Saxon substitute?

[BabyBre]

Dd, 7 is currently about 1/3 through Saxon Math 3 and it's just occurred to me that the next level is 5/4. Is that correct?

 

The intermediate Saxon levels seem to be presented so rigidly compared to the primary levels, and dd is still so young. At this point it doesn't seem like Saxon 5/4 is going to be a good fit for her.

 

What suggestions do you all have for something to carry on Saxon strategies and principles, but still be interesting (and even fun!) for a then 8-year-old (she'll be a 2nd grader, by age)? Or am I wrong about 5/4?

 

TIA!

[Brindee]

I'm not sure about 5/4 or 6/5. My dd did 7/6 when she was 9, then did TT Pre-alg this year at 10. I'm NOT going on to Algebra 1 this coming year, for the same reason. She just doesn't seem ready for it, and doesn't really want to. I'd rather she delve deeper and make sure she knows it well before moving on! She's working in Singapore 5B right now. Next year we're going to go through R&S 7 & 8 and see how far she gets. That may take her through 6th & 7th grades. We'll starte the Algebra 1 whenever she's ready though.

 

Saxon 7/6 was ok for awhile, but she started getting bogged down with it after awhile. She only got about 1/2 way through it before we started the TT this year. I did give her the Saxon test a couple of weeks ago and she tested into Algebra 1, but we won't go there yet.

 

Horizons, Singapore, Miquon, Right Start, Abeka, BJU..... there are others, but that's a start for math programs that have been highly rated (depending on who you talk to! :) )

 

Best wishes!

[BabyBre]

Thanks. We had the same experience with my older ds in 7th-8th grades. He had begun private school and they were using Saxon 8/7, I think, with their 7th graders, and Algebra 1/2 in 8th grade. It was SO tedious for him and frustrating for me trying to help him. But I don't have much experience with 5/4 and up, until 8/7.

 

I've heard Singapore can be a good substitute for Saxon. How do you find it?

[Brindee]

You can Google it. But, I actually ended up finding that my local Teacher/Education store carries Singapore! WooHoo! :D Do you have one of those? Should be one SOMEwhere, hopefully not too far away!

 

Iliked it because I asked the owner questions about Singapore, and was able to looke at the books and figure out which level to start her in based on what I knew she could and couldn't do, as opposed to what level a pretest said. And it WAS different! Not sure why! But seeing it before you buy it is always nice! :)

[BabyBre]

lol! My poor phrasing of that question! I meant how do you like Singapore as a substitute for Saxon?

 

Sadly, many of our small bookstores selling homeschool supplies are going out of business. Our teacher/education stores are fine for finding manipulatives and visuals and things like that, but weak on the curricula they sell.

[Chris in VA]

Breann,

Dd8 (2nd grade) did Saxon 3 this year.

I have the same thoughts about 5/4 as you do--but dd will be going into public school next year, so I don't have to "solve" my problem.

If I was going to homeschool her, however, I think I'd either look at Rod and Staff or at Horizons. You can take a test for either of those--Saxon 3 seems about like Horizons 2, so I'd look at Horizons 3 for next year.

I don't think Saxon 5/4 is that hard, I just am not sure I'd want to continue using it--you are right, the books are so different from Saxon 1-3.

[Mom to Aly]

I have just gone through the same thing, more looking for a sub because we found Saxon the most tedious thing IN THE WORLD!!! We have gone to Math U See, and dd LOVES it! It has the manipulatives, is much more fun, without all the tedium. She gets it much faster, and we move on without all the complaints and misery we had with Saxon.

 

Before switching I asked my homeschool group, and more said MUS than Singapore, but we just went to our convention and saw them there, and dd remembered a sample dvd we'd gotten from MUS which I'd completely forgotten we'd ever seen, and really wanted it. You can call or email, and they will send you one for free. Looking at them both in person, MUS seemed much more to our liking.

 

Kiran

[Brindee]

lol! My poor phrasing of that question! I meant how do you like Singapore as a substitute for Saxon?

