kristamaranatha Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I have three using Saxon (5/4, 6/5 and Algebra 1/2), and we spend almost ALL MORNING on math. TWTM says that at these ages we should be spending between 30 and 60 minutes a day (or 45-60 minutes). I'm not a cookie-cutter teacher that says we need to follow everything by the book, so I'm not that rigid on time, but it seems to me that math takes a long time. Some days we don't even get things corrected. Does anyone else who has multiple children take this long to get through math? I should note that this is our first year homeschooling, and so we're still learning how to work independently and stay on task. Am I alone here? :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Do you spend all morning getting through three levels of math? or do your children spend all morning getting through one lesson? My girls are in 7th grade and we spend about 1 hour 15 minutes on math. That includes my time spent with them (lesson time) and the time they spend completing the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristamaranatha Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Well, let me clarify. First we have Bible study, then from 9:00 until lunch at 11:30, that is the time we are spending on math. This would be teaching the lesson and doing the work ... and hopefully correcting, but we don't always get through that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I've heard that some of those Saxon years can be very long lessons, so that may be contributing. I spend 45 minutes to an hour on 4th grade math now, so I expect to probably be a bit more than an hour when we get to prealgebra type topics. Are the kids dawdling? Or are they working hard that entire time? If they're dawdling, I'd set a time limit, then pick it up again later. Actually, the way Saxon is designed, you should be able to teach each student their lesson, then send them off to work on the exercises themselves. If they don't finish by whatever your time limit is, they can do the rest for "homework" (ie, later when you're done teaching). Would that work better for you? Math does take a while. It's definitely the longest subject in our homeschool (unless you lump all language arts together, but we probably spend close to the same amount of time on math and language arts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 We spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The time fluctuates greatly depending on whether I'm sitting there watching her do it or whether I'm distracted and doing other things. It also depends on whether she is in the mood to do it or daydreams. I always make her finish and when she takes too long she has less free time but that isn't a strong enough motivator. We use MUS so the lesson format is watch the dvd then work a few problems together on Monday. The rest of the week we do worksheets on the new concept and then a few systematic review lessons. We started a new lesson on figuring volume which dd found to be fun and easy after long division so she finished in about 20 minutes. Today the lesson included volume problems which she finished quickly and long division which she hates. I was also busy working on a project so math took basically all morning....almost 2 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristamaranatha Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 We don't do homework. The day is the total amount of time we have. My husband works long hours and wants the evening time to be family time and unwind time (and I agree :)) So unfortunately I don't have a "do it later" time. I'm wanting to get more done in our day but we're spending so much time on math... My pre-alegebra guy doesn't even do all the questions. I think he would do better with Singapore but we just don't have the budget to get a new book for him. So he works on the questions directly related to the day's lesson (usually only a few), and then moves on to the next lesson and does a couple questions there. He doesn't need a spiral method like my other two do (doing the same types of questions day after day to learn them). He is very math smart, gets it right away, and even does a lot of work in his head (and gets the right answer, which I have to reach on paper!) Yes, some days they dawdle, but we're getting much better at this. It is quiet right now as they work :) I hope to be done by 11 so I can give them some map time. I have been doing a "geography challenge" with them, giving them lists of places and having them mark them on a map (list of mountains and deserts, list of rivers and lakes, etc). They enjoy this :) I want school to be fun, even though it is work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 How many problems a day do your children do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Oops- to answer your question though my first grader spends about 20 minutes total (that is 3-4 pages but we do a page then take a break, then do another and take a break and so on) My 4th grader between 45-60mins on a good day. On a space cadet day it could be upwards of 2 hours. My 8th grader about 30-45 minutes. She is good at getting to it and getting it done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristamaranatha Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 My 4th and 6th graders attempt the whole lesson (which according to Saxon should take an hour). My 7th grade might do 6 or 8 (if he finishes these he gets to work on something of his choosing, like Greek or Theology). