Using John Saxon's Math Books - How homeschool parents can use them

December 2009

WHAT TO DO WHEN A SAXON STUDENT ENCOUNTERS DIFFICULTY EARLY IN THE COURSE.

By this time of the school year, most Saxon math students are about a third of the way through their respective math books and are quickly finding out that easy review of the previous textbook’s material has come to a sudden halt. They are now entering the part of the textbook that determines whether or not they have mastered sufficient material from the previous textbook to be prepared for their current course of instruction.

In the Saxon math series (from Math 54 through Algebra 2), this generally occurs sometime in late October around lesson 35 or so. Or it can occur sometime in late November, if they started the course in September. These past several weeks I have received a number of email from homeschool parents who have students who are beginning to experience difficulty.

The symptoms described by the homeschool parents are similar. The daily assignments seem to take much longer than before and the test grades appear to be erratic or on a general downward trend. The student becomes frustrated and starts making comments like, “Why do I have to do every problem? There are too many of them and it takes too long. Why can’t I just do the odd problems since there are two of each anyway?” They might even say things like “This book is too hard.” “It covers too many topics every day.” – Or even worse - “I hate math “ or “This is a terrible math book.”

About that time, many homeschool educators do the same thing that parents of public or private school students do. They question the curriculum. They immediately look for another – simpler – math curriculum so that their children can be successful. Since the students apparently did fine in the previous level book, the parents believe there must be something wrong with this textbook since their sons or daughters are no longer doing well.

Because every child is different, I cannot offer a single solution that will apply to your child’s situation, but before I present a general solution to Saxon users, please be aware that if you call my office and leave your telephone number or if you email me, I will discuss the specifics of your children’s situation and hopefully be able to assist you. My office number is 580-234-0064 (CST) and my email address is art.reed@usingsaxon.com.

When Saxon students encounter difficulty in their current level math book before they reach lesson 30 (from Math 54 through Algebra 2), it is generally because one or more of the following conditions contributed to their current dilemma:

They did not finish the previous level book because someone told them they did not have to since the first 30 or so lessons in the next book contained the same material anyway.
In the previous level math book, when students complained the daily work took too long the parents allowed them to do only the odd problems. Doing this negates the built-in automaticity of John Saxon’s program.
In the previous level math book, to hasten course completion, the parents allowed the students to combine easy lessons, sometimes doing two lessons a day, but only one lesson’s assignment.
The students did not take the weekly tests in the previous courses. Their grades were predicated upon their daily homework. NOTE: The daily homework grade reflects memory. The weekly test grade reflect mastery.

There are other conditions that contribute to the students encountering difficulty early in their Saxon math book. Basically, they all point to the fact that, by taking shortcuts, the students did not master the necessary math concepts to be successful in their current level textbook. This weakness shows up around lesson 30 – 40 in every one of John’s math books from Math 54 through Algebra 2. The good news is that this condition – caught early - can be isolated and the weaknesses corrected without re-taking the entirety of the previous level math book.

There is a procedure to “Fill in the Existing Math Holes” that allows students to progress successfully. This procedure involves using the tests from the previous level math book to look for the “holes in the student’s math” or for those concepts that they did not master. This technique can easily tell the parent whether the student needs to repeat the last third of the previous book or if they can escape that situation by just filling in the missing concepts – or holes.

If you have my book, then you already know the specifics of the solution. If you do not have my book, then you can call me or email your situation to me and I will assist you and your child. Regardless of what math book is being used, students who do not enjoy their level of mathematics are generally at a level above their capabilities.

If you use a Saxon math book and you need advice or assistance regarding your son or daughter’s status in mathematics, you may email or call me.

May each of you have a very blessed and Merry Christmas

November 2009

WHAT DETERMINES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MASTERY AND MEMORY?

Think back to your days in high school and your math classes. Do you recall having your teacher hand out a review sheet a few days before the big test? So what did you do with this review sheet? Right! You memorized it knowing that most of the questions would appear on the test in some form or other.

We are the only industrialized nation in the world where parents proudly announce “Oh, I was never very good at math.” Not hard to explain considering you probably memorized the material for a passing test grade, and then after the test was over, quickly forgot the material.

I still see students in the local public school receiving a passing math grade using the “review” sheet technique, even though their test grades never get above a sixty. How can this happen? Easy! The student’s grades are based upon a grading system that ensures success even though the student cannot pass a single test (unless you consider a sixty a passing grade).

Many students’ overall average grades are computed based upon fifty percent of their grade coming from the homework (easily copied by them) and another fifty percent determined from their test scores (following the review sheet). So the student, who receives hundreds on the daily homework grades and fifties or sixties on the tests, is cruising along with an overall grade average of a high “C” or a low “B” - and yet - that student cannot explain half of the material in the book.

I have often explained to parents of students struggling in my math classes that their struggle was akin to the honey bee struggling its way through the wax seal of the comb. It is that struggle that strengthens the bee’s wings and enables it to immediately fly upon its exit from the hive. Yes, there is a difference between struggling and frustration and one must be ever vigilant to recognize the difference.

