PLEASE tell me good things about Saxon 8/7. I just got it in the mail and

[HappyGrace]

I HAAAAATE the look of it :( And this is after suffering for months over choosing a pre-algebra!

 

The explanations are so dry my eyes glaze over.

 

I wanted a pre-alg w/ lots of spiral but also not too hard. It fits the bill for everything I need, but I just hate how it looks.

 

Can anyone say it's worked well for them?

[ChiMomNP]

It worked well for us. My son did Saxon 6/5, 7/6, 8/7 and Algebra 1. We switched to TT this year after my son used the Alg 1 over the summer, my plan was for him to do it to keep his skills sharp and then move on to Saxon Alg 2 this fall. Well TT really worked for him and he wanted to try Alg 2, so we switched. Saxon will absolutely get pre-algebra skills up to par. Good luck with it!

[HappyGrace]

Thank you-I really need the encouragement! Maybe we can plug through it if we know it at least works.

 

We're brushing up mental math, conceptual, etc., on the side via cherry picking from MUS, Crewton Ramone, Maria Miller's videos, etc. About 20 min per day of that stuff. So maybe that will jazz things up.

 

But I do need to get her through pre-alg this yr in case she goes to private school next fall.

[HappyGrace]

Oh, ChiMom-how would you say TT compares with the Saxon, in your opinion? TT was my (close) second choice.

Edited September 28, 2012 by HappyGrace

[SilverMoon]

I had the same reaction the first time I saw a Saxon textbook. My DD who really likes math and seems to speak it's language enjoyed the books and did well with them though. *shrug* She did them faster, generally two lessons a day.

[HappyGrace]

Thanks so much! How did she do two lessons per day? Did she just skip some questions?

[Carol in Cal.]

We used Saxon 1, 2, 65, 76, 87, and Algebra 1.

 

Of those, 87 was the most difficult because of its sheer scope. It's a broad, complicated subject.

 

The book worked well for us, but I had really pay attention to make this happen. I had to stop progress occasionally and recap a BUNCH of the lessons to make sure that the rules they were teaching were all pulled together into one page.

 

At one point it got away from me a bit, and I ended up making DD back up and do a chunk of the lessons over. This was not a 'hand it to your kid and kiss it goodbye' experience.

 

The DIVE CD's are extremely helpful--they use different examples that teach the same thing as the lessons, so you get some variety in case the first take doesn't work.

 

This was a good, solid curriculum, and I am glad that we used it.

[curlylocks]

I've used Saxon K - Algebra 1...it is a good, thorough program.

 

I recently discovered Art Reed DVDs which we enjoy.

[regentrude]

Saxon 8/7 worked for us in the sense that my kids were able to learn prealgebra from it and were well prepared for the most rigorous algebra program, AoPS.

Like you, we found it dry as dust.

We committed the unspeakable act of dramatically modifying the program: we grouped lessons together, cut out vast amounts of busywork (cut all of the warmups, did every fact sheet only once, reduced the number of practice problems) and created a speed through version DS was able to complete in 5 months; this was sufficient for him to be ready for AoPS Intro to Algebra. So, for us, doing all the stuff we eliminated would have been total overkill.

 

Saxon is solid and gets the job done; it is just utterly uninspired and boring. I was never so glad to be able to retire a piece of curriculum.

Edited September 28, 2012 by regentrude

[SilverMoon]

Thanks so much! How did she do two lessons per day? Did she just skip some questions?

 

She just plugged through them that fast. I didn't have her skip anything. She said the constant change of problem types kept it interesting and made it easy. (This is a kid who enjoys math.) ETA: We didn't have the fact sheets mentioned above. She just used the textbooks.

[justkeepswimming]

Yep - it's not the flashiest of textbooks, that is for sure!

 

But, my oldest - who has used Saxon since 4th grade (with the exception of part of one year) - is flying through Algebra II right now. That girl *knows* her math and it's consistently one of her easiest (although, time-consuming) subjects.

 

My next child wanted to stay with TT, which she'd used for one year. I switched her to Saxon 8/7 this year along with the Art Reed videos. She's not overly excited about Saxon, but then she's not really a mathy kid anyway. But, her understanding of the math concepts she's covering this year is solid.

 

So, for us, it's one of those "if it ain't broke" issues... It's a solid program!!! :) (We reserve the excitement for other subjects... lol)

[HappyGrace]

Whew-thanks, everyone-this is helping significantly!!! I'm thrilled that it is solid preparation. It looks like we'll just have to slog through it.

 

I had looked at both the Art Reed and DIVE dvds prior to buying, and they didn't look like they added a whole lot more so I didn't get them. I did plan on teaching the lesson to her myself from the book. But I'm wondering now if I should get one of the dvds, instead of trying to read through and teach from the dry instruction. ****Do you feel the instruction in either the Art Reed or DIVE is sufficient to totally *REPLACE* reading through the instruction part of the lesson? And if so, was the dvd just as dry, or more engaging than the lesson in the book?

