Reviews for Saxon Math: Middle Grades (4-8)
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| Reviewed by MicheleMM |
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Created at
1:20 PM EDT on
October 29, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
5 |
| Usability |
5 |
| Price/Value |
5 |
| Overall Average |
5 |
Saxon Math is a math curriculum that is designed for success. The reason I believe this statement is based on practice. The key that makes the difference between us American’s and Orientals is practice. This was told to me from an oriental herself. What ever subject you are studying, practice makes all the difference in the world between success and failure. Math is one subject that to be successful at it you need to practice. Saxon math has this discipline built into its curriculum.
Up until about threes years ago I was using Accelerated Christina Education (ACE) for all of the subjects I teach. However, I discovered that my children were not remembering some of the math facts that they were taught. After talking to other homeschool moms, I decided to give Saxon math a try. Well it was well worth the try. Not only are my children learning math better but they are excelling.
In each new lesson of Saxon the child learns the new information and practices it. In addition, the child is provided with practice questions from previous lessons. Each new lesson has a little bit of practice problems from past lessons so the child will never forget how to solve problems the way he was taught.
Another nice feature that I like about Saxon is that it fits right into my style of teaching. With seven children I need the children to work as independently as possible. Saxon math allows this to happen. Of course you’ll always have on occasion the need to explain something your child just doesn’t get, but on a daily basis you will be freed up to accomplish other things like planning field trips, correcting, documenting, or just plain household chores.
In addition, I can personally attest to its success in the fact that my high school junior is already taking college math at our local community college. O.k. if that’s not convincing enough. Let me tell you that I didn’t do too well in math as I was growing up. However, I understand math perfectly the way Saxon lays it out. Talk about dual credits. In our house both my son and I are learning at the same time.
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| Reviewed by SugarPea |
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Created at
11:24 PM EDT on
June 30, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
4 |
| Usability |
4 |
| Price/Value |
4 |
| Overall Average |
4 |
I have used Saxon 7/6 for my middle school child this year and part of last. Although she wasn’t thrilled with them, she has benefited so much from the reviews and pretests!
When we started sixth grade with a nationally accredited virtual academy in Sept of 07, she was using a different book assigned by the school. When we decided to drop out of the academy and find our own curriculum, I tested her with the Saxon online testing available on their site to see where to place her. At the end of five months with the “other” book, she was not able to remember her times tables, had trouble with telling time and was not familiar with fractions, and her measuring skills were lacking.
Saxon advises the teacher to have the student do EACH lesson in order, which we did, but with a little twist. Although it took only a little discussion, clarification and choosing some lessons and tests that helped me see where she was lacking, all of those problems have disappeared or minimized greatly. Not only are the lessons simple, tests quick and the real life mental math easy, the manipulatives included in the homeschool packet were excellent and helped her visualize things so well, she buzzed through most tests with ease. She can now see what it means to have ½ of something and that two ¼ ‘s make a ½ . She has such confidence in her math now!
After only five months using her Saxon book again, we are caught up, although we have skipped around a bit due to an eclectic style of homeschooling (if she has a question, I have her work it out from the applicable chapter in Saxon). We will do some review before September to be sure we haven’t forgotten any methods, but now she's already going to start pre-algebra next year! I know this is due to the repetition and reminders in the pretests, and the lovely way things are spelled out in the lessons. Such a good way to be sure your child is retaining the info and to see where they may have a deficit.
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| Reviewed by jmlockwood |
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Created at
10:50 AM EST on
March 6, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
5 |
| Usability |
5 |
| Price/Value |
4 |
| Overall Average |
4.67 |
I have used Saxon Math with my kids for years. For grades 6-8, we have used Saxon 65, 76, 87, and Algebra 1/2 - depending on the needs of the student. All of them are great.
I love the section in each lesson of 65, where they ask you to do mental math. This was one area my kids really enjoyed, and were helped a lot.
I also like the way the lessons are laid out. Each lesson is explained, with examples, solutions, and answers. This gives the kids a chance to see it done, step by step.
