SM for primary grades, then Saxon for higher level math?

[Guest kellbello24]

Does this work well?  Or does it make for an awkward/difficult transition?

 

This is my first year of homeschooling (dd for K), so I don't know much about any of these programs.  After skimming through a friend's Saxon 1 book, I decided that I really didn't think it would be a good fit for us.  So I am using SM Essential K A&B along with Miquon Orange.  We are really enjoying this set up so far, but I keep wondering if I should have just gone with Saxon 1 since my plan is to revisit Saxon around 5/4 to see if we like it then.  I have heard positive things about Saxon right around the 5/4 level and up, but not so good impressions of it earlier on.  Would it be detrimental to use SM (or possibly MM1 next year) for 4 years and then switch to Saxon or something comparable to it?  I guess I really don't have any reason to revisit Saxon in 4 years other than I always thought that was the curriculum I was going to use right from the beginning and all the way through (until I looked at the Saxon 1 book!).  Well, and also because SM still just seems a bit foreign to me and out of my comfort zone since it's not the same style of math I grew up with.

 

Sorry for babbling.... Any thoughts?

[boscopup]

I don't see any harm in your plans. Just keep in mind that you should always use a placement test when switching math programs. When my son finished Singapore 5B, he placed into Saxon Algebra 1/2 (we're not using Saxon, but I periodically look at placement tests of different programs for fun).

 

There will be topics taught very early in Singapore that aren't taught until later in Saxon and vice versa. Those holes should be easy to fill with Saxon though.

 

And since your child is only in K, by time you get to the point of maybe switching, you may find something completely different that you like better. :D I know my original plans when my oldest was 1st grade aren't the same plans I'm following now in 4th. There are many, many choices for math out there. See if Singapore works now. If it doesn't, come here and we'll give suggestions for things to try based on how you like to teach math and how your child learns.

 

And get the HIG for Singapore (starting in 1A). I also suggest watching videos at educationunboxed.com. C-rods are a fabulous manipulative to use with Singapore.

[Korrale]

We are planning to do something similar except we will be using Go Math. Which is a blend of Saxon and Singapore.

From friends that have transitioned to Saxon I have been told that it doesn't really matter what is done in the early grades. Just as long as the student has a solid idea of math and they meet what is lined out in core standards. Most programs are core aligned. Saxon 5/4 can be started as early as 3rd grade if they child is ready.

[dbmamaz]

Singapore is strong in the 'why's and saxon is stronger in drill and kill.  Both get the job done, but i'm not a saxon fan.  a LOT of people do singapore for elementary and then something else afterwards.  Sometimes art of problem solving, but thats not for everyone.  but really, dont worry about middle school right now - use what works now

[danybug]

My ds, who is now in 7th, used Singapore 1a thru 4b and then we switched to Saxon. I knew we wanted to pursue Saxon for high school, so I made the switch a little earlier than going into Singapore 5.

 

My ds made a great transition, but I think he is excellent at math. Obviously, they are on two opposite ends of learning styles, but at the point when we switched I really appreciated that. For this year, I am tossing around throwing in a little AoPS on the side to mix things up a bit in terms of style. But otherwise, I personally am very pleased with our math foundation and progress.

[Heartsjoy]

We went with Saxon Alg 1 after SM 5B. We're 2/3 through. We are adding in a few CWP 6 word problems. When we don't understand a concept we go watch the  related video on AOPS.  The weak point in this, transition 5B to Alg 1, is negative number operations. We did a few chapters in prealgebra AOPS, but any prealgebra like Lial's would work.