This blog is an answer to a question about how I skip around Saxon. If you’re not familiar with Saxon, it can best be described as an incremental approach to mathematics. The lessons are scripted and it is designed that you take the lessons in order. This drives some people nutty. However, I think that you can easily adapt Saxon to fit your needs and we have done so in our house, particularly with our son Alex, who is gifted in this area.
Understanding the Saxon Plan
Essentially Saxon follows the same pattern from K-12. You introduce a concept, you practice that concept, and then you do math problems that incorporate both the new concept and review the old ones. In the lower grades, there is additional review using timed drills, as well as a daily meeting that covers basic number concepts like telling time, reading a calendar, etc.
How We Use Saxon
I’m sure a Saxon representative would frown at me right now but I have a little secret: I don’t follow the teacher’s manual to the letter. I don’t even necessarily open it every day. I know some homeschoolers who just buy the workbooks but we don’t go that far either. The teacher’s manual is a valuable reference and resource–especially if your child is struggling with math. It has a unique manner of presenting new material that is logical. Plus if you don’t know what you’re doing–it is definitely helpful!
But there is no law that says you have to follow it or you’ll mess up the whole program. For example, in the early grades there is a daily meeting. At the daily meeting you are supposed to practice counting by 1’s, 2’s, 5’s, or 10’s–all year long. Once my kids had counting down–we stopped. It was no longer necessary and so we moved onto money, fractions, etc. We spend no more than 3-5 minutes reviewing these basic concepts where as I think if we followed the guide we would spend around 15 minutes.
Look for my next blog soon that addresses timed drills in Saxon, and how you can (sort of) skip around.
My other blogs on Saxon:
Why Saxon Math Drives People Crazy