Homeschool With Tracey

Well, my 12 year old daughter took her first test yesterday with Saxon 8/7 homeschool math curriculum.  I think she did pretty well, all things considered.  She got a C+.  Now, she has never actually done homeschool testing until this year, so she is getting used to that, too.  For instance, she got one of the questions wrong just because she accidentally skipped it!  I told her that that cost her 5% of the grade!  She would have had a B if it weren’t for that.  I think/hope she will be more carefully from now on.

Two of the questions that she got wrong were asking her to either write a number into words, or vise versa (i.e. write out 3,042,070).  She had no idea!  Holy cow!  You know, that’s my fault.  Through the years I never made her do the math problems that asked for things like that.  She said it was ridiculous and that she could do it…so why do it?  I gave in.  Ha, never again.  That is the only math problems that I never made her do.  I really thought she knew how to do that!  One thing I am really learning these days with homeschooling is “don’t skip anything.”  Even if you think it looks/sounds too easy, do it anyway.  I mean, don’t waste your time teaching them something they already know, but don’t just take there word for it every time that they “do” know.  Let them show you.  Anyway…lesson learned (for both of us!)

So far in Saxon 8/7, she has been reviewing previously learned skills like multiplication, division, and fractions.  She is also doing some pre-algebra.  I like how Saxon explains the lessons.  She has the D.I.V.E. CD to go along with the Saxon 8/7, but she doesn’t want to use it.  She tried it a few times, but would rather learn by reading the lesson.  That’s fine with me.  I have four more children younger than her that are homeschooling, so they may use it in the future.

I look forward to her doing better on the next test.

So far, so good with Saxon 8/7 with my 12 year old daughter.

She is pretty much learning this on her own with the D.I.V.E cd, so I am a big nervous.  Sigh…my baby is growing up.  As a matter of fact, she prefers to learn by just reading the textbook.  She isn’t very interested in using the D.I.V.E. CD.  That’s ok with me, as long as she is understanding everything alright.

She was a bit upset at all of the problems that she had to solve this week.  I assured her that www.mfwbooks.com (My Father’s World–the curriculum I use, and I use their Saxon 8/7 lesson plans) says that after Day 10, you won’t have to do ALL of the problems.  Apparantly, Saxon is kinda famous for giving a little too much review.

I almost wonder if I should be doing this math right along with her.  I am paranoid that she will get stuck and won’t be able to go with just the CD and textbook.  Yikes.