momof165 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It has been one of these days again. It just seems that we can't get anything done BUT math. We are using Saxon 3 for ds 9. Math is NOT his favorite subject BUT it never took us thaaaaat long. Right now it takes us at least 1 hour to finish our daily lesson, today it was 1.5 hours. Waaahhhh - I am ready to pull my hair out. AND were are only on Lesson 97. Is this maybe a sign that Saxon is not working anymore? :confused: I already have Saxon 5/4 for 4th Grade but I am seriously considering switching our Math program. I want that spark back in his eyes - he wants to be challanged but in a slow and steady way. Right now, he is complaining that things switch around too fast, that he does not have time to learn and understand the concept. He does great as soon as he catches on - but right now, Math is just taking too long and he is FRUSTRATED!!!! So am I!!!:tongue_smilie: Please ladies, if you have had a similar experience I am all ears :bigear: . What worked for you? Did you switch to a different Math curriculum? I am not a fan of switching - but I want to see my son enjoying hs again! We are using Saxon since 1st Grade. BTW - we are using Right Start Math games on Fridays to work on those basics! Thank you so much for reading my post. This board has been a tremendous help for us, especially MOM!!!:D Sonja _________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Funny, I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago with almost the same title!! But, the difference is that my dd says that she does like math. She's just a slow person in general, which bothers me much more than it does her. We are also Saxon users, and I love the program. I think it's very thorough, and I really didn't want to switch either. I think Saxon just takes longer than most math programs. An hour and a half is a bit much, though. Is there anything you can leave out in the meeting portion, or something that you could review less often. Some of the wonderful gals on this list gave me suggestions for changing our math schedule which has helped. We now do 30 mins of math in the AM and 30 min in the PM. We also supplement with some other things that she enjoys like Singapore's CWP and Life of Fred Fractions, but my dd is in Saxon 65, so these suggestions may not help much. Does he enjoy the Right Start games? If so, could you do them more often? They may help solidify things more for him. I don't know if there are other good supplements for this math level that might be good. However, if the switching of topics so frequently is bothering him, then maybe he's not a spiral curriculm kid. Maybe he needs a mastery approach. But, maybe you could try to change some things to see if you can make your current program work before deciding to switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 It has been one of these days again. It just seems that we can't get anything done BUT math. We are using Saxon 3 for ds 9. Math is NOT his favorite subject BUT it never took us thaaaaat long. Right now it takes us at least 1 hour to finish our daily lesson, today it was 1.5 hours. Waaahhhh - I am ready to pull my hair out. AND were are only on Lesson 97. Is this maybe a sign that Saxon is not working anymore? :confused: I already have Saxon 5/4 for 4th Grade but I am seriously considering switching our Math program. I want that spark back in his eyes - he wants to be challanged but in a slow and steady way. Right now, he is complaining that things switch around too fast, that he does not have time to learn and understand the concept. He does great as soon as he catches on - but right now, Math is just taking too long and he is FRUSTRATED!!!! So am I!!!:tongue_smilie: Please ladies, if you have had a similar experience I am all ears :bigear: . What worked for you? Did you switch to a different Math curriculum? I am not a fan of switching - but I want to see my son enjoying hs again! We are using Saxon since 1st Grade. BTW - we are using Right Start Math games on Fridays to work on those basics! Thank you so much for reading my post. This board has been a tremendous help for us, especially MOM!!!:D Sonja _________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Now we do math for one hour or less and then it gets finished after all other lessons are done for the day. And if not done by bedtime, it's done on the weekend (yup - homework). In the meantime they get NO electronics if math isn't done. But also you may want to cut those Saxon review problems in half. They will see that math over & over & over again over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 We switched from Saxon 3 at lesson 90 for a similar issue. I wasn't even doing the meeting. My son was crying every day about math and taking forever to do the worksheets. And his work was getting more and more careless. We switched to Singapore 2B (and are doing the textbook, workbook, IP, and CWP books) and math is now a fun time for my son. It takes much less time and he is enjoying it so much more. I recently wrote a blog post about this issue. If you go to my blog, scroll down and you'll see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Something that helped my ds when he was taking forever to do a lesson was to make a set amount of time for math. I think I set it at 30 minutes. As long as he worked hard for those 30 minutes, anything not completed that day we just picked up the next day. But, interestingly enough, he could usually finish in those 30 