I’m trying to decide whether it is worth forking out for the Saxon K books. I have been planning to use MEP, but looking through the lesson plans I am not convinced that I like it as the only program I have. I have heard that Saxon is very thorough, and I don’t like the idea of leaving any holes. I always enjoyed doing pages of worksheets, so that doesn’t put me off lol
I just want some opinions from Saxon-users - do you think there is any major benefit in using the Saxon books from K? Is there a big jump from the K book to the 1 book? Or should I just teach the basics to mastery myself and get Saxon at 5/4?
Here you go check out this review/ opinion. http://www.exodusbooks.com/category.aspx?id=2428
I don’t have kindergarten and to be honest its not my type of curriculum for those early math concepts but i am an early years reacher so i dont need a scripted text. Yes I use Saxon but from a higher level up. I have never seen inside one of the earlier books.
Always curious for other opinions though!
Thanks. The reviews are interesting - the biggest problem with the K curriculum seems to be the pace is very slow. I agree, not great when starting at age 5/6, but for a 3-year old, a slow pace is probably best.
I would say I don’t need a set curriculum for this level. I have oodles of maths-related toys/games/manipulatives/worksheets etc. but I am not confident in my ability to cover everything that should be covered. For me, Saxon would be like a security blanket - I am easily distracted by things I like doing, and am afraid that without a set curriculum I will find it too easy to get focused completely on, say, addition and subtraction and completely forget about patterns and sequences. If I am following a set curriculum, I won’t forget! MEP does seem good at what it covers, but from what I’ve looked through in detail (only a few lessons at beginning, middle and end to get a feel for it) it focuses a lot on number recognition/counting etc. - I haven’t noticed other areas of maths.
I won’t be using Saxon exclusively, if I use it at all at this level. I have MEP, which is very child-friendly and will be our ‘fun’ maths lessons. I also have various Montessori-style activities that I will have available at other times in the day. I am totally in love with the topics being constantly built on, rather than forgotten for months before they come around again and need to be re-learnt. That is what makes me think it might be worth forking out for the early Saxon books…
Why don’t you try IXL? Check the link for its UK curriculum - http://uk.ixl.com/math/years. You can use it to know what the kid need to know at each grade level. Several mums here use it, myself included. It enables me know that yes, I’m covering what need to be covered at each grade level (reception, then year 1, and so on). I then use my other methods, like Marshmallow Math, to know how to teach the concepts in IXL.
EDIT- You may not need to subscribe to the IXL site yet (I’ve not subscribed yet either), but simply use it as scope and sequence to know what your child needs to know at each level. That way, you’ll be sure you’ve covered all your bases. It allows a limited number of practice questions per day for non-subscribers, and your kid can start math practice with those, until you’re ready to subscribe.
Yep what she said :biggrin:
Also as another ( really cheap!) option you could use the Saxon placement tests at the bottom of that link to ensure you cover everything in Saxon K.,1,2… It wouldn’t be completely thourough but it will give good guidance. In the end I guess it comes down to how much the books cost. I would buy them if they were reasonable but would choose Singapore for those levels if they were cheaper. Sometimes a second hand Saxon book is a bargain. Other times the postage is triple the price of the book!
That is why I have PDF versions. Still at some point I will need to get hard copies for the ones that are not available in PDF.
Still if you are reasonably confident that you can find a way to teach the concepts then I will recommend IXL. And yes you don’t even need to buy it until your kids go up grade levels and you need a variety of problem difficulty levels.
Thanks I have seen the IXL website many times, thanks for the reminder.
What PDF Saxon books do you have? I have the two that were linked to last week (5/4 and 6/5, student books) - are there any others available?
I agree, price is everything! That is why I gave up on Rightstart - the shipping added 25% to the already not-cheap package :ohmy: Since I have the first two ‘middle school’ Saxon books, and I like the theory of spiral progression, I started looking at the Saxon books. But the set I found on amazon was £39+postage, hence this thread to see if it was worth it! Cheap Saxon books in the UK are hard to find (at least ones that aren’t shipped from the US at very high postage rates) but after a lot of browsing around, I got a bargain K teacher’s manual for £15 incl. shipping. I went for it, because I want to feel confident that I am doing enough in the beginning and the price was right. I doubt I will need the 1/2/3 books once I get the hang of teaching at this level and then I’ll use the free resources available to guide me to where he needs to be for 5/4.
I’ll make sure to write a review when we’ve done a few lessons
I only have the 2 in PDF. I was surprised to find those two are still available in PDF so I will be even more surprised to find any more but I am definately looking! I print out a weeks worth of lessons at a time ( so hubby doesn’t notice the ever dwindling stack of paper! lol ) then once she is done with them I take the paper to work and my kiddies use the back for scrap paper and drawing I am too lazy for double sided printing and far too lazy to rub it all out for the next kid!
I have the same probblem getting books. The postage! I have looked through betterworldbooks which often have free postage and there are a few there at not too bad prices. But there is always a chance you will end up with a teachers version when you want a student workbook when buying 2nd hand like this, so be careful making selections.
