Saxon math will be great for my son if he____

[MaryCatherine]

My oldest ds is finishing up Mammoth Math this school year and I'm looking ahead to next year. I really think he'd prefer Saxon, though we've never used it before. The "puzzle-ness" of MM really makes him crazy, though he keeps going because I ask him to. He would prefer straight forward facts. Amount of work doesn't bother him. Since he'll be in 8th grade, I just feel that I need to make a decision for the long haul and stick with it. I'm thinking Saxon 8/7 would be a good place to start.

 

I know that there are families for whom Saxon didn't work, but does he sound like it would?

 

I know that math is discussed a LOT around here (and I've read almost all of it), but I appreciate anyone talking through with me. Thanks so much.

[Teachin'Mine]

You can take a look inside the book here:

 

http://www.christianbook.com/saxon-math-87-third-ed/9781591413509/pd/993508?item_code=WW&netp_id=415726&event=ESRCN&view=details#curr

 

Just click on "Additional Views" and you'll be able to see the table of contents and a lesson. I think the only way to know if it will work is to give it a try. If you want to know before next year, maybe you could borrow or buy a used Saxon 7/6 and have him do a lesson. The teaching is pretty straight forward. What seems to be a downfall for some is that it requires about an hour of math work a day. There's mental math, math facts, learning the lesson, practice problems, and then 30 mixed review lessons. So it's not a 15 or 20 minute a day program. But if he puts in the time, and corrects whatever he misses, I think it's an awesome pre-algebra text. :)

[Jann in TX]

They NEVER present the whole concept at one time.

 

Each lesson is a TINY piece of the larger picture--and the next lesson will most likely be in a totally different direction!

 

Students who can easily fit the pieces together ON THEIR OWN do best with Saxon. Even with the videos, a good percentage of students will not do well with Saxon (in my experience 1/3 of my former students would have been better off--or switched to a more traditional program where they found success).

 

--

The first 30 or so lessons in 8/7 are review--after that the student is expected to put together multiple 'pieces' of concepts from the previous lessons--and they do not teach how to do this--much of this is WITHIN the actual problem set (homework)... so this is where many students --even those who used Saxon previously hit a wall---and going back and reworking lessons DOES NOT HELP==because the text never directly addresses how to do those problems!

 

I'm not a Saxon hater---I used to teach/tutor from it exclusively and I used the program with my own daughters until 8/7 when they hit the proverbial wall! I now teach from a more traditional text as traditional texts can be adapted easier for individual students needs... Saxon is not flexible.

[Guest Barb B]

Saxon is one of those programs that either fit your dc or not! For my kids it is a fit. I love the constant review of past stuff they get. Also, the incremental approach (Jann in TX refered to this when she said they don't teach a whole concept. . .) I like. Especially when we got into the upper maths like the Advanced Math book and the Calculus book - we learned better by being given the more complicated things in pieces. I think some things would have been overwhelming to learn all of it at one time. I do say that both my 7th grader (math 8/7) and my 12th (calculus) get anywhere from 92-100 on every saxon test. My ds scored 640 in SAT math and 29 in ACT math. So, for us it is a success. The D.I.V.E. cd's are a blessing in Advanced math and calculus. The solutions manuals are essential. Also, Saxon is designed for the student to do EVERY problem in the book - it honestly will not work and does not work, for students who just do odd or even problems. Lastly, I love the way geometry is worked in Algebra - advanced math. The way most curriculum work - alg. 1, geometry (while you forget algebra!), then algebra 2 (while you now forget geometry) I don't think is as effective. My ds never forgot algebra and never forgot geometry because he always had both and practiced both!

 

Just our experience.

Barb