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 I would try Singapore. You can get just an Intensive Practice book for now and see how it works, even if you decide not to switch, the challenging problems are nice to have as a supplement. You can get one IP book for cheap. My daughter is enjoying math more now that we've switched to Singapore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2GirlsTX Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 My daughter was at end of first grade when I started her in Saxon 2. We stuck with it for about 4 months till my child literally hated math with a passion. We switched to Singapore, and she has loved math ever since. Saxon is great for some kids, but for others, it is to much repitition. I would recommend trying Singapore, it is a great program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof165 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Thanks for all of your replies. I do have some Singapore Math books (it's called Shaping Maths Part 1 2A and 2B and Part 2 2A and 2B) and Challenging World Problems 2 and 3. A friend of mine gave them to me after they were done. I just neve never used these books. Maybe it's time to take a look at them.:glare: Thanks for all your other recommendations as well. I like the idea of a timer and finish the rest after all of the work is done. I just know I can count on you ladies. Keep the ideas coming. I'm all :bigear: Sonja ________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrina Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I love Saxon and I don't think I will ever switch. I have a 4 yo mathy guy in book one and my 7 yo in book 2. But we do cut down the lessons. -We do calender and weather every day -We do counting on Mondays -We do money on Tuesdays -We do the pattern on Wednesdays -We do clock on Thursdays -And anything else left over from the "meeting book" (fact families, graph questions, etc) on Fridays This means we use one "meeting strip" a week. Then for the worksheets we do ONE side instead of two. If they get something wrong on the worksheet then they flip over and do ONE the similar problem on the reverse. This only happens once and awhile. DD does the whole math fact sheet but DS does only 5 problems out of the 25 (writing skills are low for him, and math skill is high, he doesn't need the extra practice) if he does get one wrong, he keeps going until he had five right. That rarely happens too. All this saves A LOT of time. We went from 60 min of math per child to 30 min of math. AND if the lesson is something they already know (Saxon repeats A LOT) then we just review and have a short math day or we skip the lesson altogether and do the next one instead. Both of my kids have been very happy, and still enthusiastic, about math. I switched to this method before it was too late- I saw it coming and I feel we dodged a bullet. I still SWEAR by Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legomom Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 My son got to the point that he was crying all the way through his math lesson with Horizon. Per recommendation of this board, I switched to Singapore and there has been a big difference for him. My other son does fine with Horizon and seems quite happy with it but I do cut down on the number of problems that he has to do because there is a lot of repetition. Singapore still takes about an hour to do with son #1 but there is more hands-on stuff and less problems in a lesson so the variety and the quicker pace (learning more new things in a short period of time) appeal to him. Also, the problems often seem to have a little twist, so it isn't continual repetition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 I have run into this problem with my DD8 as well on and off since the beginning. We did try Singapore and Horizons and now we're back with Saxon. I have changed the way we do it though. I skip over most of the meeting part of the lesson because she had all of that info down pat. I also don't use the drill pages in the workbook, just the lesson review pages. I find other places to cover drill type stuff...some online, some card games, etc. to try to keep it varied instead of so boring. Since I made these changes, math hasn't been the struggle it was and it's also done quicker. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof165 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Macrina, thanks for your recommendations. The funny thing is, we already do ALL of your recommendations - and it STILL takes us that long. We only do one side per day, I don't even use the meeting book, we alternate with the review sessions and STILL - it takes us FOREVER!!!!!:banghead: I know Saxon is doing a great job and we have been happy using Saxon until now. I just don't know what is causing the brain freeze or unhappiness!:confused: Maybe, I/we just need to take a brake and do some of the Singapore Math I have at hand.???? Sonja _____________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mesa Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Try Singapore... you'll never know if it's a good fit until you give it a try. We just finished our first lesson with Singapore Math last night. I had my hubby teach it because this method is confusing me already lol. I guess my hubby will be taking over math and teaching both ds and I. