Love 2 Learn.net

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Math-U-See is a fairly new Math program, designed especially for homeschoolers, which runs from Kindergarten all the way through high school. The author is a former high school Math teacher who has attempted to balance a solid conceptual understanding of math with enough practice to let it "sink in." The program consists of a student text (workbook format), a teacher's manual, and optional practice sheets, special Math-U-See blocks and a teacher training DVD. I am very impressed with this program. The author does a fine job of allowing the students to become well aquainted with using numbers. I found math concepts very easy to explain to my daughter with the use of the very clever manipulatives (which might be thought of as a cross between "Base-ten Blocks" and Cuisinaire Rods). I was particularly impressed with how clearly place value is taught and how thoughtfully the child is prepared for future lessons (e.g. early on in addition, the child starts doing simple "solve for the unknown" problems in preparation for subtraction). Other skills learned include telling time, measurement and a heavy emphasis on skip counting (in preparation for future multiplication and factoring). My only complaint is that some of the material is contained only in the teacher's manual (I can imagine that this might have been done intentionally to force the parent to follow along in the teacher's manual rather than letting the child work entirely on their own. The author demonstrates how each concept works on the DVD so that the parent may more confidently teach the concept to the child.

Over the years we haven't always used Math-U-See as our primary Math text, but we have always found the DVDs and blocks useful no matter what we were using.

Reviewed by:

Alicia Van Hecke

First reviewed:

7-7-05

Saxon Math

Author(s):

John Saxon

Stephen Hake

Number of pages:

141 pages

1999

Publisher:

Saxon Publishers

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I have friends who have used Saxon for years and are very, very happy with it. Saxon's circular pattern and constant review is exactly what they love about it. However, it was this circular pattern that caused problems for us. The way Saxon works (someone please correct me if I'm off base here) is that it introduces a new concept in increments, the child works a set of problems that teach a new concept, then spends the rest of the lesson reviewing previously learned concepts. The next day, another new concept may be introduced with a few problems and then review of previous concepts including a problem or two from yesterday. Then further on in the book the first concept learned will be expanded upon and the review continues from there.

The reason Saxon didn't work for us was that it didn't spend enough time on a concept for her to fully grasp it and once she had mastered a concept the constant daily review irritated her. So, we had many days with either a totally frustrated child that thought she was dumb because she "didn't get it" or grumpy because she already knew how to do it and didn't see the value of doing it again and again. As you can see it could very well be a personality thing. We discovered that Torie learns better in "chunks", i.e.. learn a concept, work on it until it is mastered, then move on.

Additional notes:

All the basic problem solving material and techniques are there - this is the whole rationale for the series. What it lacks is the founding principle that math is knowledge which is worthy of possessing for its own sake. Thus, it will fall short in depth. Practically speaking, it WILL prepare them for standardized tests - best at the lower grades. (Michael Van Hecke - headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, California, and homeschool father)

Reviewed by:

Alicia Van Hecke

First reviewed:

1998-99

Saxon Math 2

Author(s):

Nancy Larson

Number of pages:

40 pages

1994

ISBN:

9781565770232

Publisher:

Saxon Publishing

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Saxon 2 covers the arithmetic topics of addition and subtraction of one and two digit numbers and simple multiplication and division as well as the related topics of patterns, graphing, time, measurement, money, geometry and estimating. Although it uses manipulatives it is not a "manipulatives-based" program.

Each day's lesson begins with oral exercises called "The Meeting" during which use of a calendar, counting, time, money, and patterns are practiced. The actual lessons follow and are completely scripted in the teachers edition. They are designed for four days of new material and one day of review. Math facts are practiced every day as well, using flash cards provided with the kit and fact sheet drills in the workbook.

The beauty of Saxon is repetition. Concepts are introduced and then reinforced over and over again. In Saxon 2 there are games, art projects and physical activites as part of the lessons which provide a break from strict pencil and paper work. My children had been doing a strictly manipulative based math program previously so I thought they wouldn't like Saxon, but they love it. I believe it is because of the variety of activities.

One drawback to Saxon is the price which is close to $100.00 for the homestudy kit. The kit includes a teacher's manual, workbook, meeting book and cardboard manipulatives and flash cards. It can be found in discount catalogs or used from fellow homeschoolers. It requires a set of manipulatives which can be purchased separately at teacher supply stores or as a kit from the source given by Saxon and various homeschool catalogs.

Reviewed by:

Margot Davidson

First reviewed:

1998-99

Singapore Math

Publisher:

Singapore Math

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