Fourth Through Sixth Grades
Saxon Math is an incremental subject where students learn a new concept daily that they practice, along with skills that have been learned earlier. This method of learning provides students with many problems that they are familiar with and includes at least three or four problems from the new concept.
Math for older students is taught in a different manner than that of younger students. Older students are required to read and learn about their new skill on their own and if they have any problems with the concept, the teacher will happily explain the method of problem solving to the student. This method of learning helps students become more responsible for their own study. At the present time, four young men are working in three different books and each is on a different lesson. Student directed study allows a student to work at his or her own speed and gives more time for learning and practicing when the student comes across a more difficult concept.
Third Grade
Each day the third grade starts the morning with a program called “Math Meeting”. This is an important part of the Saxon Math Program that teachers the students about counting money, telling time, understanding the calendar, counting by odd and even numbers forward and backwards, figuring out sequences of numbers in a number line, reading the temperature from a thermometer, setting up problems and solving them, and learning the multiplication facts while accomplishing these other skills. The “Math Meeting’ starts in first grade and continues through third grade.
Already, the students have learned the seven multiplication facts by learning how many days are in one week, two weeks, three weeks, etc. and just recently they have discovered that they are able to tell how many days are in 100 weeks and 1000 weeks. Their daily Math Meeting strips provide them with the opportunity to make up number sentences for the number of the day, to record the temperature daily and eventually make a graph showing the year’s temperatures. We count real coins and figure out how to give correct change. This class is an interactive experience where all the students are asked to respond and contribute to activities. We are now learning how many months are in one, two, three and four years. Soon, all the students will know the twelve facts for Multiplication!
