Saxon Math Question

[lvmom]

I have a Saxon math question that I am hoping someone might be able to help me with.  We will most likely finish our yearly Saxon math program by March.(math 1 for our first grader and math 2 for our second grader). Should we start the next Saxon math level for the rest of the "school" year?  We plan to do work until early June, take a 6 week summer break, then start with the next year of studies.  Any feedback on what others do when they finish? Do you supplement with other programs or just begin the next level? We won't be finished with the other areas of study for the year....SOTW, WWE,etc....Thank you!

[Chris in VA]

We ran into this, too. One year, IIRC, we went ahead and started the next year. The first lessons review concepts from the previous year, but they can be important because the wording is different and the review is not exactly the same--it not only reviews, but deepens the knowledge and prepares for the year. If you get into the book past about Lesson 30 or so, you will hit totally new material. Then if you take a 6 week break, will you be ok with no review to start up the year? I mean, you will have passed the review section by then--if your kids need review, do you have a plan of how to do that? (You could do lots of things--redo some lessons, play some review games, etc.--it's not hard, really.)

 

One year we just played games and did fact cards, and I think we may have supplemented with a grocery store workbook. 

 

My preference is just to start the new book, with maybe a week's break to "celebrate" the ending/accomplishment.

 

We took a whole summer off, tho--more like 9 weeks. Honestly, I have forgotten what we did upon returning to the book. I think we just leapt right in, 

[Mom0012]

We will be in the same boat this year. This is my dd's first year with Saxon and we did some lessons over the summer, so I'm sure she'll be done in early spring, if not sooner. My plan is to move on to the next level and then, when we hit summer, I may have her just do one lesson a week to keep things semi-fresh. Then we'll go full force again whenever we start our official school year. We do not ever take a six-week break from math, though. The longest my kids ever go without doing some math is a week or two. My son will do math daily over the summer, but my dd is able to get away with a weekly lesson and still pick up with where she left off.

[kiana]

I would go ahead and start in math -- not all of their curricula needs to move in lockstep.

 

I wouldn't do a six week break, though -- I would do one lesson a week through those six weeks.

[AmyontheFarm]

We just kept moving forward.  I figure at some point they will hit a "wall" and need a few days to understand an concept and when that happens I won't be worried about them becoming "behind".

[Beth S]

At that age, they will lose some math skills over the 6 week break . . . but it's nice for everyone to have a break!

 

It's nice to move to the next book now, because you will notice there is quite a bit of overlap.

This can end up being review, or you can determine that you can skip some of the early easier lessons.

 

We do Saxon in the upper grades, and we review the book by doing scattered tests throughout the book.

Also it is helpful to do some addition & subtraction drill to improve their speed.

 

It's also nice to be a little ahead of schedule, as life tends to cause delays.

 

Another major goal is that they don't HATE math . . . so try to adjust your plan to the feedback you're getting from them.  :)