Saxon Math: Teaching Tape Technology vs. Saxon D.I.V.E. vs. Saxon Teacher CD-Roms

[Lora_M]

I'm trying to decide between these 3 to supplement Saxon 5/4.   Any advice/thoughts you can share? 

 

 

Here are the 3 choices that I'm debating.  I don't see many reviews/additional information describing them and their similarities and differences: 

 

https://www.christianbook.com/saxon-homeschool-teacher-roms-third-edition/pd/773718?event=ESRCG

 

https://www.christianbook.com/saxon-math-dive-rom-3rd-edition/pd/544543?event=ESRCG

 

https://www.christianbook.com/3rd-edition-study-teaching-technology-bundle/pd/824201?event=ESRCG

 

 

(They're also on rainbowresource.com)

Edited May 30, 2017 by Lora_M

[Hunter]

None. Read the books. teach your child to read the books. I"m serious. Especially with the high school books, written by Saxon himself. Saxon is such a better teacher than any of the video makers.

 

There is not time to both watch and read, so you are substituting inferior teaching for superior teaching.

[Lora_M]

None. Read the books. teach your child to read the books. I"m serious. Especially with the high school books, written by Saxon himself. Saxon is such a better teacher than any of the video makers.

 

There is not time to both watch and read, so you are substituting inferior teaching for superior teaching.

We've never done Saxon.  When you say "read the books" do you mean the Saxon Math books themselves as in the actual lesson text itself, or are there additional books that Saxon has written?

[Hunter]

We've never done Saxon.  When you say "read the books" do you mean the Saxon Math books themselves as in the actual lesson text itself, or are there additional books that Saxon has written?

 

Just the books themselves.

 

I, personally, don't think Hake, the author of the middle school books, is the same calibre of writer as Saxon, but still, he outshines those video makers. Just as the math gets hard enough to make me consider videos, Saxon becomes the author, and there is just no comparison even at the calculus level. I bought videos for calculus, but ditched them, and started the book over without them, and we did better.

 

Switch from Hake to Saxon as soon as you can. Do Algebra 1/2 instead of 87.

 

For the middle school Hake books, use the oldest edition you can get your hands on. First edition is the best. There are video comparisons at youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4aAqEH7jHc&t=200s

Edited May 30, 2017 by Hunter

[Hunter]

Saxon could write. I don't care about the review. I never used Saxon because I was a fan of the review. I used Saxon because Saxon could WRITE.

[Vida Winter]

I agree about Saxon. We used the older books. I just finished my second year teaching the entire Alg.2 book -- the explanations are VERY clear.

[LinRTX]

All of my children are very good at math --they understand math not just how to do procedures. All used Saxon -- the old ones -- just the books.

[elmerRex]

I also think that using a video to teach maths is not ideal. Certainly not at that level. Our family is ESL so we read the texts and teach our children, from the texts for Math 54 and Math 65.

 

My opinion is that the parent READING and TEACHING the material is just superior instruction. The books are not hard to understand. We used 3rd edition.

[Lora_M]

This has been so very helpful!   Thank you all very very much, esp Hunter!

[chellesnead]

Actually, I'm going to disagree.  My daughter has used the Art Reed DVD's in addition to the 7/6 textbook. The videos are 5-10 minutes and she reads the full lesson.  Art Reed gives lots of tips to help the student solve the problems.  My daughter loves the videos and is doing fantastic with math this year.  She's constantly mentioning things that Mr. Reed has taught her that are helpful.  I also spent a lot of time reading through his site and got lots of helpful tips for how to use Saxon in a homeschool environment (what you can skip and not skip and why).

 

http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/
 

My 2 cents. :)

[Lora_M]

Actually, I'm going to disagree.  My daughter has used the Art Reed DVD's in addition to the 7/6 textbook. The videos are 5-10 minutes and she reads the full lesson.  Art Reed gives lots of tips to help the student solve the problems.  My daughter loves the videos and is doing fantastic with math this year.  She's constantly mentioning things that Mr. Reed has taught her that are helpful.  I also spent a lot of time reading through his site and got lots of helpful tips for how to use Saxon in a homeschool environment (what you can skip and not skip and why).

 

http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/

 

My 2 cents. :)

Hunter's point was a warning not to use any supplemental teaching aid (DVDs, CD-Roms, etc.) in LIEU of Saxon's text.     You wrote that you are using Reed's DVDs "in addition to" the textbook, so you too aren't ditching the textbook.   

 

Thanks for letting me know about the Reed DVDs.     I too will consider supplemental DVDs, CD-ROMs, but plan to still use the textbook/Saxon's instruction as my not-to-be-missed primary source of instruction.

[Hunter]

Don't skip problems. There are things not explicitly taught, that the student is ingeniously set up to figures out by themselves, as certain problems get increasingly harder. A gifted child can make leaps when not taught explicitly, but if a child is not gifted, skipping problems is equivalent to skipping instruction.