 

THANK YOU! :)

[HappyGrace]

The book worked well for us, but I had really pay attention to make this happen. I had to stop progress occasionally and recap a BUNCH of the lessons to make sure that the rules they were teaching were all pulled together into one page.

 

Carol, would you mind explaining this a little more, maybe with an example, if you can think of one? Just trying to envision what this might look like because it sounds like a great idea that I'd like to be sure to incorporate.

[HSMom2One]

We were loyal fans of TT, but dd was not holding on to concepts very long and so we needed to go back to the spiral method that Saxon utilizes. Since making the change dd has completed 76 and is now nearly done with 87 and her understanding of math is vastly, vastly improved. She watches a DIVE video and then moves on to her lessons in the book. Dh is supplementing with tutoring from the book as well, and so with the combination of all three my dd has made a HUGE turn around from where she was 2 years ago. Saxon is a solid program.

 

We're going to move dd in to Algebra I very shortly, but this time she's going to watch Art Reed videos instead of DIVE - just for a change of pace. Both video programs are extremely helpful in supporting the lessons in the book. In response to that part of your post, no the videos don't replace the lesson book. They offer supplemental support that is engaging and helpful.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Carol in Cal.]

Carol, would you mind explaining this a little more, maybe with an example, if you can think of one? Just trying to envision what this might look like because it sounds like a great idea that I'd like to be sure to incorporate.

 

It's been a few years since I did this, but IIRC one of the things that I pulled together was the rules about 4 functions for negative numbers and for mixed positive and negative numbers in the same equation. The book introduced these incrementally, and I felt that DD was not getting her arms around the material as a whole, so we stopped for a few days and I helped her write out all the rules on one sheet, and we talked about them--why they are the way they are, etc.

 

We did something similar with orders of operations, and again with fractions when it got to the point where there were fractional numerators and fractional denominators.

 

BTW, you mentioned looking at the DVD's. I believe that the Art Reed DVD's are licensed by Saxon and just teach the exact material in the book. The DIVE ones teach the material but don't teach it exactly the same way or with exactly the same examples as the book, for copyright reasons I think. DD really didn't want me to teach her this material, and I was not certain that she would always thoroughly study the book on her own, so the DIVE CD's were great for us. She was supposed to study the book, then watch the DIVE, then do the lesson. I don't think she always studied the book very well, but the nice thing was that when she ran into problems I could go back and teach the book lessons and they were a fresh-ish take on the material since the DIVE was different. IIRC, she had already started to use DIVE CD's a year or two earlier, more or less on her own, and it had made Saxon into largely a self-teaching curriculum, but then when she ran into difficulties in 87 we used them in this different way.

[justkeepswimming]

****Do you feel the instruction in either the Art Reed or DIVE is sufficient to totally *REPLACE* reading through the instruction part of the lesson? And if so, was the dvd just as dry, or more engaging than the lesson in the book?

 

DD reads the lesson through first. Then, watches the Art Reed instruction on the dvd. He doesn't use the examples in the book, which I love.

 

Then, she does the lessons. She does all of the problems and all of the tests (there is a schedule for these in the test book - and Art Reed actually reminds the students when there is a test coming up - another bonus!)

 

both girls actually LOVE test days because the tests are so much shorter than the usual lesson (plus, they don't have to read through and/or watch videos for a new lesson). So -test days are fast-and-easy! :)

 

My oldest hasn't needed or wanted the videos yet. When she starts feeling "stumped" we'll order the Art Reed video for whatever level she's at.

[Kim C]

I HAAAAATE the look of it :( And this is after suffering for months over choosing a pre-algebra!

 

The explanations are so dry my eyes glaze over.

 

I wanted a pre-alg w/ lots of spiral but also not too hard. It fits the bill for everything I need, but I just hate how it looks.

 

Can anyone say it's worked well for them?

 

It worked well for us. We used Saxon 5/4 through 8/7. My ds learned the material, but by then end of 8/7 he was ready for a new curriculum. We're using Jacobs and Life of Fred for Algebra this year.

 

Kim

[Murrayshire]

All of my kids use Saxon! It works....it may not be pretty but it does the job! I feel that math is math and doesn't need to be pretty!

My dd12 is using Saxon 8/7 with Art Reed and doesn't have any complaints! Art Reed makes it more enjoyable!

Good Luck!

:001_smile:

[HappyGrace]

Thanks, everyone! This is helping bolster my decision.

 

Carol, I printed out your answer-it was EXTREMELY helpful in showing me what to watch for in the "incremental-ness" of the program and how to remedy-thank you!