Posted on 10/30/2006 12:36:40 PM PST by SoftballMominVA
Kassie, aren't you a Saxon math lover?
We used Saxon through Alg II, then my son went to the community college starting in 10th grade for his math classes. Finishing Saxon Alg II allowed him to test into College Alg, and from there he went on to take the other maths, including Calculus.
IMHO, if I were going to choose a Calculus program for independent study, I'd use Chalkdust videos with Dana Mosely. Many college use his videos as supplements.
Here's a link to his site:
http://www.chalkdust.com/comp.html
I only used Saxon up to Advanced Mathematics. After that I just needed help understanding things so I took math at the local community college. It depends on how good your son is at learning things on his own.
www.1roadtozion.com is a home run business run by an acquaintence of mine. Very wonderful family. It's $57 at her site.
:)
"I suggested that she come on here herself and ask but she was a bit intimidated by us Freepers. I told her it was okay, only a few bite, and most have had their shots :)"
The number of "biters" seems to have waned over time. Heck, I don't even get flamed on the partisan political threads much anymore.
FReepers are downright well-behaved these days.
You need to start an anti-evolution thread and the rabid ones will swarm to prove you wrong :)
We used Saxon all the way into Advanced Math. Did not do Calculus.
My wife loves Saxon, and I always felt that they were excellent in the levels that we taught.
Reminded me a little of Kumon Math in the drills.
One rural school south of Dallas taught from Saxon because their students were too far behind the state curve. Caught up in a couple of years.
Homeschoolers were nearly always ahead of the public school system.
"You need to start an anti-evolution thread and the rabid ones will swarm to prove you wrong :)"
The anti-abortion threads are to be treaded lightly. Particularly if you come from the point of view that the GOP isn't doing much about it. But I wasn't aware of the anti-evolution threads.
I think FR has become downright civil. Back in the day, I couldn't even go onto the political threads sans asbestos underwear.
I used the Saxon curriculum from Algebra to Algebra II, Advanced Mathematics (Which has a big focus on Trigonometry), and Calculus (which delves into derivatives, differential equations, and integrals that are necessary for upper-level math courses), and Physics (self-explanatory). I found that Saxon Calculus prepared me WONDERFULLY for my freshman college-level Calculus I class I'm taking right now.
As has been said, Saxon stresses repetition on the problem sets; expect to find problems from 30 lessons back in some sets (which I found to be a wonderful addition). Plus, the solution manuals are an important resource, as they go through the problem solving step-by-step.
You won't regret using the Saxon curriculum. It sure helped me out (my little 12-year old brother's using the Algebra book as we speak).
Random fact: The derivative of an object's velocity equals its acceleration. ;)
My daughter used Saxon Calculus in 11th grade and there were a couple places she needed some help but for the most part, she taught herself from the book. She's in college now and taking first semester calc and says she has not learned anything new yet. Another homeschool freeper, whose screenname I don't recall, made the same comment about her/his son.
I know educators tend not to like Saxon, but my husband is an engineer and other engineers he works with who are familar with the Saxon Math program speak very highly of it. They feel it's the best one to use to prepare kids for the practical application of math in the real world.
We used Saxon for all the years we homeschooled and my kids SAT scores in the math section were both very good and now that the two are trying public school, they are way ahead of the other kids in their classes. My son is in his second year in high school, taking trig and it's all still review for him. My daughter is bored to tears in her class.
One other thing. I needed calc for my college degree but never took trig in high school. Fortunately, I ran into a wonderful math prof who was a big help.
When I started homeschooling my kids, I was unsure about how I'd do teaching math that I didn't understand, but I found the Saxon explained things so clearly that I learned all that stuff I fought tooth and nail throughout my high school years.
That price includes the answer key and solutions manual, which you will absolutely need. I think it's a good price, especially since it will never be outdated.
My daughter used Saxon Physics the same year she did the calc and found that the two of them complimented each other nicely.
Funny how my kids learned how to read before the age of 5
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I started teaching my oldest at age 5 ( using phonics). The 4 year old demanded attention too, and she quickly learned to read. Then the 3 year pestered me for equal time, and she too immediately caught on.
Amazing! They looked like little midgets reading at such early ages.
LOL, that'll bring the out of the woodwork.
You can get brand new and much cheaper at http://www.rocksolidinc.com.
You can get much cheaper used too. We got the entire Saxon HS calculus package for about $35 used.
R.O.C.K. Solid sells everything at the best prices I've seen. It's the first place I look to find something.
Where I tutor, we all hate Saxon. (I homeschooled, used Straight Forward Math). The kids end up so confused. It seems to be circular, so a smattering of every sort of thing in any given chapter. I scanned through the 67 book quickly, to help a student, and found it confusing too.
But many love it.
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