Saxon 1 Issues - Is it Saxon? Me? My kid? Help!

[CAmomof4]

This is our first year homeschooling, and my nearly-six-year-old daughter has been cruising through Saxon 1 at a fairly relaxed pace until recently. We are about halfway through the book, at the "doubles plus one" addition facts. It is at the point now that whenever DD is presented with the practice sheet of addition facts she cries, covers her eyes, ears, yells "I can't!" etc. At first there was only minor resistance, and I thought she was just being lazy or feeling bored with the practice. She was, and is, still getting all the answers right. But she keeps telling me she "can't do it," and I can't seem to get much elaboration other than that.

 

Since she is still getting the right answers, and seems to have no trouble with the other aspects of what we've learned (telling time, counting money, place value, setting up word problems, etc) - should I keep pressing on with this curriculum and try to hold her hand more? Or is it time to try a new approach, maybe something like Math Mammoth that is more mastery-based? I had thought that if I switch programs they might not line up the same, creating even more confusion, but now I'm wondering if that is the thing to do.

 

Has anyone else experienced and worked through something similar? I definitely don't want to just steamroll my daughter if she honestly isn't getting it.

 

Thanks for any input!

[Murrayshire]

Saxon is pretty relaxed in the younger years.....I'm okay with that but when I compare it to MM, Horizon, and Singapore....it's behind. I see the reasoning in their methods but the constant, slow review does drive us batty!! We have been Saxon users for quite some time now....but my kids are dreading math this year and I think we need a change. I started my K'er last year in grade K Saxon....moved really fast b/c it was stuff we did in pre-school. We then started Saxon 1 for last half of K and first half of 1st grade. In January we started grade 2 but it moves so slow in the beginning and ds got tired of it. I ordered MM1a-b a month ago....ds is not a worksheet guy but he likes the pace better than Saxon. After finishing Saxon 1 he didn't place in MM2. So that's a bit frustrating but we have MM now and will work through that (and Right Start games) through the summer....I'm hoping by then he'll be ready for MM2 for second! We just ordered Apples LOF hoping this might bring in a lil' math humor to go along with MM..... So our line up for now is going to begin with our Morning Meeting Wall (on our blog in Our School Room pics), Daily Math (Evan Moor), MM1a-b, and math games(RightStart and computer games) throughout the week and lots on Fridays. Good luck!

[Lugrita]

My youngest dd would whine "I can't do it" somewhere past that point in Saxon 1. She is 5 and in kindergarten, and we whizzed through Saxon K last year (since she spent her entire life sitting in my lap, listening to me doing Saxon 1-3 lessons with her older sister, she knows it all already and she's bored stiff with it). It definitely wasn't a lack of understanding on her part, as she could sail through her worksheets quickly. She simply hated Saxon and she was so tired of the constant repetition and the long, drawn-out lessons. No matter how much I streamlined them, they were still too long for her (and after years of using Saxon, I was starting to hate it with a passion, too).

 

We switched to Singapore last month and jumped right into 1b. I had used Singapore with my first two children, so I already knew what I was doing with it and I had the textbooks and teacher guides at hand already, and only needed new workbooks. It's a wonderful fit for her and for me. I switched my middle two children (3rd and 6th grade) from Saxon to Singapore at the same time, and there is no longer any groaning/whining/angst with math. My 6th grader was so done with the constant repetition of Saxon and so ready to move on to something more rigorous! My oldest three kids are also using and loving Life of Fred, and I'm going to order LOF Apples next year for my youngest. :)

 

It's up to you whether to stay with Saxon or to move on to something else. If you love and enjoy Saxon, then stick it out and don't let her momentary displeasure sway you. Simply take more time and work through the sections more slowly if she is having a tough time with it. If you dislike it as much as I did (my discontent with Saxon stems from the reality that, in my experience, it is not good prep for high school math, and therefore I didn't see a reason to suffer through it in the lower grades), then make the switch. I don't think it's a great curriculum, but it's not a horrible one, either.

[GSOchristie]

I looked at Saxon and knew Asher would be bored to tears. He loves Singapore, in fact, he just asked me today if I would order the extra practice book because he wants to do more problems :).

[Five More Minutes]

My dd crumpled at the Saxon 1 worksheets. I ended up switching to Singapore halfway through 1, and am so glad I did. She immediately referred to Singapore as "the fun math" and has grown to love math as a subject. In my case, the problem was definitely the program.

[Tracy]

We weren't using Saxon, but I my dd was doing that at that age with our math program. It got to where she hated and dreaded math. Toward the end of the year, she finally said to me, "Mommy, I just want to do multiplication!" :huh:

 

Now, she wasn't really ready for multiplication like you would imagine in a 3rd grade class. But she knew there was more out there than counting and simple addition, and she longed to learn about it. We worked on very basic multiplication for the rest of the year, and the next year I found a curriculum that was more suited to her needs.

