daughter bored with Saxon

[Denisemomof4]

I pulled her out of school and started with Saxon because that's all I've used before. But after taking a break from it the past year and a half while kids were in school, coming back to it it's just SO dry and SO boring! My daughter says it's 1st grade work, she's in 2nd grade.

Any suggestions? I'm questioning about supplementing with MUS but I'd think that would be even easier? I'm considering this because my oldest used Saxon through algebra and he isn't doing as well in math as he is in other subjects. He's very bright but HATES math. I just told him last night that it's not that he's not good at math, it's that the program we used didn't work for him. He feels better but is not wanting to redo algebra at home (he completed Algebra II honors this year along with geometry w/proof and is averaging B's and C's - hiw lowest grades) Now I've lost confidence in the program.

Suggestions? I don't want the same issues with my daughter, who seems to be gifted in math.
Denise

[Claire]

I would highly recommend Singapore Math (http://www.singaporemath.com/). It is a wonderful program for math-bright children. Do *not* be fooled by the cartoon-like nature of the samples you see. This is a rigorous program that teaches math concepts very, very well.

One of the complains about Saxon is that it over-teaches the "how" of math and doesn't do much for concept development. Also, it teaches very, very incrementally. Singapore, in contrast, teaches the entire concept first and then works on a variety of ways to implement the concept. It's much more fun for students who "get" math easily.

[MIch elle]

Join CLE yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/christianlightfamilies/)to see samples

[Sue in St Pete]

Hi Denise,

Every time I ever looked at Saxon, it looked horribly tedious to me. Personally, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. On the other hand, I probably would have enjoyed it as a child. I'm a perfect Paula and a math geek. I did math workbooks for fun on vacation as a kid :rolleyes:

We have used MUS for years and love it. You can read my detailed review here:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4793

I wonder why you think MUS would be even easier than Saxon. In the early days, I would give ds the test. If he did fine on the test, we skipped the lesson. We flew through a book or two that way, until he was learning something new.

Singapore is also a great program. *I* personally could not hack it (tried to supplement with the entire program in 2nd grade) because it was so different from the way I learned. We supplement with the CWP.

Good luck!

[Soph the vet]

I have liked Saxon in that my kids know their math. Accelerating the pace and skipping the excessive review in Saxon may lessen her boredom. Do the online placement test and see if she needs to be in Saxon 3.

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I tried varying it, etc... In the end, we switched to Singapore and she LOVES math. My "I hate, hate, hate math" child loves math because of Singapore. We also added in some MUS and she enjoys that too, but Singapore is our main math program. If you really want to stay with Saxon, try having her do a few problems on each page and skip pages until you find where you are challenging her and slow down. Saxon is a terrific program, but it certainly works best with certain personalities. I personally loved it, but I wasn't the one who needed to learn the math. Singapore is a good solid choice, as well as MUS.

[HollyDay]

We started using BJU math and have been surprisingly pleased.