Switching from Math with Confidence to Saxon Math: where to start

One program uses a level guide, the other uses placement tests

Switching homeschool math or reading? Test first

Get our free list of placement tests and level guides for 25 programs, so the new box is the right level.

Math with Confidence does not use a formal placement test. Its author offers a guide to choosing a level instead [S5].

For Saxon Math, placement tests are available through Sonlight, a curriculum retailer, which offers a page to pick the right Saxon test for your child [S6]. Sonlight's page lists Saxon placement tests from kindergarten through the upper grades, and notes that Saxon books are skill-level books, not grade-level [S6].

No publisher maps Math with Confidence levels to Saxon levels [S0]. Take the Saxon test and start where it points, not where a grade label suggests.

Steps

Note the last Math with Confidence lessons your student did with ease.
Take the Saxon placement test that fits your student [S6].
Start at the level the test points to.

Price check

One example kit per program.

Math with Confidence Third Grade Complete Bundle: $105.85 at Horizon Books, a retailer (retailer price) [S13] (opens in a new tab). The program runs from kindergarten to fifth grade, plus Preschool Math at Home, per its author's level guide [S5] (opens in a new tab).
Saxon Math 5/4 Homeschool Kit, 3rd Edition (text, tests and worksheets, solutions manual): $152.33 at Christianbook, a retailer (retailer price; Christianbook lists it at $323.13) [S14] (opens in a new tab). Christianbook says 5/4 is designed for students in grade 4, or grade 5 students who are struggling [S14] (opens in a new tab).

More switches: all switch guides and placement tests and guides by program.

Sources

[S0] SWITCH-AND-PLACEMENT-GUIDE.md slots 5 and 6: "No publisher found publishes a direct crosswalk to another publisher." Confirmed Oct 23, 2026, and still true on recheck Oct 31, 2026 (research/seo/SWITCH-GUIDES-FACTCHECK-2026-10-31.md).
[S5] https://kateshomeschoolmath.com/how-to-choose-the-right-level-of-math-with-confidence-for-your-child/ , checked Oct 31, 2026.
[S6] https://www.sonlight.com/pages/saxon-placement-tests and https://www.sonlight.com/pages/placement-tests (Sonlight, a retailer), checked Oct 31, 2026.
[S13] https://horizonbooks.com/book/9781944481261 (Horizon Books, a retailer), checked Oct 31, 2026.
[S14] https://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/math/saxon-math/saxon-math-54 (Christianbook, a retailer), checked Oct 31, 2026.

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Switching programs? A kit for that

A printable for switching curriculum: match your child's level in the new program, list the gaps to fill first, and plan the purchase around its next sale.