dangermom Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 My daughter is currently working through Saxon 54. I'm really glad I chose this program, because she seems to truly need all the repetition of math facts! She gets the concepts easily enough, but tends to struggle with remembering her facts accurately and quickly, and with carelessness. Many of her mistakes come from copying a number incorrectly or misremembering one simple multiplication fact in the middle of a long division problem. This is almost the first year that she has really been challenged in math. Until halfway through Math 3, she was breezing along with almost no effort. I also find that the amount of work expected in each lesson is a bit more than she can really handle, so I tend to cut it down some. We are not doing a full lesson each and every day--I've slowed down some in hopes that she'll absorb it better and not feel overwhelmed. So, I've been looking over the scope & sequence for Math 65, worrying that it will be too difficult for her. I'm rather relieved to see that it doesn't seem to introduce a whole lot of new topics; it looks like it will be a lot of repetition of the concepts to really get them down before heading into more difficult territory. I presume the problems will just be a degree more difficult? Can you tell me what Math 65 will be like, and if I'm correct in my hopes about what it will do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H.S. Burrow Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 You could be describing my son about the math facts! We are in Saxon 6/5 and he is doing fine. Matter of fact, he is remembering his math facts better now than when we were in Math 5/4 and the first half of Math 6/5 in part because the problems do get more difficult. Same concepts just a higher level of difficulty. As those number get larger (3 & 4 digit multiplication and division) he *sees* the importance of memorizing the math facts. I think because the math facts tests are soooo easy, he tended to blow it off. We don't even do the math facts every day anymore. He gets ample practice in the daily work (mental math, lesson practice, mixed practice) on the importance of those math facts. He just needed to step up in difficulty to "see the point" of memorizing the math facts. As for the number of problems....shhh...don't tell.....we don't do them *all* either. We do all of the lesson practice and for 4 lessons I pick the problems that he has the most difficulty with and current lesson problems - generally about half of the mixed practice. On the 5th lesson, just before the test, he will do all of the mixed practice. We usually do the investigations orally. As far as copying problems wrong.......well, that's my DD who is in Algebra I. She still has those "oops" moments....but they are not as bad as they were 3 years ago. HTH! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melabella Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Yep, this describes my dd9 perfectly, too. Careless errors! She copies problems incorrectly, copies answers incorrectly, adds when she should subtract and vice versa, etc. She is mildly dyslexic, so I've always thought that was the reason. I don't let it slide, though. I have found that if I am consistent in making her re-work all missed problems, she makes less errors in the future days. We sailed through Saxon 54 until about lesson 90. We slowed down until we hit the wall around lesson 110ish. She is having trouble with equivalent fractions and reducing fractions. Just not getting it! I already had the 65 book, so I decided to ditch 54 and start on it. She was getting very frustrated, so I thought the easy review of the beginning of 65 would build her confidence again. The beginning is a lot of easy review with just a few new easy concepts. For instance, lesson 1 is just counting (i.e., 34, 35, 36, _, _, _). For now, I am skipping through the early lessons and teaching the things she doesn't know already (defintion of an oblique line or integer). Each day I am giving her one of the Tests as her daily problem set, so I can try to figure out where I want to really begin in the book . Today she did Test 4. She missed 4 problems, but they were ALL careless errors. Sigh! In a few weeks when we get to the point in 65 that we need to know how to reduce fractions, I will return to the lessons at the end of 54 and hope that she's ready. That's my plan anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaT Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 My son did 54 last year and is in 65 this year. He is much more careful to not make careless errors because I require him to redo every problem he misses. He has been able to grasp the math concepts in 65 just fine after completing 54. We did review math facts during the two months we took off last summer, just so he wouldn't have to start out by relearning. He really did not have a firm grasp (saying the answer right away without thinking about it) until the middle of the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Can you tell me what Math 65 will be like, and if I'm correct in my hopes about what it will do? I would need to dig 65 out of my homeschool closet in my packed away stuff to know for sure, but something like the first 1/4 to 1/3 of 65 is review of the material from 54. Remember often traditional classrooms do not finish the text during the school year and then students don't see a math text all summer, so that amount of repetition is necessary. If you feel that your dd needs the repetition to cement math facts, to gain maturity, or to grow in math confidence and joy then use those lessons. If you feel that she will be bored or irritated by doing the same math again, simply have her take the tests until she drops below 85% and drop back 10 lessons from where that test was to be given. Those ten lessons will give her practice in the type of problems covered on the test. HTH- Mandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted March 26, 2009 Author Share Posted March 26, 2009 Thanks everyone. I do have her re-do the problems she misses, but sometimes it seems she forgets it all. Her test yesterday had 7 out of 20 wrong because of careless errors, but the last one was nearly perfect! I will have her keep reviewing the facts over summer, but I will probably still do a lot of the lessons in the beginning of 65 just to make sure it's all cemented (again). I really appreciate the replies, thanks! (Keep 'em coming!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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