Next is the practice section. This section has ONLY problems that are consistent with the lesson given. If they do these well, you go on to the main problems. The main problem section has 25 problems, all from this lesson and previous lessons. Each problem has a small number next to it, this is the lesson number which taught that concept. This makes it very easy to follow, and very easy to find and review other lessons where there may be problem areas.
Saxon Math is my very favorite Math program for grades 4-9.
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| Reviewed by MrsHannigan |
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Created at
7:49 PM EST on
February 27, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
5 |
| Usability |
5 |
| Price/Value |
5 |
| Overall Average |
5 |
Saxon for Middle Grades has been wonderful. I was so afraid, because I didn’t like the K-3 Saxon at all – but the Middle grades Saxon has been wonderful. I didn’t understand the concept of spiraling at first, but after seeing it in action with my girls, I can say it is genius.
Each lesson begins with a warm-up and the option (if your child needs it) of a drill assignment. Then the lesson is taught. The kids can do all of this themselves, it is designed to be self-teaching and 90% of the time my 14 yr old and 11 yr old do not need any input from me.
The Spiraling aspect of Saxon means that a concept is taught in the lesson, and then revisited frequently throughout the rest of the book. In the Student book, in the margins, is a little teeny number indicating which lesson the particular concept was taught in. So that if the child suddenly doesn’t remember something s/he’s been doing for weeks now, it’s easy to see where to go for reteaching without looking it up.
We like to get the kits, each kit has the “Student book” (textbook and workbook all in one) and the “Solutions Manual” (answer book) and the “Tests & Worksheets.” I don’t find that we use the “Tests & Worksheets” as often as the program recommends, but we do use them occasionally, and they’re nice to have on hand for timed drills, rainy day “fun” and reinforcement of basic concepts.
Saxon also makes flashcards for use with this series. Some kids really like learning with flashcards. It’s especially effective with kids who don’t like writing the answers, or with those who enjoy the thrill of a race against the clock. Flashcards can be self-teaching, when the kids know how to use them. The flashcard set that’s made for use with the Saxon middle grades covers the basics of what is taught during those lessons; the facts that need to be memorized mostly.
TIPS:
The beginning of each book is a review of what was taught in the previous year; so that if you’re starting a new book in the middle of the year, skim through the lessons and lesson practices until it looks like new materials. Their website also has a placement test, but I’ve found the materials arrive faster and cheaper when they are not ordered through the publisher.
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| Reviewed by dknh4home |
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Created at
8:11 AM EST on
February 26, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
4 |
| Usability |
4 |
| Price/Value |
4 |
| Overall Average |
4 |
My son did Saxon math in 7th grade. We had not previously followed the Saxon program but went on a recommendation from a friend. This was a really thorough curriculum as far as hitting all the basics for Algebra. It is very repetitive, which my son needed.
The Saxon curriculum is a basic, no-nonsense math text. In fact, the book is entirely black and white - no color at all, and no illustrations, except for mathematical drawings. The text includes instruction on such topics as compressions, approximating roots, polynomials, advanced graphing, basic trigonometry, and more.
The lessons follow an incremental approach and are fairly lengthy (multiple practice problems and 30 review problems) with multiple new concepts presented in each lesson. Obviously, this can prove to be difficult for some children. In the case of our son, we would often take two days for a single lesson, and I'd expect that for many students, that would be the norm.
It seems that the curriculum is designed for a school setting (it's used in many schools), and so is by no means a "self-teaching" book. Be prepared to have to be able to know and understand the concepts and teach them to your child. If you are adept at algebra (and teaching the concepts), this is a really straightforward text without any of the "clutter" of many contemporary math texts. I also find that the integration of geometry within the algebra sequence (as opposed to a separate geometry "course" as is typical of most schools) is really ideal and keeps the material fresh. Be sure to also get the accompanying Solution Manual, as it will save you countless hours of calculations (unless that's your secret passion) come correction time. You could also consider the Teacher Edition if you need some assistance with presenting the material.
The price was very reasonable for a math textbook and solutions manual.
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