Math Lesson

Math lessons this year are more traditional, we are using Saxon 5/4 and lucky for me my dh is teaching it to the boys. I am so excited, and the boys are enjoying the lessons. I was afraid they would find the text book dry but the opposite is true, they love it! They love the variety of the exercises and I love that they are learning to read the instructions and follow them. This means their reading vocabulary is growing. Yeah, language arts in math who said school is not interdisciplinary.

Zak reluctant to get his picture taken.

When I say that they love the math it isn't that we never have tears or they are never frustrated, because we do have tears and frustration. Often the work is simply hard and long from their point of view. We still assign only what can be done in 20 minutes. Short lessons to keep the attention. But when all is said and done they feel they are "getting it". My dh is a wonderful math teacher and the Saxon math curriculum is very well laid out adding precept upon precept which appeals to the boys. So when I asked them if they liked our new text book for math they all shouted, "we love it!"

Though we are using a text book the math manipulatives are not forgotten. I learned last year that one thing that makes math living is if the child understands it. So often the boys use objects like monopoly money to figure out the right answers to the problems in the book. They are still 'getting it' and thus it is alive and living math to them.

We include math every day of the week in our Three R's Rotation. Because my dh is now helping me we can do this rotation. It works like this. I begin with one student to do some language arts practice as I am working in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast and beginning lunch etc. I have a little desk nearby where my student works on handwriting, reading aloud and a short phonics lesson. While I am doing this my dh has another student working on math near his desk in his office where he is doing his work. The third student is taking time on his bed to read from his bible and clean up his personal area, something we called space inspection last year. When my student is done I send him along to my dh and begin with the next student who was reading his bible and cleaning up his space. It usually tales us about 1- 1 1/2 hours to do all three boys through the whole rotation. It is the first thing we do each day.

BTW

I found out that the Saxon student manual for 5/4 FREE online here.

And the answer book FREE online here

Enjoy!