Which math program REALLY explains concepts easier... CLE or Saxon?

[1GirlTwinBoys]

If you're not mathy and really need a program that explains it very clearly.  :mellow:

 

[...................]

I am not mathy and I find that Saxon explains things very well. However, it doesn't cover a lot of the "why" behind the math, so it *really* requires supplementing using videos or books from the library....also you can supplement with Zaccarro's math for good word problem skills in a very easy to use format.

 

I have not used CLE.  

 

Another option if you are non-mathy but you want your kids to really understand math, is Math U See.  The one con to Math U See is that you have to stick with it all the way to their last level before Algebra, otherwise if you switch programs you will have HUGE gaps and problems.  But, if you plan on homeschooling for the long run, then there's no reason to not use something that may work best for you.

[kareng]

I am very Mathy but my dd is not (she's very artistic).  I have tried Saxon & Abeka and both of those seem really good for those who are good at math, or at least for those who get Math concepts easily.  I found there to be a "new" concept every day or very often, which works if you get mathy things easily.  That is not my dd.  We have found is that Math Mammoth (MM) to be very good as well as Teaching Textbooks but my preference is for MM.

 

Hope that helps.

 

P.S. I'm sorry I just re-read your post and I realize I didn't answer your question. Maybe there's something in what I wrote that you can glean anyway :001_rolleyes:

[OneStepAtATime]

CLE is easy to teach and usually explains well, since it is written to the student.  I am not mathy at all and have found it easy to teach, with the exception that my daughter has some severe deficits in certain areas of math that have caused some challenges.  That is not because of the program, though, that is because of her LDs.  She has done better with CLE than any other standard math program we have tried.  I really love the layout, explanations, etc.

 

Unfortunately, I would not be able to compare it to Saxon since I have only looked at Saxon and watched others use it.  I have not used it myself.  I am sorry that so far no one has been able to respond that has used both.  

 

I am uncertain what the cost of Saxon is, but CLE light units are cheap.  You might give the placement test (I do NOT recommend using this program without giving the placement tests, which are free) then just buy one or two light units to test out, starting in whatever level your children tested in to.  Light Unit 01 of each level is review so that is not a good one to judge by.  It is a good one to start with if your child needs a bit of review, though.

 

Hopefully several people who have used both will also respond with a more helpful comparison of the two programs.

[SnMomof7]

CLE does have very clear explanations. It is even written to the student in 2nd and up, so it is very easy to understand. It is also very traditional, so it's easier for parents with traditional math backgrounds to teach.

[wehave8]

We have used Saxon and CLE.  We use CLE for 1-3 and then switch over to Saxon.  I am considering NOT switching over our 7 year old when he finishes CLE 3rd.  Our 9 yr old is doing okay, but our 11 yr old takes forever!  It is mostly just the way he is in everything, but I still wonder if I should have left him stay in CLE until he got to the end of the Sunrise editions.  I think CLE teaches more clearly, but I like textbooks.  ;)

 

Pam

[Ellie]

I am not mathy and I find that Saxon explains things very well. However, it doesn't cover a lot of the "why" behind the math, so it *really* requires supplementing using videos or books from the library....

 

I'd have to disagree that Saxon doesn't explain the why's. :-) This is what Janet in WA wrote about that:

 

In my experience, Saxon always teaches the “whyâ€. And they always introduce new concepts by relating them to previous ones. In fact, another criticism I’ve heard about the high school level books is that the lessons are too long -- too wordy. That’s because they spend so much time explaining. However, because of Saxon’s incremental design, you won’t always find the full explanation for “why†in any one lesson. Sometimes it takes many lessons, over a protracted period of time, before the student has all the pieces to a concept, and knows why he’s learned it and how it will be applied. For example, he’ll learn and practice a particular method of solving simultaneous equations. He’ll practice it for many days, in fact, with no real certainty why. Then, when he’s gotten proficient at that technique, Saxon will introduce a new kind of word problem for which that method of equation solving is useful. The student THEN sees why he learned that method. In other more traditional texts, with concepts taught in chapter format, this connection would be made more quickly and obviously. As carol nj says, Saxon is a “parts to whole†kind of math. You need to look at the whole picture to appreciate Saxon -- not just each book as a whole, but the whole series.

 

Also, sometimes the “why†of a concept isn’t found in a lesson because the student has seen that concept before in a previous book -- and the “why†was explained at the time the concept was first taught, not when he sees it as review. Now and then we’ll hit a lesson that seems to just tell the student how to do something new, and never much about why, but those always turn out to be things Saxon doesn’t place much importance on, and the student won’t see them or use them much.

 

Now let me say, the fact that Saxon explains the “why†behind concepts doesn’t mean a student will understand that explanation -- or remember it. With Saxon’s incremental format, some students have difficulty mastering concepts, and connecting them. And the tone of Saxon’s high school books is rather “academicâ€, and the length and wordiness of the lessons turns some students off. But the content is there.

 

[Jasperstone]

If you're not mathy and really need a program that explains it very clearly. :mellow:

I'm not Mathy and I found CLE to be brilliant!!!!

 

It explains it really well. It makes math easy.