Customer Reviews

Algebra 1: An Incremental Development, Teacher's Edition

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John Saxon, former Air Force test pilot, published an article in the May 29, 1981 issue of National Review titled "al-ge-bra MADE UNDERSTANDABLE." It was a screed against mathematics textbooks that "...confuse and frighten students by belaboring concepts that are trivial and by giving insufficient emphasis to concepts that are fundamental." Saxon condemned mastery learning and advocated teaching mathematics using "... an incremental development with a continuous review." In the mathematics textbooks he wrote himself, Saxon used an innovation he called "general repetition" -- presenting lots of problems so that students practiced doing what they learned over and over again so that they mastered necessary skills. Saxon's books, Algebra 1/2 - Algebra 1 - Algebra 2 - Advanced Mathematics - and Calculus, are an excellent way to learn mathematics. You can teach yourself by using them. I worked through the Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 books by myself when my son was in school, quite an accomplishment for a 40+ year old math dummy, and my son finished the entire sequence of books as supplemental work while using other textbooks in his school classes. The Saxon books helped make him a great mathematics student.

As homeschooling parents, we needed a direction in math that allowed our son to be slightly independent, as neither of us progressed beyond college algebra for our careers. Admittedly, our son has a high aptitude for math, which greatly increases the success based on a book in Saxon's curriculum.

The format of Algebra I is very straightforward. In each section, a few pages are spent explaning the lesson, with examples and solutions. New terms are introduced as needed and constantly referred back to in later lessons. The problem sets (30 in each lesson - 120 lessons in all) spend a handful of questions on the current lesson, and constantly rehash previous lessons. For example, lesson 10 may include about 5-8 problems from lesson 10, then 5 from lesson 9, 5 from lesson 8, and maybe 10 from previous others, especially from important or milestone lessons where something new was introduced.

The tests follow the same format. Yes, there is a lot of overlap, but what we found was that since the same concepts were quizzed on every lesson, our son became very quick to solve them. He began to skip steps and do much of the work in his head after a while. For strong math students, this is common, and may not be related to the book itself.

I was concerned about homeschooling math largely because I never took advanced courses in college. I was able to "re-learn" Algebra by following along in this book and occasionally doing some of the problem sets. Our son enjoys the format and is eager to start Algebra 2, using the Saxon book.

Overall, especially for teachers that are not math wizards, the Saxon format works well. Our son said that although the problem sets get tedious, he thought that by going over the material over and over again, he was able to do well on the tests.

BRIEF EVALUATION

Like previous courses in the Saxon's series, Algebra 1 is a most effective tool for teaching children math without intimidating them and without boring them. After more than 6 years of teaching my own kids math after school I can testify that it works. Both my kids are now in advanced math classes, their math grades always A's and, as I explain below, we just skipped Algebra 1/2 as not necessary.



ALGEBRA 1/2 vs. ALGEBRA 1

I found Algebra 1 to be the logical 'next' for my kids who successfully covered Saxon's Math 8/7 the year before. We decided to skip Algebra 1/2 because it was more or less a re-review of the material in 8/7, presumably to ensure a solid math foundation prior to moving into the more abstract 'true' algebra covered by this text.

I would suggest taking Algebra 1 ans skipping Algebra 1/2 if your students have mastered Math 8/7. Otherwise, go with Algebra 1.



THE SAXON METHOD

We've been using Saxon's books to teach our kids math starting with Math 3/2 and we've been very happy.

Algebra 1 is comprised of 120 lessons, 31 tests, one extra topic on real number, Glossary, Index and answers to the odd-numbered questions. Unlike the previous Math courses, there are no 'Investigations' and the lessons no longer begin with drills and warmup activities. Also, unlike prior math cycles up to Math 8/7, tests are administered after every four lesson rather than after every five.

Each lesson begins by explaining and illustrating a number of new topics - rarely one, usually two or three, sometimes more. That is followed by a small number of practice exercises that are related to the new topics. Finally, there is a 30-item problem set (what the prior volumes were calling 'mixed practice') that asks students to answer/solve 30 questions that could be on EVERYTHING covered by Saxon up to that point. Each individual question has references to the lesson(s) which the students may want to review if they are having trouble with the answer/solution.

After every 4 lessons there is a 20-question test.

The problem set and the multi-topic lessons are what makes the Saxon method so effective as new concepts are introduced incrementally and each problem set keeps revisiting prior topics and many of the problems require the student to combine skills and knowledge acquired in more than one lesson.



THE KIT's CONTENTS

A complete, usable kit should include the following:

- The Algebra 1 student's textbook that includes the 120 lessons, the extra topics, index, glossary and an answer key to the odd-numbered problems.
- Test forms that include the 31 tests plus reproducible test answer sheets.
- Answers and tests solutions booklet that is just that. It only includes the answers not the ways to get there.

If you are not comfortable with the topic, you MAY want to order the optional 'Solutions manual' and, perhaps the Teacher's manual. I have no experience with these items.



PRACTICAL ADVICE

You should be very careful on what you get in your order. The 3 items above are what is usually called 'The Home Study Kit'. This is sufficient for teaching math. Please be aware that you will not be able to teach math effectively unless you have all 3 times above. Before you actually place your order, you should contact the seller and make sure that this is what you get.

I found the DIVE into Math CD for Saxon Algebra 1, 3rd edition to be a very useful addition. In fact this is what I am using this year and both the kids and myself are happier for it. You may be able to find kits that sell the CD separately or as part of a bundle. You will not be able to teach with the CD alone because you will be missing the practice problems and the tests so consider buying the CD by itself if you already have the 'study kit' or look for some bundle that has both the study kit and the CD. One CD for your 'class' should be sufficient so, if you have more than one student, buy as many kits as you need for the students and only one CD for teaching.

Notice all the reviews are older for this book. Math has changed a lot in the last 10 years due to calculators and computers.

I've taught and tutored high school and college math for over 20 years. Saxon books are generally recognized by most teachers across the country as not being very good. They don't give students enough practice with a topic, they don't present the material well, and they offer an insufficient amount of supplementary material.

Math is like a sport. If you just learned to shoot a basketball through a hoop, trying it twice isn't enough. This is how Saxon presents the material.

Saxon is good for elementary school, but after 6th grade it tends to lead kids to math anxiety because of the lack of practice. Home schoolers have a momentum of using these texts and they should ask the opinion of professionals (high school and college professors) regarding their use.

I haven't studied it carefully, but from what I've seen this is a good book--though in a few places the language did seem odd--perhaps that's "New Math".