Homeschool World Forum

[PottersDaughter]

Hmmm... So I gave my two children this assessment last night after dinner, in good moods. My son is entering 2nd grade, and daughter 1st grade. My BFF I'm HSing with this year has a son going into 3rd grade, and is doing his assessment this morning.

I thought my kids would BREEZE through this.... Got to part to, and my son, struggled. Well... not struggled, but thought he got some answers right and he didn't. He wasn't focusing well. I love him, and say this with love, but he's lazy. Something I'm hoping to "fix" in homeschooling him. I think he just wants to 'get the work over with' instead of concentrating and doing it right. Anyway... Not saying that WOULD have changed his answers, but I took the directions on my part literally. "It's not a teaching time." So I just marked his answers either right or wrong.

So he did Level 1 Saxon Math (to my knowledge) in 1st grade. But so did my daughter, in Kindergarten. (Their background is a Classical Private school).

The assessment placed my son at Level 1! I'm not disappointed in him by NO MEANS, but obviously, that discourages me as a parent because I "expected" him to move on to Level 2 (I mean... I paid a hefty tuition afterall!!!) Now, the other side of that coin is, I looked at his report card from last year, and it DOES show a decline in math.

I talked to a public school teacher of mine, and she suggested starting somewhere in the middle of Level 1 with him. Pick up with where he seems to be struggling.

My daughter was easily placed in Level 1.

I hope my BFF's 3rd grader places for Level 3 because I already bought it off of ebay. LOL!

Any opinions, suggestions, etc are appreciated! Thank you so much in advance!
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Brand spankin' new HS mom to DS8 (2nd grade) and DD6 (1st grade).

[Lily]

I only have personal experience to draw from, but I can tell you that our year with Saxon was a disaster. We didn't even finish the year it was that bad. It took a very different curriculum for my son to not only become interested in math, but to understand it and grow with it as well.

If I were you I'd try to keep my options open and perhaps find a curriculum that made sure to work with how your son learns.

Just my .02.
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"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. Montessori
Proud non-member of the HSLDA

[hscoach]

It seems like people either love Saxon math or they hate it. I used it for first grade with one of my sons and I liked it okay. But it becomes more difficult in the older grades and I don't like it. It seems to be put together in a confusing way to me. I wonder if you should try having your children take a different placement test to see how the results compare. Here is a page from Sonlight. It includes a placement test from Singapore math, which is my favorite for younger children and a placement test from Teaching Textbooks, which is my favorite for higher grade levels.

http://www.sonlight.com/placement-tests.html

See what you think.
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Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[dkocur]

If you think he didn't do as well as he should have, then maybe some other factor got in the way of an accurate assessment. If you suspect that's the case it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him retake the test. From personal experience I did much better the second time I took the SAT. It wasn't because I learned anything between the first and second test, but because I took the first one after staying up late.

I have a sneaky suspicion that your son would have done better had he taken the test in the morning rather than after dinner. You're in a much better position to make that judgment, but keep in mind that studies show that people think clearer in the morning.
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David Kocur
UberSmart Software

[PottersDaughter]

dkcour - Do you think after eating lunch is fine to retake it? LOL

I guess retaking it wouldn't hurt. There are definitely more positives from my opinion to Saxon than negatives. I'm going to go check out that link now though, that hscoach posted. (Thank you!!!)

I appreciate the feedback everyone!!!
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Brand spankin' new HS mom to DS8 (2nd grade) and DD6 (1st grade).