Just wanted to add an AMEN to this one. Although once I figured out our "system" for using the book, it was a breeze, but getting to that breezy state took some effort. Saxon does not make it clear how to use the book. (The test booklet lists Test 20 as Cumulative, but that's the ONLY place I saw this type of designation.) If you go with the 4th edition, plan to set aside time to get a feel for its structure.

I realize this is an old thread, but my daughter and I finished the 4th edition last week so I wanted to add our experience to the forum. I didn't intend to buy the 4th edition but when I had the 3rd edition and 4th edition side-by-side I believed the 4th edition to be superior to 3rd for a non-math loving homeschooling mom. (That would be me.) I was dismayed when I purchased the homeschool kit and found out that I couldn't get a D.I.V.E. dvd (and was told that they had no intention of making one) and that others in my homeschool community also had no intention of making the switch. We were stuck. However, after completing 120 lessons, 11 labs, and 12 investigations (we didn't do the appendix lessons), I am very happy with the 4th edition. It follows the familiar format of previous Saxon books (Warm up, Lesson Plan, Lesson practice, Mixed practice) but the answers and explanations seemed fuller than the ones I remembered from other Saxon editions. My 12-13 yo daughter (8th grade) would work the Warm up, and then together we discussed the lesson and the lesson examples, and then she would do the Lesson Problems. We would check those (orally) and we'd check her previous day's assignment and review the topics she had trouble with. Each evening her assignment was to complete the 30 Mixed Lesson practice problems for the next day. We did 4 lessons a week and used Friday for tests.(She asked me to change this for next year so that we complete 5 lessons a week. She wants to finish math earlier next school year. lol.) I allotted 1.5-2 hours a day for our math work. It was not a hands-off class, and I was heavily involved in the daily teaching of this class. (Although there were a few weeks when I let my daughter be self-directed because my work schedule interfered with her schooling. She tested poorly during those 2 or 3 weeks.) Except for the last 10 lessons, the book gave EXCELLENT explanations and tips for using the graphing calculator and common mistakes to solving problems. The last 10 lessons appear to be optional (I realized this AFTER we were on lesson 118) and those last lessons hit advanced math concepts (like trig or business math) with a lick and a promise. We breezed through those just so she could have some exposure to the ideas. Throughout the book there are online icons which suggest that there is online help. I tried once or twice but could not find anything other than generic information. However, I didn't look too hard because I wasn't struggling much. The organization of the book is clear and cross-referenced to highlight "skills". (There are also Skill Bank exercises which I always meant to include, but never got around to doing. Could-of, would-of, should-of, I suppose. . .) lol. I'm not overjoyed at the idea of going it "alone" with 4th edition sequence (no co-op or D.I.V.E.) but feel good about the material and explanations that Saxon provides in the books. At this time, we plan to continue with 4th edition Geometry and then 4th editon Algebra 2.