CLE to Saxon

[Tiramisu]

Dd loves CLE. It's the only math that's worked for her and she's been sailing along in it since LU308. Now she's in 705 and will be in seventh next year.

 

I'm thinking about the future and algebra.

 

CLE's algebra is available now, but I don't know if I can go from CLE 7 to CLE algebra without doing CLE 8, and I don't know if I'm interested in doing CLE 8 since CLE 7 includes sufficient pre-algebra.

 

Dd needs a lot of review so Saxon comes to mind as a good option for the upper levels.

 

Any thoughts?

[Vida Winter]

I don't know what to say except that we are in the same boat. DD is just about to start the 700s and I don't particularly want her to do an extra year of pre-algebra as we are planning to do calculus in high school.

 

It will come down to how well she retains the material. I really do want to stay with CLE, but at some point we will have to leave it since they may take years to complete the upper levels of math.

 

This is what I am considering - I have a few months to decide:

CLE 700s, CLE 800s, CLE Algebra 1

CLE 700s, "speed through selectively" CLE 800s, CLE Algebra 1

CLE 700s, Algebra 1 online with Derek Owens on through high school

CLE 700s, Chalkdust Algebra 1, on through high school

 

 

I am leaning toward the option of switching to Derek Owens after the 700s, since my older daughter enjoys his courses a great deal and he offers courses all the way through calculus. When something works, we like to stick with it, and Derek offers a clear path to completion.

[Melabella]

My dd just completed 7th grade and CLE's 800 level math. While CLE 800 did go deeper than the 700 level, I wish we would have skipped it and gone on to Algebra. 800 includes a lot of business math that I don't feel is particularly necessary at this stage (though not useless as the student is practicing computation skills), and I skipped some of those lessons. Still, I felt like we were stalling all year.

 

We are switching to Derek Owens and hoping to continue with him through Calculus. We are located in the Atlanta area, so I had planned for my dd to take his live Algebra class. However, I feel my daughter is so well prepared for Algebra that she will be able to complete the course in less than 9 months. Therefore, she will be starting the distance class in the next week or two (by her request) and I expect her to finish it by Christmas break. She should fly through the first few chapters from what I can tell by the samples.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Melabella

[Mom0012]

I am going to have my dd finish CLE 700 in 6th grade and then move onto Saxon's Algebra 1/2 in 7th. Even if Saxon's pre-algebra winds up being a lot of review, I want her to have the chance to get used to the new format before starting Algebra 1.

 

I already own CLE's Algebra 1, but I want something for my dd that she can use all the way through high school.

 

My son will use CLE 800 and then he will likely use their Algebra as well since math does not come as easily to him and he has had such success with CLE. Then, I will probably review Algebra by quickly (hopefully) testing our way through Lial's Algebra 1 and just stopping to review any problem areas. My current plan is for him to move on to TT Geometry and then Lial's Algebra 2. Who knows after that?

 

Lisa

[MIch elle]

What is your goal for your student?

 

I like CLE math (up to gr. 8) and Saxon because they both cover math in a way that makes sense to me and will set the dc up for success. They cover basic math, algebra, and geometry (etc. further up) all at the SAME time, never letting the dc forget one math over the other due to the built in review.

 

The problem with moving to algebra too soon is that most algebra books drop all other math (fraction, decimals, geometry, etc.) and do only algebra.

 

Watch this Art Reed segment on Saxon Adv. Math to better understand where you're headed with Saxon & the reason behind alg/geo/trig/cal combo approach: http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/flvplayer.html It's worth your 7 min to watch it to the end.

 

The PROBLEM with Saxon math is that it's harder for many students because of the amount of problems/lesson. It's brain draining for some dc and can take more than one hour to complete. I suggest skipping some of the problems to overcome this although Art Reed will advise again skipping.

Edited June 15, 2012 by MIch elle

[LNC]

We're going from CLE 7 to Chalkdust Algebra. I have the Chalkdust and it looks like it will be fine. I can let you know in a year how it went!

[Tiramisu]

Thanks for all the replies. We will finish the 700's mid-year so I guess I could always use that time to try something like Saxon 1/2.

 

I ran into a problem with my oldest with retention even though she used a strong algebra program and did well with it. I think this dd needs review even more, so Saxon might be the best for her considering the long-term.

 

I do have TT geometry and algebra 2, so TT is an option, too. It's just that Saxon seems to incorporate geometry so she'd get to keep up that knowledge even if we did a year of just TT geometry.