We are using Saxon Math 8/7 this year. This is our first time to use Saxon and so far it is going well and ds likes it. My question is.....the testing schedule shows Test 1 is over Lessons 1-5 but they don't want you to give it until Lesson 10 is finished. It is this way with all of the tests for the year. If any of you use Saxon is there any pros and cons to waiting to give the test? I am thinking I want to give it when Lesson 5 is complete so it is fresh on ds's mind. Thanks for any input!
We are using 76 this year and did 65 last year (I did high school courses with sd when she was homeschooled too). You should wait until Lesson 10. Part of Saxon's main philosophy is constant reinforcement. The reason you delay the test is so the concept is not something they immediately have studied and then they can forget it. You will find that the tests cover material from all different chapters as you move through the year. If you wait you get a better picture if they have really gotten the material. Are you making sure you do all the problems in each lesson? The practice problems will also incorportate material from previous lessons. That is one of the things sd really like about the program, it never let her forget previous material because she kept seeing questions on practice problems or tests. Doing all the problems is really a key part to the set up of the program.
Thank you mschickie. Yes, he is completing all of the problems and one of my favorite things about Saxon so far is the reinforcement it does give. I appreciate your input!
Yes, although the concepts tested on the first test were taught in lessons 1-5, they're practiced in lessons 6-10. One reason some people don't like Saxon is because doing the lesson part plus 25 or 30 practice problems gets BORING, but it's where the effectiveness is, in the repetitive practice of a little bit of several different kinds of problems. I'm using 87 this year, too, and 76. My favorite is CLE math, which incorporates the idea of incremental spiral with distributed practice, but this year, Saxon just seemed to fill the bill for these particular students.
Saxon was a failure for us. My daughter began Saxon in the middle of 4th grade in a private school and learned nothing. I dislike it because it lacks "mastery" of the new concepts. I had a hard time swallowing the fact that they would introduce a new concept, give 5 or 6 problems on it and the other 25 problems were unrelated to the new concept. By the time I pulled my daughter out of school in the middle of 6th grade, and had her tested, she was still at a 4.8 level in math.
kmarie30, the thing about Saxon is, the student will do just as many of the same kind of problem, eventually. Only they'll do it a few at a time, spread out over many many lessons to follow instead of doing them all in the same lesson or two or three lessons. I guess it really doesn't work for everybody, but it has worked well for the students I've used it with over the past 13 years. Most of the 44 students I've taught in that time came out of public school where a "mastery" program was used, and I've had to put them back more than one grade level of math because that approach didn't assure mastery for them. All of them have used either Saxon or CLE math, both of which are built on the incremental spiral model (a little new concept, followed by a planned pattern of mixed practice of a lot of different kinds of previous concepts distributed over many lessons), and most of them (that I've had the opportunity to give achievement tests to) have scored at or above their grade level, even when working "a level below" their chronological grade level.
I can see what Saxon is trying to accomplish with the short spiral method. It definitely works with many kids. However, my dd used is for 2 years and was so confused and frustrated that she didn't learn anything. She needs lots and lots of repetition I had to remove her from the private school she attended because of the Saxon curriculum. Now that we are homeschooling we may give it a try once more in the homeschool environment along with lots of drill and kill worksheets. Being at home we have more time to do that. She may return to a private HS in a couple of years so I want her to be able to use Saxon if she has to.
kmarie30 the Saxon program used in many of the schools today differs from the homeschool (which is their traditional program before the company was bought out). I also have seen that in many of the schools they do not do enough of the drills along with the Saxon program. That could be part of the issue.
I've not read all the other posts, so someone may have said this. Because Saxon is first a brick-and-mortar school program, it has a lot of review at the beginning. My children complained about this. So I would give test one, and they'd get 95%. So I would give test two. Each day I would give a test until the scores dipped from the 90's to the 70's, and that's where I would start them.
Saxon (at least from 54 and up) does have tests. The first one is after lesson 10 and then after every 5 lessons. I am not sure about their early elementary program since I used Horizons for that.
