Anyone familiar with Saxon Math for a First Grader? Thoughts?

[gatorsmom]

The school we are considering for Gator and Cha Cha uses this curriculum. Our last school taught Everyday Math and I never felt like Gator was really learning anything. I've been looking over the Saxon Math worksheets and lessons and it looks like the complete opposite of EDM. I'm a little nervous about throwing him into a program that is so drastically different. Of course, DH really likes the school and just poo-poos me with, "Gator is young and will adapt." Maybe I"m the overprotective mom but I am just a little concerned.

Thoughts?

[AngelaS]

It's what we use in our homeschool and I really like it. :) There's lots of repetition so kids get the material before moving on. :)

[egoldber]

The main complaint I hear is that, like Angela says, there is a lot of repetition, so for a kid who gets it quickly it can be incredibly boring. In a homeschool situation I can see where that could work because you know when your kid gets it and you just move on even if you are not "done". But in a classroom situation, the teacher may not have the flexibility to be able to do that.

[JTsMom]

Saxon uses a spiral (or incremental) approach (depending on who you ask), and a lot of manipulatives. Here's a short thread that touches on that.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-51978.html


http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=196125

It's very traditional math, and it's thorough. I know that with the HS version, you do a "morning meeting", which is basically a circle time, then the actual lesson. Not sure if it would be the same in PS.

I considered using it, but ended up with RightStart b/c it is a better fit for us.

ETA: placement test, just to give you an idea
http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/en/resources/result.htm?title=Placement

[Cuckoomamma]

I'll just ditto what others have already said. It can be a bit repetitious and boring, especially if your child grasped the concept right away.

[JTsMom]

Just had to come back and add that the WTM book has a brief description about several of the most popular curricula for each subject. If you pick up the book, be sure to check out that section. :)

[Staraglimmer]

It is wonderful! It has a nice balanced approach. I've taught Saxon to first and third graders. If you have any specific questions PM me :). It makes me feel useful :)

It uses manipulatives as well as fact sheets. Only one new concept is taught each day. There is a constant repitition of skills. It is also nice that the HW is identical to the work done in class, so students can usually do it independently.

[gatorsmom]

It uses manipulatives as well as fact sheets. Only one new concept is taught each day. There is a constant repitition of skills. It is also nice that the HW is identical to the work done in class, so students can usually do it independently.

I noticed that the HW is identical yesterday when they showed it to me and I was really happy about this. It will make it so much easier for me to go over it with Gator at home.

Thank you for this glowing review, and from the other moms here as well. And thank you for the heads up about the potential for boring him. Gator is starting to show some of the same talent for math that his DH has (luck him) so I will keep a close eye on whether he is losing patience with it or getting bored. Thank you all again!

[larig]

If I had a choice I would avoid it for my DS. I think it's kinda boring.

I taught for h.s math for 10 years (mostly AP calc & precalc). I think that Saxon is pretty heavy on the computation and thin on the theoretical mathematical concepts that underpin the work. In other words, kids that I've seen come into my h.s. math class from Saxon programs were great computationally, but they needed help with critical thinking and problem solving. They were good with the 30 of the same type of problem over and over, but when it's something new they were seeing for the first time, they struggled.

[justlearning]

My son's school teaches Saxon Math and I've been very, very happy with it. I recently met up with an old friend and she complained about how much she dislikes the Everyday Math being taught at her son's school. (He's in 2nd grade.) Before being a SAHM, she was a high school math teacher and feels that she has to supplement what her son's learning at school because it's weak in many areas.

I know that others in this thread have brought up the boredom issue. My son did complain about that for part of last year when he was in 1st grade but has stopped complaining this year. His school does move through the curriculum more quickly, I think, than other schools might because they've been working on Saxon Math 3 (which is designed for 3rd grade, I believe) all of this year. He is also able to keep testing ahead on the timed math drills--when a kid passes it, he/she goes on to the next so it's paced according to the kid.

For your son, transitioning might be a small challenge but I think 1st grade would be a great time to do it because you should be able to quickly catch him up.

Regarding the concerns about being strong on computation but weak in other areas, I haven't really seen that with the curriculum so far. Every worksheet he does has at least one story problem, and many of their questions use logical reasoning to determine the answer.