While we all would like the student to master the new concept on the day it is introduced, that does not often happen. Not every math student completely understands every math concept on the day it is introduced. It is because of this, that John Saxon developed his incremental approach to mathematics. When John’s incremental development is coupled with a constant review of these concepts, “mastery” occurs.

Mastery occurs through a process referred to by Dr. Benjamin Bloom as “automaticity.” The term was coined by Dr. Bloom – of “Bloom’s Taxonomy” – while at the University of Chicago in the mid 1950’s. He described this phenomenon as the ability of the human mind to accomplish two things simultaneously so long as one of them was over-learned (or mastered). The two critical components for mastery are repetition over time.

Automaticity is another way to describe the placing of information or data into long term memory. The process requires that its two components – repetition and time – be used simultaneously. It is this process in John Saxon’s math books that creates the proper atmosphere for mastery of the math concepts. Violating either one of the two components negates the process. In other words, you cannot speed up the process by taking two lessons a day or doing just the odd or even numbered problems in each lesson.
In a single school year of nine months, the student using John Saxon’s math books will have taken more than twenty-five weekly tests. Since all the tests are cumulative in content, passing these tests reflects “mastery” of the concepts - not memory!

ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENT:

The Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus DVD series is scheduled for completion and release in February of next year. The Calculus DVD series will be released in the late summer.

October 2009

SHOULD YOU GRADE THE DAILY MATH ASSIGNMENTS?

During the past several months I have had numerous conversations with homeschool educators about the benefits derived from having students redo problems they missed while doing their daily math assignment. In other words, the homeschool educators were grading the daily work of the Saxon math student – a process contrary to what John Saxon intended when he developed the methodology of his math books.

I always tell homeschool educators that grading the daily work, when there is a test every Friday, amounts to a form of academic harassment to the student. Like everything else in life, we tend to apply our best when it is absolutely necessary. Students will accept minor mistakes and errors when performing their daily "practice” of math problems. They know when they make a mistake and rather than redo the entire problem, they see the necessary correction to fix the error and move on without correcting it. They have a sense when they know or do not know how to do a certain math problem; however, when they encounter that all important test every Friday, – as I like to describe it – they put on their “Test Hat” to do their very best to make sure they do not repeat the same error!

In sports, daily practice ensures the individual will perform well at the weekly game, for without the practice, the game would end in disaster. The same concept applies to daily piano practice. While the young concert pianist does not set out to make mistakes during the daily practice for the upcoming piano recital, he quickly learns from his mistakes. Built into John Saxon’s methodology are weekly tests (every four lessons from algebra ½ through calculus) to ensure that classroom as well as homeschool educators can quickly identify and correct these mistakes before too much time has elapsed.

In other words, the homeschool educator as well as the classroom teacher is only four days away from finding out what the student has or has not mastered during the past week’s daily work. I know of no other math textbook on the market today that allows the homeschool educator or the classroom teacher this repetitive check and balance to enable swift and certain correction of the mistakes to ensure they do not continue.

John Saxon realized that not all students would master every new math concept on the day it is introduced, which accounts for the delay allowing more than a full week’s practice of the new concepts before being tested on them. He also realized that some students might need still another week of practice for some concepts which accounts for his using a test score of eighty percent as reflecting mastery. Generally, when a student receives a score of eighty on a weekly test, it results from the student not yet having mastered one or two of the new concepts as well as perhaps having skipped a review of an old concept that appeared in the assignment several days before the test. When the students see the old concept in the daily work, they think they can skip that “golden oldie” because they already know how to do it! The reason they get it wrong on the test is because the test problem had the same unusual twist to it that the problem the student skipped had.

In all the years I taught John Saxon’s math at the high school, I never graded a single homework paper. I did monitor the daily work to ensure it was done and I would speak with students whose test grades were falling below the acceptable minimum of eighty percent. I can assure you that having the student do every problem over that he failed to do on his daily assignments does not have anywhere near the benefit of going over the problems missed on the weekly tests because the weekly tests reveal mastery – or lack thereof - while the daily homework does not.

AN ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENT: The first of the two part series of the Advanced Mathematics textbook titled “Geometry with Advanced Algebra” is now available. The second in the series titled “Trigonometry and Pre-calculus” is targeted for release in February of 2010 with the series titled “Calculus” to be released in late summer.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES AMONG THE VARIOUS SAXON MATH TUTORIALS ON THE MARKET TODAY?

While at the Texas Home School Convention in The Woodlands (located just outside Houston, TX), I was repeatedly asked by homeschool educators to explain to them the difference between the DVD series “MASTERING ALGEBRA, John Saxon’s Way”, the DIVE CD’s, the Saxon Teacher CD’s, and the Teaching Tapes DVD series.

That is an excellent question because some companies confuse the situation when they advertise their CD’s as being “video” products when in fact they are not DVD’s, but CD’s containing a graphic presentation with audio. The abbreviation DVD stands for “Digital Video Disc.”

Basically, here are the differences.

