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teachingmyown
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| Posted: March 07 2005 at 12:14pm | IP Logged
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Maybe you all can help me? 
My eighth grader is finishing up Lial's Basic College Mathematics. It finishes with a basic intro to algebra.
I am trying to decide where to go next. My son is not a fan of Saxon, we shelved it at Saxon 65, but does that mean he will not like Algebra 1/2 or 1? I know many people recommend Jacob's Algebra? Does the Key to....Series cover the topic well enough?  Decisions, decisions!
This is my first expedition into higher math so to speak and I am relying totally on recommendations. That is risky with each program costing so much.
As far as his learning style, which might help you in making suggestions, he is an auditory and "global" learner. Also, he is not a strong math student.
Thanks so much for your help!
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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Mary G
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| Posted: March 07 2005 at 1:00pm | IP Logged
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Molly:
I have to say, I'm NOT a big fan of Saxon -- I've used it for 4th thru Algebra with mine and never liked the outcome. Seemed like they never got enough practice in each new thing before moving on to the next. I know it reviews and is cyclical, but porlem areas (i.e., "not getting it") wouldn't always show up right away especially if the problem was just like the example, they'd just key in the numbers, but never really got the concepts?
Anyway, my high schooler and middle schooler are currently in a parochial school that doesn't use Saxon. My current 8th grader will be home for high school and I'm personally leaning towards Jacobs or possibly MathUSee for her algebra.
I'd be interested in any advice you might get on this -- especially since the math programs are not cheap but unreturnable!
Blessings,
__________________
MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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TKCAnne
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| Posted: March 08 2005 at 8:19am | IP Logged
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Hi Molly,
We decided to try something different this year with our boys for Algebra. We are using the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project Algebra book (published by Pearson Educational). Our oldest used Saxon and is now an honors math student at her high school, but she hated it. The boys also hated it. I had modified what they were doing even in Saxon. I did not have them do every problem. I know that the experts say not to do that, but we did. The lessons were just too long for my guys. I would go through the problems and assign all the ones from the last few concepts introduced and any others that I knew were tricky ones for them. I agree that Saxon does not have enough drill on the new concept introduced. The cyclical concept is a great idea, but it seems that my kids did not get enough practice on new ideas.
So far I like the U of Chicago Algebra book. There are the problems in the book and it came with a CD on which there are *many* additional problems in case somebody is having a hard time with a particular concept. I can also print out worksheets from the CD so they do not have to fight over the book (or copy the problems from the book to a piece of paper). I also like that the book covers things like how to set up a spread sheet using a computer spread sheet program, how to write little computer programs to calculate things in BASIC (great for teaching logic), and how to use an automatic grapher. It also includes some concrete, hands-on projects to introduce some concepts which is terrific for my visual-spatial learners. Another neat feature is that they have used the same story problem in three different lessons, to show how the same problem could be solved in different ways. It also leads the kids to discover for themselves that they can approach solving a problem in different ways, but that some of those ways will be simpler than others.
My boys are just-turned-10 and almost-13, and we've skipped over a few Saxon books, so I am taking this slowly to be sure they really get it. We will take two years to finish the book.
My husband did some research and chose this series because it has a very good reputation. He thought that from what he read, it was non-repetitive (my kids hated that about Saxon), had good examples, good use of graphics and tables in examples. So far that has been our experience.
For my more auditory learner, I read the lesson out loud with him and ask him to answer the questions. I also have both boys work with example problems themselves. Just seeing how they did it doesn't seem to "go in" -- they have to have done the work themselves or else I end up needing to re-explain once they get to the homework.
Best of luck in your search. These "higher-level" math programs are more expensive and there seems to be less information out there for homeschoolers. It seems like almost everyone uses Saxon.
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oxymom2002
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| Posted: April 07 2005 at 3:10pm | IP Logged
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I am very interested in this thread. My ds (10) finished Singapore 6B four months ago. We currently are working our way through Key to Algebra and he is enjoying it. I'm treating it as a pre-algrebra course. I have Jacob's Algebra and Singapore's New Elementary Math, but haven't decided which one to use. My son really disliked using Saxon and I don't think I could get him to use it again. We have also heard good things about the University of Chicago program, but I haven't seen it and have heard that it was very expensive.
Any other thought would be gratefully received.
Blessings!
Theresa
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Mom to Melissa (11, Fragile X, Stroke, etc...), Anthony (10, accelerated learner), Katherine (safe in Our Lady's arms)
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Anne Marie M
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| Posted: April 30 2005 at 10:02pm | IP Logged
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Molly et al,
Check out the Life of Fred thread -
Anne Marie
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ALmom
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| Posted: May 19 2005 at 2:38am | IP Logged
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Hi,
I understand what you are saying about Saxon. I tend to use it because it is easy for me and being a math major, I know where to rearrange things, introduce something differently or pull out one of my old books to introduce a concept that Saxon doesn't handle well. Saxon does tend to be more drill like and sometimes students end up memorizing a formula with no clue why they are working the problem this way. I'm interested in learning more about other texts on this thread.
I also have Jacob's Algebra. I found the answer key and support materials were hard to use. It was hard to find where something was and it drove me crazy. It would have taken me forever to grade because it probably would have been easier for me to just work the problems rather than hunting the answers in the various places. I did end up using several sections from it, though, to introduce concepts when I didn't like the way Saxon did it.
Janet
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MacBeth
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| Posted: May 19 2005 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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Molly, we use Jacobs' Algebra and we love it. The kids do the assignments themselves and self check. If there are problems, they ask me and we work through some of the material together. I like the pace, the different levels of problems, and the kids always insist on doing problem set 4, which is always a challenging puzzle of some sort.
I cannot comment on the support materials (see Janet's post, above--welcome Janet!) because I don't use them  . I just go throught the problems with the child if there is something that's hard to understand, or too many errors.
I have Saxon Algebra, and the kids have looked at it and said, "Ew. No." I guess that's just us, but we do like Jacobs'.
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MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
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4Real Forums : Living and Loving Numbers
Topic: Algebra?
