Elementary Aged Students

Do you want things laid out for you, with careful instructions and steps to follow? Do you think it's important to practice each idea over and over to make sure the concept is firmly in place? Or are you unsure whether you will be able to explain the math to your students and you want specific help, such as how many of the practice problems to do WITH your child and how many they should be able to work independently? Do you prefer colorful workbooks? Do you want a program that offers a middle ground approach - offering conceptual learning with drill? If any of these are true, you will want to consider Horizons math.

Do you want things laid out for you, with careful instructions and steps to follow? Do you think it's important to practice each idea over and over to make sure the concept is firmly in place? Or are you unsure whether you will be able to explain the math to your students? If any of these are true, you will want to consider Saxon math.

Do you want your children to be able to see the connections between concepts and do math in their heads? Do you feel confident in your ability to explain math, or are you happy to learn along with your kids? Do your kids get impatient with repetition, or do they like new challenges and different ways of looking at things? Then you will want to look at Singapore Math.

Do your kids learn best when they handle things for themselves? Or do they like to experiment and try different approaches in order to discover what works for them? Are you comfortable without detailed instructions, considering learning an adventure of exploration? Do your kids enjoy getting a taste of more advanced concepts? You might find Miquon a good fit.

Moving up to the next level is not hard ---- recommend that parents pick the curriculum they'd like to use and then ALWAYS recommend the use of the placement tests to determine where to start their children. Many students finishing Primary Math 6B or Horizons 6 will be able to go straight into an algebra course. Others will need that extra year of pre-algebra to firm up concepts, gain maturity, etc. It really depends on the student.

Junior High and High School Students

Tonya's input: I'll give you my opinion. I currently teach Saxon 87, 1/2, 1, 2, and advanced math. I would never use them for my own children. If I was going to teach next year at the same co-op, I would be changing the math curriculum. Here are my points:
Saxon does prepare you well for the tests because it is drill and rote memory. But life is about more than tests. And math is about much more than knowing how to do problems. The first month I took over these classes I tryed to give some basic algebra problems from another book (NEM actually) These problems related directly to the concept Saxon was supposed to have taught. Out of 7 kids, only one had a clue how to do the problems. And he is the sharpest math student in the class.
My daughter, who is doing SM Primary 4B, just starting 5A, sits in on the 87 class at least once a week. She can solve most of the problems. And she is not a strong math kid. But she looks at the problem and looks for ways to get it. The Saxon kids give up if they haven't seen the problem before.
Of the 10 kids I have tutored, at least 8 of them came out of saxon books. It took me at least a month to train them to look for the why and solve new problems. Saxon teaches you methods not reasons.
I feel that a child that can think mathematically will probably end up doing fine in any curriculum because that is one of their giftings (they may enjoy and thrive better in some more than others)
I think a child that has a big struggle in math needs a curriculum that works for them and Saxon can drill math into many kids that would struggle elsewhere. So it may be an option for that child.
It is the child that could do great in math but needs to understand better that I worry about. Saxon fragments concepts and it may make it difficult to grasp the concept.
I find it very difficult to teach. I really do not like to come to class and here a student say: That shouldn't have been on the test because you haven't shown a problem like that before! I just don't feel Saxon teaches them to take the concept and apply it. It teaches them to solve problems by method.
As for proofs, well :) Proofs require critical thinking and analysis, as well as a solid understanding of the topic. Do we want our kids to reason out the worldview of a speaker, article or news report? That is critical thinking. Do we want them to make connections between cause and effect, actions and consequences? That is critical and analytical thinking. Proofs train your mind to make connections and proceed logically, step by step. To not assume anything. To back up everything you say. Are they hard? Most assuredly. And time consuming. But very worthwhile.

Teaching Textbooks:

Thinkwell:

Saxon:

NEM:

Comparison of NEM to Saxon high school level

  • Pre-Algebra: Primary Math 6A/6B, NEM 1 (chapters 1-4)
  • Algebra I: NEM 1 (chapters 5-8) and NEM 2 (chapters 1-7, 12-14)
  • Geometry: NEM 1 (chapters 9-14) and NEM 2 (chapters 8-11)
  • Algebra II: NEM 3 (chapters 1-6, 14) and some of NEM 4
  • Intro to Trig/Adv Math: NEM 3 (chapters 7-13) and NEM 4 (chapters 1-4)

This chart is approximate and was provided by Jennifer Hoerst at www.singaporemath.com

Complete descriptions of all of Sonlight's math programs can be found at: http://www.sonlight.com/math.html .