DIVE CD’s: The product covers John Saxon’s math books from Math 54 through Calculus. Each level textbook has a single CD containing instruction corresponding to each individual lesson in that textbook. The presentation is a whiteboard presentation which means there is no teacher to watch at the board. The student hears the teacher’s voice in the background and watches writing appear on the screen. The CD will not work in a television DVD player because it is not a true video disc, but rather a graphic presentation with audio. This restricts the CD to being played only on a computer. Each individual CD costs $50.00 plus shipping.

SAXON TEACHER CD’s: The product covers John Saxon’s math books from Math 54 through Advanced Mathematics. Similar to the DIVE CD, the Saxon Teacher is a graphic whiteboard presentation which means there is no teacher to watch presenting the material. The student hears the teacher’s voice in the background as the writing appears on the board. The teacher in each of the individual series of CD’s goes over every problem in the textbook and the individual problems on the tests as well, which is why there are four or more CD’s to this product as opposed to the single CD sold by DIVE. These CD graphic “audio” solutions cost about $95.00 (including shipping and handling), while the printed solutions manual sells for about $25.00. These CD’s are not “videos” and they can only be used on a computer. They cannot be viewed on a television set using a standard DVD player.

TEACHING TAPES: The product is a DVD “video” set of lessons which means they can be used on either a television or computer DVD player. The entire series covers Math 54 through Calculus. As advertised by the company, the individual lessons are taught by a state certified math teacher. The individual series for a particular math book in the upper level math series sell for anywhere from $245 for the Algebra ½ series to $325 for the Calculus series. Each DVD series for a specific textbook contains from twelve to fifteen individual discs. Like the Saxon Teacher CD series, the teacher on these videos goes over every assigned and practice problem in the book, which explains why there are so many DVD’s in each individual series. Unlike the Saxon Teacher CD’s, these are DVD “video” presentations which show the teacher lecturing and presenting the solutions to the problems.

MASTERING ALGEBRA “John Saxon’s Way: This product is also a DVD video presentation which means the DVD’s will work on both a computer as well as a television DVD player. This capability would enable a group of homeschool students (or a Co-Op) to watch together, on a single television set, as they would in a regular math classroom. The concepts of every lesson are taught by an experienced Saxon math teacher with over twelve years teaching experience using Saxon Math books in a rural public classroom. The students see an experienced Saxon math teacher at the board teaching the concepts contained in that lesson. There are ten to twelve DVD’s in each of the series which run from Algebra ½ through Calculus. The Algebra ½, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 series have already been completed. The Geometry series is due for release in mid-September, the Trigonometry and Pre-calculus series is scheduled for release in early 2010 and the Calculus by the start of the 2010 school year next fall. Each individual series from Algebra ½ through Calculus sells for $49.95 (including postage within the USA).

For a more detailed review and analysis, you can read the March, April and May 2008 Newsletters.

As the new school year approaches, I am receiving an increased number of email asking when the first of the two DVD tutorials for the Advanced Mathematics textbook will be released. While we initially thought it would be completed by the end of July, technical problems in taping and production delayed us about six weeks. I have already finished the taping and production of the first sixty lessons of the course and expect to have the remaining lessons finished by mid-September of this year.

However, if you are starting the new school year before mid-September and really need the DVD tutorials for the course, you can receive the first sixty lessons by ordering the algebra 2 DVD tutorial. After ordering, immediately send me an email telling me that you have ordered the Algebra 2 DVD’s, but want the tutorials for the Advanced Mathematics course titled Geometry with Advanced Algebra instead. I will then mail you the first sixty DVD tutorial lessons for that course. The remaining lessons will then be mailed to you – at no extra cost to you – upon their completion in mid-September. This procedure is necessary because I cannot reflect the new course ready for sale on my website until it is complete. The last DVD tutorial lessons of the course will arrive long before the student needs them.

SAXON® PUBLISHER’S HOMESCHOOL WEBSITE HAS CHANGED

You might have already visited the Saxon Homeschool website and noticed that many of the links for on-line activities no longer function. It appears that HMHCO (the current owners of Saxon Publishers) has redesigned their website to enable them to have all of their publishing companies or divisions of HMHCO on a single website. This “Re-creation of the Wheel” has caused many of the previous Saxon Homeschool on-line links to become non-operational.

To fill this void, I have located two outstanding websites that provide not only on-line daily “Math Facts Practice,” but practice of other basic math concepts as well. I have added these two new links to my web site for your use. I removed the old Saxon “Math Facts Practice” link and do not anticipate returning to it as I believe these two new links are far superior to what HMHCO had on the old Saxon Homeschool site. To make use of these and other on-line links, go to my home page and in the upper left hand corner, select “Useful Links.”

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR HOUSTON, TEXAS ON AUGUST 6 - 8 PLEASE COME BY OUR BOOTH (# 514) AT THE TEXAS HOMESCHOOL COALITION CONVENTION (THSC) BEING HELD AT THE WOODLANDS WATERWAY MARRIOTT CONVENTION CENTER IN THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS.

