If you left Saxon math, then came back-why?

[smilesonly]

Just curious. I seem to read a lot of moms leave it as it is too much work for them or their dc. Those that stay with it seem to send a message that they make the curriculum work for them by tweaking (meeting, assigning odds/evens,etc..) and moving on when needed.

Care to share? A bonus reply would be one that also describes both your teaching style/ability/mathiness AND your dc's learning styles and strengths.:D

 

Thanks!

[momteaches2]

I started Saxon with my son when he was in kindergarten. He enjoyed it at first, because he thought it was 'fun'. That didn't last long, though, because he knew it all. The content they teach in the younger grades, in my opinion, tends to be below my expectations. So, we switched to Horizons math. Now, we use Horizons K-3 and switch to Saxon in 4th grade.

 

I am 'math-y', and my children tend to be, as well. They do really well with both programs. I introduce the DIVE CD's when they hit Algebra 1. My oldest doesn't necessarily enjoy Saxon (Alg 2), but he does okay with it. My middle one does extremely well with it (76), but wishes I'd let him skip problems. ;) My dd is still in Horizons (1), but I think she'll do well with Saxon like her brothers.

[Mandy in TN]

My two big boys left Saxon after middle school. Frankly, I didn't think I liked it and it was never a good fit for my oldest. We went on to use MUS.

I wish that I had switched my oldest sooner. He is dyslexic and needed a mastery style program in order to master math skills.:)

but... I must have liked Saxon more than I would admit to myself, because I never sold the books and I now wish I had never pulled the 2nd ds out of Saxon. So, I pulled those old hardback books out and little ds has used Saxon 54, 65, and is just starting 76. So, I came back to Saxon. The variety of problems in the lessons make Saxon a good companion curriculum to both mastery and basal math programs.

I have no interest in using the lower levels of Saxon. Frankly, they are too expensive and time consuming for the skills taught. The middle levels Saxon 54 through 87 were never time consuming for us. I always have done the mental math orally without having the kids look at the page. We have always used a different drill program, so we never used Saxon's drill sheets. With the big guys sometimes I read the lesson and sometimes they read the lesson. With the little guy, I always read the lessons. We usually did/do the practice together and then they completed/ complete the problems. I would let the big boys test out of the beginning of the books, but I have not let the little guy do so.

My oldest is now (thanks to a tutor) mathematically proficient although he is still not mathematically confident.

My 2nd is mathematically very comfortable and adept with numbers. He used Singapore PM 3-6 alongside Saxon and kept up with both without problem.

My youngest is mathematically accelerated. He is 7.5yo, just started Saxon 76, and is working in Kumon level F where he is drilling order of operations with whole numbers and fractions. He has enjoyed the variety of problems in Saxon. It is a nice contrast to Kumon where he does sheet after sheet of the same kind of problem. However, at the beginning of 76 he did complain about how easy the problems sets were, so this summer on days we get around to doing Saxon I am letting him do two lessons at once. Still no drill, because we are doing Kumon. He does both mental math sections, both practice sets, but only a little of the problem sets. This way I hope to spend the summer as review and get to the new material in time to start more regular school in the fall.

I spent a lot of time "playing math" with my dc when they are little. We have enjoyed Cuisenaire rods, dice, dominoes, playing cards, duplos, wedgits, pattern blocks, etc. I liked playing math and my boys enjoyed it, too. I am very comfortable instructing math through Alg1 and geometry. I gladly spend twice (alright maybe 3 times) the amount of time on math as I do on history (especially in K-6).

I am not entirely comfortable teaching Alg2. I just haven't played with it enough to feel confident tackling the problems in ways other than how they are presented in a book, so if I don't like the way the book teaches it then I have to find another book. This is why I am so glad to have found a tutor who loves math and can bring spontaneity and enjoyment to Alg2 and pre-calc.

 

HTH-

Mandy

[vmsurbat]

Our story:

 

I used Saxon for my oldest beginning with Saxon 54. I didn't like the lack of "chapters" and facts drill (in those first editions), but nothing better was readily available back then (she is now a college grad working in her dream field). When I discovered Rod and Staff math, it was love at first sight for me as a teacher. I switched all my kids over and we used R&S through 7th/8th (depending on the student). Then I used Saxon Alg 1/2, Alg.1 and up because 1. I needed a high school sequence, and 2. those are the "original" Saxon books that produced great results for many.

