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Susana
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| Posted: July 21 2011 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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Hello! I've used Modern Curriculum Press in the past for math. I noticed CHC switches over to Saxon in the 4th grade, so I'm just trying to decide which way to go. I wish I could find more samples of Saxon online to compare. It seems though I should just stick with what is working. I don't know! I'm a bit indecisive right now. Any opinions or help comparing the two?
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SallyT
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| Posted: July 29 2011 at 9:33am | IP Logged
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OK, having used both, here is my assessment:
MCP is a decent basic program, and my rising 8th grader used it happily to the end of sixth grade, at which point he transferred pretty successfully to Saxon Algebra 1/2. He did have to go back and re-learn several skill sets, however, particularly related to fractions, before he could move on at a level which satisfied both him and me. We leaned really heavily on Khan Academy; my son basically did self-teach his way through Algebra 1/2, and scored very well on the math portion of our state-mandated standardized tests this year. Last year, after finishing MCP, his math scores were far more spotty. Not that you have to take test scores as any kind of gospel, but as much as this kid likes and is good at math, and tends to test pretty well, I thought that was kind of telling.
*He* says, now, that he really prefers the Saxon approach because unlike MCP, which introduces a skill and then moves on, only repeating previously-learned skills in the chapter assessments every 10 lessons or so, the spiral structure of the Saxon lessons means that you don't forget what you've learned. This does become increasingly important as the student approaches middle school and is lining up his/her skills foundation to be ready for the challenges of high-school math.
Not that you *have* to do Saxon to achieve that -- in fact, with my two younger children (grades 2 & 3), I'm using MEP, which takes a completely different approach to math (and to my mind is much more fun than either MCP or Saxon), but also has the student constantly repeating and building on an ever-increasing skill set. We may stick with MEP all the way through high-school algebra and geometry, or we may switch to Saxon starting with pre-algebra, depending on what seems best for each child when we get there.
For what it's worth, my oldest child, now graduated, started with Saxon in fourth grade, our first year of homeschooling, and essentially refused to do it (that was a rough year for all kinds of reasons, and she had really not ever learned her basic math facts while in school, so it was all kind of a disaster). We wandered in the wilderness for a long time -- too long, as I now realize -- in search of a good "fit" in math, and with hindsight, although in the end Teaching Textbooks saved her life in high school, I really sort of regret not sticking with Saxon, or something like it, because her math retention was seriously lousy, and I think her high-school experience would have been easier and less fraught had lessons stuck with her at the lower level.
So my $.02 is that while MCP is fine, Saxon probably provides a more thorough preparation for the demands of upper-level math, and I would imagine that that's why CHC makes that switch.
HTH!
Sally
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Saxon vs. MCP