When John Saxon published his original series of math textbooks, they were designed to be taken in order from Math 54 to Math 65, followed by Math 76, then Math 87, then Algebra ½, on to Algebra 1, then Algebra 2, followed by Advanced Mathematics (which, coupled with Algebra 2, gave the high school geometry and trigonometry credits) culminating with the calculus textbook for some students.

The books were not originally intended to be “grade” oriented textbooks, but were intended to be taken in sequential order based upon a student’s knowledge and capabilities without regard to the student’s grade level. But schools and homeschool educators quickly assigned Math 54 to the fourth grade level, Math 65 to the fifth grade level, Math 76 to the sixth grade, and Math 87 to the seventh grade level to be followed by the pre-algebra course titled Algebra 1/2. When the new third edition of Math 76 came out in the summer of 1997, it was much stronger academically than its predecessor, the older second edition textbook. It did not take long for confusion to develop around which textbooks were now the correct editions to be used and what the correct sequencing would be.

In the thousands of telephone calls I received over the years I served as Saxon Publishers’ Curriculum Director for Math 76 through calculus, the question that arose most often among classroom teachers as well as homeschool educators was whether the student should go from the new stronger Math 76 book to Math 87 or to Algebra ½ as both the Math 87 and the Algebra ½ textbooks appeared to contain basically the same material. Adding to the confusion, after John Saxon’s death, was the fact that the new soft cover third edition of Math 87 had the title changed to read Math 8/7 ‘with pre-algebra.’

So what Saxon math book does a student who has completed Math 76 use? Well, that depends upon how well the student did in the Math 76 book. The key word is “successfully completed,” not just “completed” Math 76. If a student completed the entirety of the Math 76 textbook and his last five tests in that book were eighty or better, he would have “successfully completed” Math 76 and he could move on to the Algebra ½ book. However, if the student’s last five test grades were all less than seventy-five, that student has indicated that he will in all likelihood experience difficulty in the Algebra ½ materials and should therefore proceed first through the Math 87 textbook.

While both the Math 87 and the Algebra ½ textbooks will get the student ready for the Algebra 1 course, the Math 87 book starts off a bit slower with more review, allowing the student to “catch up.” The student who then moves successfully through the Math 87 textbook, receiving eighties or better on the last five tests, can then skip the Algebra ½ book and move directly to the Algebra 1 textbook.

However, if the student finishes the Math 87 book and the last five test grades reflect difficulty with the material, that student should then be moved into the Algebra ½ book to receive another – but different – look at “pre-algebra” before attempting the Algebra 1 course. Students fail algebra because they do not understand fractions, decimals and percents; they fail calculus because they do not understand the basics of algebra. Attempting to “fast track” a student who had weak Math 76 test scores - into Algebra ½ - then on to Algebra 1, will most certainly result in frustration if not failure in either Algebra ½, or Algebra 1.

So what have we been talking about? If the students have to take all three courses (Math 76, Math 87 and Algebra ½), how will they ever get through algebra? When I taught Saxon math in a public high school, we established three math tracks for the students. Fast, Average, and Slower math tracks to accommodate the difference in learning styles and backgrounds of the students. Listed below are the recommended three math tracks. Please note there are no grade levels associated with these courses, but Math 76 was generally taught in the 6th grade at the middle school.

The course titled “Introduction to Algebra 2” was the student’s first attempt at the Algebra 2 course which resulted in low test scores, so the course was titled as an “Introduction to Algebra 2” and the student repeated the entirety of the same book the following year.

Over ninety-five percent of all these students received an “A” or “B” their second year through the Algebra 2 course. In the ten years we used the system, I only had one student who received a “D” in the course and he did so because he did little or no studying the second year and still passed the course with a 65 percent test average.

I will make you the same promise I made to the parents of my former students. If students can accomplish no more than “mastering” John Saxon’s Algebra 2 course by the time they are seniors in high school, they will pass any collegiate freshman algebra/trig course from MIT to Stanford (provided they go to class). Remember, they can still take calculus at the university if they have changed their mind and need the course in their new major field of study. And because they now have a strong algebra background, they will be successful!

FAST MATH TRACK: Math 76 – Algebra ½ – Algebra 1 – Algebra 2 – Geometry with Advanced Algebra – Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus – Calculus. NOTE: The Saxon Advanced Mathematics textbook was used over a two year period allowing the above underlined two full math credits after completing Saxon algebra 2. (TOTAL High School Math Credits: 5)

AVERAGE MATH TRACK: Math 76 – Math 87 – Algebra ½ – Algebra 1 – Algebra 2 – Geometry with Advanced Algebra – Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus. (TOTAL High School Math Credits: 4)

SLOWER MATH TRACK: Math 76 – Math 87 – Algebra ½ – Algebra 1 – Introduction to Algebra 2 – Algebra 2 – Geometry with Advanced Algebra. (TOTAL High School Math Credits: 4)

NOTE 1: YOU MUST USE THE FOLLOWING EDITIONS AS THEY ARE ACADEMICALLY STRONGER THAN THE EARLIER EDITIONS ARE. USING OLDER EDITIONS WILL RESULT IN FRUSTRATION OR FAILURE FOR THE STUDENT.

