Nestof3 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I am using Saxon 2 and Saxon 3 this year, and I love it. I used Saxon 5/6 up through Alg II with my eldest and thought it was great, but I am really enjoying the younger years! We don't do all of the meeting stuff every day, but I love how they are learning their multiplication tables by counting by 7's and then 4's before even learning the times table! I love the amount of hands-on. The boys just love it. They love getting out the measuring devices and learning cups/pints/quarts. There's such a mix, and if your child is strong in something, you can have them do it every other day. I find it very easy to tailor it. Sometimes, I have my 7 year old do the fact sheets orally with me while he sits on my lap. It just doesn't seem like school. :) It is teacher intensive, but I think it should be for most K-3rd graders. The lessons are just long enough -- not too long. I love the mix and review. I'm just so happy with this product! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland_Mom Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Isn't it wonderful when we find contentment and even joy in the materials we use to teach our little ones? I used Saxon K-2 and enjoyed it as well. My sons loved the hands on materials. Currently I'm using Horizons, but I find that I add many of the Saxon teaching methods when we go over our lessons together. Saxon gave us a terrific math foundation. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doodle Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thanks for sharing. I am using Saxon K and so far really love it as well. My son enjoys doing math. I just recently purchased the next level since we are going through K rather quickly. I seem to keep stumbling across comments from many who do not like Saxon and it always causes me second guess my choice. So, I'm glad to read a comment from someone who has used it further along than we are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornerstone Classical Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Yeah, I am a die hard Saxon fan myself, we have used Saxon so far, and we ALL have really liked it. I switched to Horizons, but after a couple of weeks we went back to Saxon because with the scripted lessons I was actuallly teaching and using the manipulatives, the amount is just right, and the kiddos really enjoy it. And we too haven't done all the meeting part either. I Love the way they present concepts and how they are tied into new ones as well. It amazes me how they do that!;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Yeah, I am a die hard Saxon fan myself, we have used Saxon so far, and we ALL have really liked it. I switched to Horizons, but after a couple of weeks we went back to Saxon because with the scripted lessons I was actuallly teaching and using the manipulatives, the amount is just right, and the kiddos really enjoy it. And we too haven't done all the meeting part either. I Love the way they present concepts and how they are tied into new ones as well. It amazes me how they do that!;) We like it to. None of my kids hate math, either. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melmc Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Saxon Math 1 has been awesome. We do the meeting book. I'm looking forward to next year's Math 2. I just wish 54 and 76 were going as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookmomma Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I am using Saxon 1 and 3 this year and I love it too! I skip the meeting book stuff about every other day, to save time. But I love all the review, teaching a new concept, lots of practice with hands-on things (measuring, etc.), and independent work at the end to reinforce the concepts learned as well as reviewing mastered content. I also love that we do assessments so frequently so I can gauge what they have mastered and what still needs work. I am already placing Saxon 2 & 54 in my amazon shopping cart for next year! One note: I stopped timing my ds8 with the addition, subtraction and multiplication worksheets. It was causing him stress and he actually completes them faster without timing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 This is my 1st time through the younger Saxon years. My older dd started Saxon 54 after using MCP thru grade 3. I really wish I had used Saxon in the early years for her. I think it gives such a great foundation. My 2nd dd is almost finished with Saxon 1. She loves using the manipulatives. I also tailor the meetings to her needs. I drop the stuff she knows, or review it less frequently. Learning her addition and subtraction facts has been really easy for her using Saxon. The frequent review through the daily worksheets and frequent assessments helps me know what she knows. After the lessons on adding 10 to a number not starting with zero (example - 24 +10) I thought she understood it. But it came up a couple of weeks later and I realized that she needed more hands-on practice with it, so I started reviewing it briefly everyday with dimes and pennies again, and now she's got it! It is teacher intensive, but worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillcrest Academy Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 We love it too. We're doing Saxon 1st, and already at this early stage in our HS careers we've tried Singapore, Horizons and Big Book of Math. Saxon is AWESOME! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Puddins~ Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 It is working well with both my sons, I am not sure if my daughter will enjoy it as she is more the "colorful workbook type"...but time will tell since she is not yet 4. My sons actually catch on and do their worksheets on their own. We used Abeka previously and I don't know what it was, but they just didn't get it and I had to go over things....and over....and over...until we switched programs :) I used Saxon myself in middle school and high school so perhaps it is easier for ME since it seems so familiar, and my children can sense I am more confident teaching with Saxon. Either way, just very glad to have a math program that works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Medieval Mom Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Thank you for this thread! I've always been tempted by Saxon, but put off by the numerous bad reviews. We're currently using Horizon K, but I'm considering switching to Saxon next year. It's lovely to hear from those who enjoy the program. Thanks!