Math supplement to Saxon 54

[sixpence1978]

My DS is in 4th grade at a private school that uses Saxon Math. He is in the 54 level. I consider him to be very gifted in the math and logic department based on my years homeschooling him.

 

He is coming home now with more and more wrong on his papers. He leaves the textbook at school so I don't know exactly what he is missing, but from my glances it really appears to be silly things like arithmetic errors, labeling errors, etc... that are adding up. It's almost like he is not taking his time, not that it is too hard.

 

My DH and I were talking about how he just doesn't seem to be being challenged this year at all. He never has homework, or really anything that requires much thought and labor.

 

We were thinking about afterschooling a bit in math to help strengthen that area even more (he's our junior engineer). I am really liking the looks of MM, but was wondering if that is something that would work. I'm looking to spend really only about 20 minutes-ish after school.

 

Ideas?

[Sara R]

My kids use Saxon at their charter school. One thing I do is check their homework each night. I order the homeschool kit answer key so I can quickly check the homework. I started this because my daughter got behind in math one year, and another year her teacher didn't correct the math homework. I usually circle the incorrect problems and ask her to find the correct answer. I check again and if it is still incorrect I go over the problem with her.

 

This will do 2 things: (1) Your son should get better grades on his math homework and (2) you'll have a better idea of how he is doing in math and how he handles Saxon. If you do this right he'll have a better understanding of math as well, since the sooner errors are corrected the better they understand.

 

Have high standards. Don't excuse little errors, because little errors can add up to big problems eventually. Teach him to check for correct units and to make sure the answer makes sense before giving you the paper to check. Work with the goal of him learning to work independently.

 

If after that, you still think he needs more of a challenge, you could supplement with another curriculum. I like to use Singapore over the summers. But I would address the Saxon issues first.

 

Also, if you can't get him to bring the textbook home, order your own home copy. Used Saxon textbooks are way cheap. Just make sure you get the right edition.

[boscopup]

My son is also doing Saxon at his private school (first grade, Saxon 1). I'm using Math Mammoth at home, and he loves it. Saxon is B-O-R-I-N-G for him, since he gets math very easily. Actually, watching the homework he brings home, *I* get bored. It seems like the same thing every time. Yes, a tiny thing is changing each time, but not much. He just doesn't need that much review. And I think he and I are both sick of counting teddy bears and apple seeds, or drawing children in a pool (btw, he's not an artist, so sometimes those word problems really throw him because he can tell you the answer without drawing it, but the act of drawing it is very difficult!).

 

He's doing great with MM. It's right up his alley, and he's able to do it very quickly - 10-15 minutes for a couple pages (I usually assign about half the problems). Of course, this is 1st grade, not 4th grade, so keep that in mind. ;)

 

You could print out the samples on the MM website and try them with your son before you buy.

 

I like MM so much that I've decided to use it as our main math curriculum when we homeschool next year. I love that everything is right there in the text, and he can do it very independently. I just have to quickly go over anything that's a new concept at the beginning, then let him do his thing. When he comes home from school, he asks to do "Mama's math homework" before he does his boring Saxon homework page. :D

[BabyBre]

It's almost like he is not taking his time, not that it is too hard.

 

My DH and I were talking about how he just doesn't seem to be being challenged this year at all. He never has homework, or really anything that requires much thought and labor.

 

 

 

We realized something about this with dd9 when she began our school district's 1-day a week gifted program. She had become so used to finding the correct answers right there on the surface, never having to work for them or dig into any deeper level of thought, that it had made her lazy.

 

I initially didn't understand why she hated going to the gifted classroom, but then it became clear that she's just SO unchallenged in the traditional classroom that she had to struggle to do any real thinking. That made me really sad because there's a lot of brain power there, but so very thankful for the gifted program.

 

Does this phenomenon of bright but unchallenged kids becoming lazy sound like your ds? It's too bad that you pay for his private education and he's still not being challenged. At the least, afterschool, but also talk to the teacher and/or principal.

 

Idle days are such a waste of good brains!

[sixpence1978]

Does this phenomenon of bright but unchallenged kids becoming lazy sound like your ds? It's too bad that you pay for his private education and he's still not being challenged. At the least, afterschool, but also talk to the teacher and/or principal.

 

Idle days are such a waste of good brains!

 

:iagree:

 

This describes my DS to a T! He usually will not challenge himself, but will always take the easy road. So, without a challenge, he does tend to get lazy and not apply himself.

 

We homeschooled him for 1st and 2nd and made some really good strides. His years in private school K and 3rd were also great because the classes were rigorous and had really high standards.

 

His 4th grade year is turning out to be a bit easier mainly because of his teacher. She's wonderful and kind and gentle, but not terribly challenging. The teacher he will have for 5th grade is a bit more of a rigorous teacher and should be a good fit.

 

In the meantime, I do think at the very least of giving him daily puzzlers to try to have him apply himself a bit. (I don't think that sentence came out very clearly :lol:)