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MountainViewMama Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 We are also using Singapore. My son is doing 2A and is almost done with it. It takes him forever to do it too. He hates math though. I notice him daydreaming or tapping his pencil or he starts talking to me and I constantly have to remind him to get back to work. Drives me up the wall! Wish I had ideas for you but I'm in the same boat!:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macrina Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Macrina, thanks for your recommendations. The funny thing is, we already do ALL of your recommendations - and it STILL takes us that long. We only do one side per day, I don't even use the meeting book, we alternate with the review sessions and STILL - it takes us FOREVER!!!!!:banghead: I know Saxon is doing a great job and we have been happy using Saxon until now. I just don't know what is causing the brain freeze or unhappiness!:confused: Maybe, I/we just need to take a brake and do some of the Singapore Math I have at hand.???? Sonja _____________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Is it possible then that he DOES need the review then? That the slowness is coming from not knowing the previous lessons well enough to get through it quickly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllSmiles Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 My son switched to Saxon after doing Abeka for 1st – 3rd Grade. We ran into the same problem you are facing, it was taking FOREVER for him to get done. Math was never one of his favorite subjects, but he was in tears, or close to tears, everyday. After trudging through Saxon for awhile I made the decision to switch to Rod & Staff math. I think Saxon is a great program, but it wasn’t a great fit for my son. We still work on math for a solid hour everyday, but it is not painful for him anymore. I am doing the review with him and teaching the lesson, and he completes the assigned problems from the lesson. I really couldn’t be happier with the switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momof165 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Guess what!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a great day today. We used some of the Singapore Math a friend of mine gave us (you know - a curriculum junkie never gets rid of anything :D) and ds 9 proclaimed: Mom, this is soooo much fun!!!!! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This can't be my kid! :lol: We finished 5 pages without any moaning and groaning under 40 min (including some Challenging Word Problems). Maybe, Singapore Math is the way to go. :glare: I'll keep Saxon around but take a break for right now, using Singapore Math. I'll keep you all updated. Thanks again for all your recommendations. Sonja ________________________________ Homeschooling JUST ONE - ds 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara R Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 My 5th grade dd was using Saxon 65 at school as well, and math homework was starting to take 1 1/2 hours as well (after an hour of math at school). For her I think it was a combination of problems: (1) ADD/not paying enough attention at school; (2) the spiral curriculum. The homework pages only practiced the new concept in a couple of problems, so she never got a chance to get really good at the new concept. So she kept doing a couple of problems daily, poorly, and never got the chance to really master it. I brought her home for math and we are doing Singapore at home now. We'll see how well it goes. I'll probably have to add in more review for her, but at least she can get the chance to solidly master the new concept before going on to something new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Right now it takes us at least 1 hour to finish our daily lesson, today it was 1.5 hours. _________________________________ That sounds reasonable, imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Math took forever when we used Saxon too, and I just couldn't take it anymore. Now I use Singapore for ds1 and CLE for dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
langfam Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 :iagree:Yes, Singapore. Saxon does take longer. When you get to 5/4 copying the problems will add to the time to do math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 I'm thinking that teaching math in general in the first 3 to 5 grades just takes a long time! We made the mistake of not having a formal math program for ds in his first 3 grades, then got R&S 4 when he was near the end of 3rd grade and continued with that (but with a LOT of catchup to do with math facts - still trying to gain some speed here with that). Because I liked R&S, I also got it for dd. She is in 2nd grade now and sometimes I want to rip my hair out at how long the teaching part takes (which I also found with R&S 4 and 5 with ds, because of all the TM stuff to do and fact flashcards). But now ds is in R&S 6, and there isn't nearly as much of that TM review stuff to do before you dive into the lesson. I think it's because in the younger grades, much attention (and I'd imagine it's the same with Saxon) is given to getting the math facts memorized and the math processes automated in their brains. But I sure know what you mean about taking a long time. And with dd, because we did start her on a formal program earlier than ds, I'll be able to skim over some of that TM teaching in the 4th and 5th grade books. Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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