Are the New Saxon Math Books Better Than the Older Editions?
Some of you may remember that more than a decade ago – in the summer of 2004 – the Saxon family sold Saxon Publishers to Harcourt Achieve. Just to put everything in perspective, Harcourt Achieve, Inc. was then owned by the Harcourt Corporation which in turn was later acquired by the multi-billion dollar conglomerate Reed-Elsevier who then sold Harcourt, Inc. to Houghton Mifflin creating the current company (that owns Saxon Publishers) which is now the Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt Company also known as HMHCO. It all reminds me of when the Savings and Loan Companies got the nickname “Velcro banks” because they changed names so often before they disappeared the way of the dinosaurs.
When I published my June 2007 news article, I told readers “Not to worry!” As I mentioned earlier when Harcourt acquired John Saxon’s publishing company in 2004, the new sale should not affect the quality of John’s books. I asked the obvious question, “Why would anyone buy someone’s prize-winning ‘Blue Ribbon Bull’ to make hamburger with?” I did not believe that this new sale would change John’s books much either, and I told the readers that if these changes became more than just cosmetics, I would certainly keep them informed.
Well, it is time to mention that some of the changes are no longer cosmetic. Some of the new editions are not what John Saxon had intended for his books. These new editions are vastly different, and both home school educators as well as classroom teachers must be aware of these changes and be selective about what editions and titles they should and should not use if they desire to continue with John Saxon’s methods and standards.
Initially, these revised new editions were offered only to the public and private schools and not to the home school community. However, introduction of their new geometry textbook to the home school educators tells me that it may not be long before the new fourth editions of Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 replace the current third editions now offered on their website.
I could be wrong. Perhaps they added the geometry textbook to the home school website because some home school parents were unaware that a full year of high school geometry was already offered within the Algebra 2 textbook (first semester of geometry) and the first sixty lessons of the Advanced Mathematics textbook (second semester of geometry)). Additionally, placing the geometry course in between the Saxon Algebra 1 and Saxon Algebra 2 textbooks is a sure formula for student frustration in Saxon Algebra 2 since the new geometry book does not contain algebra content. The only reference to “Geometry” in the new fourth edition of Saxon Algebra 1 is a reference in the index to “Geometric Sequences” found in lesson 105. That term is not related to geometry. It is the title given to an algebraic formula dealing with a sequence of numbers that have a common ratio between the consecutive terms.
It would be my hope that the senior executives at HMHCO would recognize the uniqueness and value of the current editions of John Saxon’s math books – that continue his methods and standards. – will be good for many more decades.