Saxon - do you do ALL of it?

[Michelle @ Living Waters]

My girls are in Saxon 5/4 and 7/6. If they do the facts practice, plus the mental math, plus all the lesson questions - it's exhausting! And very long. Especially in 7/6 when all the problems have multiple steps...

 

How do you handle this?

[LinRTX]

We just did it -- all of it.

 

Linda

[Melissa B]

We do it all. :)

[AStableBeginning]

We do it all too.

[JudoMom]

We do it all. We'r using Alg 1, 8/7, 6/5, 3, & 1. The older 3 boys take 45-75 minutes.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We did it all and found that got faster with the enhanced familiarity. I sometimes got out of the habit of doing fact sheets and always came to regret and repent that failing.

[Tarreymere]

We also do it all.

[famof5redheads]

Don't do it all. For mixed practice, ds does odds plus any problem that was introduced within the last 10 lessons (going by the lesson number in parenthesis).

[ondreeuh]

We don't always do mental math, and I am inconsistent with fact practice, but we do every problem in the lesson. I teach the new lesson, we do the practice problems together, and then I look at the lesson problems and pick the ones I think he will have trouble with, and we set them up together on the white boards to make sure he knows how to solve them. Then he does about the first half of the lesson, and finishes it up as homework. Altogether it takes at least an hour, but I feel like it's time well spent.

[TwoToSchool]

We ended up dropping saxon for this reason! Now my kids are doing Singapore and loving it!

[freeindeed]

For my dd11, who is currently using 6/5, we rarely do the mental math. Also, I assign alternating concept problems each day...meaning she still works on all the concepts covered at least two to three times a week. If she has trouble with a particular concept, then I'll assign those problems each day. For my ds8, who is using Saxon 3, I don't do the meeting...but I do assign all the problems for him (both front & back pages.) Also, for both, we never skip the timed drills!

[Jim]

We do each and every problem. Listening to Art Reed, who worked with John Saxon, he recommends completing every problem as given. Apparently, the thought was that problems test knowledge of the same concept but is a different way so it is important to do every problem listed.

 

For me, doing thirty problems is not too much to ask. I remember completing many more than that and they all tested a single concept. Since lessons review two to three weeks worth of material it is not thirty of the same problem. The varied types of problems should make thirty pass by reasonably quickly. For us, it is far from the "drill and kill" so many complain about. Art did offer that the parent does not need to check homework every day. Instead, they can look to the test results for guidance and review problem areas, picking out practice problems from the lesson pages or from the back of the book.

 

Jim

[Meriwether]

We do all of it most of the time. Some times we skip the meeting time in lower levels.

[kalliemorgan]

We do only the A side of papers, (my ds is in his 2nd year of it now) and every other day on any of the repetitive stuff. The repetition, although tedious at times, really seems to make it second nature. He is doing so well with it that at times I take the liberties of "tweaking" it, but I love the program and have no intentions of switching anytime soon. I have seen the results! :)

[Chris in VA]

We did it all, but we broke up the session. For 6/5, we went thru the "box," then did the lesson and some of the practice problems (not all unless she didn't have the concept), then I 'd let her get started on the assigned problems and work for about 10-15 minutes. She could complete the rest later in the day or in the evening (like "homework"). In the morning, she'd go over her problems before handing them to me to grade, just to catch any little computation-type mistakes--we started doing this when I noticed 4-6 errors almost every day. It took a few weeks, but she ended up being more careful.

 

It is a lot, but we follow Art Reed's advice.

[Mandy in TN]

My 2nd ds didn't do everything, but he was also doing Singapore. What he did do was dependent upon what I felt he needed. He never did the drill sheets, because for him they were just busy work. He used Saxon 3 and then 54 through 87 alongside SM 3-6. I wish I had left him in Saxon for high school maths.

 

In 54 through over half of 76, 3rd ds did the mental math and the practice set orally. Any problems in the problem set that I knew he could answer orally, we did that way. Then, he would do whatever else I felt he needed. He never used the drill, because he was doing Kumon math. He always used other supplemental math like Key to Fractions, Key to Decimals, Key to Percents, the first several books in Key to Alg, Penrose the Mathematical Cat, a little LoF, Hand on Equations, etc. I moved away from Saxon when it was obvious that, due to his love of math and using many supplements, he had jumped ahead of the book and there was no good way modify it to meet our needs.

 

Doing everything didn't help my oldest understand math. It just caused hours of frustration. He needed more of a mastery approach. He struggled through 54-76 doing as much in a day as I could reasonably drag him through. One year he also used Kumon math and after that he used the Key to books alongside Saxon. It just didn't work. I wish I had pulled him out of Saxon sooner.

 

I have a love/ hate relationship with the middle grade Saxon texts, but, if I had another child, Saxon is where I would start. Anyway, the point of using a math program is to use the program to teach your children math. If you can use the program to get the job done, then I would not suggest switching programs. Just stay there until high school math, because jumping around may actually cause the road to be longer! Also, your child may be more likely to end up in high school maths with gaps or weak places in his arithmetic. On the other hand, if you cannot use Saxon to teach math, if Saxon is unable to do the job, then switch programs.

 

HTH-

Mandy

Edited May 1, 2012 by Mandy in TN

[Mandy in TN]

We did it all, but we broke up the session. For 6/5, we went thru the "box," then did the lesson and some of the practice problems (not all unless she didn't have the concept), then I 'd let her get started on the assigned problems and work for about 10-15 minutes. She could complete the rest later in the day or in the evening (like "homework"). In the morning, she'd go over her problems before handing them to me to grade, just to catch any little computation-type mistakes--we started doing this when I noticed 4-6 errors almost every day. It took a few weeks, but she ended up being more careful.

