elah Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 It is taking my daughter 2 hours to finish each lesson of Saxon 7/6. I am in the same room and she tells me her answers as she does the work so I can help her if she needs any help. She is scoring 80% and higher on every test and averages a 90%. She is just a really slow thinker when it comes to math. As you can imagine, we are both ready to pull our hair out! I have three other younger kids who really need my attention. I can not afford to spend 2 hours each day doing this. Which is why we are still trying to finish it two months after our school year ended. I had posted back in January about her struggling. Here is the link to that post. It might be helpful. I had planned to use Saxon 8/7 next school year, but I am worried that it will be a big time sucker too. This was our first year homeschooling so I am not sure if I should switch math or tough it out. I think that the constant review of the 30 questions has actually been good for her. It has forced her to really know how to solve the problems unlike in the brick and mortar school where they did not have review questions. Which is why she has fallen so behind on math (and why we brought her home). So any suggestions to keep my sanity and hers would be appreciated! Emily Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 It is taking my daughter 2 hours to finish each lesson of Saxon 7/6. I am in the same room and she tells me her answers as she does the work so I can help her if she needs any help. She is scoring 80% and higher on every test and averages a 90%. She is just a really slow thinker when it comes to math. As you can imagine, we are both ready to pull our hair out! I have three other younger kids who really need my attention. I can not afford to spend 2 hours each day doing this. Which is why we are still trying to finish it two months after our school year ended. I had planned to use Saxon 8/7 next school year, but I am worried that it will be a big time sucker too. This was our first year homeschooling so I am not sure if I should switch math or tough it out. I think that the constant review of the 30 questions has actually been good for her. It has forced her to really know how to solve the problems unlike in the brick and mortar school where they did not have review questions. Which is why she has fallen so behind on math (and why we brought her home). So any suggestions to keep my sanity and hers would be appreciated! Emily I know this will sound weird, but many people have said that they gave their dc a time limit--around 45 minutes--so that they would put the book away and finish the lesson the next day (yes, it could take two days to finish one lesson...but wait...). To their great surprise, their dc were able to finish their lessons in that amount of time. Also, you might try letting her work independently, on paper, instead of telling you the answers as she works. You can be nearby if she has questions, but it would be good for her to learn to do it independently; she could check in with you halfway through or something. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elah Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 I had tried to let her work by herself but that did not work for her and we ended up having to go back several lessons and restart this way. It was suggested on here that we do it the way we are now. I should have posted this link so you could see her struggles and why we are doing it this way. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/540612-do-i-switch-from-saxon-76-to-what/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elah Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 I did try to limit it to an hour but it was taking still taking two or more days to complete one lesson. After a week of it I decided that was not the answer for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FriedClams Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 I had tried to let her work by herself but that did not work for her and we ended up having to go back several lessons and restart this way. It was suggested on here that we do it the way we are now. I should have posted this link so you could see her struggles and why we are doing it this way. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/540612-do-i-switch-from-saxon-76-to-what/ I think it's important to teach and practice the new material with the student. Leaving them to learn on their own often results in poor work or lack of understanding - and then having to back track. Once they get the concepts,I think it's reasonable to then let then do practice work solo. I'm a HUGE proponent of checking every problem, every day. I think having then tell you the answer is just a recipe for slow, distracted work. I'd teach, give a time limit, set them in a quiet location, and then check the work at the end. If they're dawdling, I'd let then finish on their own time before afternoon fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Two hours is really not all that much at this level. In the public schools kids spend about 1 1/2 hours on math in class and then go home and do homework for maybe another hour. Do you have the DIVE CD's? If so, they can be used to teach the lesson without your involvement. Then you can step in to review the practice material after your DD watches the DIVE and then she can go on to do the homework, with you checking her every 10 minutes or so. Eventually she will not need this much support. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Karen's Testimony Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 It is taking my daughter 2 hours to finish each lesson of Saxon 7/6. I am in the same room and she tells me her answers as she does the work so I can help her if she needs any help. She is scoring 80% and higher on every test and averages a 90%. She is just a really slow thinker when it comes to math. As you can imagine, we are both ready to pull our hair out! I have three other younger kids who really need my attention. I can not afford to spend 2 hours each day doing this. Which is why we are still trying to finish it two months after our school year ended. I had posted back in January about her struggling. Here is the link to that post. It might be helpful. I had planned to use Saxon 8/7 next school year, but I am worried that it will be a big time sucker too. This was our first year homeschooling so I am not sure if I should switch math or tough it out. I think that the constant review of the 30 questions has actually been good for her. It has forced her to really know how to solve the problems unlike in the brick and mortar school where they did not have review questions. Which is why she has fallen so behind on math (and why we brought her home). So any suggestions to keep my sanity and hers would be appreciated! Emily Dear Emily, I have a son who takes two hours to do Saxon math also. It was so hard. If I left him alone, he would get only one or two problems right. If I worked with him, he would get more correct. Last year, I put him in Kumon for math and reading. He improved tremendously with his problems. He actually was getting one or two wrong and everything else correct. I would teach him the lesson and then he got the problems correct. It was a shocker for me. He has improved. However, I feel that Saxon is probably not for my son. I time it base upon after the lesson is taught. He is taking way too long. I do not feel that Saxon is appropriate for my son. I am going to try a different curriculum. I got Teaching Textbook used. Karen's Testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yvonne Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Does she have her basic +/-/x/division facts down cold? Once my daughter had the basic facts down, math went much more smoothly for her (and me :) .) When she didn't, math was such a slog for her. Also, there was a period when I let her check each answer with me as she went. She did well with the immediate feedback, especially because it was almost always positive. There was nothing more demoralizing for her than getting through an entire section and finding out she had to go back and correct a bunch of problems. She still hates corrections more than doing the lesson itself. Anyhow, at some point she kind of grew out of needing that constant reinforcement and started doing the whole lesson herself because she found it went faster and she was able to do well on her own. I'd check it at the end. However, when _I_ know there's the potential for a lesson to be problematic for her, I stay close and try to unobtrusively, without having her stop work, check sections over her shoulder or across the table so she doesn't end up in a black hole of corrections. I star off each section after I check it, so she gets some positive reinforcement as she goes. A better, more positive attitude based on having had some success as she goes has made math a manageable period for us. She works an hour to an hour and a half on math/day. Good luck finding what works best to keep your daughter focused and motivated! yvonne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I did try to limit it to an hour but it was taking still taking two or more days to complete one lesson. After a week of it I decided that was not the answer for her. Well, there you go. :-) It's possible that she will do better this year, don't you think? I'm thinking that the consistency of staying with the publisher that she seems to have mastered would be better than trying something new. Can you let her check in with you after five problems instead of after each one? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Usually I am a proponent of consistency in two areas: math and phonics/spelling BUT FWIW there is something about Saxon...my did is actually bright in math and we tried Saxon last year; same story...two hours per day, complete misery, inability to work alone ... Put her back in Horizons, 100% complete, correct and hardly even asks me to help. If the lesson is long she does take a break and stretch (the second book is always much harder) but ... here are the reasons my dd can't hack Saxon: Ugly font Font too small Ugly paper quality/ strain on the eyes Too much switching gears Too much copying These are not made-up reasons. She actually had an evaluation for dyslexia/visual issues and also ADD and the doctor said a lot of kids need certain lighting, colors and paper quality. If it's like the Book we are talking about (Saxon) the numbers start to dance and the brain sends off alarm signals which confuse the child, they then resort to doodling or asking for help because they truly cannot concentrate! ADD to that the fact that Saxon switches gears 32 times and it's literally almost impossible for her to overcome. I think since you have only been homeschooling one year you should try something more visually appealing, with color or bright nice paper quality, that doesn't switch gears so much in one lesson. Also, FTR my son uses Saxon and while I do NOT love Saxon I am not a hater that would never recommend it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 FYI I am not necessarily recommending Horizina because it's more for bright math students and moves really fast. Some others that are colorful are out there. Also teaching textbooks is awesome for kids who are average in math! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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