The unique approach of these 4th grade homeschool lessons and teacher books has helped make Saxon Math a best seller.
Click here to see sample pages. The Saxon Math 4 workbook set provides a complete set of all necessary student materials bound in 2 consumable workbooks. Student materials include written practice pages, masters, and fact cards. The Saxon Math 4 homeschool curriculum includes a full school year of hands-on 4th grade exercises for the Saxon Math 4 curriculum. Written by Nancy Larson, Math 4 emphasizes visual learning with hands-on math manipulatives. The math manipulatives may be purchased separately or with the workbooks as a set. The Teacher Manual is not included with the Math 4 workbooks and is available only for school use in classroom format.
At the fourth grade level, Saxon offers a choice of instructional formats: Math 4 or Math 54. Both Saxon programs cover the same basic concepts and are based on incremental development and continual review. While the basic concepts covered in Math 4 and Math 54 are the same, the order of topics is different. Saxon Math 4 homeschool cirriculum was added for teachers who prefer the manipulative-based approach or for teachers who do not wish to move students to the more theory-based, paper and pencil approach used in the Saxon middle grade curriculums like Math 54.
The Math 4 Workbook set is not part of the Saxon Math 54 curriculum, which was written by Stephen Hake. However, it can be used as an effective supplement to Math 54, which is especially helpful for students who prefer the hands-on approach to learning.
In the Math 4 curriculum, students will read, write, compare, and order large numbers; write numbers in expanded form and identify place value; identify prime and composite numbers; identify perfect squares and cubes, square roots, and cube roots; approximate square roots; identify the approximate value of pi; represent numbers using Roman numerals; identify a function rule; simplify expressions containing exponents; label number lines using fractions, decimals, and positive and negative numbers; master basic addition, subtraction, and division facts; add, subtract, and multiply using mental computation; add, subtract, and multiply multi-digit numbers using algorithms; divide a multi-digit number by a single-digit number; represent division remainders as fractions; represent mixed numbers as improper fractions and improper fractions as mixed numbers; add and subtract decimals; write fractions as percents and percents as fractions; name and draw polygons and geometric solids; identify and draw parallel and perpendicular lines; draw lines of symmetry and reflections; identify congruent and similar polygons; draw circles using a compass; measure and draw angles using a protractor; identify and draw right, acute, and obtuse angles; measure the nearest millimeter or sixteenth of an inch; estimate and measure distance using feet, yards, and meters; use a scale on a map; estimate and compare the mass of objects; find the volume of a rectangular prism; estimate and measure perimeter, circumference, area; read a thermometer; use a perpetual calendar; tell time to the second; find elapsed time; locate information on a table or chart; create and read bar graphs, pictographs, and line graphs; create and read a Venn diagram; conduct a survey and represent the results; find the mean; and identify the probability of an event.
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Saxon Math Teaching Philosophy:
Learning need not be difficult, but neither does it happen quickly. Time is the elixir that turns things new into things familiar. Therefore, the most effective way for students to learn is through gentle development of concepts and the practice of those concepts extended over a considerable period of time. John Saxon called these methods incremental development and continual review and he applied them to mathematics and the fundamental skills of reading.
At its simplest, incremental development is the introduction of topics in easily understandable pieces (increments), permitting the assimilation of one facet of a concept before the next facet is introduced. Both facets are then practiced together until another is introduced.
The incrementalization of topics is combined with continual review, wherein all previously learned material is reviewed in every lesson for the entire year. Topics are never dropped but are instead increased in complexity and practiced every day, providing the time required for concepts to become totally familiar.
As Saxon math concepts become familiar and the requisite skills become automated, learning becomes a game at which students can succeed and through which they find satisfaction and self-worth. More importantly, the automation of fundamental skills frees students' minds to consider the Saxon math concepts on a more abstract level.
Genuine learning is demonstrated not only through the understanding of a concept, but also through the ability to apply that concept to new situations. Saxon math students do both with ease and confidence.
John Saxon - Founder of Saxon Publishers |