Math 76: Either the hardback 3rd Ed or the new soft cover 4th Ed. (Math content of both editions is the same)

Math 87: Either the hardback 2nd Ed or the new soft cover 3rd Ed. (Math content of both editions is the same)

Algebra ½: Use only the 3rd Edition. (Book has the lesson reference numbers added also)

Algebra 1: Use only the 3rd Edition. (Book has the lesson reference numbers added also)

Algebra 2: Use either the 2nd or 3rd Editions. (Content is identical. Lesson reference numbers added to 3rd Ed)

Advanced Mathematics: Use only the 2nd Edition: (Lesson reference numbers are in the solutions manual)

Calculus: Either the 1st or 2nd Edition will work. However, if the student needs DVD tutorial assistance, then they will need the 2nd Edition textbook.

NOTE 2: WHEN RECORDING COURSE TITLES ON THE TRANSCRIPT, USE THE FOLLOWING TITLES:

Math 76: Use “Sixth Grade Math.”

Math 87: Use “Pre-Algebra.”(If student must also take Algebra ½, then use “Seventh Grade Math”)

Algebra ½: Use “Pre-Algebra.”

Advanced Mathematics: Use “Geometry with Advanced Algebra (1 credit) if they only complete the first 60 – 70 lessons of that textbook. Add “Trigonometry and Pre-calculus” (1 credit) if they successfully complete the entirety of the Advanced mathematics textbook. Under no circumstances should you record “Advanced Mathematics” on the student’s high school transcript as colleges and universities will not know what math this course contains. They will ask you for a syllabus for the course.
Calculus: Self explanatory.

Each child is unique and what works for one will not always work for another. Whatever track you use, you must decide early to allow students sufficient time to overcome any hurdles they might encounter in their math journey. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at art.reed@usingsaxon.com or call me at (580) 234-0064 (CST) and leave your telephone number and I will return your call.

Good Luck this coming school year!

HAVE A WONDERFUL, SAFE, AND HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY AS WE CELEBRATE OUR 233rd YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE. MAY GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL SHE STANDS FOR!

IF YOU ARE NEAR HOUSTON, TEXAS ON AUGUST 6 - 8 PLEASE COME BY OUR BOOTH AT THE TEXAS HOMESCHOOL COALITION CONVENTION BEING HELD AT THE WOODLANDS WATERWAY MARRIOTT CONVENTION CENTER IN THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS.

I am repeatedly asked by home school educators about students taking a non-Saxon geometry course between algebra 1 and algebra 2, as most public schools do. I am also asked by parents if they should buy the new geometry textbook recently released to homeschool educators by HMHCO (the new owners of Saxon). As I mentioned several newsletter ago, a group of professors who taught mathematics and science at the University of Chicago bemoaned the fact that educators continued to place a geometry course between basic algebra (algebra 1) one and the advanced algebra course (algebra 2) to the detriment of the student. AND THIS WAS 103 YEARS AGO!

I just left the homeschool convention in Wichita, Kansas and that question came up again. That danger still exists today. Placing a nine month geometry course between algebra 1 and algebra 2 creates an algebra void of some fifteen months between the two algebra courses because, in addition to the nine month geometry course, you must also add the additional six months of summer between the two courses when no math is taken. The professors went on to explain in their book that it was this “void” that prevented students from retaining the necessary basic algebra concepts from algebra 1 to be successful when encountering the rigors of algebra 2.

Home school educators also asked about using the new fourth editions of algebra 1 and algebra 2 recently released by HMHCO (new Saxon owners) with their new geometry edition for homeschool use. To create the new fourth editions, all geometry was gutted from the previous third editions of both algebra 1 and algebra 2. Using the new fourth editions of their revised Saxon algebra 1 and algebra 2 now requires also purchasing their new Saxon geometry book to receive any credit for geometry. That makes sense, if you consider that publishers make more money from selling three books than they do from selling just two.

So what Saxon math books should you use? The editions of John Saxon’s math books from fourth through twelfth grades that should be used today are listed in my September 2008 Newsletter. This same list appears on page 15 of my book. These editions remain the best math books on the market today, and they will remain so for two or three decades to come.

A FEW ADMINISTRATIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS

THE PASSWORD

The requirement for a password to access the Useful Links has been removed. At the recent Kansas homeschool convention, one reader having bought the DVD’s but not the book, commented that since she bought the DVD’s why could she not have the password so she could access the links? Not having the password did not make any sense to her. Oh well, some of us learn a lot slower than others. THE PASSWORD IS NOW GONE!

TIMETABLE FOR RELEASE OF THE REMAINING SAXON MATH® SUPPLEMENTAL TUTORIALS

Lastly, the timetable for release of the remaining three math books (through calculus) looks like this:

“Geometry with Advanced Algebra” to be released by the end of August 2009.

“Trigonometry and Pre-calculus” to be released by January 2010.

“Calculus” to be released by late August 2010.

