Can this be right? (re: Saxon math overlap between grades)

[HilJoy14]

My DD9 is just now finishing Saxon 5/4.  DD11 recently finished Saxon 6/5, so, since we have the book already, DD9 is going to continue on with that for the last 6 weeks of school.  I knew there would be some overlap at the beginning (for review, when starting a new school year) - but since we don't need any review, I had to find the right place to start her, based on what she's studying in 5/4.  There is nothing new in 6/5 until lesson 40!  Can that really be true that a full 1/3 of the book is just review??  That seems disturbing - that publishers think that we need to review for a full 1/3 of the school year.  Anyone else agree, or do you think this is normal?

[OneStepAtATime]

Actually, that is frequently the norm.  

 

1.  In a school setting most children are starting the next book after 2-3 months away from math, sometimes ANY explicit math.  A lot gets forgotten and they absolutely need the review to get solid again before moving forward.

 

2.  It can take a lot of review/exposure for a concept to be truly mastered, not just understood.  Even though a student does well in a lesson on, say, dividing fractions with different denominators, if they are not using that knowledge fairly regularly over a long period of time the brain connections can be weak and can eventually decay to the point where the student has to start over with that concept or they may never truly master it (mastery being even when gone from that topic for an extended period of time they still understand it AND remember the algorithms). 

 

3.  Math is a series of building blocks.  It can take a lot of time to solidify those building blocks.

Edited April 19, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[OneStepAtATime]

That being said, different kids need different things.  Some kids immediately grasp a concept and can just move on.  They don't need that level of review.  Others may grasp a concept but need a bit of review periodically even after they have moved on.  Still others need quite a bit of review over a long period of time for mastery even if they grasp the concept immediately.  And it goes further out from there.  Different kids, different needs.

[Chris in VA]

Also, I have heard Saxon review is more than just redoing what was done before. Questions are asked a different way, stretching the thinking.

I think it's fine, actually--trust me, by the time you finish Saxon in 12th grade, you've covered a ton.

[HilJoy14]

I do think Saxon is good, and I don't mind review.  Although having a 5th grade math book start with place values and addition/subtraction seemed a bit rough to me.  I'd let my kids test out of the first few weeks, I think, even if it was after a summer.  But I like to be efficient (and I'm a math person).  Funny thing is that I must have done this when I was in school, too, and I just didn't notice all the review?  Maybe I was just relieved to have an "easy" few math lessons.  :)

[OneStepAtATime]

I do think Saxon is good, and I don't mind review.  Although having a 5th grade math book start with place values and addition/subtraction seemed a bit rough to me.  I'd let my kids test out of the first few weeks, I think, even if it was after a summer.  But I like to be efficient (and I'm a math person).  Funny thing is that I must have done this when I was in school, too, and I just didn't notice all the review?  Maybe I was just relieved to have an "easy" few math lessons.  :)

I agree, since you are just continuing on, without a big gap of time, just issue tests until there are gaps.  Seems perfectly reasonable to me.  :)

[Junie]

We school year round.  My dc often skip through a month's worth of lessons when they begin a new book.

 

When I taught school, the entire month of September was review. 

[boscopup]

Every math curriculum I know of starts with a good amount of review. For example, one of my kids just started Singapore level 3. It begins with place value, then does addition and subtraction. Another kid starts Singapore 5 in a couple days. That, too, starts with place value (though adding some places) and then addition and subtraction.

[mamiof5]

We don't skip the review lessons. Even their intermediate series (which are not necessarily geared towards public school) are like that. Works for us. Actually one of our dd NEEDS that review. We don't skip lessons. If they are simple and easy...nice! Math gets done faster :). We've really benefited from the review period