Definately post a review for the kindergarten book for us all. Teaching under 4 year old kids is very different to teaching school age children so for all we know it might be perfect!
Yes, definitely report back on your experiences with Saxon K.
I am using IXL with my daughter (2 years 7 months) and I really like it. We are 3/4 way through the first year of the curriculum. However, I feel IXL is more of an assessment of master rather than a teaching tool. Therefore, I need something else to ensure I am actually teaching her the concepts sufficiently.
I’m thinking of Saxon as I like to have a structured curriculum to follow to make sure I don’t miss anything. I have some other books but I haven’t found a favourite yet.
The thing abut Saxon K-3 is that it isn’t written by Saxon. The Saxon series was sold off to a publisher years ago. Then the publisher hired people to write the early Saxon math series and Saxon phonics.
Saxon himself didn’t believe that kids needed an early math program. To be able to start at Saxon 5/4 all kids need to know are double digit addition and subtraction and multiplication, they learn division in Saxon 5/4. I have looked over 5/4 and I tend agree. I think the recommended age is 10. But many 6 year olds are ready.
There is also a belief that kids will pick up number sense and concepts through practical life and games. I tend to agree. But I do enjoy structure.
I would stick with Marshmallow math, or Ktichen Table Math, which gives an idea of how to teach many concepts and number sense. Use IXL for ensuring everything is covered. Then just move straight to Saxon 5/4 (which is a free PDF) when the child is 6 or so AND knows that addition, subtraction and multiplication.
If you are a nut like me and actually enjoy work books you can purchase them by many companies. Singapore Math is common. And i really like the numberbonds. Spectrum workbooks are cheap, but fun, and cover a lot of the core essentials. My son is 2 and together we are slowly working through the Spectrum Kindergaten Math. It is pretty good for $10. He really likes this book.
I really like Math Mammoth books also. They are fun.
We also do Montessori Math, Miquon Math and Right Start Math. But honestly, not any of this is needed at all. We do all this for fun! And I guess I am a rarity becasue I actually like math. My son likes Math too so I roll with it.
All in alll though. When James is ready in a few years we will just by going right to Saxon 5/4.
So all in all, what I am trying to say is that you can probably find something cheaper and maybe even more effective than the Saxon K-3 math books.
If you go to http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/ it appears as though they are still using the original Saxon for homeschool. There isn’t a kindergarten curriculum. If you have a normal child not accelerated, you can do Saxon 1 in kindergarten. So, it would be fine for a lot of our kids at 3 or 4.
In my research of Saxon vs Math-U-See, I came across Miquon and fell in love with it. I’ve decided to work through these books quickly, and then go on to Saxon 5/4. I’ve been meaning to buy a math curriculum for awhile, but I cringed at spending so much money on it. Miquon is cheap, it has a lot of great reviews, and so far my kids are loving it. I bought the pdf, along with the lab book, so I can use it for all of my kids.
I’ve also let my kids play the free version of this game http://www.bigbrainz.com/. It looks like a professional video game, but has enough drill to really be educational, and it has motivated them to practice their multiplication problems off screen.
I suppose this doesn’t answer the original question, but since I am doing these things to prepare for Saxon 5/4, I suppose it’s relevant enough!
Up until now we’ve played a lot with math, but I haven’t given it the attention that I need to, mostly because I lacked a curriculum. I’m excited to dig in now! Buying Miquon has been an emotional high for me this week because now I have a blueprint to follow, and we can easily work our way through the books quickly. Best of all, it didn’t break the bank! I’ve got a lot of little ones, so that was important to me.
Unfortunately I only get time to read a few of the threads each week and I see that I have missed links to PDF files of Saxon 5/4 and 6/5. Can someone point me in the right direction or provide the links again. I have been considering Saxon 5/4 for my son but as I’m in Australia I’ve never actually seen inside a book so was very hesitant at paying out for the books plus shipping to Australia sight unseen. Would love the PDF!
Here is the 6/5 http://www.cascadeheights.org/sites/default/files/gradelevel_files/SaxonMath6-5.pdf
Same place different section yep postage to Australia is definately expensive! The books are 600 pages each! So if anyone finds any more of them in PDF please let me know! My daughter and I are really happy with the 5/4 so we are keen to continue on with the series. I also agree that ALOT of the 6 year olds on this forum can start on 5/4. It moves at a gentle pace. So you have plenty of time for reinforcement. It’s not for every kid, for some it would be torture. I am still on the fence about doing it with my middle child. I think I might start her on a Singapore grade 3 book until she matures a bit more then decide. But I will do a couple of lessons with her before I decide. I just don’t think she cares enough about learning in general to stick with it at this point in time.
