rutheart Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 My daughter loved Saxon's kindergarten math, and always did all the work in one session each day. I finally sat down with Saxon 1 to see what we'd be doing next week, and was surprised to see they recommend doing the work during four separate times each day. Do/did you really do math that many times a day? Do you skip side B of the worksheet (unless the child struggles with side A)? Do you do the meeting and lesson in the same time period, then the worksheet later? Or do you do the meeting, and then lesson and worksheet later? I'm just trying to get a sense of what's realistic and works for this age group. I think my 6yo would get antsy if I tried to do it all in one long session. Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutheart Posted August 10, 2015 Author Share Posted August 10, 2015 No one on this board has used Saxon 1 math? Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We used it, and I'm probably not the best help because we dropped it around lesson 50 but I'll comment to bump for you. It was taking us about 2 hours a day to do it all, which was crazy for my kiddo. We didn't break it up much, mostly because getting my daughter to the table once for math was difficult enough, she would have cried if she had to do math all day long. The meeting stuff was easily done as part of a morning calendar time, though, rather than with what she considered math. Eta: We switched to cle and it is perfect for us. Everything I loved about Saxon, but more independent and it takes less time and fewer parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm919 Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We did it all at once, but (a) we didn't do the entire meeting every time and (b) when we started to do the math facts, we did 1/2 lesson a day until my daughter knew them them well "enough" that they really could be done quickly. Spacing it out never worked well for us, because it felt like we were doing math all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squawky Acres Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 Sorry for avoiding this question earlier, but it brings up bad memories of too-long days, too much math, and too much writing for my first grade daughter and kindergarten-aged son, who were working together. We eventually survived Saxon 1 by condensing the meeting portion and not doing it every day (although it is important to read it yourself and see if anything new is being introduced so that you do not miss it), and only doing the first side of the worksheets. I think this worked for us, as the kids still ended up with great test scores, and did not hate doing math as much as they would have hated it had I made them do everything the manual says to do -- as I did in the beginning. Doing everything really does take at least an hour -- and that is if the kids are working at a good pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We never did the morning meeting. It was too clumsy and we were getting that information other places. We did do the lesson with manipulatives and then one side of the lesson practice (and would have done the second side if we needed reinforcement, but in the early grades this was rare). Sometimes we did the math facts sheets and sometimes we didn't. We did all of this at one sitting. It did not take more than twenty minutes to do all of this in the younger grades. As the math facts got harder we did flash cards but later in the day. This was with my dd. I tried to do Saxon 1 with my son last year and it was a total flop no matter how I tweaked it. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfly_Mom Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 I did calendar with my kiddos three to four times a week. My daughter went through Saxon K very well. When we started Saxon 1 it did not go so well at all. She began to hate it and we had to switch to something else. We started Math U See and it has she began to love math again. I think my daughter had a hard time with the way that Saxon tends to spiral. I know some people who have had success with Saxon that do not use the meeting book and some who do. Also I know one mom that only has her child do the odd or even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We do the meeting and lesson together and then child does worksheets. We only did side A. Brou could have them do the worksheets during independent time later or right then. My son went to school for Saxon 1, and we did 2 and 3 at home. They only had one math period at school if that helps. Side B was homework. We don't do nightly homework. Overkill Imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyinNY Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 My daughter just finished Saxon 1 this past spring. We did not break it up. We did the calendar and practiced the counting and skip counting verbally. I taught the lesson using the TM and then worked on the front side (A) together. Then I let her work on the (B) on her own until she had a question, but we did all in one sitting. ETA: Before I taught the lesson for each day, I always gave her the fact sheet to zoom through first. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aelgraham Posted August 10, 2015 Share Posted August 10, 2015 We also dropped Saxon 1, though I wish we had stayed with it!! We're going back to it now (5/4) after a few adventures with MUS and SM. I agree with PP to really slow things down when working hard on those math facts. If we had scaled back and slowed down, she would have learned her facts well and we'd have moved on smoothly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamiof5 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 We didn't break it through the day...it took us a while to get used to it, but for most part we got it now (he's halfway math 2). I don't do all the count ups every day (do a couple per day). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutheart Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Update: based on the replies, we tried doing the Saxon 1 math all at one time (skipping side B of the worksheet). My DD doesn't have any problems concentrating, so that's what we'll continue doing. Thanks! Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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