To give you an example, here's a worksheet DS' 2nd grade class did a couple of weeks ago along with his answers: (They've since moved on to multiplication but I don't have one of those worksheets handy.)

1. Meghan bought a pencil and a notebook at the school store. How much money did she spend? (A table is next to it listing the prices of a ruler, marker, pencil, and notebook.)

Number sentence: 23 cents + 47 cents = 70 cents
Answer: 70 cents

2. Use a pictograph to answer the questions:
How many poems did the children in Room 4 write? 15

etc. -- asks more questions where they have to refer to a pictograph in which each square represents 5 poems

3. I have 2 ten-dollar bills, 4 hundred-dollar bills, and 7 one-dollar bills. How much money do I have? $427

4. Which line segments are horizontal? CD, AE
Which line segments are vertical? BA, DF
Which line segment is oblique? BC

What is the perimeter?
Number sentence: 1cm + 3cm + 4cm + 1 cm + 2 cm = 11cm
Perimeter: 11cm

5. What was the date 2 days ago? Nov. 16, 2010
What will be the date 1 month from today? Dec. 18, 2010

6. Find the sums using mental computation:
78 + 12 = 90 23 + 40 = 63 25 + 43 = 68

ETA here's his worksheet from 2 days later to give you a sense of how much redundancy there is:

1. Emily needs new tape on the edge of her bedroom rug. The rug is 6 feet long and 4 feet wide. Label the sides. How much tape will she need to buy?
Number sentence: 6' + 6' + 4' + 4' = 20'
Answer: 20 feet

2. Shade the thermometer to show the temperature at which water freezes.

3. Fill in the missing numbers on the number line.
Where are the points located? A: 3 B: 9
Which of these points is between 3 and 10? B

4. (shows picture of square) What are the vertical line segments? AB and CD
What are the horizontal line segments? AD and CB

5. How many cups of water will each container hold?
pint: 2
quart: 4
half gallon: 8
gallon: 16

6. Write 609 in expanded form: 600 + 9

7. What are the starred digits?
40 + *6 = 86
answer: 4

59 + *0 = 79
answer: 2

*9 - 30 = 59
answer: 8


I don't know what Everday Math looks like so I would be very interested in what a 2nd grader in everyday math is learning right now. Perhaps it would make me appreciate it more--I'd love to see what your child's worksheet looks like if any of you moms want to share.

[egoldber]

I noticed that the HW is identical yesterday when they showed it to me and I was really happy about this. It will make it so much easier for me to go over it with Gator at home.

You know your child best, but this would be guaranteed to make my kid nuts!


My son's school teaches Saxon Math and I've been very, very happy with it. I recently met up with an old friend and she complained about how much she dislikes the Everyday Math being taught at her son's school.

I think EDM and Saxon are pretty much at the opposite ends of the math education spectrum. Lots of people think that EDM does not have enough drill, many think Saxon has too much. Better schools/teacher probably supplement/adjust for the weaknesses in either spectrum. The problem comes when you get a school/teacher who won't (or doesn't know how) to make adjustments.

[justlearning]

You know your child best, but this would be guaranteed to make my kid nuts!.

FWIW the homework side is extremely similar to what they do in class but it's not identical. For example, referring to the second worksheet I listed in my post above, the back of that worksheet (intended for homework, although DS almost always gets it done in class) has the following problems:

1. another word problem about a rug but with different numbers

2. Shade the thermometer to show 98 degrees F.

3. same type of question involving number line but with different numbers

4. Same type of question about vertical and horizontal line segments but with different labeling.

5. Write the names of these containers in order from the one that holds the least to the one that holds the most: gallon, half gallon, pint, quart

6. Write 430 in expanded form.

7. What are the starred digits? (different numbers than other side)

[swissair81]

In my dd's school they use saxon math for 1st and 2nd grade. Maybe third. After that they switch because the teacher in charge of buying mathbooks believes that the repitition is good for younger grades & excessive for older.

[sushisam]

My company did a study of 4 widely used math curricula and the results were favorable for Saxon math in the 2nd grade. You can read the report here: http://www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/education/mathcurricula_fstsndgrade.pdf.