I got the Saxon K teacher’s manual today. I am glad I didn’t go for the ‘meeting book’ as well (despite how much I love to have complete sets) because it is basically the same as the calendar time session I started with my son last month with an extra patterning exercise that I can easily add to what we already do. This also takes out the issue that the meeting book assumes a September start. I would also advise against the materials kit for anyone who is thinking about buying - I have almost everything already in my EL supplies cupboard! All you need are pattern blocks, counters (they use teddies but I have cars and trains and dinosaurs…) geoboards, linking cubes (or any other blocks that stick together, like legos) tangrams, a clock, dominoes and a balance. I would guess most of us have a good number of these things already :biggrin:
The lessons themselves look great. They are written word-for-word, which some might find annoying, but at least it makes the content/purpose of the lesson very clear if you want to re-word it and allows for very little prep time.
The first few lessons encourage creative play with the materials to get to know what they are. Lesson 5 introduces graphs. Lesson 9 teaches making AB patterns. Lesson 17 starts story problems. Almost every lesson has a lot of 1-to1 correspondence.
I haven’t looked past the first 20 lessons, but what I have seen looks fantastic. It covers topics that I wouldn’t think to introduce this early (like graphs) but I have no doubt that my 3 year old could easily understand the material. Each lesson looks to take at most 10-15 minutes and I will easily find time for one each day. Yes, I could easily cover this material on my own, but having a step-by-step guide will make it so much easier to make sure everything is covered and will save me hours of lesson-planning time to focus on other areas. Considering the speed we will probably go through it, I wouldn’t have paid the full price, but if you can get it second hand it is a great reference guide.
I will let you know the (more important lol ) opinion of my son after we have used the material for a couple of weeks.
Sounds good so far. It’s similar to what I teach my kindy kids. We have done patterns quite bit. I did graphs wih their shoes, but i do need to do a follow up lesson on something else soon. The calendar stuff is great and yes adding in the patterns to your every day calendar is such an easy way to enforce patterns. There is a sample lesson for that level and others ( including calendar) somewhere…I can’t recall if it is on Saxons own website but it gives a good overview if anyone wants to see a sample lesson.
From what you said that book would be too easy for my 4 year old so I think you are right to start on it with a 3 year old. So then you are already 2 years ahead and school hasn’t even started and we havnt even attempted to accelerate the speed yet!
Yes, I would think it would be rather slow and boring for older children. Perfect for a slow introduction at 2-3, though. I think the repetition and slow build-up of facts would drive a 4 year old with EL experience a bit mad, though.
Yes! BUT The K curriculum only has 12 lessons per month. I plan to complete a lesson most days (5-7/week), which means the whole K curriculum will be finished in 4-5 months! The lessons seem short and simple enough that completing 2 books in the year should be quite manageable. In that case, it would be easy to have finished 3rd grade maths before even starting school! Even going to school, I can see no problem finding time (especially in the first few years) for one extra lesson per day, which would have him ready for the Algebra books when he enters Year 2! :ohmy:
Now, If we accelerated to two lessons daily (which I doubt we will, as I’d also like to work on MEP daily) but if we do it would allow us to cover FOUR years of maths in 12 months and be potentially starting school five or six years ahead!
I really can’t get my head around that - my son is smart but no prodigy; I just can’t imagine him doing such complex work so young! And yet I can see that it would be quite easy to sit down for half and hour or an hour every day and get him there! The possibilities presented by EL continue to amaze me lol
I know! Wonderful isn’t it! Even with my focus having been on things NOT taught in school my kids just know amazing things that have their teachers regularly emailing and texting me! :laugh:
So just a thought. Yes it is entirely possible to do the kindergarten at an accelerated rate, I make one little suggestion. If the new concept introduced is AB patterns then yes do that lesson, but be sure it is reviewed out side of the math-at-the-table environment. I say this purely because as you a re starting to teach in the pre logic stage your child may not be able to connect the learning to everyday stuff. So it would be good of you to help him. Once you do the first few he will have no problem doing the rest independantly. Particularly important if you DO plan to send him to school. Because even if he can do multi digit addition some smug teacher will say " well yes but he can’t recognize a pattern in the playground" :ohmy:
I assume Saxon K has the same repetitive pattern that the higher levels have? Where the concept that is introduced in constantly reinforced? That will ensure you can progress at an accelerated pace. As much as I can’t picture ( in my puny little brain) a kid in grade 2 doing calculus, I certainly know it is possible! why is it so hard to believe when we already know it’s possible! lol
I have seen the IXL website many times, thanks for the reminder.
yep postage to Australia is definately expensive! The books are 600 pages each! So if anyone finds any more of them in PDF please let me know! My daughter and I are really happy with the 5/4 so we are keen to continue on with the series. I also agree that ALOT of the 6 year olds on this forum can start on 5/4. It moves at a gentle pace. So you have plenty of time for reinforcement. It’s not for every kid, for some it would be torture. I am still on the fence about doing it with my middle child. I think I might start her on a Singapore grade 3 book until she matures a bit more then decide. But I will do a couple of lessons with her before I decide. I just don’t think she cares enough about learning in general to stick with it at this point in time.