Saxon?? Teaching Textbooks?? And what the heck is Singapore Math?
Note: I first wrote this in August 2012 but got overwhelmed with new school year stuff and never posted it. I'll add an update at the end. It will be long and boring to my non-homeschooling friends - sorry - but we homeschoolers always agonize over which curriculum to use, so this is my take on the math debate ...
We are about to start our tenth year of homeschooling. Gulp. Our oldest is about to leave us for a traditional Catholic high school. Double gulp. On his first day I'll be bawling like a kindergarten parent, but that's a post for later. Let's talk MATH.
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| 8-16-12: First Day of School - ever | ! |
I am no math genius. (To my kids, if you're reading this, cover your eyes.) I don't particularly enjoy math. (OK, now uncover them.) I am the daughter of a physicist and chemist, yet all the math/science genes bypassed me and congregated in my baby brother, who is now a successful computer engineer and who continually gets so many amazing job offers that we can't keep straight for whom he's working. Probably designing advanced missile systems or something. (Kids, if you're still reading, think ENGINEERING - not literature or philosophy. Like Shakespeare? Go see a play.) All that to say that you can take or leave my math recommendations and I won't be offended.
But here's the thing: my kids rock at math. It is always the highest score on their standardized tests; Christopher and Peter routinely earn perfect scores in math. Not saying they love it, but they can DO it, which is good enough in my book. Please understand that I'm not bragging and take no credit for this whatsoever. I give all the credit to the good Lord for their brains and to Saxon, yes, Saxon Math, the much loved/much maligned series, depending on whom you ask. (Ok, perhaps I'll take a teensy bit of the credit since I did spend hours and hours nursing them in the Lazyboy, and I just ran across another great article about breastfeeding and IQ, but once again, that's a post for later.)
I am completely convinced that the constant review required in "Mixed Practice", the daily facts practice, and the mental discipline it takes to get through a Saxon lesson is what has enabled those high scores.
It's not flashy; there are no color pictures or cute cartoon characters. But it is systematic, thorough, and logically presented. There is plenty, PLENTY of drill. Christopher did Algebra I in 7th and 8th grade, and in the midst of this I ran across the Algebra book they once used in our Catholic grade schools here. (They've since switched.) It was gorgeous - full color pictures and lots of practical applications. Lots. In fact, I kept flipping page after page and it seemed to be nothing BUT practical applications. I could only think, "Where's the real math? Where's the factoring? Where are the equations?" I'm all for practical applications, but surely you should be able to DO some math before applying it!
Back to the kids: Christopher finished Saxon Algebra I in October of his 8th grade year, and since we knew he was headed to McGill (our local Catholic high school and my alma mater - Go Jackets!) we weren't ready for him to move on to geometry quite yet. We had 2 tests looming over us: he had to take the ACT Explore test as a placement exam for McGill in November, and then in May he had to take the Algebra I exam to see if he could get hs credit and go right in to geometry as a freshman. I knew he needed to keep up his Algebra skills, so I bought Teaching Textbooks Algebra I, a program done entirely on the computer - lessons, quizzes, tests, the whole shebang. My idea was that he could do a lesson or two a day to stay primed and ready for the 2 upcoming "moments of truth."
I really wanted to love it. Truly. My kids get tired of all the Saxon work, and I thought this might be the answer. On the one hand, TT did all the grading for me. I loved the look of it, too - fun graphics, animated word problems ... it's just cute! But I'll be honest: Christopher hated it. Part of it is that's just him. He's Carl Frederickson from Pixar's Up, so he found the cute animation distracting and annoying after the first few lessons. But I'll also tell you that neither he nor I found it nearly challenging enough. In their attempts to make the program fun and user-friendly, they sacrificed some of the "oomph" of content.
Christopher will tell you that if he had only done TT, he never would have passed the Algebra I test, and he would have stunk up the math section of the Explore (on which he made a perfect score). On his own, he dropped TT after a few weeks and resorted to retaking the Saxon Alg I tests to prepare. Can't argue with that approach now, since it worked. You can read more reviews here and here. Some folks love TT.
At the same time, I bought TT Math 3 for my third grader, Emma. Until they can do the Saxon DIVE CD on their own, Saxon is very mommy-intensive, and at that point, Emma just wasn't getting enough face time with me. (I was homeschooling 4, plus we had a demanding toddler, plus I was trying hard to get Christopher ready for high school.) On the one hand, she was getting math lessons done every day - which just wouldn't have happened in our house with Saxon that year, if I'm being realistic and honest - and she thought all the Study Buddies and graphics were fun. BUT, I realized too late that it wasn't challenging and rigorous enough. She made no grade lower than an 85% all year - and the vast majority of her homework and test grades were 100%. So imagine my disappointment when her standardized test scores in math were completely lackluster that year. We immediately jumped back to Saxon for 4th grade, and tried hard to catch up to where we should be.
So here's my bottom line and recommendations for both ...
- Teaching Textbooks can be helpful if Mom simply cannot get Saxon done at all, and the child is not old enough for the DIVE CD. I'd be wary of it for college bound kids in high school level math, however. Don't like how it strips away mathematical language.
- If you do use TT, I would use the grade level AHEAD of your child's current grade, and I would make the student do 2 lessons/day. (Did that with Emma - doesn't take too long.) I would also print out the tests and require the student to take all tests with paper and pencil the old fashioned way. I did let Emma do quizzes on the computer, but for tests, she needed to show the work and not just guess at an answer on the computer.
- TT might be helpful for summer enrichment, just to keep up math skills, but I will not use it as a replacement for a real math course again.
- Don't skimp on the Saxon materials! Buy the workbooks - they should do Facts Practice everyday. For the little kids, they should do the Math Meeting everyday. If you have several young children, buy the Saxon Manipulative Kit. It is used for K-3 and has everything you'll ever need and you won't be tempted to skip a lesson on tangrams because you don't want to dig them out from the closet.
- Saxon can get pricey, esp when you throw in the DIVE CD. We've had good luck at Rainbow Resources buying the whole homeschool kit.
- Saxon now makes its own version of the DIVE CD. We prefer good ol' Dr. Shormann on the DIVE, but here's a comparison of the two.
- For Algebra I, just for something different, we use Mr. Reed's "Mastering Algebra John Saxon's Way." It's a live action version instead of a white board. Here's a sample.
- Facts Practice, Mental Math, Lesson Practice, and Mixed Practice makes for a long Saxon lesson. First, I remind my kids that their math time includes the homework they would have to do in the evenings if they were in "regular" school, and wouldn't they rather just get 'er done during the day? Then we have a deal going. They always have to do all of the above, but when it comes to Mixed Practice, if they get a 100% on that section, then the next day they can do even or odd only.
- I xerox a jillion of these answer forms at the beginning of the year. The masters are in the back of the workbook.
Update: Summer 2013
Made it to the END of our tenth year of homeschooling, thanks be to God. Christopher survived his first year at McGill and blazed a trail through geometry and physics. Thank you, Saxon. And as for Emma, after a year of Saxon 5/4, her standardized scores skyrocketed, and she, like her big brothers, earned a perfect score in math procedures. You go, girl!