A “MUST SEE” VIDEO FOR ALL HOMESCHOOL FAMILIES

I recently watched a PBS program titled “HALLOWED GROUNDS.” In about 60 minutes, the video takes the viewer through 22 of the permanent military cemeteries in more than half a dozen countries where both WWI and WWII were fought. It allows the viewer to visit each cemetery and to honor the more than 125,000 fallen servicemen and women from these two world wars. My father fought in Marne, France in WWI and one of my cousins is buried at the Henry Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium, where his B-17 went down during WWII. I have contacted PBS and they have informed me that I can purchase the DVD’s at a discounted price for re-sale to educators. I intend to re-sell them to homeschool families and groups at a reduced cost as I truly believe every young man and woman should see this beautiful tribute to our fallen heroes. These are the men and women who are among those responsible for our freedoms today! The young men and women of today’s generation need to know the sacrifices these young heroes of a previous generation made for all of us. This video is a beautiful tribute to that effort.

“For these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.” Abraham Lincoln

Click here to view video for May Newsletter.

Several marketing friends of mine have recommended to me that I raise the price of my DVD math tutorials. They say my professionally produced DVD “video” tutorials are greatly underpriced compared to what is already on the market. They believe that because my DVD's are so inexpensive, some homeschool educators may assume they are not a quality product, and not purchase them.

Let me explain why I went into the tutorial market in the first place – and why I have tried to keep the cost of the DVD math tutorials so low. For several years, homeschool educators using Saxon math books had only two choices for a math tutorial program to supplement their Saxon math books. One was a CD graphic whiteboard presentation that sold for $50, and the other was a DVD “video” presentation that sold for more than $250. While these two products were certainly good products, I believed they lacked several key qualities. The less expensive product, which sold for $50, was only a CD “whiteboard” presentation. That meant there was no “video” - there was no experienced Saxon math teacher standing in front of the student explaining the “what” and the “why” of a particular math concept.

I also felt that, after listening to a voice explaining a math concept, while the writing mysteriously appeared on the screen, the homeschool student would easily become bored with the process. Another shortcoming was that the CD would not work with a television DVD player, so groups of homeschool students could not easily watch the presentation together on their television set, as they would in a regular classroom environment. The DVD “video” product I evaluated last year was, in my opinion, a better buy than the less expensive CD product which was being sold for $50; however, as I said back in April of 2008, I felt $275 was a bit pricey for the homeschool budget. At the time, I was hoping the newly announced “Saxon Teacher” series, then advertised to sell at $89.99, would offer a DVD “video” product at a more reasonable cost.

When I heard that Saxon was producing a supplemental math tutorial program for their upper level math textbooks, I really became excited for the homeschool community. Having taught high school mathematics using the books as well as serving as Saxon's upper level math curriculum advisor for a number of years, I had come to realize that the challenging aspect of these unique math books required someone with Saxon teaching experience to guide homeschool students through the cumulative language of increasingly complicated math concepts. These math concepts are more easily understood by students when explained on a board by an experienced math teacher, in a classroom setting, than when students try to read them from a textbook without the oral explanation.

As I stated in my March and April newsletters last year, after reviewing the new “Saxon Teacher” algebra 2 CD whiteboard presentation, I was disappointed. I had hoped the publishers would have used their tremendous resources to create a less expensive supplemental DVD “video” tutorial series, a series that would give the homeschool community a much needed product to supplement the upper level math textbooks. However, they did not choose to do so. Instead, they produced another more expensive CD “whiteboard” product which I referred to at the time, as an expensive “talking solutions manual.”

It was after reviewing that release that I decided to produce supplemental math tutorials for John Saxon's upper level math series – from algebra ½ through calculus – as DVD “video classroom” instruction. I wanted the final product to be an actual classroom setting with a math teacher going over the math concepts as I did when I taught in the classroom. I wanted them to be recorded on DVD “videos” that would operate in any standard DVD player, whether connected to a television set or to a computer. I already had the office space downtown and had decided that as long as I did not have to mortgage my house, I could create the supplemental math tutorials, using local production resources.

Because the daily lessons are lessons dealing with specific math concepts, I felt that homeschool students who do not use the Saxon math textbooks could also benefit from these DVD math tutorials. For that reason, I provided a syllabus for each of the DVD series on the website where students can easily download and print a copy enabling them to correlate their non-Saxon math textbook lessons with my lessons.

As a retired regular army officer, and also a retired high school math teacher, I do not rely upon the proceeds from the sale of the DVD tutorial products to support my family. I originally had planned to sell the DVD's for $74.95. Then after watching the economy take a downturn, I made the decision to reduce the selling price of the tutorial series to $49.95. I want to sell them as inexpensively as I possibly can to benefit homeschool students and educators.

Creating this series of DVD math tutorials, beginning with algebra ½, has been a very rich and rewarding experience for me. Since my retirement from teaching I have missed the wonderful exchange of ideas a teacher experiences with his students. This series has enabled me to accomplish that as well as assist homeschool students with the upper level math concepts. If all goes well, I shall complete the advanced mathematics tutorial series late this summer, followed by calculus in the spring of 2010.

