Saxon Grammar and Writing 5-8

[Roxy Roller]

Has anyone used this? If so, did/do you like it?

[Homeschooling6]

I can't really comment much {but can give you a bump;)}, because we just started using Saxon Grammar this year with my 5th and 7th graders. My 7th grader is using SG 6th though.

So far so good. I like it and hear no complaints with the kiddos. I use the textbook as a workbook, so the kids write directly in the book.

[Keniki]

I'm using just the grammar and vocabulary part of it for 8th grade this year. I really like it. I've never been big on dictation, and we have something else that we use for writing, so I don't use those parts.

[creekmom]

My 6th grader is using it this year.

 

Pros:

Love the review

Self-teaching

Covers a lot

Diagramming

Studied dictation is a bonus (gives you 1 paragraph a week- student studies it all week- Friday it's dictation)

 

Cons:

Time consuming (I recommend allowing child to write in the book)

writing portion is very DRY- we don't use it

boring - my son tolerates it pretty well

if your child catches on to grammar quickly, the repetition will drive him crazy

[Mom0012]

I started using this with my son this year and am very happy with it. We don't use the writing, but we do use the copywork/dictation. My son is learning a lot and doing better than he ever has with any grammar program. He really needs the review and practice that Saxon offers. Last year he used CLE LA and he did improve quite significantly on his standardized tests, but I could tell he wasn't getting it. CLE didn't have enough instruction or practice for him and he started doing poorly with it toward the end of the year. The instruction in Saxon is great. I go through it with my son and we talk about it and then he does the review/practice problems on his own.

 

I allow him to write directly in the book, so it really hasn't been very cumbersome.

 

Lisa

 

ETA: One thing that I really like about Saxon is that it has the student memorize things like helping verbs, the forms of verbs like be and have and all the prepositions. Nothing we've used in the past required that and I feel it's going to be really helpful for my son.

Edited October 13, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[LunaLee]

We are using it this year for 6th after 2 years of R&S. Ds likes it and so far seems to be retaining what he's learned, although honestly after the 2 years of R&S a lot of it is review.

 

The writing portion is dry, but I have ds do it anyway because that kind of stuff is on his yearly standardized testing. It's not our writing program though, and a lot of it's fill in the blank stuff.

 

We'll use it again next year if ds continues to do well with it.

[Homeschooling6]

Wanted to add that I had the spine cut and 3-hole punched. I put a weeks worth of lesson in a binder (usually about 3 lessons a week). At the end of the week I transfer the instruction part of the lesson in one of those folders with three prongs (can't remember the name), if my dd/ds need to review a concept they still have the folder with the lesson to refer to. I discard the other pages.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Homeschooling6

[EKS]

I used levels 6 and 8 a few years ago. It was very thorough. But even with all of that practice and a 90% average on the assessments, my son retained almost nothing after a year. We switched to MCT and he seems to really get it now. Finally.

[Mom0012]

I used levels 6 and 8 a few years ago. It was very thorough. But even with all of that practice and a 90% average on the assessments, my son retained almost nothing after a year. We switched to MCT and he seems to really get it now. Finally.

 

I've heard you say this before and that is really discouraging. It almost kept me from trying Saxon, but then I realized that I've heard different people say that they've experienced that with just about every grammar program on the market. The "right" program just seems to depend very much on each particular child. So, I am planning on using Saxon for all 4 years and hoping that some of it will stick after that many years of reinforcement.

 

I'm glad you are having luck with MCT. I may have to look into supplementing with something like that over the summers.

 

I am wondering if you could share whether there is much of a difference between the levels or if there a lot of repetition? I'm kind of hoping there is a lot of repetition because we are covering a lot this year that we've never hit on before.

 

Thanks!

Lisa

Edited October 13, 2010 by LisaTheresa

[EKS]

I am wondering if you could share whether there is much of a difference between the levels or if there a lot of repetition? I'm kind of hoping there is a lot of repetition because we are covering a lot this year that we've never hit on before.

 

 

 

There is a lot of repetition within levels and between levels. If you have used or seen Saxon math, it is very similar to that.