Oh no, not another math question!

[KellieK]

Last year I went through Saxon 3 with my two daughters, now 9&7. They did wonderful with it. They both know the math facts cold and had no problems with the actual work until the last month. My older daughter had no problems so she is moving on to 5/4, but my younger daughter struggled a little. The last month of lessons was different than the rest of the book and much more like I imagine 5/4 to be. She got it all, but was slower than she had been at having the lightbulb switch on. It has me wondering if she will be ready for a book like 5/4, especially because she is only 7. I think we hit her maturity level on the last lessons. I bought singapore 2B and 3A and B, but after using it for a few weeks am not sure about it. This is probably due to my lack of confidence in teaching than anything. I studied the next lesson last night and feel good about teaching it today, but am wondering if I am making too much of this. I am also wondering if children this young should be doing so much conceptual work, or should I stick with more concrete work? Maybe singapore is concrete and it is just to unfamiliar to me at this point.

 

Basically my question is what do I do next? Is 7 too young to start 5/4? Is it ok to switch back and forth between programs? I would hate for singapore not to work and then have to switch back or to something else. I keep trying to tell myself that she is only 7 and to not worry, but as you can see that is not working. Any advice is welcome.

[Meriwether]

My oldest did Saxon 5/4 at 7 (started at 7y4mo). Ds8 started at 8y1mo. Ds6 will start it at 7y11mo.

 

I don't think Singapore is too conceptual. If you are interested in using it, I'd give learning/using the program an honest try.

 

The last month of Saxon 3 is harder than the beginning of 5/4. If you are using Saxon5/4, you might want to look it over before you decide.

[boscopup]

If you're using the HIG, the concrete is in there. Each lesson goes from concrete to pictorial to abstract. The big thing is to allow use of manipulatives as long as the child needs them.