I am discerning HS’ing my daughter for 2nd grade next year. I have been researching math curriculum and have been intrigued by Singapore Math. My daughter has used Saxon Math for K-1 in the private school she attends so part of me thinks it might be an easier transition to simply stick with that. However, she was initially very interested/doing well in Math and as the year has gone on, I have seen her become less interested. I wonder if this is due to what I would label the “dry” nature of Saxon? She tests very high verbally and cognitively, but I would say is at grade-level mathematically. I am a strong-believer in using real world applications when teaching Math. I appreciate any input!
@MissSully Singapore math didn’t work out for us (2nd grade). Not sure why…its a totally different way of learning math to us. My son was also in day school prior to us Hs-Ing him. He too used Saxon. Dry and boring!! We now use BJU math. He is at grade level in math and really enjoys it:)
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Singapore and Saxon math are very different options. Much of the reason that Saxon feels “dry” is that it incorporates huge amounts of review into the lessons. Saxon is a spiral program, which means it will teach a topic, then come back to the topic and back to the topic during the entire year until it is finally learned. Some children need a lot of review very regularly to learn, Saxon is a great program for them.
Singapore is a mastery based program. This means that it teaches a topic, gives problems only on that topic and moves on. Any review and/or drill is on the teacher/parent to include. Some children like to focus on learning only one thing at a time and become frustrated if too many different processes are included in one lesson, Singapore is a great program for them.
Take a good look at both programs at a curriculum fair and see if the explanations make sense to you as the teacher. There are many other programs that are excellent as well.
Best wishes…
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The sad thing is that since my daughter has been in traditional school for almost 2-years now, I don’t feel entirely comfortable labeling her learning style?? Any recommendations for this?
The best suggestion I have is to observe your child while you’re sitting next to him/her on the couch, reading a story aloud. Do they get in close, straining to see every word and illustration? (Perhaps a Visual Learner); do they look away and appear to be inattentive, yet recall details of the story easily and like to discuss anything and everything? (Likely an Auditory Learner); Do they often fiddle with an object in their hands, have difficulty being still and can not wait to turn the story into something they can show you? (Probably Kinesthetic Learner.) Most all of us learn from a combination of these styles, but lean towards one. My high schooler can recall every detail of a book selection read aloud (Auditory Learner) while I need to take the text and read it with my own eyes to recall content (Visual Learner.) When we began homeschooling, I would insist she was looking at me as I taught, but she would be looking off in the distance or doodling. After a few weeks of narration questions, I realized she was hearing and processing everything! After that realization, I made sure she had a paper and pencil handy! Lol!
Best to your efforts!
PS to the original math question. Christian Light Education Math is considered a “lighter” Saxon. In our opinion, very good, thorough content, Godly, nice illustrations, but not busy, review but not overkill, not dry.
There are sample pdfs of both the Teacher Manual and Student Workbook so you can print it and try it out.
Christian Light Math
My STRONG suggestion after purchasing things I did not use: borrow or print a sample and don’t just go over it, actually try teaching it to your child. This is the acid test!
Blessings!
Saxon bored me, so I opted not to use it with my kids. My oldest DD did great with Singapore, but my second DD needed more review than Singapore offered. One thing to watch with Singapore as they get older…it doesn’t cover everything that we cover in the US. The one thing that I remember distinctly is negative numbers. When my oldest got to Pre-Algebra, we had to stop and do a unit on negative numbers because she had never dealt with them in Singapore (and I didn’t think to introduce her to it). There were two or three other things that we had to stop and work on, although I don’t recall offhand what they were. I would say that most kids need more review than SIngapore offers. I would suggest either using Singapore as a supplement or being very intentional about providing review sheets for your daughter. For my middle two children, we are using Horizons. It’s spiral like Saxon (meaning it has built-in review), but much more colorful and visually appealing than Saxon IMO. There are lots of good choices out there. You just have to find what works for your family.