 

Sadly, many of our small bookstores selling homeschool supplies are going out of business. Our teacher/education stores are fine for finding manipulatives and visuals and things like that, but weak on the curricula they sell.

:lol: I can just see you looking at my answer wondering HUH? :001_huh: OK, now I'll actually answer your question!:rofl:

 

My dd really likes it so far! She's still on the stuff she totally understands, but likes doing to make sure she remembers it. Once they get into the Geometry part, I think she'll be slowing down and have more trouble. But I love that they start introducing this stuff now, so by the time they get to highschool geometry, they'll have a good take on what's expected, and it'll be easier for them to work through the proofs!

 

We rate Singapore :thumbup:

[Sue G in PA]

My ds8 moves on to Sax. 5/4 next year as well. I am seriously considering switching to Singapore for him b/c I really like the program and how it emphasizes mental math. My ds8 is very math-minded and I think Singapore would be a good fit. I will probably switch back to Saxon when he reaches Alg. 1/2 in a few years (6th grade probably). I like Saxon, but I'm really drawn to Singapore for some reason.

[BabyBre]

OK, great ideas! Thank you ladies. I have that MUS dvd I'm pretty sure, but have never watched it. I'll check that out as well as Singapore and Horizons. It's interesting those particular programs were mentioned. I have a friend who has used Singapore, Horizons, and Saxon over the years.

 

I guess it's just a matter of finding the right fit for dd. Saxon K and 1 were great for her, maybe because they still used a lot of manipulatives. 2 and 3 are OK with her, but she tires of chalkboard lessons.

 

Mom to Aly, what do you think about the strategies taught in Saxon vs. MUS? I don't know too much about MUS but that it's manipulative based. You didn't find it too difficult for your dc to make the switch?

[LinRTX]

I just wanted to say that I will have my 8yo in Saxon 5/4 starting in August. She also has just finished Saxon 3. My older child did this too and is currently going into 10th grade and into Saxon Advanced Math. The older had no problem doing this and the younger is very excited about starting the different math book. I did/will write out the problems on on paper for her the first half of the year and then transition to her doing it all herself.

 

Just another thought.

[2cents]

We were Saxon users until 54 but it didn't work for us and we switched to Abeka at that point and it was a great fit for us. Abeka uses the worksheet approach and they are colorful. Abeka also uses the spriral approach that I liked about Saxon and moves at an accelerated

pace which keeps the children challenged and doing well on yearly testing. We are more into secular and found that there was minimal religious content in the Abeka math.

[AngieW in Texas]

I think Excel Math is supposed to follow a similar concept, but it is on worksheets rather than a nonconsumable text.

[BabyBre]

Thanks for all your great suggestions. I had previously not been able to look at the Saxon 5/4 curriculum, but I have checked it out at the book store and I feel that with some modifications, it may not be too bad for dd. I still feel that she's so young (she'll be 8) that she would much prefer worksheets to writing problems on blank paper, and I've read reviews that praise A Beka Math's workbook pages.

 

So, I've investigated slightly and I wondered if it might be fair to say that A Beka is a good match to Saxon in scope and sequence, but with the addition of those colorful workbook pages? Has anyone made the switch from Saxon 3 to A Beka and have experience to share? And do you have a recommendation for which A Beka Math level (3 or 4) would be the most appropriate to use after Saxon 3?

[Jann in TX]

My oldest dd (she had other math experience besides Saxon) went into ABeka 3 and then into Saxon 7/6 (I did work with her some in between).

 

My middle dd completed Saxon 3 about half way through 2nd grade. I switched her to Horizons 3 (so she would not be in the same level book as her older sister). After that year she went back to Saxon at the 6/5 level as was 'ready' to write out her own problems.

 

I think Horizons 3 is a nice substitute for Saxon 5/4. ABeka moved rather quickly and was a bit more 'arithmetic' heavy.

[langfam]

First 4 DC did Saxon 1,2,3 then moved to 5/4. It was a transition for them to start writing the problems all out. I gave them graph paper so they could write one number in in one square. I think it helped them, but there was a lot of complaining.

