Homeschool World Forum

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.

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.

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!!!

We've used Saxon for 4 years now and I have decided to put both of my girls on different math programs in the fall.

My older daughter will be going into 4th grade in the fall. She did amazing in math through 2nd grade but this year she just did average. I feel like Saxon is too all over the place for her and a mastery program will work much better for her. She also struggles with memorizing her math facts and hates the Saxon times math facts practices and tests. We are switching her over to teaching textbooks this fall.

We did the first half of Saxon 1 with my younger daughter for first grade. She did average and I feel like she might do better with a different curriculum as well, so we are switching her over to math u see.

It's my understanding that Saxon is one of the tougher curriculums and that could be why your son is testing at a lower level? Maybe try a test from another curriculum and see where he places?

Thanks for the details. I will use this curriculum next year for my students.

Thank you

Thanks for the details.