I attended public school in elementary and middle school years and then part of my high school years. Two years of high school were spent in a private, Christian school of which they used Saxon math. It left such a good taste in my mouth that I knew when I had a child, I wanted them to do Saxon math! I had realized how BEHIND public school education was when I attended the Christian school - especially math. The dumbing-down of public education is also another reason we homeschool - also the fact they won't let my daughter skip a grade, whereas in homeschooling - you go at the child's pace.
So that is why we chose Saxon math for our daughter. We are using Saxon Math 1 with the manipulatives and will skip lessons my daughter is already skilled at and possibly start Saxon Math 2 towards the end of the year.
Math is something that you don't just do as book work and then that's it. You teach your child to integrate it into daily life with counting money, purchases at the store, weighing fruits and vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store to weights and measurements in the kitchen cooking. We were at the post office 2 weeks ago waiting in line and my daughter says to me "Mom, look! The floor has rectangles!" I looked down and saw that the tiling on the floor was indeed rectangle-shaped lol. Also, another humorous account was at the library with a Sister last week when my daughter says to me "Mommy, you are sitting in a U-shaped chair!" Don't you just love it seeing your child learn?? I DO!! How fulfilling is it to know that YOU taught them? How grateful I am to have this opportunity and I thank God also for this.
I knew what I wanted to use for Science and it didn't necessarily go along with the History as "The Well Trained Mind" suggested but nevertheless, I'm still going the route I chose.

Knowing I was using Apologia's elementary science, I had to determine what one we would start with. I let my daughter choose and she chose Apologia Astronomy. She loves looking at the stars at night and is fascinated by them and I bought her the solar system to hang from her ceiling, along with a stars and the moon glow-in-the-dark set! We also have a globe that with a flick of the switch turns into the constellations.

We are supplementing the Apologia Astronomy with "Considering God's Creation". This again, is another hands-on, Christian-based science and comes with a CD that has songs and poems.
Image credit: Google images, Christian Book
It is wonderful to hear that your daughter excels at math. As a retired teacher I have been putting together a collection of materials to help all kids. I sure would love to hear any ideas you our your daughter have for me.
ReplyDeletewww.mathworksheetsland.com
The new blog design is Fab!
Thanks Julia!
ReplyDelete