). It's the same with all those number patterns.

 

That said, IMO, if you are going to start changing things about Saxon you need to be careful. One Saxon's strengths is drill to the point of automaticity all things mathematical and even only partially mathematical. When you remove that drill element, you are messing with the thing that makes Saxon strong.

 

I am going to say again, it is worth giving Singapore a try. If you use the 1AB books, you'll probably find that she already knows a lot of it (though she may need to learn how to add two digit numbers with regrouping mentally, this is in 1B I think, and being able to do it mentally is important for the "Singapore way"). This will give both of you a break from the tension. If you do go to Singapore, the Standards edition has more systematic review (though if you have the US edition, I'd just use that and then switch at 2A). The only thing you have to remember is that Singapore does not incorporate fact review into the program. We use the Saxon flash cards and worksheets I get off the internet for that.

[homemomandnild]

My oldest Dd started with Saxon 2, being rather gifted in math she soon became bored with it. We switched to Singapore, which has been much better for us. she is now in NEM 1.

 

However, since I still have it, all of my kiddos have gone through Saxon 2 because I like the meeting time activities and the fact drill. We only do the meeting time items that they need, alternating between them to shorten the time. We only do one side of the worksheet (the next kid does the backs). I usually end up combining Saxon lessons that are similar in the second half of the book.

 

That's what we do anyways.

Kathy

[fractalgal]

My oldest Dd started with Saxon 2, being rather gifted in math she soon became bored with it. We switched to Singapore, which has been much better for us. she is now in NEM 1.

 

However, since I still have it, all of my kiddos have gone through Saxon 2 because I like the meeting time activities and the fact drill. We only do the meeting time items that they need, alternating between them to shorten the time. We only do one side of the worksheet (the next kid does the backs). I usually end up combining Saxon lessons that are similar in the second half of the book.

 

That's what we do anyways.

Kathy

 

My kids are gifted as well and we work ahead of grade level and only do one side of the worksheet also. I like the oral skip counting in grade 3; that is one section we usually do every day that we do Saxon.

 

It is interesting for me to hear how others use it as well.

[mlbuchina]

Thanks again, everyone, for your thoughts and advice. I am going to try a combo of things to see if that helps. Maybe do the 3 days of Saxon, and 2 days of Singapore, or something like that.

 

I do like the drill in Saxon, and I plan to continue that. I like the idea of maybe doing elements of the meeting each day, and not every single one of them. Especially the ones she knows.

 

For those using higher than Math 3, does the format change? I really do love the scope and sequence of Saxon, and to tell the truth, Singapore makes me nervous:tongue_smilie:.

 

Thanks, again!

[selh09]

For those using higher than Math 3, does the format change? I really do love the scope and sequence of Saxon, and to tell the truth, Singapore makes me nervous:tongue_smilie:.

 

I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for, but you can go to CBD's website and search for Saxon and they have sample of the pages from the texts. It may give you some idea of how the format changes when you get to Math 5/4.