mamiof5 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Just read a thread about some folks surprised about loving CLE. We do Saxon, also invested in MM (but haven't tried it enough to know if we like it or not), also have LOF, and now CLE got my curiosity. Something in me just tells me to stop buying math and stick to something!!! The kids have gotten used to Saxon, but it takes sooo loong!! So, how does CLE compare to Saxon? Similarities? Differences? Any thoughts are appreciated!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 We've used both successfully. Just some background. I used Saxon exclusively for elementary for my oldest two. We then meandered into MUS for a few years and went back to Saxon. I then used CLE for about three years with my next group that was coming up. This year I rolled everyone except my oldest at home, back into Saxon. If you are looking for shorter lessons, CLE is not the answer. Some of those lessons go on for pages and there is a lot of handwriting even in the first grade program. CLE is less teacher-dependent than CLE once you have an independent reader (maybe about second/third grade). I did find that my kids that used CLE in elementary didn't know their math facts as well as my kids who had used Saxon in the elementary years. I'm not sure. One of the differences I think is that Saxon depends a lot more on those skip-counting exercises in the early years and if you do those during that meeting time, your kids end up learning the math facts easily. My youngers who are using Saxon 1 and Saxon 2 (they both used CLE last year) love the manipulatives and seem to be catching on to their math in a "happier" way than they did with CLE last year. Neither were having trouble necessarily in CLE but neither enjoyed math and both were struggling with their math facts. Math is happier this year for some reason. I have also noticed that it seems like Saxon introduces the math facts in a way that makes more sense than CLE does. As in Saxon does the groups: doubles, zero's, adding one, adding two. Where CLE introduces one fact a day which ends up forcing the kids to memorize that fact but the Saxon method seems to help them see the patterns more readily than CLE's method. Both have tons of review. I have noticed that I think Saxon from 5/4 on up requires more analysis and thinking during the problem sets. HTH, 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodlebug Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 The leap from Saxon 3 to 5/4 is where I found CLE helpful. Trying to do 5/4 as prescribed with a 3rd grader was rough... the time commitment, the format (no workbook), etc. CLE's workbook allowed DS to work more independently for the latter part of our year... and, the drill portion isn't overwhelming with 100 probs on a page. More like 20-30 problems. This year we're back in Saxon and it's going well. Math takes about an hour a day. I won't let it go longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Saxon, from what I've seen, is MUCH wordier. And more expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I found CLE more user friendly than Saxon. The kids liked it better, too. We did cut out some of the review problems, though. Sometimes there were just too many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Quit buying new math curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Quit buying new math curriculum. A friend of mine with adult children told me that was her biggest homeschooling regret. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 A friend of mine with adult children told me that was her biggest homeschooling regret. That she quit buying new maths, kept buying new maths, or asked the internet to tell her to quit it? :laugh: :laugh: Just pickin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 That she quit buying new maths, kept buying new maths, or asked the internet to tell her to quit it? :laugh: :laugh: Just pickin' She told me that she jumped around too much and that the older kids had huge gaps in their math education. She said that she wishes she had "just trusted Saxon." Not that Saxon is the best, but staying with one is ideal. That really stuck with me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 She told me that she jumped around too much and that the older kids had huge gaps in their math education. She said that she wishes she had "just trusted Saxon." Not that Saxon is the best, but staying with one is a deal. That really stuck with me. Totally. I was thinking about that so much over the summer when I was planning, but in LA. I have this kid who does Climbing To Good English diligently. He retains what he learns, he translates it to his other work, etc. But for some reason I was thinking Oh I'll piece LA together with this, that, and the other thing. I came up with a great new plan! Well guess what? We're right back to just getting down to the work with the thing that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Totally. I was thinking about that so much over the summer when I was planning, but in LA. I have this kid who does Climbing To Good English diligently. He retains what he learns, he translates it to his other work, etc. But for some reason I was thinking Oh I'll piece LA together with this, that, and the other thing. I came up with a great new plan! Well guess what? We're right back to just getting down to the work with the thing that works. And just think of what you could have done with that money. The sad thing is that my friend never learned her lesson. Shortly after she told me she would never switch from Saxon again she put the younger ones on Teaching Textbooks. They totally bombed the SATs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeaganS Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I used Saxon for half of first and then started over with CLE for first (we're almost done with 100-level). For us, CLE was very similar to Saxon, but a lot more streamlined. Saxon was taking almost 2 hours a day for my daughter to do, which was just too long for us. She was crying about math every day. CLE takes more like an hour for my dawdler, but if she's motivated, she can do it in more like a half hour-45 minutes. Even at the end of first grade, it is very instructor-light, which is nice, although I still sit next to her and teach her. I can hand her the workbook and tell her to get to work while I work with her sister and then give her my full attention and teach the new stuff. I think there is more than enough fact-review. It is throughout the program as well as daily flashcards and speed drills, although we skip the speed drills. I do like that there is just a workbook and a teacher's guide rather than many pieces. Keep in mind that this is all just for the first level and I have no experience with the further levels yet, although I have already received 200-level and it looks just as good, if not better (more written to the student, which dd will appreciate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tm_burriss Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 We love CLE and I wish I had done it from the beginning with mine. We have tried a lot of math curriculums (MM, Saxon, MUS, LOF) but CLE is the first one I have found that we didn't dread doing. We have been using it for over a year now. I do agree to find one that works and just stick with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I'm not going to tell you not to switch. But I will tell you that unless you know what you want, what your kids need, you're not going to be happy. Sit down, make a list of attributes of the perfect math curriculum for your kids. How long should it be? What should it cover each year? Fast or slow? Mastery or spiral? Manipulative based or not? A script for the teacher or written to the student? What is going to work for YOU? You're going to keep curriculum hopping until you answer those questions satisfactorily and close your eyes to what doesn't fit. Hopping isn't necessarily a bad thing. We used Saxon for a year (well, sort of. Gave up the bulk of it towards the middle and followed their scope/sequence but with our own plan), then went to MUS for the next 6 years, then moved more into various maths that combined hands on and logic (Patty Paper Geometry, Hands On Equations, AoPS Intro to Algebra), before he moved to public school math and dual credit. So yes, we hopped, but I went into it looking for what he needed *that* year, one year at a time. Was he confident? Was he still needing his hand held? Was he ready to be more creative with math? The overall big picture plan moved him into where he needed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamiof5 Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Thank you so very much ladies!!!! This thread just reinforced that I need to stop looking at the greener grass on the other side (I am like a kid in a candy store when it comes to new curriculum also)...my kids do well in Saxon and yes, some concepts might take longer than others to sink in, but overall they do well with it. Just need to cover my eyes and stop looking...why change what's somewhat working? And MM has been an OK supplement for us. Saxon as core, MM and LOF for supplement and fun, and Xtra math...I have to have almost all my bases covered :) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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