kristin0713 Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Has anyone done this, and how did it go? My DD is 12 and finishing 6th grade. I've written threads on our math woes before. We used Singapore and MM until she was extremely ill last year and basically her whole 5th grade year was a wash. We worked hard last summer to catch up and solidify fractions (she's great with fractions) and introduce decimals. This year I started her with MM 6 but it was too much. I switched her to MLFLE 6 and she has successfully done the 6th grade level, finishing up now with the end units which are geometry and review. She is not ready for a strictly pre-algebra course. She needs more work with decimals and percents, and LOTS of work with learning order of operations, solving an equation for X, basic beginning algebra etc. MLFLE has had practically none of that. I've been looking at MM individual topic units to catch her up, but I'm afraid she will resist because MM was a struggle at the beginning of the year. I'm not considering Principals of Mathematics because I think she will hate all the reading and long explanations. She likes to be shown the procedure and then just practice it. Now I'm wondering if I should look at Saxon and maybe continue that up through algebra. Would that be a disastrous switch? Would she have topic gaps that we haven't covered? I can't find samples of Saxon 7/6 or 8/7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veryblueberry Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 My daugher is finishing up Saxon 7/6 in a few weeks. She had never used Saxon before this book. We took the online placement test and it was clear where she should start. I felt she was weak with decimals. She hadn't much work with them previously. This book has covered decimals and percents very well. I have read that 8/7 is a very good review of all math skills before Algebra. I read that it is better to do the 8/7 math than the pre-algebra book in Saxon: that the math skills should be solid and any bit of algebra will be introduced later. We will be doing 8/7 in the fall. I can't imagine it being a disaster. Saxon is solid and I have appreciated the continuous review of previous lessons. Here is a sample of their books. https://www.hmhco.com/~/media/sites/home/education/global/pdf/product-samples/mathematics/k-12/saxon-math-homeschool/sms_saxon_math_middle_sampler.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 Awesome, that’s very helpful! Is there a workbook available for this level or do the students work from a textbook and copy every problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 This isn't necessarily addressing your original question but someone linked this for me recently and I found it immensely helpful to read through to get my head wrapped around Saxon and what to use and so forth. https://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2016.php#0916 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 3 hours ago, veryblueberry said: My daugher is finishing up Saxon 7/6 in a few weeks. She had never used Saxon before this book. We took the online placement test and it was clear where she should start. I felt she was weak with decimals. She hadn't much work with them previously. This book has covered decimals and percents very well. I have read that 8/7 is a very good review of all math skills before Algebra. I read that it is better to do the 8/7 math than the pre-algebra book in Saxon: that the math skills should be solid and any bit of algebra will be introduced later. We will be doing 8/7 in the fall. I can't imagine it being a disaster. Saxon is solid and I have appreciated the continuous review of previous lessons. Here is a sample of their books. https://www.hmhco.com/~/media/sites/home/education/global/pdf/product-samples/mathematics/k-12/saxon-math-homeschool/sms_saxon_math_middle_sampler.pdf The publisher recommends that students who complete Math 76 with an 80% or higher average should go to Math 87, then Algebra 1. Students with less than an 80% average do Algebra 1/2, then Algebra 1. Math 87 *is* "pre-algebra." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 What you're describing that she needs is pre-algebra. Saxon 87 is one option and it's fine to use Saxon for pre-algebra and then something else afterwards. My only caution on using Saxon for algebra and then switching is that Saxon algebra may not go as far as other algebra 1 texts. It would be better to pick a publisher you want to stick with for upper level math rather than switch after algebra. The pre-algebra publisher is less important. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 8 hours ago, kristin0713 said: Awesome, that’s very helpful! Is there a workbook available for this level or do the students work from a textbook and copy every problem? For my one who has used Saxon, I set up her notebook ahead of time and copy problems if possible for her (obviously not word problems, etc.). It speeds her up a bit and eliminates some of her mistakes. Another option is to go through the problems and do as much orally, mentally, or on a white board, that can be done quickly (or that you feel warrants discussion), and then let her do the rest on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 My 10 year-old just started Saxon 6 about a month ago. Before that, we just did living math and some of the Beast Academy books. It's going well. She doesn't really miss any questions and that's worrying me, so maybe I should've picked a different level. I don't make her do every problem (I know skipping Saxon problems is controversial on these boards). I do a lot of the problems with her verbally and then write down which problems to do in her notebook. So, to answer your original question....yes, we just dived in and it's going fine. FWIW, she really likes it. She asks to do Saxon first every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 1 hour ago, Another Lynn said: For my one who has used Saxon, I set up her notebook ahead of time and copy problems if possible for her (obviously not word problems, etc.). It speeds her up a bit and eliminates some of her mistakes. Another option is to go through the problems and do as much orally, mentally, or on a white board, that can be done quickly (or that you feel warrants discussion), and then let her do the rest on her own. So there is no workbook option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 10 minutes ago, kristin0713 said: So there is no workbook option? No. You could let her write in the text, but for most problems there wouldn't be enough room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted May 10, 2018 Author Share Posted May 10, 2018 d 4 minutes ago, Another Lynn said: No. You could let her write in the text, but for most problems there wouldn't be enough room. Ok then Saxon is out for her. I know she will not be willing to copy problems everyday and I am not doing that, lol! Some other options I just started looking at are CLE 700 and Horizons Pre-A. I'm concerned with CLE that she has missed random topics that they have taught up through the levels, and I'm concerned with Horizons Pre-A that it might be too advanced. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 I would go with CLE over Horizons Pre-A. I tried Horizons Pre-A with my oldest years ago - Sometimes there was too much time before a concept would reappear in the review section. The review section would have too many of the same types of problems and not enough variety of problems to review adequately, imho. Also, I'm not sure there was a lot of working space, though my memory is vague on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 10, 2018 Share Posted May 10, 2018 3 hours ago, kristin0713 said: d Ok then Saxon is out for her. I know she will not be willing to copy problems everyday and I am not doing that, lol! Some other options I just started looking at are CLE 700 and Horizons Pre-A. I'm concerned with CLE that she has missed random topics that they have taught up through the levels, and I'm concerned with Horizons Pre-A that it might be too advanced. Thoughts? There's not that much "copying." And it isn't really "copying." It's setting up the problem on paper so it can be solved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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