Which math should I use?

[macmacmoo]

Eldest just turned 10.

During the summer he did one lesson of Saxon 5/4 every other day and 30 minutes of Beast Academy 3B on the other days.

He likes Saxon because unlike Math Mammoth and Beast Academy there is a definite beginning and end to each lesson for the day. It's not work for thirty minutes and see how far you get.

He isn't fond of Beast Academy because it's hard and challenging. But he is happy when he figures it out so it's not impossible for him.

We feel the two programs compliment each other, however he wont get anywhere fast going every other day.

So our options are

-do both every day. I'm concern that it would be too much math per day

-Make Saxon the main every day math, but keep Beast Academy every other day. Concern that since Beast is a full math curriculum using it as a supplement wont have the desired outcome. Is there is a better problem solving supplement?

-find something different: Is there a full math curriculum that each lesson has a clear ending, has the problem solving like Beast academy, and can be done independently?

[BusyMom5]

I like Saxon as a main math, and BA or MM units to get more practice or depth.  Its what I use.  Right now we are in the 5th grade Saxon, around lesson 30ish, but I've paused to work on fractions for a few weeks.

[Targhee]

When we used BA it was a certain number of pages/problems or a certain amount of time, whichever came first.  I would pencil in a little stop sign in the practice book where to stop.

Honestly though if you like the problem solving in BA and MM but you like the explicit boundaries of Saxon you might consider Singapore PM.  It isn’t 100% independent, but I usually only had to spend 10 min. on a lesson.

Another thought is, where do you want to go after arithmetic? You might look ahead to secondary maths and choose a good arithmetic to prepare him for it.

[SilverMoon]

My Beast lover does Singapore as his main math program. He doesn't have the forbearance to use BA as his daily main course, but he enjoys it in random bites throughout the week. SM must be done every day, no exceptions. We add Beast in as we see fit, and he plays Prodigy regularly. 

 

SM does not have even daily bites. Horizons does though. That's what my older kid used and loved. 

[acresoft]

If he likes Saxon and if he isn't having problems with it, it's a complete curriculum.

Or

Check out Teaching Textbooks. They have it online now but you still can get the text books for 2.0.

Edited September 5, 2018 by acresoft

[Sarah0000]

We're not very structured with BA but couldn't you have him do the next one or two pages each day after his Saxon lesson? 

[blondeviolin]

If he likes Saxon, I'd stick with just that. It's a proven method. I'd likely play with math in other ways and let him just read the BA guides for fun. 

Or, conversely, put him a year back in BA. This'd make it "easy" and confidence building in its own right. Following BA's sequence, he'd be ready for algebra in 7th, which is still "ahead."

[Farrar]

I don't know what your "desired outcome" is. But generally, I would not have a child do two full math programs unless they were a fast worker or wanted to, neither of which seem to apply in this case.

If doing things the Beast way is that important, switch to Beast and add in a little bit of Saxon style practice on the side.

If Saxon is really working, then stop trying to do all of Beast. Read the books, do a few problems here and there. Skip about with it. Consider it enrichment.

Alternately, compromise by getting a program that sits somewhere in between those two extremes, like Singapore.

Edited September 6, 2018 by Farrar