crosspost: Switching from Saxon to LoF?

[Aunty Social]

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[acurtis75]

We are using LOF as a supplement to mathusee. I am not familiar with what is covered on each level of Saxon but here is our experience so far. DD is working on MUS Epsilon which covers fractions but has already completed alpha thru delta which cover addition, subtration, multiplication & division as well as various other things like area/perimeter, etc. I started at Apple with my dd because she is a big reader and would hate to start a story in the middle. She has already gone through the first 4 books and has yet to come across any math she didn't already know other than some of the more complicated formulas that are included as part of the story but not part of the work students are expected to do.

 

If cost were an issue I think we could have easily started with the LOF fraction book and moved on from there.

[boscopup]

If you're doing Saxon 4/5 now, I'd wait until you've finished 5th grade math before trying AoPS Pre-algebra. The pre-test is supposedly deceptively simple.

[matilda]

If cost were an issue I think we could have easily started with the LOF fraction book and moved on from there.

:iagree:

 

I am using Apple with a preschooler and it is going very well. You don't need to start there with a 4th grader.

 

If you're doing Saxon 4/5 now, I'd wait until you've finished 5th grade math before trying AoPS Pre-algebra. The pre-test is supposedly deceptively simple.

 

Unless you have a very mathy child or an older child, you may also want to work through a 6th grade program before switching over to AoPS prealgebra.

Edited February 23, 2012 by matilda
commenting on AoPS

[Aunty Social]

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[boscopup]

Some have suggested moving to MM, starting at 4th grade and moving quickly through the concepts he already knows. Would a curriculum switch be the best bet, or should I just combine/accelerate through Saxon?

 

I was one of those who suggested that, but yes, I would switch to MM, personally. My son was bored with Saxon also (though he was using the lower series). The incremental spiral would drive ME insane as well. He and I are both the type that prefer you give us the whole concept, then let us practice it. MM is easy to move through at whatever pace you want. Just remember that you aren't expected to do ALL the problems. ;) I assigned problems based on how much I thought my son needed to practice, and if he needed to practice more later on, we could always come back and do more (I don't think that actually ever happened :tongue_smilie:).

 

When using MM, I also used Singapore's IP and CWP to add in some extra challenge. I think the challenge sections of those books would be good preparation for AoPS.

[nova147]

We are finishing Saxon 5/4 here and planning to start LoF fractions in the fall. I totally understand the "don't want to miss anything" idea. But I keep telling myself that any holes will show up, and can then be corrected. For example DS seemed to "get" long division on first exposure. But a few lessons later it became clear he was missing an element. So we went back. That's a huge benefit to having one student vs. 20. As for a curriculum switch . . . does he like Saxon? If he does, I wouldn't switch. My son really doesn't like it, so I'm pretesting and only doing lessons he doesn't get. I'm also supplementing with challenging story problems. And practicing facts. I hope this will prep him for LoF this fall. I don't think we'll add to it right away - he needs a break from "boring" math.

[Aunty Social]

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[boscopup]

I'll take another look at Singapore. I tried it years ago with my eldest and it didn't have enough practice. It would probably work well as a supplement for ds though.

 

Standards edition has tons of practice if you use the textbook, workbook, and IP. The workbooks are fairly light in number of problems, but that's been good for us. We now do all the problems in the workbook, and half the IP problems (though when we get to a challenge section, we do all of them). We do the textbook problems orally. We've skipped some of the workbook reviews (did the last one though) and some of the stuff in the textbooks. Really, there is more practice than we know what to do with. :lol:

[Teachin'Mine]

I also don't know if your son likes Saxon or not, but if he does and it's just moving too slowly, there's no rule that you have to do only one lesson a day. Saxon said math should take an hour a day. We started with 6/5 and she was finishing everything in 1/2 hr, so she did two lessons a day. When she hit 8/7, each lesson took an hour, so it was one a day. Just a thought.

[2smartones]

Apple is the elementary LoF series. Definitely don't start there! That's what you'd use for a 4-5 year old child. You'll want to start with Fractions/Decimals.