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkey6 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Last year was our first year homeschooling as well! I had a child working from the 5/4 book, and one using the Algebra 1/2 curriculum. I would spend anywhere from 5 minutes (when they knew the topic we would just do the mental math together) to 20 minutes going over the lesson. I would watch them do several of the practice problems to make sure they understood, then I usually went through the 'problem set' and picked problems out for them to do. Rarely would I have them do the entire problem set. I know that Saxon high advises against this, but in attempts at keeping my children's sanity, I cut back on the problems they had to do. Since I was right there, I knew what they needed to practice. I occasionally would throw in different review problems just to make sure they hadn't forgotten. I would say that the estimate of 30-60 minutes is accurate. I also have a younger child - she did the Saxon level 2, and that was much more hands on - and an older child - she did it all herself (Algebra 2). I did periodic checks, and if she needed help she would come to me then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 "Homework" doesn't have to be evening. I just meant that they would do it sometime while you are doing housework or making dinner or anything else that isn't your teaching time. Or you can set a time limit, switch to something else, then come back to it later in the day. Sometimes breaking up a lesson makes it go faster. There is a point where not much gets done the longer you go. They get burned out on the lesson or subject and just slow to a crawl. So maybe do 30-45 minutes, work on another subject, then work another 30-45 minutes with fresh minds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 My 12 y/o spends one hour on math each day. Anything longer, and concentration will wane, mistakes will happen, and time is not spent effectively. I do not find it very effective to spend all morning on math with young children. My 10th grader can do three hours of math in one day when she wants; but I would not expect this of a younger student. For this very reason we do not follow a schedule for math, but take whatever time is needed for mastery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Well, it depends on the lesson and whether or not we do all the stuff in the 'meeting', but it usually takes anywhere from 20-50 min per kid. ETA: My kids are younger - one in Saxon 1 and one in Saxon 2. We always only do the front side of the 'lesson' sheet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 let's see. DS1 is doing his math now. He's a pretty mathy kid, he's doing Singapore 2B, we started the lesson at 10:30, it's 10:55 and he's almost done with his seatwork. Generally, it takes about 1/2 hour with him each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeidiKC Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 We did Saxon 6/5 last year and ds did all the problems. I also didn't teach him, he just read the lesson and did it himself. It usually took around an hour. This year in 7/6 I am having him do all the new problems, but just the odds on Practice Review. I told him if he misses any, he has to do some problems that go with that lesson...but I haven't been very good at doing that. Seems like more work for me to figure out the lesson, assign more, etc. Which sounds really lame now that I type it! Anyway, this year it is taking him about 40+ minutes. But I'm also having him do books from the Key To series and some word problems, so I didn't want him doing too much math. So that's why I cut back to odds, otherwise he'd probably do them all. Can you try having the kids read the examples on their own and go from there? I think it seems to take a longer time when I explain stuff. Obviously if they need stuff explained, you need to do so. But I think Saxon explains it pretty well in the text and my ds has had no trouble with it. Just an idea for cutting back on time spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 My 9 year old spends 45 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes on math. My 6 year old spends 30 minutes on math. Both of them are quite focussed during math time....usually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristamaranatha Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 I don't do the meeting book, and I spend little time teaching the actual lesson. I answer questions throughout the work time. I think one probably is that having pulled them out of public school I have noticed that sometimes they don't know how to comprehend what they are reading, how to find the steps to answer the problem or how to reason their way to a conclusion. If I explain the question to them in another way they'll get it, but the words on the page don't make sense. Or they don't know how to reason yet, which I think is partly to do with stages of growth. But my 4th grader still has trouble figuring out if she's supposed to add or subtract when doing a word problem. Yet she is picking up her multiplication facts faster than I expected her to. So I dunno... part ages and stages, part learning how to reason, part unlearning back public school habits, part learning how to work independently. Truth is we have very little "independent" work at this time, but I'm trying to increase this. Today actually wasn't too bad. We took an early lunch so we could go outside and play in the snow storm :D (Eastern Washington gets very little snow, and rarely at this magnitude!) Everyone's about to come in for some hot chocolate. Thanks for your input everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in MA Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I did notice you said this was your first year homeschooling. I don't know where your children were in school previously, but mine were in the public school and our first year homeschooling we used Saxon 5/4. What I discovered was my dd's math skills were very weak as a result of the public school, so we spent about 2 hours/day on math all year. I would say it paid off in the long run (she's now strong in math as a junior in highschool) but there were a lot of holes in her knowledge and weak spots to review that first year. Hang in there! And do all the problems! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 We use Saxon. Ds12: Alg. 1--1-1.5 hours Ds11: 8/7--1-1.5 hours Ds9: 6/5--30-60 minutes Ds7: 3--20-30 minutes ds6: 1-15-30 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy_kid_wrangler04 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 My 4th and 6th graders attempt the whole lesson (which according to Saxon should take an hour). My 7th grade might do 6 or 8 (if he finishes these he gets to work on something of his choosing, like Greek or Theology). How many (about) are in a lesson? Sorry I am not familiar with Saxon :blush: Your 7th grader is doing 6-8 problems a day? That certainly is not to much. This is your first year homeschooling- did you give your kids placement tests? My first year homeschooling was when my oldest was a 5th grader. We pulled them out (her and her sister)the end of 4th and K. When we started 5th grade I got a 5th grade math book and it was way over her head. It took me a while to figure out where she was because I didn't do any placement tests, I just assumed. She started at the middle of a 3rd grade math book. It took us 14 months to get her 'caught up' So I would do a placement test if you have not already to be certain you placed them correctly. If you placed them correctly I would set a timer, do math for the amount of time you decide on (45mins or an hour) and put it away for the day. It takes a bit of time to transition from public school (or whatever brick and mortar school building) to homeschool. Alot of people (us included) do math year long. Even on school breaks. We do math for half the time on breaks but it still gets done M-F (that way they do not forget. Math is something that should be kept up on) That way you will still get through a good amount of math a year (usually more than you would doing a full lesson a day only on school days) even if you do not do a full lesson on school days. I hope this makes sense- I am a bit distracted right now :lol: Maybe something like that will help keep your kids focused and get it done. Give it a try for a month and see if it goes better. Please do NOT worry about what level they are on or if they are going faster/slower than you think they should. I had a huge problem with that and my oldest really had a HORRIBLE year in math last year. I pushed her way to hard, to fast and it blew up in my face. So- this year I am doing damage control and confidence building. Please do NOT do that to your children! This year has gone better. Her confidence is up ALOT from last year! All that to say- I would have a set amount of time to work on math, once the time is up put it away til the next day. I bet things will go much better! Like I said- try it for a month and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa B Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Saxon Alg. 1 - 90 min w/corrections Saxon 76 - 90 min w/corrections & timed math sheets Saxon 1 - 30 min w/meeting and both sides of worksheet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armom Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 We don't use Saxon, but I have one child that can spend 2-3 hours on math mostly because he is day dreaming. I finally started making him stop after an hour and pick back up after everyone is done doing our other subjects. This does seem to help. This is our first year also. We started last July and have just now got into a good schedule, and my children are becoming more independent workers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyinND Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 My son struggles in math, so we spend a.long.time. on it. Everything else we do just zips by, but math...ugh ETA: We use TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramlingk Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 We use teaching textbooks which has been great for us but may not compare well with your program. One of my kids is using the CD lectures while the other is doing it in the worktext. She is doing Pre-Algebra and workly completely independently this year. My son is doing 7th and since he is working several grades ahead in math than what he is doing in other subjects, I do sit in his lesson with him for support as needed. My daughter is usully done in 30 minutes, while my son takes 45-60 minutes. On days he takes longer, she just does some independent reading or moves on to language arts assignments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 My DD9 spends 45-60 min on math per day. Any more than that and productivity and focus drops way off. We do this 5 days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 My DS (5th grade) is finishing up TT5. I pulled him out of public school Nov 1st. He was doing up to two hours of math a day but lots of it was review and he was doing up to three lessons per day. Now that he's working on new stuff, he does one lesson per day and the lesson takes him 30 - 60 minutes, which includes watching the video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakshmi Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 We use RightStart Math, I have two doing lessons, it takes one 45 minutes and the other about 30 minutes... So 1hour 15 minutes on math each morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Saxon tends to take a really long time--like 1.5-2 hours per lesson. I personally think this is much to long to spend on math each day, as there are many other things that are important to cover. I would look at switching to less time intensive programs for all three kids (Singapore is an example for the two younger ones--you should be able to get through an entire lesson and problem set in 30-45 minutes easily). Math is important, but you don't need to spend the best part of your day, every day, on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrself Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Last year was our first year homeschooling as well! I had a child working from the 5/4 book, and one using the Algebra 1/2 curriculum. I would spend anywhere from 5 minutes (when they knew the topic we would just do the mental math together) to 20 minutes going over the lesson. I would watch them do several of the practice problems to make sure they understood, then I usually went through the 'problem set' and picked problems out for them to do. Rarely would I have them do the entire problem set. I know that Saxon high advises against this, but in attempts at keeping my children's sanity, I cut back on the problems they had to do. Since I was right there, I knew what they needed to practice. I occasionally would throw in different review problems just to make sure they hadn't forgotten. :iagree::iagree::iagree: Nicole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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