kristinannie Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I have seen a lot of bashing of Saxon on here and other forums I have been on. However, I notice that a lot of people use them. Can anyone tell me what you like about Saxon or why you chose to use it? I am thinking of starting to use it in 3rd or 4th grade for my kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I started with Saxon because it was the recommendation in the 1st edition of the WTM. I've continued with it because it suits my teaching style and my boys have done extremely well with it. We start with level 1 around age 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 It isn't "bashing" if people are saying why they didn't like it. It helps others to know why it might or might not be a good fit for their own children. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 It isn't "bashing" if people are saying why they didn't like it. It helps others to know why it might or might not be a good fit for their own children. :-) Well, it does get a lot of negative talk from people who haven't ever used it, I think :001_smile:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 It isn't "bashing" if people are saying why they didn't like it. It helps others to know why it might or might not be a good fit for their own children. :-) I totally agree with this! I definitely don't want to start a fight here!!!!! However, a lot of the negative comments I have seen about Saxon don't really seem to tell me the reason why they don't like it. I have heard that the lessons take too long. I am just wondering specifically why people use it. There must be something good about it if so many people use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 It also gets a lot of reviews that say they hated it which aren't helpful to others making decisions. I think these types of "reviews" are what is seen as bashing. There is a difference between saying it has too many problems or moves too slowly and just declaring that it gives you hives. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 My brother, a high school math teacher, recommended it to me after watching me flounder with other math programs. It is systematic, complete, and has lots of practice which he says most of his students need more of. I started using it at 5/4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nknapp5 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I use it with my DS 6. We currently use saxon math 1. I really like it but I don't have much to compare it too. My son has moved through it quickly b/c there is a lot of repetition, I feel. So that is my biggest complaint but it is easy to work around that. Just move at your childs own pace! I don't know how the older grade levels are but we use the meeting book, which is a calendar, weather graph, number line, etc. He loves that. Anyhow I've already purchased saxon K for my DD and saxon 2 for my DS to use as soon as he finishes saxon 1 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeteranMom Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 My kids have always used Saxon- even in public school. This is our first year homeschooling and I'm really comfortable with Saxon. It's helps me easily explain concepts to my kids. It's time consuming, but my kids "get it". I've looked into other curriculums, but I don't see the need to switch if Saxon is working. I place a high priority on math and I am willing to spend the extra time on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 We used Singapore from earlybird to 4A (US and then Standards edition), but it really wasn't a good fit for us. My daughter was very frustrated with it because she said it moved too quickly (she was finally able to articulate this toward the end, before that it was tantrums and tears). We started Saxon and she likes it infinitely better. She needs the continued practice with the concepts. We started about a week after her last yearly testing. She's always been pretty much on grade level in math, but, in her testing yesterday using the Woodcock Johnson, she's now ahead (still not as far as in language arts, but a definite improvement). Our biggest issue now is continuing to work on speed drills. I definitely dropped the ball in not adding a lot of speed drills and fact practice to Singapore for her. I have been told that there is a big difference between the earlier and later ages in Saxon (the break seems to be just before 5/4). I can't speak to the early levels. We started with 7/6, then after the first several tests I dropped back to 6/5 and we've been testing through it to fill in holes (which are common when one switches programs). The one thing we've missed much of this year by testing through 6/5 is that we've not had the timed tests to start each lesson. We did those in 7/6 and it helped, but I haven't been doing them while testing through. We should be starting 7/6 again fairly soon. I'm giving thought to picking up Art Reed's video lessons, which begin in 7/6 ($50 for each level), to give my daughter an additional perspective. Being able to get it inexpensively used is also a big plus for me. I spent $25 for the entire year! Because it's non-consumable, I can also resell it when we're done (I only have one child). That's only a fraction of what I was spending on Singapore (particularly when I had to buy the Standards edition new when it first came out). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I supposed I was one of those bashing it :tongue_smilie: I didn't use it because it was not a good fit for my oldest. One of the comment I saw is that saxon is a lot better when it goes to higher grade. I can't comment on that since I only have 1-3. But I assume it is true. I do think each kid fit differently. one program fit a kid not necessary to another. so just because saxon got bashed, doesn't mean it will be a bad fit for your kids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbuchina Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I chose to use Saxon because when I first started homeschooling it was the only curriculum I knew about for math. Then I found TWTM, and was glad it was recommended. I choose to continue it because it works well for my dc. My biggest complaint is that it takes a long time (it is the longest session of our day), and that doesn't work well with my dd5's attention span. I need to figure out how to make it take less time or divide it into two days or something.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Can anyone tell me what you like about Saxon or why you chose to use it? Saxon 54-87, the middle grades of Saxon, really take the four operations and demand that children apply them all in every problem set. These varied problem sets really keep the skills fresh. My middle ds and little ds liked that the problem sets have a bunch of different types of problems. A drill page has a bunch of problems that look alike and that is fine for building speed and accuracy with computation or a specific type of problem, but a math practice set with a bunch of different problems is infinitely more interesting. To me middle school level math should be covered for at least an hour to an hour and a half each day, so the time it takes to do Saxon is not an issue. Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 We use Saxon because of the continual review of the materials. My son needs the constant review. We love Saxon here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom28kds Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I didn't use Saxon in the lower grades but used it with 5/4 and up. It does take alot of time and lots of problems. My kids were very well prepared when they went on to PS. They usually got alot wrong on the pages which was very difficult on them. It's been a few years since HSing and I've decided to try CLE for my DS to see if it works better for him as I think the number of problems and stuff would be overwhelming for him. I'm not against Saxon as it prepared my older kids well and I loved the way it was so independant. They could read and do the days work by themselves and I just came over to help when they didn't understand something. But I'm checking out to see if there is an alternative that will prepare him the same but not be overwhelming. That's why I'm trying CLE. I'm not opposed to going back to Saxon if CLE doesn't fit the bill. It is a great math program for those who can do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Same here, but I have a dd & ds. I appreciate that it goes up through high school. The DIVE or SaxonTeacher cd rom lessons are a plus here too. I started with Saxon because it was the recommendation in the 1st edition of the WTM. I've continued with it because it suits my teaching style and my boys have done extremely well with it. We start with level 1 around age 5. The first three levels are pretty teacher intensive and that is an deal breaker for some home educators, but 5/4 and up much different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 See, when I was teaching in my little school, a friend who worked for Saxon offered me all of the primary levels, free, but I refused them because it just looked like way too much work *for me* in a one-room, multi-grade school. I literally didn't have the time to focus on one subject with one or two children while the others entertained themselves. The primary levels are also *visually* too busy for *me." I know that there are alternatives, and so I will always choose those alternatives (especially since those alternatives are usually way less expensive, as well). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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