Making Math Simple
I took on “summer homeschooling” this year. There has never been a time in the history of my children’s lives when they have had to do summer school, but this year I decided to rock their worlds with an infusion of education. I took it relatively easy on my kiddos. Five days a week I have them read, do a handwriting lesson, and a math lesson. All in all, it is about 70 minutes of work per kid each day of the work week. I have enjoyed watching them progress instead of the typical regression I see over the summer months. I was pleasantly surprised by their reactions to the math program I chose. Each one of my kids seems to actually enjoy doing math. This is a new reaction for my three little ones. In the past, math has been a little bit of a struggle, but not with this program.
My kiddos and I have spent the last month and a half working on Saxon Math. I have never found a program with such straight forward information. I am thankful this particular program was put together with the concept that math is a series of steps, unchanging steps, that have to be learned and then practiced until they are memorized. I was becoming accustomed to programs that devoted time and energy to teaching fifteen different paths to the right answer. For most kids, this is a really difficult teaching method. Learning a bunch of different tactics places the child in the position of needing to keep track of all possible problem solving methods, and know when and how to implement each one. I have tried to keep an eye on the statistical data regarding the math test scores of American children. At best, the data appears to point towards stagnant scores. So, while some would argue that the scores have not fallen- they surely are not on the rise.
Saxon Math takes the student back to good old fashioned memorization. My second grader is doing flash cards 15 minutes per day. It does my heart good to see her beginning to understand new concepts, while forming a foundation of mathematical equations she can pull right from memory. I have always advocated for memorization in math. I have seen it disappear, reappear, and it is now fading out again. Thank you Saxon! We need more programs that refrain from attempting to reinvent the wheel.
Another aspect of this program that I love is the way it is taught in short bursts, of new concepts, and has an amazing quantity of practice work for the student. The lessons are set up the way all lesson plans should be organized. There is a short time dedicated to instructing the student regarding the new materials, and then the student is given about 30 problems to complete. I love watching my kids learn, practice, and master new skills.
I am not saying that my kids are thrilled that I am forcing them to learn while their peers have what my children refer to as a “real summer”. But I am thrilled that my kiddos are not fighting me when it comes to our summer school program. There is no push back and my ten-year-old actually said he is glad he is still learning and not forgetting his math. WHAT?!?! I count that as a big fat win!