WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MYTHS SURROUNDING JOHN SAXON’S MATH BOOKS?
(Myth 6)
You Do Not Have to Finish the Last Twenty or So Lessons of a Saxon Math Book.
Over the past several decades, I have heard hundreds of homeschool educators as well as parents of my high school classroom students tell me that there was no need to finish a Saxon math book because the last twenty or so lessons of any Saxon math book are repeated in the review of the first thirty or so lessons of the next level Saxon math book.
There is a bit of truth to that observation. A few of the concepts encountered in the later lessons of a book are repeated in the early lessons of the next level book because that important concept came late in the book and did not allow sufficient time for the student to master it before reaching the end of the course. But when repeated, the re-introduction of these concepts assumes the student had encountered the concepts in a simpler format in the previous level textbook.
But anyone who would attempt to skip the last twenty or so lessons of any Saxon math book under the misguided impression that all of that material is repeated in the first thirty lessons of the next math book is in for a shocking surprise. Someone may tell you their son or daughter did just that while using the Saxon Algebra 1 textbook and their child did quite well in the Saxon Algebra 2 book the following school year.
While there are always exceptions that justify the rule, what most of these home educators will not tell you is that – because of this shortcut – their child struggled through the Saxon Algebra 2 course and the student either repeated the course a second year, or failed to master the required concepts – having to enroll in a no credit algebra course as a freshman in college the following year.
The concept of automaticity requires the application of repetition over time and violating either one of these conditions greatly reduces the student’s chances of mastering the necessary math concepts to be successful in the next level math course. There is a third factor involved in the process of automaticity. When the student encounters a concept, works with it over several weeks and then does not encounter it again until as much as a month later, that delay in repeating – coupled with a slight change in the level of difficulty of that concept – challenges the student’s level of mastery and some students who have not quite mastered the entire concept have to review it from previous lessons before continuing. However, once mastered a second time – following the delay – the concept is more strongly imbedded in their long term memory.
So after taking a break for the summer, is it not wise to start the next level Saxon math book with a small amount of review material to ensure the student retained the necessary skills to succeed in the next course?
But wait, would that apply to homeschool students who do not take a summer break? The argument is that if they finish the entire Algebra 1 book, and then go straight into Algebra 2, they can easily skip the first twenty or so lessons in the Algebra 2 text. That is also a dangerous procedure to follow for at least two reasons.
FIRST: Remember I said that some of the concepts introduced late in the previous textbook are repeated to allow mastery – I did not say all of them. The student will go down in flames around lesson forty or so, never having been introduced to a dozen or more concepts involving both algebra and geometry.
Additionally, the Algebra 2 book assumes the students mastered their basic introduction to these new concepts in the earlier lessons (the ones the student skipped) and it now combines them with other concepts. Now students start struggling as test scores begin to fall. This is where the parent or teacher blames the book as being too difficult to use and leaves Saxon math for an easier math course.
SECOND: While collegiate and professional athletes practice almost year round, they do take several months off sometime between their seasons to rest the mind as well as the body. In mathematics, it is good to take a month or so off between levels of math to allow students to refresh their thought processes. As I mentioned earlier, this break also allows them to better evaluate what concepts they have truly mastered. Once mastered a second time – following the delay – the concept is more strongly imbedded in their long term memory.
I believe these are two valid reasons not to skip lessons under any circumstances.