halbao Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Hi everyone! My son is in 5th grade blowing through CLE 5 and doing very well with math. He is doing so well that I think we will probably move on to grade 6 in the next few weeks. I do have some concerns though because I am considering switching him to Saxon starting in 7th grade for two reasons: 1) because we are a part of Classical Conversations and Challenge A uses Saxon 7/8 2) because I have heard that CLE isn't as good at higher grade levels My question is for those of you who are familiar with these programs, could you tell me what 7/8 is equivalent to in CLE math? It is hard to tell on the two websites and I would rather hear from someone else's experience. I would prefer to stick with CLE as long as possible because I think it is the best math curriculum we have used. Is CLE grades 7 and 8 just pre-algebra over two years? I have looked at the samples, but unfortunately, I don't really know what a pre-algebra course entails so I am not sure what I am looking for. Would Saxon 7/8 be considered pre-algebra? Has anyone else out there had the same concerns about switching from CLE to another math program? I am not married to the idea of Saxon. If there are other suggestions for a math curriculum to transition to after CLE I am all ears! Any help is appreciated! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Saxon 8/7 is a pre-algebra program as is CLE grade 8. There are different sequences in each curriculia though so if you are switching between the two I would use the placement tests to make sure of appropriate placement whenever you are switching. If your child is thriving with CLE I would just stick with it. They have Algebra I and may have Geometry by the time you get to that point. If you are planning to swtich because of classical conversations you may want to switch now. The 8/7 book is not an easy book to start at for Saxon. I tried that with two kids: One who doesn't like math and one who does and it didn't work very well for either. On the other hand, my child who came up through all the Saxon books (5/4 and up) is sailing easily through 8/7. Best wishes as you decide. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 1 hour ago, JanOH said: Saxon 8/7 is a pre-algebra program as is CLE grade 8. There are different sequences in each curriculia though so if you are switching between the two I would use the placement tests to make sure of appropriate placement whenever you are switching. If your child is thriving with CLE I would just stick with it. They have Algebra I and may have Geometry by the time you get to that point. If you are planning to swtich because of classical conversations you may want to switch now. The 8/7 book is not an easy book to start at for Saxon. I tried that with two kids: One who doesn't like math and one who does and it didn't work very well for either. On the other hand, my child who came up through all the Saxon books (5/4 and up) is sailing easily through 8/7. Best wishes as you decide. I agree with this. 87 is a hard place to transition. Super mathy kids can do it but average kids struggle. Typically though, when 54 is used as the transition point there isn't an issue. I would actually say at the very least, transition into 76 before 87. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 12 hours ago, halbao said: Hi everyone! My son is in 5th grade blowing through CLE 5 and doing very well with math. He is doing so well that I think we will probably move on to grade 6 in the next few weeks. I do have some concerns though because I am considering switching him to Saxon starting in 7th grade for two reasons: 1) because we are a part of Classical Conversations and Challenge A uses Saxon 7/8 2) because I have heard that CLE isn't as good at higher grade levels My question is for those of you who are familiar with these programs, could you tell me what 7/8 is equivalent to in CLE math? It is hard to tell on the two websites and I would rather hear from someone else's experience. I would prefer to stick with CLE as long as possible because I think it is the best math curriculum we have used. Is CLE grades 7 and 8 just pre-algebra over two years? I have looked at the samples, but unfortunately, I don't really know what a pre-algebra course entails so I am not sure what I am looking for. Would Saxon 7/8 be considered pre-algebra? Has anyone else out there had the same concerns about switching from CLE to another math program? I am not married to the idea of Saxon. If there are other suggestions for a math curriculum to transition to after CLE I am all ears! Any help is appreciated! Thank you! Math 87 is pre-algebra, but you should give your ds the placement test before deciding what book to put him in. We should *always* do Saxon's placement test. I would find it problematic for CC to arbitrarily decide that all students should use a specific Saxon text rather than having them take the placement test. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 CLE is pretty good until you get to the stuff that hasn't been revised, so through Alg 1 is fine. I've found actual results to differ, so you could have your son take a couple Saxon placement tests to see where he is now compared to their sequence. (When my oldest finished Abeka Arithmetic 3, I had her take the Saxon placement results said she'd place into something crazy like 7/6. My second one did not do that well at the same place.) Personally, I'd stick with what is working, but I'm not a fan of CC so so wouldn't let them decide what I'm using for math! Your mileage may vary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 I am not familiar with Saxon 8/7, but my DD is in CLE 7 and I am familiar with CC. We switched to CLE for grade 7 and I wish I had put my DD in it years ago. The consistent review and incremental build in concepts has be so fabulous for her. Yes, grades 7 and 8 is pre-algebra spread over two years, with an extremely thorough review of all operations, fractions, decimals, percents, and real life application word problems every day. Math is not easy for her, but I think she will be very well prepared for algebra 1 after going through CLE 7 and 8. If your son is only in 5th grade now and doing well in CLE, I would not make a change based on the plan of doing Challenge in 7th grade. So much can change by then! You may not want to enroll him in Challenge, or there might not be one available in your area (unless you live in an area with a million CC groups.) We had a wonderful 3 years in Foundations, and planned to go all the way through, but then moved on for a variety of reasons. The other thing is that even if you do put him in Challenge, he can absolutely do another math program. You are not bound to Saxon. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 We switched to Saxon 87 after CLE 605 and it was an easy transition for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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