Customer Reviews

Math 1: Homeschool Kit (Homeschool Math Grade 1)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am convinced that Saxon Math is the best math curriculum on the market. Math 1 starts from the very beginning and moves along at a good pace--not too fast, not too slow. The daily review and math facts really help to cement the knowledge in their heads. I did a very informal Kindergarten approach with my son before starting Saxon in grade 1 and it was a perfect fit, but if you have done more with your child in grade K, you may want to skip some lessons to find a good fit. I also feel that the grade 1 set may be useful to begin in grade K and work through it slowly through first grade too. You can provide more practice with "playing store" and all the fun math manuipulatives exercises that get my kids excited about learning! I feel that lots of review is better than racing through material and assuming the child has learned it well. I also use Saxon for an older child and love it as well.

This is the best math program I've ever used. I'm a former school teacher and have used several math programs. Nothing has been as simple for children to learn and I'm now using it with my own child. There is so much review, which can sometimes seem monotonous to adults, but for children, it's exactly what they need. The concepts are presented in the most simplistic format, one small piece at a time. They are able to achieve mastery with one task before they move on to the next new concept. This does so much for their self-esteem and, I believe, builds in children a confidence in their math abilities that can last a lifetime. Some criticize Saxon for so much daily review, that their children become bored, but the truth is, you can always move faster through the program for children who are able. I plan to use Saxon math all the way through with my child.

This math program provides a solid, basic foundation in math. I like the way that it integrates all different math skills throughout the year instead of isolating geometry, addition, subtraction, measurement, etc. by chapter. We have skipped lessons because they are too elementary for my seven year old. The meeting book is nice to have for keeping up with calendar, weather, and number lines. The series provides review constantly so the child is expected to remember skills learned previously. We will continue to use Saxon Math next year.

While my son had been attending kindergarten until the semester break this year, the Saxon website placement exam directed us to the Level 1 curriculum. It was a perfect match as far as abilities and learning levels are concerned. We love that the worksheets have a side "B" to do later in the day. Usually, he completes this side with his dad after he returns home from work. It's a great way to reinforce the lesson for my son, allows my son to demonstrate with pride to his dad was he has learned during the day and to keep my husband apprised with what our son has been learning at home all at the same time.

I have used Saxon before with my older boys, but this is my first experience with the first grade program. My daughter is bored with what they are learning at school, and needed something more to do at home. Saxon is wonderful in that the amount of review in each lesson allows for them to be thoroughly confident in a subject area before they move on (the teacher's handbook will also tell you not to move on until your child has mastered a concept- unlike our school system that "shoves them through", regardless of their level of understanding). My daughter loves the manipulatives kit, and the "fun" aspects of learning built right into the program. I appreciate the scripted teacher's manual for me to use, which helps me to feel at ease when I sit down with her to work. I can see that we are going to get a lot of enjoyment out of our math learning this year!

The sign of a good math program is that it 1)progresses and 2)reinforces what they've already learned. This math program does both.

The material in this book is good, but the quality of the paper is awful, so it rips easily, even when child is just erasing a mistake.
Also, this book is way too boring for children. There are no pictures so it is discouraging for my son to do it. He likes color and action so he enjoyed other books of math much better than this one. I can't wait until it's over.

I ordered the Saxon Math 1 kit for my 5 year old son because I had read that Saxon was the best math program for homeschoolers. At first my son was very excited, but that quickly wore out. We reached a point with this program where my son refused to cooperate and I would end up losing my patience and my cool. Here are some of the complaints we have about this program. First of all, each lesson begins with practice in counting, left and right, checking the weather, looking at the date, etc. This aspect of the lesson alone would take about 30 minutes if we did everything the lesson called for. Eventually, I realized my son knows this stuff, so I cut most of it out of our daily routine. I should also add that we found the Meeting Book to be worthless and never used it. Each lesson also consists of practicing with flash cards and doing a practice fact sheet. There's another 30 minutes! My son would not cooperate at all and I didn't know if it was because he was completely bored or if he didn't know the answers. Eventually I checked out the fun "Hooked on Math" program from our library, which reviews math facts, and he rattles of the answers like a pro. It turns out he knew them all along and was bored with the somewhat massive amounts of practice we did every day. The lessons themselves were usually fun for my son, but most of them were too easy, even for a five year old. The entire lesson was scripted, which was helpful sometimes, but most of the time I didn't even look at the scripts. By the way, we did not buy the Manipulatives Kit, but we used legos, real-looking play money, a toy clock, etc. and we got along just fine. My son hated the worksheets. Again, way too much review. Sometimes the worksheets did not have a single problem from that day's lesson. It was all review from concepts learned months ago. Each work sheet page consists of about 6 problems on the front and the back, and I would only have my son do about 2 or 3 problems. The rest was review of stuff he knew. By the end of the book, we were hardly doing the warm-up stuff, I would give a 5-10 minute lesson in my own words, and then we would fight over the factsheet and worksheet before I started pulling my hair out and giving up. I felt like I had totally wasted my money. Now we are doing the Hooked on Math program for a little break and some fun, and we will start Singapore Math in a few weeks. My son is finally enjoying math and cooperating fully.

I bought this item for my kid who just finished Kindergarten thinking that we will have some head start on Grade 1 and also will have something to do during long summer break. From title it looked like we were buying Math Curriculum for someone who should be in Grade 1 but in fact most of the material in this Kit has been covered by my kid in Kindergarten so I had to return this item at my own expense.