MUS or Saxon, way overthinking this 2nd grade

[CranberrySnow]

Hello all, 

I am new here, so I hoping I’m doing this post correctly. I am due with a baby who will be severely disabled and medically fragile at the end of August. My oldest will be a 2nd grader and I’ll have a Kindergartener and I have a 3 year old. My baby’s severe medical issues could cause a months long NICU stay and it’ll be an hour round trip to see him every day. All that being said, we have been using MUS for my son and we both love it. I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube reviews and impulse bought Saxon. I’m constantly questioning my choices, especially in regards to math. Now I’m wondering if I should just return Saxon while I can and stick with MUS (because Saxon looks very time consuming). I feel like Saxon covers so much more. But it’s 2nd grade. So am I overthinking this? 

[HomeAgain]

Return Saxon.

You will not miss it.  Your time will be stretched and the only thing you will miss is the added stress in trying to maneuver through all the moving parts each day.  Give yourself permission to simplify the year.

I had one kid use MUS after a failed stint with Saxon and one go through an entirely different sequence.  My MUS kid appreciated the time spent on really visualizing the material and ended up quite good at math, which I didn't think would happen after our days of tears and him feeling like a failure with Saxon.  He was on the math team in high school and moved into engineering/computer sciences in college.

If you do find yourself wanting to add on, I'd suggest getting a few games - Tiny Polka Dot, Right Start games, etc.  But MUS is quite sufficient on its own.

[CranberrySnow]

Thank you so much for your advice and experience. This makes me feel relieved. 

[Brittany1116]

I don't have advice on the math, but does your state require you to register and teach the kindergartener this year? Can you wait until January or next fall or go straight to first grade if you needed to?

[CranberrySnow]

26 minutes ago, Brittany1116 said:

I don't have advice on the math, but does your state require you to register and teach the kindergartener this year? Can you wait until January or next fall or go straight to first grade if you needed to?

In our state the only way I could not do kindergarten is to go to the local school district and officially “opt out” of kindergarten. Otherwise she has to officially be registered as a homeschooled kindergartener. But we have a lot of leeway at the kindergarten level as far as what we are required to do with a student. Like you could really do all play based for K and still be abiding by the laws. They only have requirements based on grade for 1st and above. 

Edited June 11, 2022 by CranberrySnow
Left out a word

[barnwife]

In your situation, I'd definitely take the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude. IOW, return Saxon. If it makes you feel better, long ago (maybe here on the Hive, maybe elsewhere), I read of a HS mom who said she didn't do any formal math program with her kids until age 10. That's not to say they didn't do mathy stuff, just nothing official.

And her kids were able to just jump into formal math at that point. 

In your shoes, I'd be simplifying whatever I could. My goals for my kids as you navigate the rest of this pregnancy (congrats BTW) and adding a medically fragile family member would be write something, read something, and do something mathy every day.

Something mathy could be a formal math lesson or a website like abcya.com or dreambox or similar. 

And I wouldn't feel at all bad if absolutely no formal school was done for a few months as you guys make this transition. Heck, when our current almost 2 yo was born, we took a couple month break from formal school for the most part. Our oldest was 10, and there haven't been any long-term issues from that. Actually, I think that break was good for him!

Also, welcome to the Hive!

[CranberrySnow]

9 hours ago, barnwife said:

In your situation, I'd definitely take the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude. IOW, return Saxon. If it makes you feel better, long ago (maybe here on the Hive, maybe elsewhere), I read of a HS mom who said she didn't do any formal math program with her kids until age 10. That's not to say they didn't do mathy stuff, just nothing official.

And her kids were able to just jump into formal math at that point. 

In your shoes, I'd be simplifying whatever I could. My goals for my kids as you navigate the rest of this pregnancy (congrats BTW) and adding a medically fragile family member would be write something, read something, and do something mathy every day.

Something mathy could be a formal math lesson or a website like abcya.com or dreambox or similar. 

And I wouldn't feel at all bad if absolutely no formal school was done for a few months as you guys make this transition. Heck, when our current almost 2 yo was born, we took a couple month break from formal school for the most part. Our oldest was 10, and there haven't been any long-term issues from that. Actually, I think that break was good for him!

Also, welcome to the Hive!

Thank you for this advice! :)

[Ting Tang]

I am wishing you all the best for your baby's arrival and beyond.

I agree with the others.  I have definitely "overthought" our math choices, but math was broken this year for two of my kids, lol.

I looked at Saxon for a bit, too, but nothing really stood out to me about it.  I know it's sort of like "old faithful" to many and is solid and perfectly great for many.

