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kbfsc
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| Posted: Feb 06 2013 at 10:28am | IP Logged
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My 5th grader, 11 yo son, has completed by TT 4 and is a few lessons away from completing Saxon 5/4. I'm looking for recommendations for our next math program.
This child is my hesitant mathematician who seems to need hand-holding when the math books come out. So we have taken a pretty gentle approach. He understands math concepts well, especially because we spent a lot of time with manipulatives in earlier grades. But it's time now, I think, to begin working towards mastery. I feel like independence needs to be one of our goals for the coming year or so, too.
He would like to return to Teaching Textbooks. I would, too, frankly, because the daily math drama with Saxon really wears me out.  However, while I have been pleased with the progress he made with TT, I wonder if Saxon is the place to go for mastery...
So - in your expert opinions, what might be our next best step? TT 5? More Saxon?
Thanks for your help!
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Kiera
happy mama of ds '02, dd '03, ds '06, dd '09 and little ones in heaven
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roomintheheart
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| Posted: Feb 06 2013 at 4:57pm | IP Logged
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We've done both Saxon and Teaching Textbooks. I know that TT has the reputation for being the "easy" math program, but here's my theory: They learn more if they aren't stressed out. And for us (and it sounds like it may be the same for you) Saxon caused a lot of stress. My son and middle daughter would be so stressed out and in tears that even the things that theyknew became impossible. So there's my .02.
So far (and I've done three levels of TT at this point, since switching) my three oldest all like TT-- and it has eliminated the daily math battle. They seem to understand the concepts they're learning very well. I haven't noticed any major gaps in curriculum, but I admit, I'm pretty hands-off (that's the joy of the program :))
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jawgee
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| Posted: Feb 06 2013 at 5:15pm | IP Logged
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We had lots of battles and tears with Saxon, too. We switched to TT last year and it has been much better.
IMO, TT is about a year behind public school curriculum, at least in our area. So in order to stay in line with the standardized testing we need to be one year ahead of grade level.
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Monica
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roomintheheart
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I would say TT is about a quarter (as in, a school-year quarter) behind where my daughter was (she switched mid-third grade year).
The Pre-Alg and Alg I seem to be right on (my kids do Pre-Alg in 7th grade, Alg I in 8th grade).
I haven't had a student go all the way through yet, though. It'll be interesting to see if I can get my younger kids up to Pre-Alg by 7th grade with the program.
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jawgee
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| Posted: Feb 07 2013 at 5:33pm | IP Logged
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roomintheheart wrote:
| I haven't had a student go all the way through yet, though. It'll be interesting to see if I can get my younger kids up to Pre-Alg by 7th grade with the program. |
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My 11YO (5th grader) is starting the Pre-Algebra set in a couple of weeks. Math is a strength of his, though.
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Monica
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Mom21
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Kiera, your son sounds like my son to a T! Saxon was tear-filled stress (sometimes more for me  ) so we made the switch to TT when he was in 5th grade. He's a 6th grader now and is doing so much better. We are in Seton and they allow us to submit his TT quizzes each quarter for his grade so it has worked out well. He works through the lessons at a good pace and his confidence has increased so much.
We had a math tutor a couple years ago. He is a retired 6th grade math teacher. He thought Saxon is a good book but he didn't necessarily think the order of concepts was the best and he's pretty "old school" when it comes to math.
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mariB
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Here's my 2 cents since we have gone all the way up to TT geometry with 2 of our kids. My oldest son said the other day that the TT geometry just isn't geometry but algebra-trig which focuses on the SAT.
Honestly, I've tried Saxon and it was fine until ALgebra...TT is truly pain free. My daughter who is in pre-algebra was never a math fan and struggled up until about 5th grade is doing fine in TT pre-alg. Also, periodically, I sit down along side with her and work the problems, too!
Our youngest is in 3rd grade and doing TT 4 and loving it!
We also supplement with IXL which is online and costs about $4.00 per child per month. We pick skills that maybe the kids need practice in and they work until they "master" it. For instance, my 3rd grader needs practice with telling time with analog clocks, and money. The older kids work on Algebra concepts. Our older daughter needed help with fractions.
I know we probably don't need to do IXL but I thought i'd give it a try and I have them do at least 30 minutes to an hour extra a week with IXL.
Also, I have our 3rd grader practice math facts at the Math U See site..it's FREE!
SO...all this being said...we've been using TT for years and are sticking with it. Our oldest is currently in a college math course and doing great!
Hope this helps!
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kbfsc
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| Posted: Feb 11 2013 at 9:42pm | IP Logged
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All helpful advice, ladies, thank you! I ordered TT 5 today. While I suspect that the rigors of Saxon are perhaps the best path to mastery, I think that Teaching Textbooks are going to be a better fit for the life of my family. No more tears, please!! So, we're off to enjoy our math journey. 
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Kiera
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roomintheheart
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| Posted: Feb 13 2013 at 7:05pm | IP Logged
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Let us know how you like it, once you've been doing it a while  .
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mariB
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Yes, please let us know! For us not having to go through the pain is a miracle! Our 2 older boys still talk about "those good ole Harvard boys"!
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marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: advice for 5th grade math
