Customer Reviews

Math 2: Home Study Kit (Homeschool Math Grade 2)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I taught elementary education. My father has taught middle and high-school math. We both love this program and have seen it work wonders. It gradually introduces children to math concepts (somewhat surreptitiously, I might add) so that when a concept is brought to the forefront...the child automatically understands. For example, it took only two lessons for my son to grasp the concept of "carrying" which is a concept many children struggle with in other elementary math programs. The lessons may seem boring to the kids at times because the concepts come so naturally. Follow the teachers manual closely. The introduction to concepts is so gradual that if you don't follow the lessons...your child may miss something down the road. This program is geared towards helping children understand not only how to do math but the purpose behind it. It constantly reviews previously learned material which helps children remember, and build on what they've learned. If your child is advanced in math, contact Saxon about which level would be best for your child.

As to Math 2 specifically, I purchased this book to supplement my child's education. We live in a remote location where the educational system is suffering. It takes 30 minutes to an hour to complete each lesson depending on how quickly your child likes to move. The preparation and supplies required are minimal. Keep a roll of pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters handy for this book. We use them daily. The manipulative package is necessary for some of the lessons but, for this level, you may be able to get away without them by creating some of your own. I purchased the manipulatives for Saxon K-3 and my kids love to play with them so if the budget allows I wouldn't hesitate to buy.

I got Saxon Math for my daughter after going 1/2 through Singapore Math (which I also love for different reasons). I didn't feel she knew her facts well enough to proceed with Singapore. I really like the repetitiveness of Saxon. This guide instructs parents on exactly what to say, so if you are unsure how to teach, you can just read the script. The box at the top of each lesson tells you what you need for each day. Some lessons do require manipulatives, which you can purchase, however, it is possible to use things around the house without purchasing the manipulatives kit (balanced scale, bottle caps for counters, make your own geoboard, use megablocks for unifex cubes, etc). The lessons aren't very long and don't dwell too long on one concept. In fact, we usually cover 2 lessons a day. The assignments (which come in the workbook) are easy to work on together and periodically repeat topics already learned as well as new topics. The lessons build upon each other and gradually introduce new concepts while reviewing previous ones. My daughter has excelled at math since starting this program and she is able to whip out her math facts. Nearly every lesson has a 1-minute timed test on math facts (25 questions), which build daily. After going 1/2 way through, occasionally there are 5 minute math tests with 100 problems. Each test is taken multiple times over the course of the lessons and you can chart and see the student's improvement (this is in the workbook).

Each lesson does start out with similar things, i.e. weather, time, money, counting. It is repetitive for my daughter, so I only do what she hasn't mastered. For the reviewer that complained about this being a waste of paper, there are variations in some of it, so it is probably best it is there, especially for a learner who is slower and needs it daily and an instructor that doesn't want to flip back and forth every day. Each lesson shows what worksheets are needed as well as the answers to the worksheets (except for the timed tests--guess they expect us to know our math facts! :) )

If you are looking for colorful, fun math, this is NOT what you want. If you are looking for a way for your child to really learn math and be able to know their facts quickly, this is the way to go.

My daughter LOVES math now and I am excited at her progress since we started using Saxon.

We love Saxon Math!! My second grader is gifted in Math and is breezing through. My third grader has more difficulty with Math but the spiral method is increasing her proficiency. It works....it's great....you won't regret using it in your homeschool!!

I did Saxon 1 with my first grade daughter last year, and we are doing Math 2 this year. I have to admit, I had to really work on liking it. Math is not my favorite subject, and I had a really hard time wanting to teach it. HOWEVER...my husband, who is very math-minded (he loves it)saw right away the value of Saxon's repetition, and why this program goes slowly. It teaches the WHY behind mathematics, and it does utilize a lot of manipulatives (which my daughter enjoys but doesn't need, and which I find annoying to have to organize sometimes). We did purchase the manipulatives kit for elementary math, but find that there are still a lot of activities which require us to assemble our own manipulatives. You really have to put some time into these lessons some weeks.

That said, my daughter is really learning math. She is good at it, and the program works on her weaknesses simply because it is repetitious. My only REAL complaint is that the math level seems to be off by about a year. I would begin MATH 1 in Kindergarten, not first grade, Math 2 in first, Math 3 in second and so forth. We are actually doing 2 lessons of Math 2 a day right now (my daughter is handling it easily) in order to get through Math 2 and Math 3 by the end of Second grade, or by the beginning of third grade. I find a lot of value in this curriculum, but it just depends on you as a teacher and whether or not you want to do something that goes slowly, is REALLY scripted (I find it very helpful sometimes, not so much other times) and takes a bit of prep work. It is a tried-and-true program and develops a great understanding of math, but not without a bit of work.

Saxon Math is an amazing tool for teaching math. My wife has used it for two years now with my 2nd grader. The lesson plans are laid out in very simple terms. For parents who are hesitant to teach, this book makes it very easy. They literally tell you what to say to your child line by line. The child gets to practice problems in addition, substraction everyday along with word problems. Even the tests are already in there for you to test your child with. Highly recommended!!!

I recently started homeschooling my daughter, who is gifted. This set basically includes the teacher manual that is just many series of wordy scripts for you to read aloud. It is basically all verbal teaching with no textbook that shows the concepts in any particular order.

The workbooks are more of a black and white sparsely-written supplement, and not so much set up to reinforce any particular skill. Each page has about 6 different concepts on it, most of which my daughter could have completed in kindergarten (e.g., fill in the missing numbers... 1, 2, _, _, 5, _, _, 8, etc.). About 1/3 to 1/2 the pages are just 25 simple single-digit addition problems. I get that practice is important, but the majority of the first half problems include +0, +1, +2.... pretty simple.

When it comes to second grade, I do not need a prewritten script... it's not calculus. Listing main objectives would be fine to make sure lessons are taught properly. There is no text for the student. Nothing in color. You basically have to create all the lesson plans. I ended up buying a used textbook, and workning from that.

This may be fine if you have a LOT of time to put in a massive effort to create lesson plans. At that point, why not just write your own book.