Heather in VA Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 My friend just pulled her 9th grader from public school and is worried about math. She was registered for Algebra II in public school and is good at math. She is worried about her ability to teach just buying a text especially being overwhelmed with the sudden decision to homeschool and so many decisions to make so she's looking at either Teaching Textbooks or Saxon. She's leaning toward Saxon but is wondering about review. Her daughter is good at math but will need review of Algebra I which is typically done in public school at the beginning of Algebra II because they take Geometry in between. I don't have Saxon experience at the high school level but I told her I thought they were known for review. So I told her I'd ask the Hive. Also, when I was looking for her I noticed there are now two edition for high school 3rd or 4th edition. If I recommend Saxon, which edition would you recommend? Or would you recommend TT over Saxon? I think one of the reasons she was leaning away from TT was that Saxon would take them through Calculus, but she said if TT was a better choice then she'd be willing to find something else for Calculus or I recommended CC as another possibility when that time comes. Thanks Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Jann in TX says not to start Saxon at Algebra 1, so I'm sure she'd say the same thing about Algebra 2. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Saxon is virtually impossible to start after Algebra I because of it's unique scope&sequence. I can't stand Saxon myself and don't know how anybody can possibly learn from it, but I know that it works for some people. For my two older girls, Kinetic Books is the best program they've ever used. It only goes up through Algebra II, but it is online with a video component to teach the lessons and immediate feedback on most problems. The only issue with Kinetic Books is that there isn't a solution manual, although most of the immediate feedback problems will take you through to the solution step-by-step. Thinkwell is a pretty good choice. It has a video component and you do the work online with immediate feedback and solutions. My middle dd is using it for Calculus this year. She doesn't like it as much as Kinetic Books, but it is her 2nd favorite program right now. Thinkwell goes up to Calculus II (AP Calculus AB is Calc I, AP Calculus BC is Calc I and Calc II combined). Chalkdust is another option. It has video lectures for every chapter section and you can get solution manuals that show you how to work out all the odd problems (only assign the odds, that's more than enough problems). It goes up through Calculus I. If she decided to go with Teaching Textbooks, she would need to do a placement test first. TT's scope&sequence is a bit behind other programs, so she might actually place into Precalculus. Also, TT doesn't go up to Calculus and doesn't appear to be planning to produce a Calculus program in the near future, so she'd need to switch to another program after Precalculus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I really don't think jumping into Saxon after Algebra I is a good idea. TT is workable. She could also look into Chalkdust, which also includes a fair amount of algebra 1 review at the beginning of the course and provides video instruction. I would prefer Chalkdust for a strong and accelerated math student although many have also had good success with TT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Based on our experience with Saxon, I'd go with the 3rd edition and start her in Algebra 1. She may not know exactly what was covered in school, and this will make sure there are no gaps. The 3rd edition includes geometry in the algebra and advanced math texts, so it really wouldn't take any more time to begin with Saxon's Algebra 1. Since she's in 9th, she would still have plenty of time to get to calculus in 12th. I would let her look through the text and see if she can learn by reading the text on her own. If she needs more help, there are several DVDs available as well. JMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 IDK, if she's a mathy girl she may not need much help from her mother. My ds is quite mathy and he teaches himself -- pretty much always has. He just comes to me if he's stuck on something or needs clarification which isn't often. She maybe shouldln't try to place her daughter directly into Saxon Alg II because it is a unique scope & sequence (I'm referring to the editions with integrated Geometry, which is what we've used). There is a homeschool edition of Saxon which has a separate Geometry text. Has her daughter already had Geometry (I'm thinking she has...)