In next month's newsletter I will explain in more detail how I will teach the advanced mathematics series in two separate courses, as I did when I taught public high school mathematics using John's textbook. The first year series is titled “Geometry with Advanced Algebra.” It should be recorded on the student's transcript as “Geometry with Advanced Algebra.” The second year course should be titled and credited as “Trigonometry and Pre-calculus.” Both courses use John's advanced mathematics textbook, 2d edition.

NOTE: Some readers may be unaware that DVD's and CD's are vastly different in their capabilities and cost. DVD stands for “Digital Video Disc.” The more expensive DVD's are used to record “videos” as opposed to the more common, less expensive CD's which are used for data storage, recording graphics, photos, or music. While DVD's can be used to record anything that can be recorded on a CD, however the CD's cannot record or show movies or “videos.” That is why I often use the phrase DVD “video” tutorial to make sure the reader is aware of that difference. My apologies for stating the obvious in a non-technical description, if you are already aware of this difference.

March 2009

THE NEW ALGEBRA 2 DVD TUTORIAL IS NOW AVAILABLE

HOW TO SUCESSFULLY USE JOHN SAXON'S MATH BOOKS FROM MATH 54 THROUGH CALCULUS (PART III)

Here are the final three situations in the series describing common misuses I have encountered during these past twenty years of teaching and providing curriculum advice to homeschool educators. As with the previous two parts of the series, I have added my thoughts about why you want to avoid them:

SHOULD STUDENTS ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE THE ADVANCED MATHEMATICS TEXTBOOK IN A SINGLE YEAR? Since there are only 125 lessons, it seems reasonable to assume this is possible.

RATIONALE: “My son had absolutely no trouble in the algebra 2 book and I believe he will have no trouble in this book either. The book has fewer lessons than the algebra 2 book has. Besides, he is a junior this year and we want him to be in calculus before he graduates from high school.”

FACTS: The second edition of John Saxon's advanced mathematics textbook is tougher than any college algebra textbook I have ever encountered. The daily assignments in this book are not impossible, but they are both challenging and time consuming. They can take most math students more than several hours each evening to complete the thirty problems. This excessive time requirement generally results in students doing just the odd or even numbered problems to get through the lessons. I must have said this a thousand times “Students fail calculus because they do not understand algebra.” Rushing through the advanced mathematics textbook by taking shortcuts does not allow the student the ability to master the advanced concepts of algebra and trigonometry to be successful in calculus. And if the only argument is that the student will not take calculus in high school, then what is the rush?

The advanced mathematics DVD tutorial series that I am currently preparing will allow students three choices based upon their needs and capabilities. The choices will be:

• They can take the course in two years (doing a lesson every two days) gaining credit for a first year of Geometry w/advanced algebra, and a second year with a first semester of trigonometry and second semester of pre-calculus.

• They can take the course in three semesters. Their first semester would be labeled geometry, followed by a second semester of trigonometry, ending with a third semester of pre-calculus.

• Lastly, while not recommended, they can take the entire 125 lessons in a single school year gaining credit for a full year of geometry along with a semester credit for trigonometry w/advanced algebra.

The specific details of how the transcript is recorded are covered in my book, but if you have any questions regarding your son or daughter's high school transcript, please feel free to send me an email.

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• IS IT CRITICAL FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE CALCULUS IN HIGH SCHOOL? Students lacking a solid base in algebra and some knowledge of trigonometry will find taking calculus at any level difficult, if not impossible.

RATIONALE: “I want our son to take calculus his senior year in high school. The only way we can accomplish that is to have him speed through the algebra 2 and advanced math books to finish them by the end of his junior year. He may even have to use the summer months for math as well.”

FACTS: Even if students successfully complete a calculus course their senior year in high school, whether at home or at a local community college, I would strongly recommend that they enroll in calculus I as a freshman at the university or college they choose to attend for several reasons.

First, if they truly understand enough of their calculus I course (usually encompassing derivatives) they can enjoy a solid five hours of “A” on their transcript for their first five hours of math as a freshman. They can also make some nice extra money tutoring their less fortunate classmates.

Second, while they think they understand everything there is about calculus, they will see much more as they sit back and “understand” what the professor is talking about. They might even learn something they never fathomed in the high school textbook they went through.

Third and last, their solid “A” the first semester in calculus I let the professors know what kind of student they are. That perception by the professor makes a big difference should they encounter any difficulties in their second semester of calculus II (usually through integrals). Finishing John Saxon's second edition of advanced mathematics at a pace that allows the student to grasp all of the material in that textbook, without being frustrated or discouraged, is paramount to their success in calculus at the college or university level.

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• DO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS NEED A SEPARATE GEOMETRY TEXTBOOK? To reflect that a student has received a well rounded math background, schools require that geometry be recorded on a student's high school transcript, along with algebra 1, algebra 2, and trigonometry.

RATIONALE: “It is too difficult for high school students to learn both algebra and geometry at the same time.” My son did just fine in the algebra 1 textbook. However, he is only on lesson 35 in the algebra 2 book, and he is already struggling.”

