Saxon Math Review
Manipulative Based Math
For my son, he really enjoys hands on activities. For the Saxon math K-3 curriculum, there is a manipulative kit that they recommend purchasing because you utilize the materials within the kit on a regular basis. The Saxon Math kit includes teddy bear counters, pattern blocks, geo boards, bands, linking cubes, dominoes, rulers, a scale, clocks, anything you might find you need for math instruction. When the kit originally arrived, two years ago, my son just wanted to take out the kit and play with it. I kept his hands off, explaining to him that the tools in the kit would be used for our math learning time.
Since then, math has been a fun adventure for him. He absolutely loves participating in the lessons. utilizing Saxon Math. The Saxon kindergarten program starts teaching rudimentary concepts of time, the calendar, days of the week, counting to 100, recognizing written numbers and words, and beginning grouping items by color, shape, size, and counting these items.
The Saxon Math first grade curriculum builds on all of these skills. Students write on a meeting strip every day the date, a number sequence, and the amount of money placed in the coin cup. As the year progresses, you start working with only pennies, only nickels, or only dimes, to a variety of all three within the coin cup.
Students learn how to count by 2's, 5's, 10's, add and subtract single and double digit numbers, use flashcards for practice, and work with the manipulatives in the kit to enhance their learning study. They learn how to measure using a ruler by inches as well as centimeters. They learn how to measure on a scale, as well as beginning measurement of liquids. There is a great deal of spatial awareness taught in first grade, which helps students relate to the "shape" of liquid.
Now, I let my son "play" with the Saxon Math manipulative kit. He realizes what the pieces are for and can take them and actually teaches his brother how to play dominoes, or use the teddy bear counters to play games.
There are disadvantages to having such a structured curriculum. There is a great deal of drill work set up for these lessons. Saxon Math Kindergarten lessons averaged for us twenty minutes to an hour, depending on the scope of the lesson, and how many additional games were scheduled for the lesson. For the first grade Saxon Math lessons, we set aside an hour per lesson because there are activities, worksheets, and lessons to complete for each lesson. The curriculum comprises of 130 lessons for first grade. In addition, they recommend the student completes the double side of the page later during the day. An hour of math was plenty for my son to understand the concepts and he often uses them on his own during his free time, so I opted not to have him complete both pages of every sheet, and often he completes worksheets outside of the standard "math time" we've scheduled for the kitchen table, where we participate in most of our math lessons where we can spread out.
Having a hands-on program that allows me to teach math confidently has worked out well. Saxon Math has sample pages for the homeschool math program on their website, where you can see what parameters are taught throughout a typical school year for a grade level.
For my family, Saxon Math has been flexible to use, as well as worth the investment.
Published by Natasha Stiller
I'm a wife, mother, teacher, and more, continually trying to find balance in life. My first book is now available, Bigger than a Cardboard Testimony, which is incredibly exciting. I enjoy many different act... View profile
- Educational Card Games to Teach MathSee how children can master their basic math facts using a basic deck of cards.
Second Life: A Great Place to Teach Math and ScienceThe virtual world known as Second Life is anything but a "game." It could be a very involving venue for demonstrating and teaching math/science concepts. 
Teach Math with Playing CardsSkip the fancy expensive flash cards and use those old decks of cards to teach your children to do math.- Teach Math Using Beginning Reading Books or Chapter BooksThis lists five wonderful books that can be used to teach younger children about different math concepts.
- How to Write a Math BookIf you are a home educator or teach math, you may want to consider writing your own Math book. The thought of writing a math book can be daunting. If, however, you use math to break down the process, you can see that...
- Home School: Why One Mother Won't Put Her Kids in Public Schools
- Educational Policy: What Works Clearinghouse and Elementary School Mathematics
- Few U.S. Middle School Math Teachers Are Well Prepared to Teach Math
- Why Teach Math? Why Sing?
- Fun Ways to Teach Math to Children
- How to Teach Math Concepts to Your Preschooler?
