Saxon Math K, 1, 2. Meeting Book.

[HFClassicalAcademy]

We do the meeting book around here, but is it ok for me to drop this part of the program? It takes soooo much time with us!!! With the calendar, money counting, patterning, counting, etc....we easily spend about 30 minutes. I know it's all good stuff, but I'm wondering how many others out there just skip over it.

I might just do it once or twice a week. Anyone else do that?

Thanks!!
Liz in NC

[JaniceO]

I don't know if it's the right answer, but we skip it. My boys hated it and it took forever. I do make sure to cover the concepts and sometimes previous meetings tie into the lessons, but I just improvise.

[lauren]

In my opinion, it's hard. But, it's great repetition and lays a foundation! Kids get into consistency after a pretty short time. We as adults have a hard time with it. Think about the kids first and how they will benefit in the long run. It is not an immediate result. Saxon has the long term goals built into the program.

[Melissa B]

We do the meeting book with each lesson. I schedule an hour and a half to get three kids through math (two of them in Saxon K-3.) I bribe myself with a fresh cup of steaming coffee each morning as I begin the first meeting book. The kids don't mind it and the meeting book is what provides the solid base I want my children to have heading into upper elementary math.

[JudoMom]

I did the meeting lessons consistently with my oldest in Saxon 1. I've not done them consistently since then with anyone else. I'm currently teaching 6/5, 5/4, 2, & 1 and we have not had any problems (my oldest tested very well in Math on the ITBS last year).

I can see how the meetings would be beneficial if you were teaching a classroom full of kids, but with 1:1 teaching it is overly repetitive. They are skills that are easily covered in other ways without adding time onto a Saxon lesson.

I say skip :001_smile:.

[alilac]

We use it. I know a lot of people skip it. My dd is still not good at the 100's writing or counting, some aspects of graphing like "how many more".

However, the things she is proficient at I do once a week. So if it's taking long, maybe you can pick and choose portions of it a day. One day is to write in all the calendar days for the week, etc. Skip what your child does know for sure.

[Aunty Social]

...but adapt. Like some of the others have said, I feel that it is important reinforcement, but some things they know way before Saxon is finished drilling them on it. The things they have down, I'll cover once or twice a week as a refresher. Everything else we do daily. So, for example, my 1st grader knows how to count even and odds up, by tens up and down, count on from a number, the number and names of the days of the week, weekend, and week days. So we cover that a couple times a week for refresher. He still has trouble with left and right (must be genetic - I didn't get it down cold until 4th or 5th:tongue_smilie:), and if we skip the clock he tends to forget it, so we cover that daily. All in - if he isn't goofing around - it takes us about 10-15 min to do the meeting. That includes calendar, weather, number line, coin cup, meeting strip, and review. Of course, this is my math kid - he carries math workbooks in his bag and does them for fun.

[newlifemom]

As they get more comfortable with things I did/would skip things, sometimes. FWIW, I have a friend who did another math program but borrowed my Saxon for the meetings. I do think it is important.















(pssst, I really loathe it as well.;))

[Chris in VA]

We went back and forth about the meeting, but I began to see the genius of it later in the program. I think it helps in two ways. First, some concepts are intro'd in the meeting, then used later in another way, making the main lesson quite easy. The math facts for multiplication, for example, are so easy to get, because you have been skip counting for weeks during the meeting--the math facts for 5's are not intro'd until you've been counting by 5's forever! Then the main lesson can just spend a few minutes on the concept and bang! they've got it. Same with charting the temperature--once you've done it over and over, you can generalize that knowledge to the number line, positive and negative numbers, and eventually to the coordinate plane (which is just a vertical number line--like the thermometer--and a horizontal number line--which has been in the main lesson for a long time by that point).

Secondly, while many children will understand the concepts in the meeting with less repetition, Saxon seems to be going for an automatic processing level of knowledge. That takes more repetition than just knowing by thinking it thru. For example, a child may be able to add 4 and 6, getting the concept of addition, but when they don't have to think about it at all, that "fact" can be applied quickly and easily, so they can focus on further mathematics.

Do the meeting. Adapt if necessary, but do the meeting.

[Angel]

This is our first year with Saxon (2). We were easily spending 50-60 min on math, which is too long IMHO, for a 2nd grader. Now that I'm used to the format, we do just one or two things from the meeting each day with the goal of hitting all the points of the meeting in one week. I do calendar and temperature every day but only do questions about them once a week. My dd is very hands on and could easily be doing math for a long time. I, on the other hand, do it to get it out of my way. I make the math box accessible for her so if she wants to play with the manipulatives during read aloud, she can.

[Melmc]

I'm doing Math 1 this year with my Ker. She did Math K in her preschool last year. We always do the meeting book. I do change the order so after she does the pattern she goes straight into the money counting. And the right/left keeps getting shorter now that she knows it. Is she bored? Probably, but I think the repetition is important and sometimes I'll catch her skipping numbers. I also don't have her do the second side of the lesson sheet until we do something else like phonics or reading or she takes a break. Sometimes I take it with us if we've got appts. or waiting for her older siblings in a class just to break it up a little and treat it like "homework." She likes that. Math runs us about 30 minutes.

[HFClassicalAcademy]

Just want to say thanks to all who responded! I think I'm going to keep the meeting and just shorten the parts we know really well...perhaps just do them once or twice a week for review.

It just seems to get to be so much with 2dc doing Saxon 1 and Saxon 2.

Thanks again!

Liz in NC