Hi Y'all

[shiloh]

This is my first post (obviously.) I have lurked for a while and most people here seem friendly and helpful. I literally got "The Well Educated Mind" a few days ago while browsing on Amazon after I purchased "Story of the World" - so I am happily amazed to find a whole website devoted to classical education.

 

I have homeschooled quite a lot in the past but am not doing so now as I am a bit burnt. My younger children are in private school and I am looking for a Math curric to supplement the Saxon curric used at school.

 

My oldest (in college now at a HYP) used the Saxon curric and his experience and advice is that Saxon is easy to use but leaves gaps and vulnerabilities.

 

I am wondering if any of you have branched away from Saxon and could recommend a math curric that would hold the attention of a very bright 8 year old.

 

We tried Aleks online but it was drudgery for her.

 

I would really like to get just the math portion of K12 online but the customer service is pretty slow and they seem (or maybe it's me) to have trouble getting pages to load. I can't get out of student profile quicksand.

 

Does anyone know if K12 offers individual courses?

 

Thanks for reading all that!

[riada]

Welcome to the board. I personally have not used Saxon or K12 so I can't offer anything here.

 

My daughter, 9, uses Christian Light Education (CLE). It uses a spiral teaching method that is easy to implement with an advanced child. They learn one new concept a day and review previously learned ones in each lesson. If the previously learned one come easily then you can skip ahead to the next new concept. The downfall is that it is black and white, not flashy by any means, and a workbook approach so it doesn't appeal to everyone.

 

Hopefully by my replying it will bump your post to the top and others who are more familiar with K12 or Saxon can respond. Good luck on your quest for a math program!

[JenneinCA]

k12 does do consumer direct, but it can be expensive.

 

This is the link to the FAQ page for the k-8 consumer direct part.

 

http://www.k12.com/faqs/consumer_direct/

 

But as to your question, usually the most common supplements are Singapore Math, Miquon and Right Start for elementary students. I could give you a better guess as to a program that might work if I had more idea of what you are looking for.

 

I hope that helps. And welcome to the board.

[LaurieinCA]

We use Singapore Math as a supplement to Saxon. I think they complement each other well... Saxon is great for drill, and Singapore is wonderful for mental math and problem solving. Singapore is inexpensive and doesn't take too much time, so it could be a great solution for "after-schooling."

 

Good luck!

[Academy of Jedi Arts]

You should be able to order a single course through K12. K12 uses Sadlier Oxford math which you can order from the publisher also. We used it up to the 3rd grade level when dd's love affair with it ended. She did not like Aleks either. She is using Teaching Textbooks right now and loves it. Math is not her particular area of talent, but she is accelerated in it a bit, and I was worried the fact that TT contains a lot of review problems in the exercises would turn her off. Not so- she says math is her favorite subject right now. :001_huh:

[nmoira]

 

Have you looked at Singapore Math? The workbooks are inexpensive and it seems to work well for bright students.

The best thing about Singapore (other than its being an excellent math program :) ) is that you can customize it to your child's needs. For example, my oldest uses the Intensive Practice books in lieu of the workbooks (you can also use it in addition to) and the Challenging Word Problems books. She gets bored with too much repetition and too little challenge.

[Desert Rat]

Welcome to the board! I've never used Saxon or K12. Another vote for Singapore here. Especially if you're supplementing, maybe you can just get a few of the extra practice or intensive practice workbooks. They have on-line placement testing available. HTH

[MaryM]

Yet another Singapore vote! We did Saxon and Singapore as well. Terrific program and inexpensive as others have stated! As an aside, the temptation is to just turn over supplementary material in math but my own personal experience with bright students is that they often can do things in their head very quickly and sitting with them as they do the work can not only accelerate it so that they aren't bored but also show you where they need extra help which can sometimes be in taking time to do the steps...

 

Good luck!

 

Mary

[EKS]

Singapore. It's cheap. You could use the textbook and workbook or the Intensive Practice (more challenging, thought provoking problems) and/or the Challenging Word Problems book. If you only want to use one thing, I would recommend the CWP book as it complements the Saxon program where it is a bit weak.

 

Also, you can buy individual courses from K12. You can sign up online if you want. Every time I've called them I have waited forever on hold.

[shiloh]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

 

I have finally pulled the trigger and ordered the Singapore materials after weeks of vacillating. I purchased the standard edition because it is supposed to be in color. Every little bit helps.

 

If you don't mind sharing I am very interested in hearing how you've worked out after-schooling with math while your child is enrolled in a traditional school.

 

Every day...every other...only on weekends? Schedule dependent?

[mcconnellboys]

I agree that Singapore, especially their Challenging Word Problems, would be a great help in learning to think mathematically!

[shiloh]

Just wanted to thank you folks. We started Singapore and it is working well so far.

 

The Singapore style is a bit different for me and I've had to adjust accordingly. It is a good supplement for Saxon.

 

I wish there was a little more hand holding for the teacher/parent. BTW, I did get the Teacher's Guide.

 

In my reading did I skip the part in the Teacher's Guide that describes how to coordinate the lesson plan with the student textbook and workbooks?

 

I wonder if that is covered elsewhere. D is is in 2B.

 

Would greatly appreciate suggestions.

[chai]

The textbook has the corresponding workbook pages written in it. When you complete a section, it will tell you that you are now ready to do Exercise Number X.

 

BTW, we love Singapore too!