lamolina Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 You all have been so helpful with choosing math for my son, now I have the opposite problem. My daughter, finishing up 6th grade, needs some math help. She attends a homeschool hybrid so she does her math lesson teaching there and then I help her with assignments during the week. She seems to do fine on the assignments, seems to understand most lessons with some help from me, but then when test time comes she typically does pretty poorly. She seems unable to keep the concepts straight. I feel like her grasp of many topics is tenuous. She uses Saxon, and is just finishing Course 1. Would you let her continue into Course 2 and see how it goes, switch to a different curriculum, or something else?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyGF Posted May 2, 2016 Share Posted May 2, 2016 Does she seem to have test anxiety? If Saxon is good at anything, it is getting good test scores... Could you have her do a problem set weekly from another program to see if she is getting the concepts vs learning how to "read" Saxon? Maybe work through the topic on Khan Academy, or if she's at pre-A, have her work through pre-algebra at the easiest level on Art of Problem Solving's Alcumus... Emily 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamolina Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 I wondered about test anxiety, as this has happened in other classes. She doesn't seem to be nervous and says she isn't. But yet she consistently gets between 50-70 on math tests. We will do some reviewing over the summer, to help her and to see if I can get a better idea of what is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Perhaps some topical study through Prodigy Math (linked in my siggie)? You can set assignments to review specific areas. It's free...and it's fun, so it wouldn't seem like too much for her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 (edited) You all have been so helpful with choosing math for my son, now I have the opposite problem. My daughter, finishing up 6th grade, needs some math help. She attends a homeschool hybrid so she does her math lesson teaching there and then I help her with assignments during the week. She seems to do fine on the assignments, seems to understand most lessons with some help from me, but then when test time comes she typically does pretty poorly. She seems unable to keep the concepts straight. I feel like her grasp of many topics is tenuous. She uses Saxon, and is just finishing Course 1. Would you let her continue into Course 2 and see how it goes, switch to a different curriculum, or something else?? Thanks! I'm not familiar with the Course 1, Course 2, etc in Saxon, but assume these are the new books. Can someone compare it to the levels from the 3rd edition (6/5, 7/6, 8/7, etc)? In general for Saxon: 1) Does she have her math facts down cold? My daughter didn't by 6th grade and it was a problem. We found Xtramath.org (free, online, not at all "childish"--my daughter's objection at that age to a lot of math facts programs) to be very helpful. 2) Was she placed into this level using a placement test or just by her grade level? Did she start out with good test grades but then decline as the year went on? It may be that she was initially placed in the wrong level. I did this with my daughter when we switched from Singapore to Saxon, even using a placement test, because I thought with all the review she could go to 7/6 even though she missed placing there by a point or two. It was a mistake. She started out strong but kept declining. I consulted via phone with Art Reed at usingsaxon.com and he suggested we drop back, test through 6/5 (stopping whenever she made less than an 80 on a test and reviewing the lessons associated with the test), and then move on to 7/6. We did this and it was the best thing I could have done for her. 2) Is she required to do *every* problem in *every* lesson, in practices and in homework? Lots of kids seem to get into trouble with tests because they skipped some of the built-in review, or because lessons at the beginning of the book get skipped as unnecessary review. Art Reed has said that the homework shows short term retention, the tests long-term retention. If she's getting 50-70 on the tests, she should not be being allowed to move on. The structure of the program as I understand it is that this signals a need to go back and work on the lessons represented by the test until she can get at least an 80. I have found Saxon to be a great program for my daughter who needs a lot of review, so I don't know that I would chuck it totally at this point if any of the above are issues or if you think it's likely it's test anxiety. Assuming this is a hybird program that sticks to a typical school year, if it were me, I'd put plans for Course 2 on hold until we went back and tested through Course 1 (or its equivalent in the older books) over the summer and she could make at least an 80 on all the tests, stopping to work on weak areas. That should help fill any holes. Edited May 3, 2016 by KarenNC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daijobu Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 You all have been so helpful with choosing math for my son, now I have the opposite problem. My daughter, finishing up 6th grade, needs some math help. She attends a homeschool hybrid so she does her math lesson teaching there and then I help her with assignments during the week. She seems to do fine on the assignments, seems to understand most lessons with some help from me, but then when test time comes she typically does pretty poorly. She seems unable to keep the concepts straight. I feel like her grasp of many topics is tenuous. She uses Saxon, and is just finishing Course 1. Would you let her continue into Course 2 and see how it goes, switch to a different curriculum, or something else?? Thanks! If you want the math concepts to stick long-term, I recommend you take a look at the MOEMS exam books. Each test has 5 questions on a variety of different areas. If it covers the materials she has been studying, it may serve to prompt her to remember different topics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted May 3, 2016 Share Posted May 3, 2016 Anxiety doesn't always show up in the pit of the stomach. I don't get stage "fright". I get stage freeze. I feel "okay" but I cannot perform. Hence, my completely non-existent music career. :) So I wouldn't dismiss test anxiety out of hand just because she's not feeling "anxious" or "afraid". That said, have you considered doing assignments without the book, like, not timed but no book available, to see how she does? Or timed assignments (with book)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamolina Posted May 3, 2016 Author Share Posted May 3, 2016 I'm not familiar with the Course 1, Course 2, etc in Saxon, but assume these are the new books. Can someone compare it to the levels from the 3rd edition (6/5, 7/6, 8/7, etc)? I believe the books we use are the school version, where 7/6, 6/5, etc. are the homeschool versions? They do every lesson but not every problem. They typically are assigned the odds plus 5-7 selected even problems. They also do the power ups. Thanks to so many of you for great ideas. I have some work to do to get to the bottom of what is going on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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