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Saxon Math
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I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience with the Saxon math line. We are starting homeschooling this year and I have looked at Saxon as well as Math-U-See and Making Math Meaningful. MMM is definitely not my favorite. I like Math-U-See, but because of it’s base price, and then having to buy the manipulatives on top of that, may be a bit too pricey for us. I’ve found a good sale on the Saxon (and have found some good prices on Ebay). I know that it is not what you would necessarily consider CM friendly, though. My concern about MUS is that the manipulatives might be more of a distraction than a help to my kids. They are all fairly strong in math, so I don’t know if manipulatives are really necessary. Also, I’m thinking that it might be a bit to “hokey” for them. I’d like to try the Saxon, trying to make it a little more CM friendly, definitely shortening the lesson time, and only requiring them to work on a lesson until they’ve mastered it (not doing endless amounts of review just because it is in the book).
I was just wondering if anyone has tried this and what their thoughts were.
Thanks!!
I actually ordered both sets of curriculum so I could go through them, and then return which one I did not like. I know that Saxon is not CM friendly, but I chose Saxon. I know that Saxon is considered a spiral curriculum, but I figured if she gets really bored with it, then I’ll just modify it. I think MUS is an excellent program and I had a really hard time choosing. For my dd, I thought she would like the manipulatives to Saxon better. I know with Saxon you go over the “calendar” every day. I’m not going to do the calendar work in the workbook because I purchased a calendar and weather pocket chart from Learning Resources that we are going to use everyday, so I’ll just skip the calendar part of Saxon. I hope this helps you, although I haven’t actually used it yet!!
Julie
Thanks, Julie, for your insights!! I think that we are along the same line of thinking–that we will modify it to suit our kids!!
I was homeschooled myself (using BJU curriculum) and was very jelous of my younger siblings when my mom switched to Saxon. So, I have never used it myself, but I saw it used on a daily basis (after I had graduated HS).
I think it’s a great curriculum, but do know that it doesn’t “click” with some kids. It also is meant for a classroom setting so there is a lot of “busy” work in it. My mom just made my siblings do every other page (I think she got two students worth out of one work book this way…).
If you plan on,
“…definitely shortening the lesson time, and only requiring them to work on a lesson until they’ve mastered it (not doing endless amounts of review just because it is in the book).“
…then it should work great. A lot of people get stuck with the mindset that “because it’s in the book I have to do it” and that could get frustrating and bore your student.
Katie,
Thanks for sharing that. I think that Saxon is really what I am leaning towards. At first I was really interested in the MUS, my sister in law (who is 10) has been using that, and it is more CM friendly, but my gut has been telling me Saxon, so that is where I’m headed!!
I’ve been wondering why Saxon is not CM friendly. Does anyone know why????
I have looked at the Classical Style of education and they recommend Saxon and MUS.
We lean more towards CM than classical.
Julie
We use Saxon as well. Both of our boys don’t complain, my 7yo actually likes the lessons and our time together. My oldest, he’s 11, uses Saxon5/4 and has been offered to use something else but always says he’s fine with what we’re doing. I do have Math Mammoth’s fraction program for my oldest so he can do more independent work, which he likes.
As for being CM friendly, I suppose it’s not exactly, but as of Tues. (our official day of the week we start math) I will be simplifying the lessons and I have already cut out some of the busywork. The funny thing is, though, my 7 1/2 yo would be so upset if he discovered that I left things out. He’d feel cheated on some possible learning experience or something fun. Go figure.
How old are your kids? We use Math-U-See and my kids very rarely get out the manipulatives after the Primer, maybe a little in Alpha. They have generally gotten the concepts well other than that without the blocks and don’t like to take the time to get out the manipulatives! He shows using the manipulatives on the video, so they do get to see the concept that way. Just another thought:) Gina
We use Saxon from book 5/4 on up (Miquon and daily experiences before that). My kids love it. I do shorten the lessons though. My 8 year old son is in 5/4 and while he could write out his work, it would be a struggle. We do most lessons orally with a whiteboard. My 12 year old daughter is in book 8/7 and works independently. She usually does all of the problems that involve the new concept and then just the evens or odds for the review concepts. I have the Dive CD for her, but she has never used it – the concepts have been explained that well! I didn’t even order a Dive CD for Algebra. I decided to wait and see if we need it.
Live and learn.Heather
I’m having the same dilemma. We are getting ready to end for the year. My 10 year old did MUS Gamma this year b/c he was having a terrible time with multiplication. He does REALLY well now. I don’t think we want to move on to Delta. I gave him the placement test for Saxon. He missed 5/4 which they say would put him in 5/4. He wanted to continue and went into the 6/5 part of the test and only missed 3… Sooooo, I need to decide whether to purchase MUS Delta or Saxon 6/5.
Suggestion? Input?
We have no experience in MUS. I have family who use it (have never asked about their experiences), but we use Saxon. My oldest is in 5/4, middle in Saxon 2, youngest may use the Saxon K, but for now I printed off the MEP Reception 1, or something like that. The Saxon K is all hands on, no worksheets, maybe just practice in writing numbers, so we may do that in the future. Anyway, I have just recently shortened all the lessons, skipped a bunch of the nonessential and have moved along rather smoothly. Yes, we could just switch all together (I know there are some inexpensive, even free, curriculum out there), but we have been progressing so I see no need to change in this subject at this time.
I will say that there are some things that I have been skipping that I *thought* didn’t need to be reviewed daily, but I was wrong. So, what I have been doing is more of the *lesson* which is oral/hands-on and skipping the worksheet (unless my 7 yo wants to do it and he usually does). I’m just really looking over the lessons and trying to be more aware of what can be skipped/modified/breezed through more quickly without missing foundational pieces. Does that make sense?? My oldest’s lessons are super easy to introduce (maybe 10 minutes) then I have him do every other problem for the worksheet part of it. I’ve been correcting his work right away as to not get behind and nip in the bud the problem areas. We’re moving along smoothly. The 5/4 has a worksheet/student book with multiplication practice sheets for timing (among other things) and we do that part orally. I usually skip around on the page to change it up abit and just make it quick and painless:)
Anyway, we have changed all of our other subjects to fit the recommended curriculum guide except this one. Don’t ask me why, I really don’t know other than the fact that I felt I could CM-friendly it where as the other subjects I just had to let go of the ideas because I just couldn’t make them fit:) I guess it does sound silly that if you have to modify it that much why not just switch over to something else, but that’s my story and I really feel okay about it:) HTH
Live and learn.
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