Saxon Math K - Kindergarten

TITLE: Saxon Math K
PUBLISHER: Harcourt Steck-Vaughn
GRADE LEVEL: Kindergarten
PREREQUISITES: None
REQUIRED MATERIALS: Manipulatives
GENERAL APPROACH:  Scripted lessons

GENERAL DESCRIPTION
There are two books in the Saxon Math K set, the Teacher’s manual and the Meeting Book.  The meeting book contains various illustrations and masters pages such as a calendar with space for writing.  The teacher’s manual contains everything else needed, besides math manipulatives.

Saxon Math K has a unique approach that makes teaching kindergarten math with a homeschool curriculum a piece of cake.  Each lesson is completely scripted, meaning you do not have to plan the lesson you do not even have to think of what to say.  You can be assured that your students will learn all the basics and nothing will be left out, if you follow the script.  Students gain a solid foundation on all the math basics, as well as a few extras, such as the calendar, days of the week, and the weather.  Regular use of math manipulatives ensures a hands-on grasp of the concepts. 

TOPICS AND METHODOLOGY
Kindergarten skills learned and practiced in Saxon Math K include number recognition and counting; sequencing; acting out addition and subtraction stories; graphing; counting money; covering and replicating geometric designs; telling time to the hour.

The day in Saxon Math K begins with a “meeting” where students look at the calendar and weather, practice skip counting or some simple mental math review.  After this warm-up, the teacher proceeds to read the lesson to the student, generally using manipulative exercises to demonstrate the concept.  The student practices with the teacher, then on his own with a worksheet.

The general Saxon math approach is incremental; meaning any given concept in a lesson is actually just a small part of a larger concept.  Concepts are taught in these small pieces, and gradually built up.  Review is constant, daily, and cumulative, ensuring that concepts become familiar and second nature.

STANDARDIZED TEST PREPARATION
Students who do well in Saxon math consistently do well on standardized tests.

TEACHER REQUIREMENTS
Thanks to the fully scripted format, there are no special teacher requirements for teaching with Saxon Math K.