Hello!  Welcome to Course II of the sequential Saxon Math Program!

Our hour long math classes usually begin with correcting our homework from the night before, go over mistakes, and begin our new lesson.  After our lesson students will use the rest of time left in class to begin their homework.  Starred problems (the ones with an astrick near them) should be done first in the classroom while students have the help and support of their classmates and teacher.  The starred problems are word problems, multi-step problems, or the ones that focus on the new lesson.  Ideally students will finish these problems at school and only bring home the remainder for homework and that should be review.

By Course II we expect that most students are familiar with the Saxon Math Program, but I do realize that some students new to SFCS may be new to this sequential math program.  Course II expects that students will take control of their own learning of math by being engaged in the process of correcting their math in groups or pairs and working collaboratively on problem solving.  I hope to remain more of the guide by the side for this class, and encourage the successful math habits needed for future study.  Due to the workshop atmosphere of this more advanced class, students need to cooperate with each other and follow the classroom expectations in order to stay in the classroom.

Homework is assigned daily; students are to write the homework down at the end of class. Assignments and up coming pretests and tests are posted on my web page usually the week before.  Do not rely solely on the website; we sometimes have server issues that prevent our web pages from being updated or displayed.

Homework 20 minute rule:  In sixth grade, students are expected to spend 60 -75 minutes on homework a night, in seventh grade, students are to spend 70-85 minutes on homework a night, and in eighth grade students are expected to spend 80-95 minutes a night on homework. At the beginning of the year, I require students to spend a minimum of 20 minutes on math each night. I suggest students start with their math homework and work on it for 20 minutes. Then students should move onto LA, SS, and science homework. If students have time left in the 60-75 minutes they may return to their math homework. If students cannot finish their homework please write a note on their homework -- example: "Johnny worked on this from 6pm-6:25 and 7pm-7:15 (don't forget to sign it!)." 

As the year progresses, and students use their in class and study hall time more wisely, become more organized and familiar with the Saxon math program, and gain confidence I will expect all thirty problems done daily, (sometimes that will be two compacted lessons of 15 problems each).  I will be working with students and their parents to make sure that this healthy development happens.  Homework MUST eventually show WORK done and use words to EXPLAIN or JUSTIFY the problems that ask the students to do so.  Math is sequential, so by skipping the review or new lesson, students only slow their own progress.