jamotz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 We just finished our very first official Homeschool week!!!!! :w00t: I just have one question for all of the knowledgeable homeschoolers here: We started my son (5 years) on Saxon Math 1 because it seemed like the Saxon Math K was WAY too easy for him and would basically cover everything he already knew. He is a total Math lover! He plays with numbers and manipulatives for fun all day long. It seems as though Saxon Math 1 is a little slow to start. He has been counting to 100 for a long time now, knows his left and right, and has known about the calendar for a while too (we've been doing calendar work since he was 3!). He seems bored but I'm not sure if I should skip through anything. The teachers manual is a little tough to get through since it is all scripted. I don't want to miss something important, but I'm not sure what to do to keep him interested. Any advice? Am I missing something here? I know it has only been a week but I don't want him to be bored, which is the main reason I did not enroll him in public school in the first place! Also needed to add that the 3.5 year old is jealous that big brother does Math, so until his Math program arrives he sits in during our Math time and even he is breezing through it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I'm using Saxon 1 with my special needs 1st grader. He needs the constant repetition due to memory issues so I had to choose a spiral math program with lots and lots of review. I would not be using Saxon otherwise. I think it's far too repetitive in the lower grades. You could skip ahead and skim the lessons until you find a point at which it becomes challenging, but for a math oriented kid something like Singapore might be a better fit. MEP is another great choice, with the added benefit of being free. My older children used Singapore all the way through 6B. That's my personal first choice for a child that excels in math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 We used it a year ahead, too. While it was easy for dd (up to the middle of Saxon 3--then she hit a rough spot for about a month), I was fine with her feeling confident and that math was "easy!" Not everything needs to be challenging. Competence can be thrilling. You could supplement if you really wanted to. Add in some cooking, measure around the house, build something together. Go to the grocery store and compare costs, and find the item with the lowest price per oz. See how much things weigh. Give your child a clicker and count stuff while out and about (out-of-state cars, white horses, stop signs, etc.) and then talk about how much more until you get to 100. As far as the meeting, change how you document the information--instead of the book, use a wall calendar with different shapes of sticky notes for the dates, and make patterns. I think, once they've truly reached automaticity, you can skip stuff and just visit it once in a while--but make sure it's automatic, first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 (edited) We have also used Saxon math a year ahead. My older ds12 started with Saxon 1 in K, and has been 'ahead' since that time. My younger ds7 just started 2nd grade in August, and he's working on Saxon 3. Saxon does move at a much slower pace. It is very thorough, and that's why I like it. But it is really not very challenging for my kids. I do supplement my younger son with worksheets from the computer, computer games, and we use Mike's Math Page (on youtube and FB). Ds7 knows his multiplication facts very well, he can do division, he can count money and make change, he can do word problems involving time, etc. I do the oral part of the lesson from the book about three times per week (counting by different numbers, calendar questions, flash cards DAILY, etc.). As for the lesson that goes along with the daily worksheet, my son always knows how to do it, but I just run through it quickly. I would not skip anything if you are already using the book a year ahead. I think the more they practice the basic concepts, the better they do later on when math becomes more complex. My older ds has rarely needed my help going through the new lessons. He just started Algebra 1/2. As they get older, the challenge is in not making silly mistakes as some of the problems require more steps. Edited September 9, 2012 by janainaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Skip ahead to the next lesson you think is appropriate! Saxon has a TON of review. If you skip ahead and then run into a problem on a review worksheet that you haven't seen, or want more depth on, look back to see how it was introduced, and then look forward to see the next time it is covered and decide if you want to do the lessons separately, or glom them together, or just add the old lesson onto whatever you are doing tomorrow. You are right, Saxon K was a waste. I wonder if most homeschooled kids could skip that. When we hit a whole lesson teaching what a "triangle" was I realized it was time to move on. We skimmed through it and then made it mid-way through Saxon 3 before I put it aside this summer. For 2nd grade this year I'm using MEP. We all needed a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Michelle* Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 It picks up. We're in the 30s now and doing addition problems. My son was a little bored at first, but I just used the early lessons to get him used to the routine. I've also modified the meeting to a better fit for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 My mathy son used Saxon 1 at school. It was slow the entire semester he used it. He was thrilled when I pulled out Math Mammoth at home! I was bored by Saxon too. The worksheets were almost exactly the same every day. If your son picks up math concepts easily, you may want to look at a different curriculum. Math Mammoth, Singapore, and MEP are all great choices. We're using Singapore now because Math Mammoth was too incremental for him (but bearable... Saxon was not bearable for him or me). I've dabbled in MEP, but it doesn't fit my teaching style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 My kids used Saxon at their private school so I figured it would be easiest to continue with it at home this fall. I had them going over math facts on xtramath this summer and when I looked at my 1st grader's Saxon 2 book, I realized it was going to be really easy for awhile. I've been giving him the assessments and doing the meeting connected to that assessment for the past two weeks. He forgot the difference between even/odd and didn't know which days were the weekend, so we spent a day going over those, then went back to assessments. He did assessment 7/meeting day 40 on Thursday and knew everything, but looking ahead to lessons 41-45, the concepts get trickier so I decided to stop and go lesson by lesson now. If you just do assessments like this, be aware that the assessment on day 40 uses the info taught mostly on days 31-35 (they give 5 days of repeated the information before testing it). I think I'm going to switch to Singapore when he finishes Saxon 2 in February, particularly since Saxon 3 reviews for the first 30 lessons too and I don't want to have to deal with it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamotz Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Thank you all for the reples! I think I'm going to continue to do the worksheets in the beginning for review, but we skipped some of the repetition part today since he's so bored with it and the lesson was bearable. I'm going to look through the manual and find a good lesson to skip to and start there. If we finish the curriculum early then we can move to something new and maybe a different publisher. I originally picked Saxon because I read it was heavily based on manipulatives, and since he loves that so much I thought it would be a good fit. I think we'll try Singapore once we finish this one. I'm so stubborn, I hate to think I spent money on something that wasn't a good fit! I suppose I'll chalk it up to this being our first year picking out curriculum. :confused: I'm so thankful for a forum like this with all of your support! Thanks again :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wearejenandkev Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 My 5yo does Saxon Math 1, as well. I don't do the meeting everyday. We do it every few days...skipping the things I am sure he knows. Also, on days that we hit a lesson that is easy.....I just let him skip directly to the worksheet without the lesson. Then, we do the next lesson. The beginning of every Saxon Math book is VERY EASY...accounting for summer learning loss. But, it picks up. I wouldn't skip to the next level because you could miss something. Just move faster..... Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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