[CAmomof4]

Thanks for the input! I have no great love for Saxon, but since it's the only thing I've used I've winced at the thought of switching. I did see that Costco has the Singapore workbooks right now. Maybe it would be worth it to buy the 1A/B and check it out. It's hard for me to tell whether DD is actually having trouble with the material or just frustrated doing it. I know that in other things, if she can't be the best at something the first time she tries it, or get the answer to something right away, she pouts and refuses to participate. I suspect it is something along those lines, but with her flat-out refusal to do the work, I can't say for sure. Either way, she isn't doing the work! I need to find a way to bring her back to the table. Kindergarten is waaaaaay to early to start fighting me on doing schoolwork!

[Brenda in FL]

You are referring specifically to the fact sheets and not the regular practice worksheet, right?

 

I've had 3 kids go through Saxon and they never got to the point where they embraced having to do the fact sheets! Who wants to drill fact sheets? And for a 6 year old - they look at that work sheet and think, "It'll take me FOREVER to finish all those problems!"

 

But I didn't give up or in.

 

You have options - Use flashcards instead of the drill sheet. Let them use the flashcards to answer the fact sheet. Time them for a minute. Then time them for another minute to see if they beat their time. Don't worry if they don't finish the fact sheet after a certain length of time (3 minutes?). Reward them for doing it - Our current system: 1 small gummy worm for getting less than half correct in the time frame, 2 for getting more than half, 3 for completing it. (Truthfully - it wasn't until I offered candy as a reward that they stopped complaining!)

 

If the fact drill is the only issue, then I wouldn't be too quick to switch to a different curriculum.

[Five More Minutes]

Thanks for the input! I have no great love for Saxon, but since it's the only thing I've used I've winced at the thought of switching. I did see that Costco has the Singapore workbooks right now. Maybe it would be worth it to buy the 1A/B and check it out.

 

If you do consider switching to Singapore, I strongly recommend that you get the full (Standards Edition) program for a level to see if it's a good fit. That includes the Home Instructor's Guide, textbook, and workbook for each level. The parts work together; if you only use the workbook, there is a good chance that you'll both be quickly frustrated.

[Dmmetler]

In addition, the SM workbooks at our Costco aren't the real deal-they're designed as a supplement and are SO much more boring than the presentation in the real SM books-SM at grade 1is just plain cute :)

[MeghanL]

The facts are there to make sure your child knows their facts. Nothing else. Since she's proved to you she knows them, only have her do it if the fact sheet changes (ie subtraction instead of addition) or if you feel the skills are slipping when she's doing the lesson practice.

[Spy Car]

Thanks for the input! I have no great love for Saxon, but since it's the only thing I've used I've winced at the thought of switching. I did see that Costco has the Singapore workbooks right now. Maybe it would be worth it to buy the 1A/B and check it out. It's hard for me to tell whether DD is actually having trouble with the material or just frustrated doing it. I know that in other things, if she can't be the best at something the first time she tries it, or get the answer to something right away, she pouts and refuses to participate. I suspect it is something along those lines, but with her flat-out refusal to do the work, I can't say for sure. Either way, she isn't doing the work! I need to find a way to bring her back to the table. Kindergarten is waaaaaay to early to start fighting me on doing schoolwork!

 

The Frank Schaeffer (Singapore) books they have at Costco are not what people on this forum mean by "Singapore." People here are generally referring to Primary Mathematics when they say Singapore Math.

 

Lots of people get confused. The Frank Shaeffer workbooks are OK little workbooks, but they are not a full fledged math program like Primary Mathematics.

 

Bill

 

[The Way of My People]

It is at the point now that whenever DD is presented with the practice sheet of addition facts she cries, covers her eyes, ears, yells "I can't!" etc. At first there was only minor resistance, and I thought she was just being lazy or feeling bored with the practice. She was, and is, still getting all the answers right. But she keeps telling me she "can't do it," and I can't seem to get much elaboration other than that.

 

 

We hit this same issue at almost exactly this same point! It was SO frustrating. This is how we solved it: I sat my son down and explained why the math facts are so important to memorize, and how easily they are to forget at his age. Then I told him he could choose how he wanted to work on his math facts. He could do daily XtraMath, the Saxon fact sheet, or the full set of flash cards (up to and including the current fact set). He tried XtraMath and hated it. Now he does the full set of flash cards (addition and subtraction) every day. I've pointed out to him that it takes much longer than if he just did the fact sheet, but he still prefers the flash cards. LOL!