 

My two oldest did well with Saxon (even though I still have personal issues with the lack of "chaptering"/organizing of new material). But when my third child did not do well with Saxon, I went on a hunt for a different approach and ended up with Math Relief (Alg. 1 and 2) + BJU Geometry. That worked for him--the step by step, *linear* building up of concepts is just what he needed. I had my fourth follow in his brother's footsteps. After working through Math Relief Alg. 1 and Geometry, I saw the first cracks in Child #4's math foundations; while he understood algebraic concepts in a general way, he couldn't "do" the math. He needs a program that works concepts until the point of automaticity. He just does. So I switched him to Saxon Alg. 2 and after a slightly rocky start, he has thrived. Child #5 is also following a Saxon sequence for high school and while math is not a favorite subject, is enjoying the challenge of mastering the material.

 

Pros: Clear cut lessons and explanations.

Available DVD helps. (I have Art Reed's DVDs. They are only used occasionally)

Five word problems every lesson. I love all the chem/coin/mixture. problems.

Enough exercises to learn/overlearn the material.

Combined Geometry. After having some of my kids use only Saxon and some use an additional Geometry text, I really think Saxon has enough geometry in it which simplifies life for a busy high schooler.

Solutions manual with steps listed.

 

How we use Saxon High School Math:

 

1. My children must do all the lessons. I don't care if they work the practice problems.

 

2. They must do all the exercises (no evens or odds here). When finished, I get out the solutions manual and they tell me their answer. If they get one wrong, they rework it. I have the solutions manual and so can give them hints if they are stuck. I may have them say their steps outloud, so I can compare what they are doing with the solutions manual. Usually reworking step-by-step solves the problem and they don't need any hints. It is rare for them to get more than a couple wrong per lesson, and even those are usually careless mistakes.

 

3. They take a test every week as scheduled. They like test day as it makes for a much shorter math day. I grade the tests pretty strictly (not a lot of partial credit given). This motivates my kids to be **very careful** with signs, reducing, and what not. To compensate, I throw out the three lowest test scores per semester when figuring their grade. (This is really to appease them--it makes no actual difference in their ultimate grade--They routinely score in the 90s). I don't keep grades for daily work--Saxon is designed to show what they *really* know on the tests, not the daily homework....

 

I've made my peace with Saxon. It is not perfect, but it is a good, challenging high school math program when used as designed.

 

HTH,

Edited June 19, 2010 by vmsurbat
typo

[creekmom]

With my oldest, I used Saxon from K - 5/4 (he did 5/4 in 3rd grade since we did Saxon 1 in K). In 4th grade, I thought he'd like Teaching Textbooks, so I put him in TT 5. He LOVED it, and he was doing very well on all the assignments/tests. Periodically, I'd look at his assignments and think - this seems pretty easy....:glare:, but he enjoyed it and I thought it had to get a little tougher at some point. Well, a little after Christmas, I couldn't stand it anymore. I felt like TT was only covering the basics and it almost seemed like a remedial program even though we were doing a year above his grade level. I bought Saxon 6/5 and compared it to TT 5 - and was a little sickened bc even though we were over 1/2 way finished with TT5, I would have to go back to lesson 20 in the Saxon 6/5 bc it covered soooooo much more math than TT had. My son did Saxon 7/6 this year (in 5th grade)- he did a facts practice every day, read the math lesson and did all the problems. He scored the grade equivalent of Post High School in every section of the math on the Stanford 10. I give all the credit to Saxon. My daughter (3rd grade this past year) has always done Saxon and scored very high on the Stanford in math this year also (a grade equivalent of a sophomore in high school on the problem solving!) I know Saxon doesn't work for every mom/child, but around here, we couldn't be happier. :001_smile:

[smilesonly]

Thanks for sharing! I'm enjoying all the different reasons and hope they benefit others, too.

:)