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I have say that even though I plan on supplementing Saxon w/Singapore, in the hopes of creating a well rounded math program, we love Saxon Math here! In fact I just posted in another thread about it... entitled the Best way to teach K student numbers 1-100. As stated there, I attribute my ds counting to 100 to Saxon Math K. Although my ds is cruising through K rather quickly and it may seem too easy at times, we never skip anything... I believe it is a great foundation. My ds is definitely learning from Saxon and I plan on sticking to it throughout our hs journey... regardless of whether or not we supplement. That said, we should be wrapping up K and beginning Math 1 by the end of March. Great stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 mmm I've never really looked at it because of the poor reviews! Maybe I should lol! We are doing rightstart B which I really like but for some reason I dread doing it each day partly because my ds seems to get the concepts and then promptly forgets them lol! I will take a look at saxon now! Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof165 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 We are using Saxon 3 this year and my son IS learning A LOT. This will be our 2nd year using Saxon. For 1st Grade we used CLE and it brought tears into my son's eyes each time I pulled the math booklets. Just as others mentioned, Saxon has the right amount of hands-on, it's easy to tailor to fit your family and I LOVE the incremental style. Finally, my son is getting his facts. We do supplement with RightStart Math Games on Friday - just for fun, but we really love Saxon at our house. I just wished we would have started from the beginning (1st Grade). I already have Saxon 5/4 for next year! :D Sonja __________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 It is working well with both my sons, I am not sure if my daughter will enjoy it as she is more the "colorful workbook type"...but time will tell since she is not yet 4. I don't know if this will help but I worry about the same thing with my daughter and Math-U-See. My solution is to let her do the pages with colored pencils. If there are boxes to fill in, I let her fill them in with hearts, rainbows, happy faces, etc. She is happy as a clam. My son sits right next to her, happy with his pencil. It cracks me up. I've been going back and forth trying to decide whether to give Saxon a whirl. I hear only love it or hate it reviews and I just don't know where I would be. I hear it doesn't teach understanding as well as the newer math curriculums but then I'm not terribly thrilled with the Math-U-See presentation and feel that if I did a traditional program like Saxon and threw in lots of real life stuff, that might be a better fit for us. I like the manipulatives it uses for K-3. I've loaded and closed out a Rainbow Resource cart with Saxon K four times today. Argh! Kristina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sdy2 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 We love Saxon too! (And have found it easily adaptable to our accelerated learner.) :) Ds is about half done with Saxon 3, and math is his favorite subject. We play lots of math games and read math books too. (Cat in Numberland is a current favorite.) Dh has a math degree, and gives this curriculum a big thumbs up. Of course no one curriculum works well for everyone, some children do best with a big picture first approach, and many seem to need much more hand-holding than Saxon provides to gain a thorough conceptual understanding of math. (And is it just me, or does this program seem to be a much bigger hit with boys than with girls?) I'm going back to occasional lurking now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malenki Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 We love it too! I'm so glad to read others using it and enjoying it as I also had read many negative reviews. We find that it's so easy to teach and adaptable. We can easily skip a section one day if we want to. DS even asks to do the similar problem on the back if he had a rough time with something... "I'd like to practice that again." and flips the page over and works out the problem. I would never have thought that he would like math so much after the tears with Singapore! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I've loaded and closed out a Rainbow Resource cart with Saxon K four times today. Argh! Kristina We have LOVED using Saxon K this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 We have LOVED using Saxon K this year. Well! If that's not just perfect timing! I have my Rainbow cart loaded again, this time with K for my daughter and 1st for my son. BUT! I have another screen with Math on the Level and I'm so afraid to bite the bullet on either one! If I spend the money on Saxon and love it, great! But if not, I've just spent $197.30 on Saxon when I could have had the whole MOTL series for $295. Of course, none of this even factors in the Math-U-See Primer and block set I have used this year. Where is the emoticon that tears its hair out? Someone, HELP!! Save me from myself!!!! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I'm enjoying it too. We did Saxon K last year, and are working through Saxon 1 this year. And I just started Saxon K with her brother this month. So far, so good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I am also a fan. Saxon seems to fit my older daughter's brain perfectly. There's always something new to do, but there's lots of practice and math facts, and she needs that repetition. We're on 54 now, but I still have her recite a few things every day (8's and 6's especially), which really helps her. Younger daughter is just halfway through 1, and so far so good. She might not like it so well, we'll have to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) Well! If that's not just perfect timing! I have my Rainbow cart loaded again, this time with K for my daughter and 1st for my son. BUT! I have another screen with Math on the Level and I'm so afraid to bite the bullet on either one! If I spend the money on Saxon and love it, great! But if not, I've just spent $197.30 on Saxon when I could have had the whole MOTL series for $295. Of course, none of this even factors in the Math-U-See Primer and block set I have used this year. Where is the emoticon that tears its hair out? Someone, HELP!! Save me from myself!!!! :lol: I'm so sorry, but... ROTFL! :rofl: Oh boy, can I relate to that... not necessarily regarding Saxon, but I can relate to the situation. I've already begun to find out that these kind of decisions can be exciting and hard to make at the same time. I truly wish there was something I could do to help you, but I don't know anything about Math on the Level. Have you tried making out a pros and cons list? Have you discussed it with your dh... what does he think? Edited January 15, 2009 by CMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I'm so sorry, but... ROTFL! :rofl: Oh boy, can I relate to that... not necessarily regarding Saxon, but I can relate to the situation. I've already begun to find out that these kind of decisions can be exciting and hard to make at the same time. I truly wish there was something I could do to help you, but I don't know anything about Math on the Level. Have you tried making out a pros and cons list? Have you discussed it with your dh... what does he think? Thanks for your empathy! It truly does help to know I'm not alone in having difficulty making decisions. The pro/con list is in my head. Not so helpful there. I'll get it on paper and I won't bore anyone here with it. My husband will be home from his 15 month deployment in around 2 weeks and I'm trying to make a lot of these decisions for the next school year before he gets back so I can just let my mind go completely blank and truly relax for the first time in more than a year. I might have to let math go until he gets home though because he is the math whiz. I actually went farther in math in school and did OK because I was the typical memorize/regurgitate public school stereotype. My husband, however, truly loves math, uses it a great deal in his work, and is excited about that aspect of homeschooling more than any other. Thanks for reminding me that I can give him a vote. He puts 100% trust in me to pick what I think is best but for math, I think what's best is to let the math lover in the family give his input! So, again, thanks! I think I'll show them both to him and get him to pick. Oddly enough, I think they're like apples and oranges...which makes me think I might want to go ahead and get apples AND oranges. Oy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Thanks for your empathy! It truly does help to know I'm not alone in having difficulty making decisions. What's their return policy like? I have ordered Saxon from CBD and you can always return it to them. (I did this with another curriculum, not math). You would just have to pay the return shipping. It may be worth it if you truly stay undecided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) My husband, however, truly loves math, uses it a great deal in his work, and is excited about that aspect of homeschooling more than any other. Thanks for reminding me that I can give him a vote. He puts 100% trust in me to pick what I think is best but for math, I think what's best is to let the math lover in the family give his input! That's probably a good idea... if you can do it! LOL! Once again I can already relate... it is tough to hold off on making a decision and get the dh's input when you're excited and want to get going with the materials/curricula/etc. My dh has his 100% trust in me to pick what I think is best as well, but I've had those unsure and confusing moments when his sanity and reasoning was a such a blessing... and a relief. I also encourage you to pray about these things, if you are a believer, and see what the Lord guides you to do. I think I'll show them both to him and get him to pick. Oddly enough, I think they're like apples and oranges...which makes me think I might want to go ahead and get apples AND oranges. Oy! Too funny! However, you could be opening a can of worms here. I can honestly say that in an attempt to make a well rounded math program, we are going to use Saxon Math as our spine and supplement with Singapore. Not that you will do the same, but as someone recently mentioned to me... "Is there a reason people cannot like two math programs?" Sooo... you could pick one as your spine and supplement with another... or depending on your dc's strength/weaknesses, maybe one program is better than the other for one child and vice versa for the other child, IYKWIM. Again, I don't know anything about Math on the Level, I'm just trying to throw some ideas out there for you. I hope you find what works for you and your dc. I'm glad for you that your dh will be home soon! ;) Edited January 15, 2009 by CMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 "Is there a reason people cannot like two math programs?" No, no there's not. Thanks for that! Honestly, I went straight from this thread to read every available review of MOTL. I like the security of Saxon and the freedom and real life applications found in MOTL so using it as a supplement is a perfect idea, I think. When my husband calls tomorrow, I'll talk to him about it and see what he says, although I know exactly what he'll say. "Get both." And that will be better than OK. :) I hope