Another ? on teaching Saxon and Singapore together

[Guest janainaz]

I, too, use Saxon and my son is almost ready for level 4 and he's in 2nd grade. I have been reading about Saxon being a strong curriculum in the earlier grades because of drill of math facts and repetition in that particular area. However, what I read was that is was not as strong in higher math. I also was thinking of supplementing with Singapore.

 

In doing that, would you use both programs daily? That seems like a lot of math and I also don't want to confuse my son in learning concepts. He is very strong in math, but I can see he could use some additional help in word problems and knowing how to set up the problem.

 

Also, what level in Singapore would I begin with if my son is in level 3 Saxon right now? Specifically, how do you teach both of them together?

 

Thanks,

Jana

[Sue G in PA]

I bought one of the CWP books from Singapore for my 2nd grader who also used Saxon 3. He is strong in math, good with his facts, etc. Word problems are lacking in Saxon and are what I feel to be the most important skill in math (one of the most important). So...he does a page of Saxon, a page of drill (or 2) and a few CWP from Singapore. I forget what book I have. Remember, Singapores CWP can be tough so I think I started on grade level w/ those. HTH

[Guest janainaz]

Sue,

 

Thank you! I agree with the word problem issue with Saxon.

 

:o Jana

[WTMindy]

is to switch off curriculums each week. I don't make them try to match. I just do the first one week, and the other the next. This has a couple advantages. It shows if they really understood the material (because they will still remember it a week later) or if they were just memorizing how to do certain problems. Also, I find just when the kids are bored with something they switch to the other curriculum. I like that the kids see two different ways of doing problems. I like that the get some of the "old school" math of Saxon and some of the great problem solving skills of Singapore.

[Jennifer in MI]

I do both programs every day. I'll teach a lesson in Saxon and give about 20 of the problems or so (I know what my kids need to practice and what they seem to have down pat!). Then, I'll teach a lesson in Singapore. Usually there are so few problems in the Singapore text that it's quite do-able. If I find that one or the other (Saxon or Singapore) is going to be difficult, I'll skip the other program for the day (or two!). Overall, this has worked very well!