- Free Printable Cut and Paste Math Activities
- Saxon Math is manipulative based
- Saxon math has drills as you progress
- Saxon Math is Easy to Use
8 Comments
Post a CommentMy wife teaches Saxon math to 7th graders and hates it. She says too many of the questions are too basic and there are not enough real problem solving questions. She also complains that the book does not get into any geometry questions until too late into the year and the state test requires that students know how to do things like find the area and volume of figures. It's also too rigid. She is a teacher that knows her math and would love to incorporate a lot of fun things into her classroom, but her district says that because they adopted Saxon (at a high cost) she has to use Saxon, the Saxon way, and there is not enough time for her to add the extra fun things in. She hates the scripted lessons because she knows the math and feels it unfair to have to drag the kids along. Also, Saxon does not work for a classroom of 30 kids with 1/4 of the class being special ed and trying to fight the hormonal anxiety of the teenage kids. Saxon may be great with homeschool and my wife has told me it is okay with the advanced kids that are used to doing what they are told, but with her regular classes, trying to get them to do 30 problems a day is like pulling teeth. And, with 100 students a day, how is she supposed to grade that many papers and see what students are having trouble with what lessons and stop and help them when she has to teach a lesson a day? Saxon doesn't work in this setting.
Help!!!!! i need somebody to find saxon math workbook page 13 1-30 please HELP!!!!!!!!!!!
I am glad it works for your son! :)
jenny sounds like a advertisement for Saxon. Saxon math is horrible.
It is poorly organized and poorly structured.
Seeing how it teaches kids to solve certain problems I can already see how they will be unprepared for other problems later where they should have learned it the way I did in school.
The kids doing well are the ones that will do well no matter what. That whole lie that they are doing better is just a lie. There is nothing better than repitition and introducing material after one concept is learned. Saxon seems to try to do that but does it poorly and in a disorganized manner.
Our teachers don't teach it inconsistently. They teach it like the book is the Bible and more and more students are failing. Kids can't even get help at home because they only want a problem taught to be figured one certian way or it is wrong. When you look at the book it is poorly demonstrated so nobody can figure out how it is being worked that way. Why? Because nobody learned it that way skippi
Saxon math sucks.
Its the worst math program I have ever laid my eyes upon.
I spend far to much time trying to teach my kid math at home just to be told they have to work a problem completely different than they should be learning to do them.
This article is nothing but a bogus piece of hoopla crap probably written by the same nit-wits that write the saxon math books.
I hate it. I work with the lower level high school math students and I see them drop off all year long. The problem is that there is really no way to go back and reteach anything because of the way the book is structured. I will say that I like it for young children, but when they get to Algebra I and Algebra II it is a nightmare. Saxon says "keep going" , so I do and I feel like the worst teacher ever because I just keep loosing them and before the year is over I only have about 5 (out of 25) students on board, the rest we are just dragging behind. I kind of think this happens in grade school too, they just don't see it as fast. A few students get lost every year and by the time they are in Algebra I, they are sooooo lost it is near impossible to catch them up. Using regular textbooks correctly can offer the best of both words. It has a lesson that has enough homework that the concept will stick and at the end of each lesson there is 8-10 review problems.
In Alg I and Alg
As a principal, I vote for Saxon hands down. The primary teachers who use it faithfully in our Title 1 school (90% English Learners) have classes whose district quarterly assessments are off the charts (80% to 90% of them score in the benchmark range)! Teachers who inconsistently follow the program do not see success and don't like Saxon. The program is not traditional because concepts are not taught in one chapter and then abandoned. It hops around, in a seemingly random fashion. Not so random when you analyze the program after a year's use! In actuality, concepts are introduced and constantly reviewed. A traditional math textbook on the other hand, begins with a chapter on number sense, moves to addition, then subtraction, geometry ( often lumped with measurement), etc. Once it's covered there's not a meaningful review of the concept. Saxon keeps revisiting important concepts with a lot of practice, the daily calendar requires lots of practice in mentally challenging format. It's a
As a substitute teacher who has done a few long-term assignments in a school system that uses Saxon Math, I'd have to disagree with you. It's far too structured. If a student doesn't "get it" from the scripted lesson, they're generally left behind because the teachers are expected to stick to the script. It's slightly better than Everyday Math, which the older grades use, but not by much in my opinion.