 

It is a lot, but we follow Art Reed's advice.

:iagree: with breaking up the session. Don't feel like you have to sit down and do it all at once!

[curlylocks]

We do each and every problem. Listening to Art Reed, who worked with John Saxon, he recommends completing every problem as given. Apparently, the thought was that problems test knowledge of the same concept but is a different way so it is important to do every problem listed.

 

For me, doing thirty problems is not too much to ask. I remember completing many more than that and they all tested a single concept. Since lessons review two to three weeks worth of material it is not thirty of the same problem. The varied types of problems should make thirty pass by reasonably quickly. For us, it is far from the "drill and kill" so many complain about. Art did offer that the parent does not need to check homework every day. Instead, they can look to the test results for guidance and review problem areas, picking out practice problems from the lesson pages or from the back of the book.

 

Jim

 

:iagree: -- *LOVE** Art Reed. :)

[MiztrezzLyn]

My youngest son is finishing up Saxon Intermediate 3 and it is laid out similarly to Saxon 5/4 and up. We do everything but I have him only do 10 of the mixed practice during math time and then he does the other 10 later in the evening while we're getting dinner ready. I plan to continue in this way through 5/4 (when we start in July).

 

I read Art Reed's book and I agree with it so I plan on following it through all of Saxon with both of the kids.

[lucyfan70]

JWe do all the lesson practice, none of the mental stuff and only the odd or even problems in the lesson practice.

 

~Wendy~

[whitestavern]

I think I read somewhere that the mental math portion was geared towards the classroom, so we do not do that, but we do all the practice and the entire lesson. Once my kids can fly through the drills we stop doing them...once in a blue moon I'll pull one out for them to do, but otherwise I feel they get enough practice on those basic skills through their daily lessons.

[kolamum]

We're using 4/5 & 5/6 this year.

 

• We do flash cards {only a small portion, whatever can be done in 3 minutes}; I change them out as needed
  
• We do the fact paper 3-4x a week. I set the timer for no more then 5 minutes & when it goes off it goes off. If they only do 75 out of 100 they still get a 100% if they got all 75 of those right. I also find that if the kids tell me the answers they can do more in the 5 minutes. So 1-2x a week I write the answers
  
• We do the mental math, but only a few of the problems. The ones I know they'll especially get, the others I might talk them through. I really love the mental math
  
• Unless I don't feel they grasped the lesson they do not do the practice set.
  
• I select problems from the lesson for my child to do. I select a few of the ones revolving around the current lesson. I make sure that they have at least one problem from each operational form they know. If they get them wrong they correct their work & next time I add more of the problem type they got wrong.
  

 

Basically I try to keep all math "stuff" to only 45 minutes a day if possible per child. I'm debating next year getting the lecture cd. I REALLY loved our year with TT because it allowed me one-on-one time with another child while the first one did math, but my kids got to where they wanted me right next to them while they did the lesson. They also weren't being challenged enough with the grades they were in. Anyway, seriously debating the lecture cds for Saxon for next year.. we shall see, we shall see. I'm just not SURE they are worth the excess price.

[Suzanne115]

We just finished Saxon 6/5. It is our second year using Saxon. We do all of everything except the mental math.

 

 

Suzanne

[Rene']

I read Art Reed's book and I agree with it so I plan on following it through all of Saxon with both of the kids.

:iagree:

 

We do everything for every lesson. At this time the lessons take about an hour. We follow the Robinson Curriculum, so I'm prepared for 2 hours of math daily if it comes to that.

 

I do not check/grade my children's daily work. They do everything themselves, copying the problems in a notebook and showing their work, then checking with the answer book and correcting the missed problems. The weekly tests show whether they are getting something or not. They call me if they have a question but mostly I encourage them to re-read the lesson and try to figure it out themselves.

[KarenNC]

I had a phone conversation with Mr. Reed last year and my understanding was that the "box" material was really aimed at getting a class of kids settled down, so there wasn't a need to do it individually. I did sub xtramath.org for the fact practice on operations.

 

This is our second year with Saxon. We tested through 6/5 on Mr. Reed's advice. Our pattern (for 7/6) is:

* drill sheet if we are working on it together (ie not on the computer)

* go over homework to identify and correct any errors (not graded)

* go over lesson

* if she didn't get the lesson easily, we do the practice problems together

* all problems in problem set assigned as homework

 

So we spend about 15 minutes or so together, and she takes about 20-30 minutes to do the problem set as homework, but I'm not involved.

Edited May 2, 2012 by KarenNC

[AmyontheFarm]

I had a phone conversation with Mr. Reed last year and my understanding was that the "box" material was really aimed at getting a class of kids settled down, so there wasn't a need to do it individually. I did sub xtramath.org for the fact practice on operations.

 

 

THANK YOU! I've been looking for something like xtramath.org for a while! The kids willing do the time drilled sheets, the mother unwillingly marks them! Marking those time drilled sheets is the one thing that completely annoys me everyday! I'm going to love sending them to xtramath.org!

[JSnow]

We did fact practice maybe 2-3 times per week and mental math about the same. It's good stuff and helps immensely, but can be extremely rigid. The great thing about Saxon is the constant review of concepts, but on Fridays I only made them do the problems associated with the last 5-10 lessons. Not that big of a deal, but kids were excited about "Friday math".

 

When curriculum becomes drudgery, its time to tweak or change. Sometimes even the best curriculum needs to be tweaked to keep kids engaged.