 

If one of the DVD makers keeps the lesson short enough to ADD to reading the book, and you have time to do BOTH, that would be fine. But those lessons just take SOOOO long as it is.

 

One thing that really adds to the length of time to complete a lesson is if the student is placed too high. At least the first half of the book is supposed to be EASY and REVIEW. The easier the book, the faster the student is able to complete all that review drill. When what is supposed to be easy peasy review is new, it takes forever to compete a lesson.

 

Don't be afraid to back up and repeat lessons if a student slows down, to give them some more practice, before adding even more new topics.

[chellesnead]

Don't skip problems. There are things not explicitly taught, that the student is ingeniously set up to figures out by themselves, as certain problems get increasingly harder. A gifted child can make leaps when not taught explicitly, but if a child is not gifted, skipping problems is equivalent to skipping instruction.

 

If one of the DVD makers keeps the lesson short enough to ADD to reading the book, and you have time to do BOTH, that would be fine. But those lessons just take SOOOO long as it is.

 

One thing that really adds to the length of time to complete a lesson is if the student is placed too high. At least the first half of the book is supposed to be EASY and REVIEW. The easier the book, the faster the student is able to complete all that review drill. When what is supposed to be easy peasy review is new, it takes forever to compete a lesson.

 

Don't be afraid to back up and repeat lessons if a student slows down, to give them some more practice, before adding even more new topics.

 

We don't skip problems.  I put the link and recommended that the poster read it, as there is far more good information at that link than I could post here.  As I tried to decide whether or not to continue with Saxon as my daughter was complaining about how long the lessons took, I found invaluable information at Art Reed's site that helped me understand what she needed to do and did not need to do as well as the rational behind it.

 

This is a great link for why NOT to skip any of the problem set -- the July 2015 entry. http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2015.php#0615

 

This is a great link for when and why you can skip the the warm-up box and some of the practice problems -- the February 2016 entry.

http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2016.php#0216

 

I highly recommend taking the time to read through his newsletters for anyone using Saxon.  There was so much wonderful information that helped me understand how Saxon is written and why.  Additionally, for my daughter who does very well with math, the videos have absolutely been worth the 5-10 minutes a day, and I highly recommend them in addition to the text.

 

In addition to what Hunter said, the extra practice at the back of the book is fantastic when you do need to slow down and give extra review for a concept.  It may mean you don't finish the book in a year, but your child will master the math.

[Guest]

None. Read the books. teach your child to read the books. I"m serious. Especially with the high school books, written by Saxon himself. Saxon is such a better teacher than any of the video makers.

 

There is not time to both watch and read, so you are substituting inferior teaching for superior teaching.

Absolutely agreed. You do not need the supplements, just the text, the tests, and maybe the teacher's guide if you don't want to work the problems to correct them. All the necessary teaching instruction is in the beginning part of each lessons and maaaaybe you might want to go to khan academy for some extra help if a concept isn't clicking.

 

But really and truly, it's a simple and fantastic program and doesn't need additional bells and whistles.

Edited June 1, 2017 by Arctic Mama

[Hunter]

We don't skip problems.  I put the link and recommended that the poster read it, as there is far more good information at that link than I could post here.  As I tried to decide whether or not to continue with Saxon as my daughter was complaining about how long the lessons took, I found invaluable information at Art Reed's site that helped me understand what she needed to do and did not need to do as well as the rational behind it.

 

This is a great link for why NOT to skip any of the problem set -- the July 2015 entry. http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2015.php#0615

 

This is a great link for when and why you can skip the the warm-up box and some of the practice problems -- the February 2016 entry.

http://mail.teachingwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2016.php#0216

 

I highly recommend taking the time to read through his newsletters for anyone using Saxon.  There was so much wonderful information that helped me understand how Saxon is written and why.  Additionally, for my daughter who does very well with math, the videos have absolutely been worth the 5-10 minutes a day, and I highly recommend them in addition to the text.

 

In addition to what Hunter said, the extra practice at the back of the book is fantastic when you do need to slow down and give extra review for a concept.  It may mean you don't finish the book in a year, but your child will master the math.

 

Just be careful with these sites. The information is written by a seller looking to make a profit and it is not always what a non-seller would write. It has been years since I read any Saxon supplement seller sites, and I don't know what is currently being said and sold. I just know I didn't agree what was said in the past, and believed it was meant to increase sales. These sellers have to justify their existence for a curriculum that few people need supplemented. Just be careful.

 

it has been years. I don't know who said what. I just remember being upset with some of what I read.

 

Even Hake writes some mess, sometimes, when it comes to his book 87 that overlaps with Saxon's Algebra 1/2. He isn't giving helpful information in my opinion, but a sales pitch to use his book instead or in addition to Saxon's Algebra 1/2.