 

With my youngest dc, when he started with Saxon 1 he couldn't do the worksheets. He would say, "Everything's too small". I switched him to Horizons 1. He loves Horizons....size was right, of course the colors and pictures. He's now completed Horizons 2. I'll have to say that Horizons gives just the right number of problems. Saxon has too much.

 

Looking back and asking my kids about it, most of them say Saxon really killed any love for math. Now that some of my older kids have switched out of Saxon to other programs, they are not hating math anymore/as much. I suspect it's because it would take a long time to complete the Saxon problem sets and math became drudgery.

 

Horizons is more advanced than Saxon, I believe. DS who finished Horizons 2 could easily do Saxon 5/4, except that copying would be difficult for him.

 

I do have some issues with Horizons. I think it's weak in teaching problem solving, so I supplement with Singapore. That has worked very nicely. Also, I don't like the way they teach fraction of a set, so I teach it my way.

[Brindee]

We did it the other way around--we did A Beka K-3, then the kids just didn't like it after that, so we moved to Saxon. That didn't last long, and awhile after that ds now 14 ran in to a brick wall with math. I got Horizons, and he about flipped when he saw 2 big books! He couldn't get past the fact of the huge books; it overwhelmed him! Oh my, it was bad! I didn't know what to do but he threw a fit at every math session! I ended up finding Alpha Omega Life Pacs and ordered them. He LOVED them! He could handle 10 different books because they looked smaller, he got rewarded by being able to finish a book, and it just made it seem MUCH more doable to him! By then though he was behind, and it's taken work ever since then to get his math done. :( But at least he's advanced along.

 

We tried Saxon last year again, and both dd and ds14 hated it! So we went to TT this year, and they did very well. Next year ds will be doing Life of Fred, and dd will be doing R&S Math with Singapore.

[Jann in TX]

ABeka is about 1 grade higher than Saxon in the lower elementary years.

 

ABeka moves VERY quickly in the younger years and then slows down in the upper elementary years. It is great for students who pick up the basic facts quickly.

 

While ABeka is 'ahead' in the early years--Saxon keeps plodding along building up a SLOW--but strong foundation. It catches up to ABeka by the 7/6 level and then passes it up (ABeka's upper math series is very weak).

 

My dd had no problem moving from Saxon 3 into ABeka 3--there was not that much 'review' --it was just the next 'level' in the mathematical progression.

[BabyBre]

Thanks, Jann, that's just what I was looking for. I also appreciate all the horror stories, and hear just as many to the contrary. I guess it just depends on the type of kid, so please elaborate on your dc's personalities and learning styles.

 

I thought I had seen a Saxon Math 4 that followed the same format as the primary Saxon levels. I just found it online. Here's a quote from www.learningthings.com:

 

"At the fourth grade level, Saxon offers a choice of instructional formats: Math 4 or Math 54. Both Saxon programs cover the same basic concepts and are based on incremental development and continual review. While the basic concepts covered in Math 4 and Math 54 are the same, the order of topics is different. Saxon Math 4 homeschool cirriculum was added for teachers who prefer the manipulative-based approach or for teachers who do not wish to move students to the more theory-based, paper and pencil approach used in the Saxon middle grade curriculums like Math 54.

 

The Math 4 Workbook set is not part of the Saxon Math 54 curriculum, which was written by Stephen Hake. However, it can be used as an effective supplement to Math 54, which is especially helpful for students who prefer the hands-on approach to learning."

 

This is exactly what I was looking for. If she takes it slow, by the time she finishes Saxon 4, she'll hopefully be ready to go on to the middle-grade Saxon format of 6/5. Or maybe we'll be right back here again!

 

Has anyone used Saxon Math 4 instead of Math 5/4?

[Tami]

If you like the review aspect of Saxon, take a look at Christian Light math. The instruction is much better in CLE, and each math unit has a theme, such as "Argentina." Then the word problems and such will be related to facts about "Argentina." This really engages my dd. There is daily speed drill included, along with review of all previously taught concepts.

 

The pages are uncluttered, and instructions very visual. We love CLE math, and I suspect is may be worth a look-see!