Saxon Grammar & Writing- grades 5-8?

[jnaj]

Has anyone used Saxon Grammar & Writing for grades 5-8? My 11 year old is "finishing up" 5th grade now, but when we started homeschooling this past year he was pretty behind. He has come a long way, but I was looking at the Saxon Grammar & Writing and I actually think it might be a good fit for him. I was wondering if anyone has used this and if there were any opinions on the program.

 

I will give you a little background with what we have tried this year- we started with Oak Meadow 5. It was a total bust for us. My son has comprehension/inference issues and he does best with specific, concrete information and assignments. We switched over and did WWE3, FLL4, Easy Grammar, Spelling Workout E (plus some other things, but this is what we have been doing a combo of for language arts- plus he does weekly educational therapy for reading comprehension, inference, etc)

 

I was thinking about ordering him the Saxon Grammar & Writing 5. It looks like it might actually be what we need. I haven't heard a lot of great things about Saxon, but recently looked into it again, and it just might fit his learning style. I'm hoping it wouldn't be too difficult for him (Easy Grammar is kind of a nightmare unless I am sitting with him and he is doing it out load with me...he loves WWE and FLL because we do it together.)

 

Thanks for any input! I just want him to be prepared if/when he goes back to school. He is on a waiting list for a local charter school now, and we are both really excited about that possibility. We want to make sure he is prepared if he does go back, and moving forward and progressing if he does continue homeschooling. I am just looking for something straightforward, easy to use, and well put together for him. I honestly don't like using a million different things with him and would much rather have it all in one place.

[deerforest]

Some folks just refer to it as Hake grammar if you are searching the board. I am using 5 right now with my 4th grader. I am toggling between it and MCT grammar series. I think you could easily start with 6. I chose 5 for the source material topics they pulled from. I can't remember the differences but there was one but the scope and sequence were very similar.

 

It's independent and thorough. It includes a lot of repetitive practice in each lesson that you can easily skip. It basically consists of grammar exercises and then writing ones at certain recommended times.

 

It isn't making DD fall in love with grammar (MCT is for that), but it's helping to solidify some concepts that have been floating in her head for a while.

[MiMi 4under3]

 I am just looking for something straightforward, easy to use, and well put together for him.  

 

Hake is all of the above.

 

We use both Saxon math and Hake grammar. Although, this year we didn't use the writing portion of Hake because we used so many other resources for writing - but I do plan to incorporate it for next year.

[EKS]

I've used several levels of Hake grammar (but haven't used the writing).  Like the others said, it's very thorough.  If your child balks at a lot of writing, one thing that helps is to have them write in the book as though it was a workbook.

[jnaj]

Thanks. I didn't realize the Saxon was referred to as Hake Grammar. We haven't done much in the way or actually writing this year because we have been focused on his therapy and just getting him at a place where we would like him to be in school. So now that he has progressed, I would like to incorporate more writing (We did attempt Winning With Writing- but even that didn't go over well with him. He kept saying he just didn't get it.. It looked pretty simple to me, but I guess it was just not concrete enough for him. I definitely need help teaching him. He does not like the way I explain things at all.) I am not trying to get him to be a master writer, that will not be his strong point. I would like him ti be able to express himself and put together stories, essays, reports, etc. 

[boscopup]

I started Hake 6 with my 4th grader recently. We go over the lesson material and practice exercises orally, then he writes (on paper) the review exercises. He's writing phobic, but this hasn't been too much for him. Most of the answers are one word.

 

I'm not using the writing. It goes from paragraph to 5 paragraph essay pretty quick. I want to hang out in paragraph land a bit longer. I use a combination of WWE style narrations (he now writes them himself) and CAP Writing & Rhetoric, which he really enjoys.

[MiMi 4under3]

 The writing book looks the same.  It's just the same book!  It goes from paragraph to essay in the same amount of time.  I need to look more closely to see if they are in fact exact, but my first impression on thumbing through 4 was that it was the same as 6.

 

 

We used 4 and 5 this year; each lesson (except two or three toward the end) was the same in both books.  

 

Level 5 was obviously a little more in-depth and a bit "harder." But both covered the same topic in the same lesson.

 

 

 

ETA: just realized you were talking about the writing portion.... sorry.

[jnaj]

How crazy it's the same! I'm curious to know if it's THE same. Just specifically the writing portion?  I'm thinking this program will work good for my son. I am going to be using the writing portion, mainly because he doesn't have much experience with writing and I just want an all in one program to use over the summer. We will see how it goes. It sounds like continuing with it next year for 6 might not be worth it?

[daisymom]

I was planning on using Hake 5 and Hake 7 next year with my boys.  Do you think I should use Hake 6 and combine them instead?