? We use the...third?...editions of the texts. There is a Saxon placement test online somewhere that she could have her daughter take. Saxon is heavy on review if you mean that every day the student works a variety of problems that reinforce previously learned concepts, but I cannot recall if there are any lessons dedicated exclusively to review at the beginning of the texts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 TT Algebra 2 is a good program - I've been looking at it pretty heavily over the last week for next year. The scope and sequence is very similiar to the book DS16 used in public school a couple years ago. I like Saxon, but I wouldn't try to dive into it for the first time with Alg 2. Another good option (besides Chalkdust) is the package from AskDrCallahan.com for Algebra 2. The text used does include review of Algebra stuff in the first chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Our experience with the Teaching Textbooks program has been positive. I've had two daughters use it through Algebra 2. One daughter went into a foreign exchange program immediately after, so no post-TT results to post for her. The other daughter placed into calculus at the local university following her TT Alg 2 year (though ultimately we decided to do Derek Owens pre-calc. She's performing with excellence there this far.) My only experience with Saxon was their kindergarten math program, which I despised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 I wouldn't use Saxon or TT. I'd take a look at Lial's Intermediate Algebra. Excellent text with good teacher support (solutions manual, tests, video lectures, etc). Or, even better, how about Derek Owens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessicalb Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Life of Fred is intended to be self-teaching. She might be interested in that. We like it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Saxon is virtually impossible to start after Algebra I because of it's unique scope&sequence. I can't stand Saxon myself and don't know how anybody can possibly learn from it, but I know that it works for some people. :001_huh: My daughter came from public/private school and had no problem jumping into Saxon Math. It must have worked just fine because she is now back in private school in the Honors math class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 Thanks everyone. Sorry it took a few days for me to get back to your responses. So if I'm interpreting the responses correctly the problem with Saxon is that they embed geometry in their books (in the older version) so there could be a problem with sequence. But I was wondering if that would be a problem if she's already had Alg I and Geometry. Also, what if she chose the new Alg 2 book that doesn't have Geometry in it. Would that be better? She has looked at samples and really likes the Saxon approach so I'm trying to figure out if she can make it work. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in VA Posted September 17, 2012 Author Share Posted September 17, 2012 :001_huh: My daughter came from public/private school and had no problem jumping into Saxon Math. It must have worked just fine because she is now back in private school in the Honors math class. Where did she jump in and where did she jump out? Did you use the new versions or the older ones? Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 Thanks everyone. Sorry it took a few days for me to get back to your responses. So if I'm interpreting the responses correctly the problem with Saxon is that they embed geometry in their books (in the older version) so there could be a problem with sequence. But I was wondering if that would be a problem if she's already had Alg I and Geometry. Also, what if she chose the new Alg 2 book that doesn't have Geometry in it. Would that be better? She has looked at samples and really likes the Saxon approach so I'm trying to figure out if she can make it work. Heather IMO the "embedded" geometry is one of the positives of the Saxon 3rd edition. I'd have her take the online Saxon placement text. If she places into algebra 2, then you can give that a go. But I would guess that she'll have some gaps compared to Saxon's content, so I would begin with Algebra 1. She can probably test out of some lessons, or work at a faster pace since most of the material should be review, but I wouldn't skip this text completely as it will give her a chance to familiarize herself with the Saxon way of teaching and setting up problems. If she likes the way they teach, it may very well be a good fit for her. It is designed in such a way that students can learn the material on their own. For us, correcting the problems after each lesson was best done with me following along with the solutions manual and having dd re-do any she missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Thanks everyone. Sorry it took a few days for me to get back to your responses. So if I'm interpreting the responses correctly the problem with Saxon is that they embed geometry in their books (in the older version) so there could be a problem with sequence. But I was wondering if that would be a problem if she's already had Alg I and Geometry. Also, what if she chose the new Alg 2 book that doesn't have Geometry in it. Would that be better? She has looked at samples and really likes the Saxon approach so I'm trying to figure out if she can make it work. Heather I just started my 10th grader in Saxon Algebra 2 this year. This is our first experience with Saxon math. I keep reading it is a difficult to transition if you have not used Saxon in the past but so far she is not having problems, but is has only been a month. She is using the Dive CD with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECreasman Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 We liked TT ok. We LOVE Lial's with Jann in TX!!! myhomeschoolmath.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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