WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MYTHS SURROUNDING JOHN SAXON’S MATH BOOKS?
(Myth 1)
Saxon Math is too Difficult
With the current school year more than half through and looking towards purchasing textbooks for the next school year – undoubtedly, some
This common myth is generated by public and private schools as well as homeschool educators who place a transfer student into the wrong level of Saxon math – usually a level above the student’s ability. I recall a homeschool parent at one of the Homeschool Conventions a few years ago telling me she was going to switch to Saxon Math. She wanted to buy one of my Algebra 2 DVD tutorial series. I asked her what level book her son had just completed and did she know what company had printed the book. She thought for a moment – then she said it was an Algebra 1 textbook from (you fill in the name) company.
Since she lived in the area and was coming back to the convention the next day, I asked her if she would have her son take the Saxon Algebra 1 Placement test that night and come back the next day with the results so we could make sure he was being placed into the correct level Saxon math textbook. The next day, she came by the booth and informed me that her son had failed the Saxon Algebra 1 Placement Test. When I told her that test was the final exam in the Saxon pre-algebra course, she became quite concerned. I told her that the problem was not a reflection upon her son’s intelligence.
The problem her son had encountered was that the previous textbook he had used taught the test. However, the cumulative nature of Saxon Math books requires mastery of the concepts, which is why there is a weekly test. Had her son used the Saxon Algebra 2, 3rd Ed book – by the time he reached lesson twenty – he would have become painfully aware of what he and his mother would believe to be the “Difficulty” of the book.
They would have blamed the Saxon book as being “Too Difficult.” They would never have realized that his difficulty in the Saxon Algebra 2 book was that the previous math book allowed him to receive good test grades through review for each test the night before, rather than requiring mastery of the concepts as Saxon books do through the weekly tests.
This parent is not alone. Every week I receive emails or telephone calls from homeschool educators who are trying to accomplish the same thing. And until they have their student take the Saxon Math Placement Test, homeschool educators do not realize that they could very well be placing the student in a Saxon math book at a level above the students’ capabilities.
The Saxon Math Placement Tests were not designed to test the students’ knowledge of mathematics; they were designed to seek out what necessary math concepts had been mastered by the student to ensure success in the next level Saxon math book. Low test results on a specific Placement Test tell us that the student has not mastered a sufficient number of necessary math concepts to be successful in that level Saxon Math book.
Saxon Placement Tests should not be used at the end of a Saxon math book to evaluate the student’s progress. Classroom teachers as well as homeschool educators should use the student’s last five test scores of the course to determine their ability to be successful in the next level course. If the last five test scores are clearly eighty or better, the student will be successful in the next level Saxon math course – or anyone else’s math textbook should you elect to change curriculum.
Note: Students should be given no more than 60 minutes to complete each test of any individual Saxon math course. Each test question is awarded five points if correct. Test questions should be graded as either right or wrong with no partial credit awarded for partially correct answers.
Some other common Myths that will be discussed in future news articles:
Myth 2: Saxon Math is Just Mindless Repetition.
Myth 3: Saxon Algebra 2 does not Contain Two-Column Proofs.
Myth 4: You Must Use the New Saxon Geometry Textbook to Receive Geometry Credit.
Myth 5: Advanced Mathematics Can be Easily Taken in a Single School Year!
Myth 6: You Don’t Have to Finish the Last Twenty or So Lessons of any Saxon Math Book.