you find what works for you and your dc. I'm glad to read that your dh will be home soon! ;) Thanks you! And thanks so much for your input. It's been very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Kristina, I too feel your indecisive pain, lol. I've been thinking that no matter what I end up choosing (for good this time!) I'd like a more traditional math (Saxon or Horizons in my case) for the spine and then supplement with something else. I have a question about supplementing - how do you do it without ending up doing 2 math programs? We don't have the time nor do my children want to do that. Can someone describe how you tweak a program that is meant to be a full main program while still getting the 'meat' out of it, although not using the full thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Kristina, I too feel your indecisive pain, lol. I've been thinking that no matter what I end up choosing (for good this time!) I'd like a more traditional math (Saxon or Horizons in my case) for the spine and then supplement with something else. I have a question about supplementing - how do you do it without ending up doing 2 math programs? We don't have the time nor do my children want to do that. Can someone describe how you tweak a program that is meant to be a full main program while still getting the 'meat' out of it, although not using the full thing? Well, I've heard of a lot of people supplementing their regular program with Singapore's Challenging Word Problems, which would seem pretty straightforward and relatively easy. MOTL is a set of books with instructions for multiple ways to teach different concepts and a lot of hands-on stuff. The content is meant to be taught according to each child's readiness. So, it seems like it would be a fairly easy thing to be going along through a primary program (Saxon is what I'm considering) and for each topic, look in the MOTL reference books to find ways to add in lots of hands-on conceptual stuff to cement the knowledge. Wow! I just convinced myself! :lol: Combining two whole programs (each with its own set sequence) in their entirety seems a lot more tricky to me, although obviously it can be done and seems to be what works best for some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Kristina, I too feel your indecisive pain, lol. I've been thinking that no matter what I end up choosing (for good this time!) I'd like a more traditional math (Saxon or Horizons in my case) for the spine and then supplement with something else. I have a question about supplementing - how do you do it without ending up doing 2 math programs? We don't have the time nor do my children want to do that. Can someone describe how you tweak a program that is meant to be a full main program while still getting the 'meat' out of it, although not using the full thing? Hopefully some veterans here can chime in and help you with this one, because I have yet to begin our supplementing... but Singapore Earlybird is on it's way! However, I will share with you that I plan on doing something similar to Katherine of Cornerstone Classical... here is the recent thread if you are interested in more details on Saxon supplemented w/Singapore. I'm off to finish folding the mountain of clean laundry while watching Becoming Jane (again). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 One note: I stopped timing my ds8 with the addition, subtraction and multiplication worksheets. It was causing him stress and he actually completes them faster without timing. Same here. My sons both started going off the deep end if they didn't finish the entire sheet in the allotted time. I kept telling them they didn't have to finish it all in that time, but they didn't believe me. Ben actually does much of his orally with me while sitting on my lap. He loves it. We got behind over the holidays, so we're doing two lessons a day. B/c of that, I'm only having him do one math fact sheet a day, but two lessons, so the oral part helps ease the pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 lots of practice with hands-on things (measuring, etc.), Ben actually joins in Nathan's lesson when I teach him a measuring concept because it's so much fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Alta, I just wanted to chime in to say Check out the used curriculum boards to find great bargains on Saxon Math. http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com always has the Teacher Manuals there for much less, and you can even find the workbooks (tho I like to get them new). If you get it for under half price, maybe you won't feel bad doing both programs! lol (Thanks for giving up your hubby so we all can be free and safe.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoffeeChick Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I've actually gotten 2 of the Saxon teacher manuals from paperbackswap.com for free!! :thumbup: I just have them all on my wish list, and it tells me when it is available. Sure, I have these on my shelf, and they will be there for a while, but hey, free is free!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsquared Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 We love Saxon too. We are using K and my DD loves it. She always wants to do multiple lessons a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alte Veste Academy Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Chris and Jessica, Thanks for the info about getting it used. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieMonster Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 It is teacher intensive, but I think it should be for most K-3rd graders. *Sticking my big nose in here* It is my experience that math should be teacher intensive in the lower levels as well. You, the mom, have to be the teacher. You have to show, explain, redirect, correct - teach! Math is just not "self-explanatory" at this age, ya know. Off my soapbox now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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