Saxon Algebra 1-next year

[Doran5]

OK, so DH still has concerns with my ability to teach our children since I do not have a degree.(all of DH's family are teachers at various levels) Has anyone run into problems with Saxon Algebra? If so, were their resources helpful? I rocked Algebra, but it has been 20+ years since I had it.

[AngieW in Texas]

I would definitely not try to teach from Saxon until after working through it myself.

 

I can tell you that Saxon makes absolutely no sense at all to me and that I would have failed math with Saxon.

 

I just can't learn that way.

 

Unless you know that Saxon is going to work for you, I would recommend going with something more traditional. If you aren't confident in your ability to work through the problems, then I'd make sure to get something that had a complete solution manual available. Something with videos as well would be nice too.

 

I really liked Jacobs Elementary Algebra and Kinetic Books Algebra I, but neither of those have solution manuals. I'm using Math-U-See Algebra I with my youngest now, but that's only because it's the only program I've found that meet my dd's requirements. She has to have a program that has black print on white paper with plenty of white space, few pictures, little or no color, and sparse words. She is dyslexic and has visual processing issues, so she has some very specific requirements that have to be met.

[Chris in VA]

It's different for everyone--I thought ds would love Jacobs Alg so I picked it for our first year of hsing when he was in 9th. BIG failure. Wish I had thought of doing Saxon.

I looked at Saxon recently again, maybe for next year. I am not that quick with math. We've used the younger grades with dd, and I think Saxon is easy to understand and teach.

But :iagree: with using the remaining part of this year to work thru it yourself.

[Lori in MS]

Saxon teacher is great! It teaches the lessons and works out every single problem so they can go back and watch the problems they missed.

[lauracolumbus]

It's been 30 years since I was in an Algebra class, and sometimes I wonder where my brain was at that time. I remember absolutely nothing. And my degrees are absolutely irrelevant to my ability to teach Algebra. I'm using Chalkdust w/my ds, but we're both tiring of the long video sessions. My dd is finishing Saxon 1/2 and will move on to Saxon Algebra 1 in a couple of weeks. We use both the Art Reed dvds and the Saxon Teacher cds. With these two, I am more than capable of teaching how to do Algebra. What I do struggle with and Saxon doesn't solve (but neither did CD) is the why we do certain things. My son and I just watched most of the MUS Algebra dvds and found them helpful, although the series stopped short of other Algebra programs.

 

If you rocked Algebra once, you should be able to rock it again.

 

Laura

[Trilliums]

DS #1 picked up Saxon pre-algebra in 8th grade and by the end of the year worked through (on his own) it along with the Saxon algebra text book.

 

So, I thought I'd use if for DS#2. He did okay the first few chapters, but when he needed help, I was flummoxed! We were constantly asking DS #1 for help. While he was happy to oblige, I felt we needed to find something better suited to DS#2.

 

Now he is using Lial's and plenty of Khan Academy. Things are going OK, but I have had to relearn so much of the algebra along the way.

 

So much depends on the student.

[Therese]

Previous posters told their stories, colored by their own math abilities.

 

You said you rocked algebra. You can do it. Saxon presents new concepts incrementally. I expect that you'll need to look at the lessons periodically to refresh your memory, but it will come back. It did for me and it had been even longer since my algebra days than your 20 years!

 

When reading comments, here, I filter them through the sieve of personal differences re: ability, background, learning styles, preferences, etc.

 

ETA: FWIW, I don't have a teaching degree. Just a desire to truly educate my children and dedication to the task.

 

Question for your dh: if having a degree makes one a good teacher, why do American students perform so poorly on standardized tests as compared to those in other countries? American schools are full of teachers with degrees, even many with advanced degrees. You might also look up the statistics comparing home-school students' standardized test scores with those of other schools. Most home-schooling teachers don't have education degrees, yet they manage to do a pretty good job!

Edited March 6, 2012 by Therese
added the part after 'ETA'

[Hunter]

Back in the 1990s I pulled my 10 year old out of the 5th grade. We didn't have internet and very little contact with other homeschoolers. We still had snail mail catalogs with just brief descriptions and no samples. There was little to pick from and I didn't know what I was doing.

 

I counted my pennies and bought Saxon 1 textbook and answer key. No solution manual or DVDs. I had barely passed a dumbed down Algebra 2 course before quitting math and forgotten all that I had never fully learned.

 

My 10 year old and I started with lesson 1 and worked our way through the book. We did just fine. I think I consulted a couple yard sale books a couple times, but don't remember ever having been totally stuck.

 

My boys then started experimenting with a few high school correspondence courses and we used their math and then tried to transition back into Saxon and I tried having them work on their own. Dumb! So we struggled a bit after that, but I'm not blaming Saxon. We bombed with Saxon Calculus but...there were a ton of reasons, that had NOTHING to do with the textbook.

[mjbucks1]

My ds is currently doing Advanced Math using Saxon Teacher. I LOVE the DVDs!! My children do all problems (no skipping) and then re-work all problems missed. With ds, he must try to re-work them 3 times. If he still misses the problem, THEN he goes to the Saxon Teacher solutions. He always scores well on the tests. Honestly, I haven't been very involved other than grading. Ds is a bright kid, so this helps. My dd is currently in Saxon 8/7 and she prefers I teach every lesson to her. I think Saxon explains concepts very well and we haven't had any problems yet. I took a year of Calculus in college, and sometimes I think I remember absolutely nothing about Algebra, but it does come back to you :D!!

[mandymom]

My dd (8th grade) is using Saxon Algebra with DIVE this year. It has worked beautifully for her. She is very math-oriented, and she is very methodical and independent. It has worked well for her. My ds (9th grade) started the year with the same Algebra, and we QUICKLY realized that it would not work for him. While he is a solid math student (but not "mathy"), he is also ADHD, disorganized, and gets overwhelmed when there is a lot of equations on a page. He just zoned out....he was spending at least 3 hours a day getting it done. We've switched him to Life of Fred, and it is a MUCH better fit.

 

I think it depends on the type of child you have and how Saxon is used. It is a solid math program.

[HollyDay]

We made it through Saxon Algebra 1 fairly well :) I did purchase the Saxon teacher set and used them occasionally. For Algebra 2, I purchased the Art Reed dvds around lesson 65. We have the Saxon Teacher set for Algebra 2, but we do not use it all that much. The Art Reed dvds have been very helpful. Sometimes, in algebra 2, I can do the problem, but don't explain it as well as I would like. So, Art Reed dvds fill that need nicely.

[Jilly]

You said you rocked algebra. You can do it. Saxon presents new concepts incrementally. I expect that you'll need to look at the lessons periodically to refresh your memory, but it will come back.

 

:iagree:I am helping my son work through Saxon algebra, and I find it very easy to teach. If you have strong algebra skills (even if it was many years ago) I think you will find that you have no problem teaching it.

[Nscribe]

One more chiming in with Art Reed DVD's and Saxon. :iagree: