Sometimes Homeschool Saxon math can get a bad rap. It has been around for a long time and very few people would claim that it is fun or flashy. There are a lot more visually appealing math curricula on the market. I don’t know about you but I wanted my children to enjoy learning, when I started homeschooling I had a very idyllic view of how I wanted our homeschool to look. Saxon didn’t give my children the warm fuzzies I wanted them to have about math, since I loved it so much. So, we switched around the first few years trying Math U See, Teaching Textbooks, and Rod and Staff. There wasn’t anything wrong with these other curriculums, but they didn’t offer enough practice problems for my children to master the concepts.
I was finally convinced to go back to Saxon for all but one of my children (she is skilled in math and Teaching Textbooks works well for her brain). I administer the
Wide Range Achievement Test IV
I couldn’t ignore the results students who used Saxon were achieving. Consistently, students who used Saxon scored higher than their peers. The higher test results applied to the mathematical reasoning, calculations, applied problem solving, and fluency tests. I don’t know that any of my children would tell you that they love math or Saxon, but this is one of those examples in life where doing hard things is worth it. Their math skills and confidence in math has increased. Another reason I switched programs early on was because I struggled teaching numerous children different math lessons and keeping up with the grading, but there are some awesome products out there to help with this now. Nicole the Math Lady (referral link) is an excellent tool for teaching the Saxon lessons. She also offers some other products such as drill practice and online grading, but I haven’t tried these out yet. She keeps the lessons short and engaging. We have been using My Math Assistant for online grading and it has been a lifesaver! This saves
