I just want to scream. I love that Saxon has a lot of review, that is what we needed. Yet I fear is is way too much review. Yes, be careful what you ask for, right? The problem is the pace, it is way way too slow. I keep waiting for it to pick up a bit, but it is not working. We are still covering information that he learned last year in first grade. By now I would think (since we have been using it for a few months before we ended last year) we would be hitting some new material. NOPE! Also the length of time we are doing math daily is just way too much, it is over kill. So by the time we are done with just math my little guy is burned out. So, I need so ideas please. We both prefer to use a spiral program, needs to have some review (not over kill), needs to move at a steady pace without pushing too fast, easy to use on my part. Oh, yeah also one that doesn't take 1-1 1/2 hours to finish daily. Do I go back with McRuffy using grade 2 and just add in more review? Do I go to Horizon math grade 2? Any other suggestions?
Can you only do like the odd or even problems to shorten the lessons but still cover the topics? When we first started homeschooling I had the OCD problem of an unfinished worksheet, now I am learning to accept them as completed( LOL even though sometimes it nearly kills me lol)
It really is not the amount on the worksheets. We only do one side which doesn't have that many problems. It is actually getting to the point in the day you can do the worksheet. There is sooooo much you do before you even do the worksheet.
Try Math u see!! We LOVE it. It focuses on one subject at a time. Example: Alpha-Basic Addition/subtraction. Beta-Longer addition/subtraction. Gamma-Multiplication. I've been showing this to people for years and FINALLY someone from the homeschool group listened to me. They have showed it to others and we now have about 5 more people using it.. It has review, has a DVD with a short presentation of the lesson, and the teacher's manual explains the lesson as well. Easy Peasy.. Each lesson has 6 pages. 3 of the new concept and 3 of review from previous lessons. My kids watch the DVD lesson then do the first page of the lesson. If they did well on the math page, they skip the other 2 pages of the new lesson and move to the review, then test. If they miss more than 5 problems on the math test I have them do the pages we skipped. One lesson usually takes us about 3/4 days. If it's something that they catch onto quickly. Sometimes we work on the lesson for a week or two on other concepts that they haven't quite gotten down..
We are doing Christian Light this year. So far we are really enjoying it. There is a free diagnostic test on their website you can use to figure out where he is at currently. Each day there is a set of flash cards to go through and a speed drill. (I didn't realize how badly we needed this until this year.) Then you proceed to the lesson. There is a practice test each day. If the student passes the practice test (they can only miss like 2 questions) then they can skip the review the next day if they do not pass they do the extra practice the next day and take the next practice test. I really like that if ds completely passes the practice test he can move on that way it doesn't get to redundant and he is motivated to do his best so he can "skip" some work however if he doesn't pass it is really easy for me to see what we need to work on and we review it the next day. I'm not sure I'm explaining it to well but there are a lot of samples on the website also. I am not familiar with Saxon or Math U See so I hope this suggestion is not totally off base from what you used now. Good Luck. BTW ds is 8 and working in the 300 units.
Okay my vote goes with Horizon Math, it moves faster but reviews as you go, I think its great! IT is colorful and kids think they are doing less than they really are because of the small sections of each type of problem. GO for it!
We used Horizons first grade one year. I liked it a lot other than that it was not a good fit for my son. We use Math U See now and we all love it. If you want spiral and to move more quickly, Horizons just might be right.
This will be the second year we use Modern Curriculum Press Mathmatics. I really like it, and the pace is quite fast. They are work-texts, so the student can write right into the book. When DS needs more practice, I can always find printable worksheets online, or just handwrite some problems for him. I REALLY like this math course, it's easy to teach, and easy DS to learn, which says a lot, because he hates math.
ONLY the first unit of the ten is structured this way. This is a review of the 200 level. The actual 300 work starts in 302. Every level besides 100 has the -01 unit as review, under the assumption that the student is picking up at the first of a school year after a summer break (so if you do year 'round, continuous progress without a significantly long break, you can easily skip the -01 unit). There will be about 4 pages of lesson and practice, but that includes sufficient "white space" in there to have room to work. Yes, each day will have flash card work, some mental math like maybe skip counting, and a brief speed drill (in the back of the workbook - 2nd grade gets 2 minutes, all the rest get 1 minute) with practice in graphing the results of the speed drill daily. I LOVE CLE! especially reading/LA and math!!!
I learned long ago to start the new book by giving test one. The next day I give test two. We continue like that until the grade drops from the 90's to the 70's, and that's where we start. My kids fuss about having to "learn" what they "already know", and I don't blame them.
Sorry OP I didn't realize only my first unit was designed that way. Hope I didn't miss lead you. Lindina thanks for the heads up guess we were going to be in for a shock next week. That's ok though we are really enjoying CL I don't think the new format will bother us. Thanks again for your input.
As a very wise group of homeschoolers have repeatedly told me Use what you need and skip the rest. We use Spectrum workbooks because that's the best fit for us. I'm not suggesting it though... because it isn't a spiraling program really. It's just good solid math that moves along at a steady pace. For us, I give a 5-10 minute explanation of the day's math problems. The kids then do 10-20 (whatever I feel necessary) problems. If they miss more than 2, they finish more problems on the same page the next day. If the 'before' stuff is too much, skip it. If the pages are moving too slowly, skip ahead to where you are comfortable. When we started, I let ds take tests for sections he felt he knew. If he got 95% right, we skipped that section altogether.
I am not really familiar with the saxon before 5/4, but I know with the older grades, it is all review until approximately lesson 25 (give or take a few) I would encourage you to stick with it....do the addition and subtraction facts till they are sick of the them, because it will benefit them in the long run. Sometimes, with math especially, those things easily learned are those things easiest forgotten. The repetition is concreting information that we now take for granted. If you have a child who learns math easily, I don't think you'll find a better program than Saxon. ( Some to equal it, of course!) Having said that, if I were to choose a different program, it would be Christian Light.
If he doesn't need all the "before" stuff, and it's all review, just let him do the work sheet and be done. You can do more of the teaching when you get to something new. My older dd is doing Saxon 7/6. She hated it at first because she has been doing Horizons and with Saxon they use slightly different terminology and explain things differently, and she has to write out the problems. But it's working better now that she is a little more used to it. I've been looking over things to make sure we are still in review, answering any questions as she goes through, and then we go over the answers together as soon as she is finished. I like doing it that way because she gets immediate feedback and I can see quickly whether a mistake was just a mathmatical error, or if she doesn't understand a concept. We have used Horizons all the way through with my little ones. I never do the teaching the manual suggests. I just look over the assignment, explain anything new, and let them have at it. I can almost do it without the TM totally, but occasionally I have to look something up to see exactly how they want us to do it.
We also use CLE and love it! We did use Horizons be the colors and all were a huge distraction to my son. You can't go wrong with either of them, in my opinion.
I to think there is to much review in Saxon and honestly their terminology for a lot of it especially in the upper grade books is simply not needed. Just call it what it is and move on. We're doing the Algebra 1 and it had the kids flustered the other day with their terminology. Just say the opposite of a number not what is the additive inverse of a number. Seriously do like Saxon though. Good luck.
I have solved my problem. We are using Math Mammoth light blue series. I looked it over, bought it for a great price and already have it printed out.
