Math 54: An Incremental Development [Library Binding]

Stephen Hake (Author), John Saxon (Author)

Product Details

• Library Binding: 530 pages
• Publisher: Steck-Vaughn Company; 2nd edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565770331
• ISBN-13: 978-1565770331
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saxon Books are Great!, January 26, 2008

By 

L. Rhea (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Math 54: An Incremental Development (Library Binding)

I have noticed a general theme here. The people who enjoy Saxon Math products seem to be highly educated themselves and tend to value a traditional mathematics education as the foundation for success in life, especially if they rely heavily upon mathematics in their professional lives. The people who don't like it seem to have arguments like, "it's boring" or "it's not fair." You can't put on a clown suit every day and make everything fun all the time. Like or not, there is much repetition and memorization of facts in order to do well in math. The only way to succeed in high school or college math is to get the facts down really well at the elementary level. It's that simple. Saxon Math is great at taking each concept, introducing it in depth, and then compounding on it throughout the book so it isn't forgotten. I assure you, there's no distortion of facts. This is not "fuzzy math!" I work with my daughter every day on the assignments. I don't give her the book to work alone; therefore, I am able to work quickly through it with her and skip problem sets that she has mastered well. For the person who thought five minutes is not enough time to do 100 problems, well, you are right. In the beginning, it is quite challenging for a child to do even 40 in five minutes. The beauty of it is that by doing it day after day, the repetition and memorization will make it easier. My daughter could only do 42 division problems in five minutes two months ago, but today she got 98 correct. It was a victory! These worksheets are meant to challenge the child, not to defeat them. Children who get frustrated by them just need to keep working through it. The frustration comes because they don't have their facts memorized yet! So teach them, and keep teaching them. If you make excuses for your child and say "it's too hard" or "it's not fair" then you are making them believe they cannot accomplish the task, and that's not fair! To keep things interesting or fun, play math games, do math crossword puzzles, play Suduko, paint your geometric shapes, bake something fun when learning measurements, do fun math programs on the computer, or count jelly beans and eat them! You can always supplement a good solid course like Saxon Math with these things and have a well-rounded program that teaches all of the fundamentals.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suitable for teaching elementary school math, March 18, 2004

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Saxon Math 5/4 (Hardcover)

This book can be used to teach introductory mathematics to elementary level students, whether in a formal classroom or in a home school setting. The print is large and clear, there are many diagrams and most concepts are explained in more than one way.
There are 120 lessons, starting with the basics of addition and going through all of the basic arithmetic operations and their many uses. Whole numbers, decimal numbers and fractions are covered, including word problems. Each lesson starts with a short one or two page section of new material, which is then following by a two-part problem section. The first part is a set of problems over the section and the second is a collection of problems using concepts covered to that point. The order of presentation is sound, nothing is introduced before all the appropriate preliminaries have been examined.
If you are looking for a textbook for elementary school mathematics or are searching for additional challenges for your child, then this book will serve your purposes.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saxon Math 54, March 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Math 54: An Incremental Development (Library Binding)

Excellent math program for homeschooling students. I have used various other titles and found the Saxon math program to be the best for all 3 of my children. The best part is the step by step approach to learning. Each day, a new topic is introduced as well as a review of all the previous topics. Students retain more and do better on achievement tests. For example, when studying fractions, you learn a little at a time and always review from before. You don't just do fractions for a chapter and never see them again until your annual achievement test.