As for the kinder thing, I will just add that I no longer see some things as important.  Like, my Kinder kid doesn't have to have an extra workbook for science and social studies this year. I have his sister's books for those things, but I didn't spend the money on new workbooks for him.  My goal is to do kinder math, handwriting, and work on teaching him to read.  My rising 2nd grader will be doing the Memoria Press enrichment program, which covers a little history and science---nothing too formal and heavy.  I will be focusing on her math and language arts, too.  

Edited June 12, 2022 by Ting Tang

[Ellie]

Send back Saxon. You don't need it. You already have something you and your dc are familiar with and both enjoy. Let the Saxon go.

[Janeway]

Return the Saxon. Get the next level of MUS. You will be happy.

[EKS]

Another vote for MUS.

[PeterPan]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:05 PM, CranberrySnow said:

we have been using MUS for my son and we both love it. I went down the rabbit hole of YouTube reviews and impulse bought Saxon.

Do you have a support person who will be watching the kids while you're with your baby? Is MUS such that they can supervise it?

[CranberrySnow]

15 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Do you have a support person who will be watching the kids while you're with your baby? Is MUS such that they can supervise it?

I don’t think the people who will be watching my kids would be willing to implement it. One of the people in particular would probably go really off script of MUS and end up possibly confusing him. I do think they could follow Saxon very easily to help me because it is so heavily scripted. At this point we don’t know if our baby will even survive. And if he does, he will need immediate ventilatory support and likely be in the NICU for at least a few months from the looks of all of his issues via ultrasound and what I’ve learned from other mothers with his condition. He has a very rare condition that causes his bones to already be fractured and affect the size of his chest and therefore inhibiting lung development and ability to breathe. Because of his bones, he will for sure be a c section and NICU stay and so I’ll probably be taking a month off from schooling after he’s born. I’ve never had a c section, so I have no idea what the recovery is like. I am currently schooling all the way up to delivery so that a month break or even slightly longer won’t have as much of an impact. It’s all incredibly stressful to think of how hard things are about to get. 

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, CranberrySnow said:

I don’t think the people who will be watching my kids would be willing to implement it. One of the people in particular would probably go really off script of MUS and end up possibly confusing him.

Correct me if I'm wrong. Doesn't MUS have videos you can access for your kids? I feel like I heard about that in one of their email advertisements to me.

Edited to add: Just in case for the one person who would go way off script and confuse the child. They could just watch the video with the child and help with the work instead of having to fully teach the lesson. 

Edited June 13, 2022 by Clarita
See above.

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, CranberrySnow said:

I don’t think the people who will be watching my kids would be willing to implement it. One of the people in particular would probably go really off script of MUS and end up possibly confusing him. I do think they could follow Saxon very easily to help me because it is so heavily scripted.

I'm sorry this situation is so stressful. I would suggest you go to an education store (if you have one in a reasonable distance) or just the book section of Walmart or Target and pick up a *really simple* math workbook. That way you don't care how it's taught or what happens. It's summer so in a month or so all the back to school stuff will be out. They'll have a whole variety of cute workbooks for you to choose from. You could even choose one that says it's their complete grade 1 (all subjects!), complete grade 2 or K5 or whatever. For the k5er and 3 yos, think dot to dots, coloring books, paint by number, etc. That way they have a little something to do if they need to kill some time or someone needs to do something with them.

This is not a time to be worrying about instruction and moving forward. Just anything simple where they can open it up and do the next page will be more than adequate. Your plan should be emergency homeschooling: read a little, write a little, math a little. 

Give yourself some flexibility to do what you need to do as a family without stressing. 

Also, fwiw, I would pick out 2-3 things for each child (those cute workbooks, coloring books, dot to dots, whatever) and put them in a backpack. So each dc has a backpack and they know they can bring it to busy themselves with a family member or while waiting in the hospital or whatever. They might even like a Klutz book on how to tie knots or an origami book or something. Just a few simple things like that to keep in a backpack so they're good to go. They're going to be fine!

You're taking lots of pictures, yes? You can share them later so we can see. 🙂

Edited June 13, 2022 by PeterPan

[barnwife]

I would not ask those in charge of childcare to step in and teach things, except under a few very rare circumstances. Please give yourself grace and just let school go as needed during this season. This is one of those seasons when "life" and "school" being synonmous is absolutely fine. 

Also, what @PeterPan says is wise. When our youngest was born, I bought a bunch of the fun workbook type things. And every day my kids had to spend a certain amount of time doing what we called "clipboard time." I'd give each kid a variety of activities. I aimed for something mathy, something language related, and something fun, until there were 5 or 6 choices each day.

They could do them in any order. It was so different than what we usually do, and they loved it. It helped give us a rhythm to that season other than just "eat and survive." 

And if it didn't get done on any given day? Who cared? But having them doing something made me feel better, and I think having even a small rhythm/routine to our day is better for our kids behavior.

OP, I hope you continue to update us as your pregnancy continues.