With four children in formal homeschool lessons, when I look back over the years it feels like we’ve tried every math curriculum out there. As children grow with different interests and needs, it’s challenging to find a curriculum that works both in your current season of life, but will also stick around for years to come.

In this blog post I’m sharing why we landed on Saxon Math and an honest review of the curriculum, plus how we use it with older and younger children.

In this blog post:

• Our homeschool math journey: Searching for the perfect curriculum
• What is Saxon Math? Understanding the incremental method
• An honest Saxon Math review: Our experience using Saxon Math with four children
• How we use Nicole the Math Lady to simplify Saxon Math lessons

Our homeschool math journey: Searching for the perfect curriculum

Our math journey has been anything but linear. If you’ve been homeschooling for any length of time, you probably know the feeling: starting a new curriculum with high hopes, realizing it doesn’t quite fit your needs, and pivoting again. Over the years, we’ve tried a handful of different math programs. Each one offered something valuable, but none of them were the perfect, long-term fit for our family.

Part of what I’ve learned along the way is that, at least for us, math is not a subject I care to put a lot of effort into. It is one that needs to get done and while I don’t want it to be miserable, I don’t want to spend a lot of time preparing for it or adding to it. For us, math has to work within our family rhythm so I can make space for the subjects I want to linger in and put extra energy toward, whether that is with additional books, projects, or field trips.

With math, I have noticed that what works beautifully in one season can quickly become overwhelming in another. For our family, I believe that giving ourselves the freedom to pivot or make adjustments has been key.

After years of trying, tweaking, and sometimes starting over, we’ve finally settled into a rhythm that feels sustainable for this stage of life, with four children homeschooling, spanning kindergarten through 7th grade. It’s not complicated or flashy, but it’s steady, flexible, and, most importantly, is working for our kids right now.

When my children were very young, we started with The Good and the Beautiful. They loved the hands-on approach and game-style lessons, but as we added a toddler and a baby into the mix, the amount of supplies and the length of each lesson was hard to sustain. We found ourselves needing something that fit into shorter increments of time and left room for other curriculum. (It is worth saying that since the time we used it, The Good and the Beautiful has updated and simplified their curriculum, but I have not tried it.)

From there, we tried Masterbooks and the Simply Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic series. Both had strengths, but neither one stuck for long. Eventually, we landed on Math-U-See and stayed there for a few years, appreciating the simplicity and the teaching videos from Mr. Demme. During a particularly full season of life, my older children switched to Teaching Textbooks, an online format, which gave us the margin we needed at the time. I still think it’s a great option, but as life has settled a bit, we wanted to return to a book-based approach that would challenge our children more deeply and allow us to be more involved in what they’re learning.

Around that time, we had a part-time nanny who helped with math in the afternoons. She’s also a math tutor and recommended Saxon Math, so we made the switch. Initially we switched over so she could teach from a system she knew well, but it ended up working well for our kids.

What is Saxon Math? Understanding the incremental method

Saxon Math was developed in the 1980s by John Saxon, a mathematics teacher. The curriculum has been popular in homeschool communities for decades, popular for its incremental approach to teaching math. Saxon believed that by developing a strong math foundation, children would form a well-prepared mind to boost creativity and competence in other areas (Christian Science Monitor).

Saxon Math uses an incremental approach, also called a spiral method. This style of teaching introduces a new concept in each lesson, but surrounds new information with a lot of repetition and practice of math skills learned previously. In an incremental approach, children build their knowledge slowly, allowing time for mastery before moving on to new ideas. This way of learning is the opposite of learning in big, thematic chapters and then moving on to the next thing. By constantly practicing old and new concepts, Saxon Math focuses on rote learning, which means memorization through repetition. In this method, facts and skills become second nature, so students can perform math problems faster and more easiliy over time.

Saxon Math focuses on the basics and fundamentals of math for all grade levels. The curriculum helps students learn by building a strong math foundation and gaining speed and accuracy as they progress.

A typical lesson includes:

• Drills and warm-up
• Lesson and lesson practice
• Mixed Practice
• Investigation and Tests

Kindergarten through 3rd grade programs include a manipulative kit with items like pattern blocks, linking cubes, student clocks, and a primary balance to help kinesthetic learners visualize math. 

An honest Saxon Math review: Our experience using Saxon Math with four children

This year, all four of my children (ages 5–13) have used Saxon Math, and we’ve paired it with videos from Nicole the Math Lady for the older children to help with instruction and grading. We have used curriculums ranging from Saxon Math 1 to Saxon Math 7/6.

My older two work mostly independently, watching the lesson, completing their problems, and flagging anything they need help with, while my younger two sit with me or my husband with their worksheets on clipboards, occasionally pulling in manipulatives like pretend money or counting bears. Lessons can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour depending on the day and the level.

Typically, my older children do all parts of the curriculum. For my younger children, if they grasp the concept we do adapt it and move forward by doing shorter lessons. For the younger children we also sometimes turn their worksheets into a movement game or do the problems orally, just to mix it up.

If I’m being honest, I don’t necessarily think Saxon is the absolute best math program out there. There are a lot of great options and there are a lot of variables when it comes to what curriculum works best for each child and family. If I were starting fresh with only younger children, I might be drawn to something more colorful, hands-on, or play-based. There are so many beautiful options that make those early years feel especially engaging and gentle. The main reason we’ve stayed with Saxon is because of how well it spans all four of my children’s ages. There’s something valuable about having a consistent structure they can grow into over time, rather than constantly relearning a new format every few years. (Ask me how I know!)

Since using Saxon for the last couple of years my children know what to expect, how lessons are laid out, and how to approach their work as they progress. As a mom homeschooling multiple ages, that kind of consistency has mattered more than finding something that looks or feels fun.

Saxon Math is not flashy, but it’s solid. It has lasted for decades. The incremental approach, the built-in review, and the straightforward teaching style provide a strong foundation, especially as math concepts become more complex. It may not be the trendiest option, but for this season of our homeschool, it’s steady, reliable, and it works. I think it’s also worth adding that you may not always love every part of your curriculum, and that’s OK at times. For our family continuity has gone a long way into making math something we can make progress in without a lot of extra prep or frustration.

How we use Nicole the Math Lady to simplify Saxon Math lessons

While my husband and I both help our children with math curriculum, we have loved using Nicole the Math Lady alongside Saxon Math. 

Nicole the Math Lady by Nicole Thomas is an online learning platform with on-demand videos for each lesson. You can choose your curriculum and the platform has online instruction videos, grading, and progress reports that coordinate with multiple math curricula. The videos are short, 5-8 minute lessons that children can watch to learn new concepts.

The site also offers a math practice suite, called Drill Team, that offers math practice for different levels.

It has really helped us to have an additional resource to help with tricky concepts or to help the older children work more independently.

What math curriculum has worked in your homeschool over the years? Share your favorites in the comments below.