Introducing myself and my 12 year old son

[Guest Mamabearing]

Hello all.

 

My son went from age 3-12 at a small montessori school. Obviously not what one typically associates with a classical education. It was however a great school for him. We made a hard choice and started him in public school this year. The tuition for Montessori had been a huge drain on us so we went the public school route. I have health problems and worry about my ability to home school though I read a lot about Classical Education and did some homeschooling with him. Between kindegarten and first the Montessori teachers were concerned about his reading. I was skeptical that there was too much choice at work in what he was allowed to do at school until that point. So I got an Abeka phonics program and homeschooled him all summer as well as an old fashioned narration binder. At the beginning of first grade he was one of the best readers in his age group or even a year or two ahead. The teacher ( a new one ) was suprised there had ever been a question! I had a couple bumps on the Montessori road but they were well worth it. One time I came into the class and they were "meditating"...sitting in a circle in the traditional pose with the middle finger on the thumb on their knees saying "ommmm". I freaked out because I had been in a new age cult as a teen an felt my son was being taught religion. I told them if this was a practice he was to be removed from the room while this or any other mind altering technique was used and to me this was akin to coming in and finding them in prayer. I think New Ageism is a religion. They abandoned this practice so no problem.

 

When he began 4-6 grade class I was concerned about how little traditional American history he knew. He did not even know about the American revolution. So I got the "classical child" history books and supplemented his history education which until that time had been very ancient history only. We enjoyed the time together studying history and in the 4-6 grade class they did a lot more history so again he found himself ahead of the pack and happy about it. They used the Saxon math curriculum at the school so in summers and vacations I supplemented with their homeschool materials.

 

After 6th grade I could not convince my husband ( and really financially it is logical) to continue to pay tuition even though there is a wonderful classical academy in our town. I recently almost moved him there. But I am happy with most parts of his public school education thus far. I could not see that the change was right for our family.

 

So my question. The public school has a big gap when it comes to pre-algebra. If I knew then what I know now about the school I would have crammed him through pre-algebra over the summer. He placed high on the placement test. But instead I took a break and he asked for a break and his age group isn't the easiest to homeschool! But I feel his math education has utterly stalled. His pre-algebra curriculum is all about meeting the California Benchmarks. Holt California Course 2 Pre Algebra. He isn't learning like he did with Saxon. I have read the Saxon vs Singapore debates. The local Classical school uses chalkdust. He has a B- but his grade is inflated by homework. His test scores are awful. He has always been strong in math. So what would you suggest? Is anyone else supplementing a math curriculum? I am hiring a tutor. But I could work with him if it were as easy to teach as some of the homeschool curriculums are designed to make it easy...like Saxon. I never had trouble with that. Any recommendations? ( a teacher change isn't a viable option as the pre algebra teachers all have "issues" at this school ). I love the rest of his teachers.

 

Thanks ahead of time!

 

Susan

[MBM]

I would suggest you post your question about math on the high school board. Jann in TX, a high school math teacher, and several others would be able to give you good advice. You might want to put *Jann in TX* in the title as well as your specific question; otherwise, it could be skipped over.

 

Caroline, a math teacher who is sometimes on the afterschooling board, might also have suggestions, but her specialty is AP Calculus, I believe.

 

Good luck.

[TracyR]

You know what? Scrub the Saxon vs. Singapore debate out of your mind. Use what works best with him. If Saxon made sense to him then get a textbook and let him work through it on his own time at his own pace.

I have three children that Saxon seems to work really well for. My oldest, forget it. She can't seem to wrap her mind around it. She needs something like Singapore, Math Mammoth (etc).

The private school she is going to uses Saxon and it doesn't make sense to her. She is used to focusing on one topic at a time. I'm going to see if I can get Math Mammoth and try and line up what she is learning from the Saxon book for her.