Saxon Math

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After reading through the archives and doing other research, I have decide to use Saxon Math for my son. My question is whether anyone thinks it is necessary to purchase the entire home study kit which inludes a teacher's manual, a workbook and a meeting book or if I can just use the workbook? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

-- Nicol (Nicolwhipple@wmconnect.com), February 24, 2002

Answers

Nicol, I have done both. I think the answer depends on how comfortable you are as a teacher. I have used the kits and followed the teacher's manual, but found it too time consuming. Now I just get the workbooks. Each day I look the sheet over, and if I see anything the child hasn't learned, I take a few minutes to go over it with him. Then I have him do the first side of the sheet with me. If I see that he isn't "getting" something, I go over it a little more, then have him do just what he needs to review on the other side of the sheet.

The worksheets are labeled "Lesson (w/ a number) A" and "Lesson (number) B". We do the "A" side completely. The "B" side is basically a repeat of the "A" side, but with different numbers used for the problems. We use the "B" side only to review problem areas.

I think you will like the system; I know I won't go back to any other math. My two boys are both in the first grade math and always want to do another lesson. My daughter is using the hardcover books; she is in Math 54. She has had some struggles with math, and has really come a long way this year.

-- Cathy N. (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), February 24, 2002.


The school district where my sons grew up used Saxon math. I detest it. Fragmented, confusing. NOT the way to learn math. Had documentation from districts which have banned it, but I'm not sure where it is.

They use it in the elementary where I work, and the high school teachers complain that the students don't know their basics.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.


Nicol, We use Saxon starting with 54. Before that I figure we don't need a real curriculum, just work on drills for adding, multiplying...etc... I usually buy some math workbooks from Staples or Sam's Club. Those suffice for the first few years and teach the basics. A lot cheaper than buying Saxon's material for the lower grades. We have the text book and the answer book. If we do Calculus or Trig we will probably get the book that shows every problem worked out but have not seen the need for that so far.

My older two detest the Math every now and then. Most people do at some point and it usually has more to do with just not "getting it" than it does with the curriculum. On the whole it has worked fine.

I really like that once it teaches a concept, the problems for that concept keep showing up 20 lessons away. That way, you don't do one lesson on percentages and then not see percentage problems for a few lessons and it is time for a test. You get some problems of each kind from the previous lessons.

As far as manipulatives. Legos and Duplo blocks work great. No need to purchase fancy things.

-- LBD, Maryland (lavenderbluedilly@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.


Nicol: How old is your son?

My son is 5 and is doing 1st grade math. I am currently just using a book I picked up at a homeschool convention - it has work sheets that you tear out. I also use the work books that they have at SAM'S CLUB. They have math ones and all kinds of others. We like them for the early grades and my son seems to like doing work sheets.

I have heard good things about Saxon math and will use that for the later grades.

-- Anita in NC (anitaholton@mindspring.com), February 24, 2002.


My son is 8 and attends public school. He is in 3rd grade. I am unhappy with the amount of one-on-one time he gets in school. Also, he is the youngest in his class. Most of the class is already 9 or almost 9 and he won't be until the middle of August so there is a huge maturity gap with some of the older kids. For math I really feel like he needs individual attention and I am concerned that he will fall behind. Once I explain a new concept to him he usually gets it within 5 or 10 minutes. So I don't know if I am just explaining it differently in a manner that he understands better or if he is just too distracted in school. Anyway, I want to make sure he has a solid math foundation and I have heard good things about Saxon. I liked the idea of continuing reinforcement of prior skills.

-- Nicol (Nicolwhipple@wmconnect.com), February 24, 2002.


Nicol -- My son is also doing the Saxon Math 3. The lessons are in the the teachers manual -- and all the reinforcement worksheets, etc., are in the student manuals.

We really like the Saxon products -- my younger son is doing Math 1 and is excelling. I have bought the Math 54 because my elder son is just about ready to move into it, and it is a textbook format, rather than a workbook format -- I'm sure it's fine as they move up, but I wouldn't have wanted this format for the lower grades.

-- Tracy (trimmer31@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.


We have used Saxon for 4th grade and up through Algebra II. I have loved it and see tremendous progress and math skills developed in my three boys. The first years we did not have the answer keys with the problems worked out. The last two years for Algebra 1/2, 1, and 2 with it. What a tremendous help for me. Be sure you at least get the detailed answer key to go with the books. It will help clear up any questions you may have on a concept. I think you will be very, very pleased with Saxon. Good luck.

-- Maureen in GA (volfamily52@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

Nichol, We are currently using Saxon Math 3 and like Tracy said, the lessons are in the teacher's manual. Saxon uses a lot of review and repetition, so sometimes we go over all of the lesson and sometimes we skip around or just use the workbooks. Some of the lessons aren't even covered in the workbooks.

I'm not sure, in hind sight, that I would have bought this curriculum if I had known how easy my would daughter find it. We covered most of the stuff last year, and I just made up worksheets on my own using "What Your 2nd Grader Needs to Know" and various math books from the library. It's trial and error finding what will work best for your child.

If your son is not getting some of the concepts, then this curriculum might work great for him, because of the review. But, just to use workbooks as a suppliment, you might be better off buying them from a store, where they would probably be cheaper and using library books to help with concepts. (This is just an opinion, you need to go by how you feel your son would learn best.)

-- Jo-Ellen Smith (pls5638@hotmail.com), February 25, 2002.


We are using Saxon 54, it's working for us and I've heard great things from others. For the lower grades I think it's hard to beat Math U See, when we took my son out of school he was so far behind in math that single digit addition was a challenge, in one school year he went from that to problems like 9x=54! He grasped division in one day. Excellent for kids who have trouble with math and need to "see" it. He learned the basics and has had no trouble with Saxon.

-- Cassie (cassie@mo.usa), February 26, 2002.

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