A New Path in Math!

Up until now we have used Saxon Math.  We've used K, 1, 2, 3, 5/4, 7/6, 8/7.

Flower used 7/6 and 8/7 (6th & 7th grades) but isn't keen with staying with Saxon for Algebra I (8th grade).  We choose to go with Teaching Textbooks Algebra I concurrently with Life of Fred books and Khan Academy if she runs into problems.  I "think" with these together, we will have a well rounded Algebra year. (She is using the pre-algebra LOF now)

Thumper has been pretty happy with Math Mammoth and Life of Fred together.  He always opts to do LOF first and then MM.  After using Saxon K &1st with him, I decided to not move on with 2nd level for him.  He dreaded math every day and that is not the hopes of any parent.  In the middle of the year we started MM (that's when we completed Saxon 1) starting with MM 1-A.  He is nearly finished with 1-A and I hope we can get through 1-B before September, but I'm not going to rush it.  He'll get there when he gets there as long as we stay on track and not go over too many bumps.  We have read LOF Apples and are halfway through Butterflies, now.  I catch him drawing Fred and Kingie a lot and on everything.  For review and more practice, we use ixl.com....Thumper isn't crazy about it but that's because some of it is challenging for him.  We are working through that!

Artwork by Thumper



Bambi has used Saxon 2/Horizons 2 in second grade, Saxon 3 in 3rd, and has just finished Saxon 5/4 for 4th.  This year has been tough in math for her.  She tested just dandy on her yearly testing in May and outstanding in applied problems in math.  Saxon 5/4 I feel just jumped around too much for her to handle this year.  This the reason for switching.....I gave her the end of grade 3 placement test for MM last week and she scored a 163.  A score of 166 is 80% which would qualify her to move on to grade 4 MM.  Just looking at grade 4 MM, I knew we wouldn't even attempt it.  It's that advanced compared to Saxon.  So, unsure of where to place Bambi, I emailed the creator of MM (Maria Miller) for her advice.  The difficult parts for her in the test were Fractions (which we only touched on in Saxon), Measurements, & Geometry.  Her advice was to go over those three topics in grade 3 then move onto grade 4.  Or, we could do them concurrently.  Luckily, I bought levels 1-6 of MM on Buyers Co-op for a ridiculously low price.  Bambi has started LOF Goldfish and will work on her own pace through intermediate by the end of 5th grade.  This summer her goal is to catch up with difficult areas and master facts! 

Out of curiosity, I gave Bambi the placement tests for Teaching Textbooks.  She took the placement test for Math 5 and Math 6.  She ended up on Math 6 TT.  Over the summer, we are going to think about letting her use Math 6 with MM and LOF.  Doing the demo on TT, got her excited about math.  So, if we just try to find a used copy to let her use to boost moral, then so be it!  Plus she will be learning! 
I know this was a pretty lengthy math post but it was much needed on my end.  I see the whole path before me when I read it!