FACTS: Many of my top students' worst tests in algebra 2 were their very first test. This happened because they did not realize the book covered so much geometry review from the algebra 1 text as well as several key new concepts taught early in the text. They quickly recovered and went on to master both the algebra and the geometry concepts. From my experiences, most students who encountered difficulty early in John Saxon's algebra 2 textbook did so - not because they did not understand the geometry being introduced - but because their previous experiences with algebra 1 did not result in mastery of the math concepts necessary to handle the more complicated algebra concepts introduced early in the algebra 2 textbook. I would not recommend students attempt John Saxon's algebra 2 math book if they have done any one of the following:

1) Never finished all of the lessons in the Saxon algebra 1 textbook.

2) Hurried through the algebra 1 textbook doing two lessons a day and then only did the odd or even numbered problems from each lesson.

3) Received test scores of less than seventy-five on their last four or five tests in the algebra textbook (not counting partial credit).

What about the students who never took the tests, because parents used the students' daily homework grades to determine their grade average? What does that reveal about the students' ability? Establishing a students' grade average based upon their daily work reflects what they have “memorized.” The weekly tests determine what they have “mastered.”

The successful completion of John Saxon's algebra 2 textbook (2 nd or 3 rd Editions) gives students an additional equivalent of the first semester of a high school geometry course (including two-column proofs). Successful completion of the advanced mathematics textbook (2 nd Ed) ensures they receive the equivalent of the second semester of high school geometry, in addition to the advanced algebra and trigonometry they also receive.

I am in possession of a 105 year old mathematics textbook written by several math professors at the University of Chicago. They wrote the book as an algebra supplement to the geometry textbook being used in the high schools at that time. In the preface of the book, they lamented the fact that educators were making a mistake inserting a geometry textbook in between basic algebra (algebra 1) and the more challenging algebra 2.

The two math professors basically said what the rest of the industrialized world at that time already knew, that students going from algebra 1 to geometry and then on to algebra 2, encountered difficulty in algebra 2 because the students (after a fifteen month absence) had forgotten most of the basic algebra concepts necessary to be successful in the more challenging algebra 2 course. John Saxon (without ever having had the opportunity to read their book) followed the rest of the industrialized nations of the world and incorporated geometry with the algebra and trigonometry in his high school math books, a decision most mathematicians, as do I, agree with.

Then apparently aware of this situation, and knowing John Saxon's position on the subject, why did HMH Supplemental Publishers, Inc. publish their new Saxon algebra 1, algebra 2, and separate geometry textbooks? I do not know, but I do know that three textbooks will make more money for a publisher than two textbooks will. I do also know this: the new books are displayed only on the school website and not on the homeschool website - and - I have already answered email and telephone calls from homeschool educators who were somewhat confused by this.

My reply to them was not to buy anything from the school web site. The homeschool community is blessed by the fact that the new series of books are not needed in the homeschool environment. If you stick with the editions of John Saxon's math books that I listed at the end of my September 2008 Newsletter, you will have the best math books on the market today and for several more decades to come.

1) Their children encountered extreme difficulty when they reached Saxon algebra 2, and even more difficulty and frustration or even failure with the Saxon advanced mathematics or calculus courses.

2) They had switched curriculum after experiencing difficulty in Saxon algebra 1.

3) Their children had to take remedial college algebra when they enrolled at the university, because they received low scores on the university's math entrance exam.

If your child is already experiencing trouble in one of the Saxon series math books, and you need to find a workable solution, please email me at: art.reed@usingsaxon.com.

February 2009

HOW TO SUCESSFULLY USE JOHN SAXON'S MATH BOOKS FROM MATH 54 THROUGH CALCULUS AND PHYSICS (PART II)

As I promised last month here are several more of the common misuses I have encountered during these past twenty years of teaching and providing curriculum advice to homeschool educators. I have added my thoughts about why you want to avoid them :

• THE EFFECTS OF DOING JUST THE ODD OR EVEN PROBLEMS: Allowing the student to do just the odd or even problems in each daily lesson. RATIONALE: “The book shows two of each of the problems, and it saves my son time doing just one of the pair. Besides, they are both the same, so why take the extra time doing both of them?” FACTS: T he reason there are pairs of each of the fifteen or so concepts found in the daily assignments is because each of the problems in each pair is different from the other. While both problems in each pair address the same concept, they are different in their approach to presenting that concept. One goes about presenting the concept one way while the second one approaches the concept from a totally different perspective.

Doing both of them gives the student a broader basis for understanding the concept and prevents the student from memorizing a particular procedure rather than mastering the concept based upon solving the two different formats or procedures. Whenever I receive an email from a homeschool educator or student, and they need help with solving a particular problem on one of the tests remarking that they “never saw this test question in any of their daily work,” I can tell that they have been doing either the “odds” or the “evens” in their daily work because this test question resembled an approach to the concept that was contained in the set they never did. Additionally, doing only half of the daily assignment restricts the student's ability to more quickly and easily master the concepts. Doing two a day for fourteen days increases the student's ability to more quickly master those concepts than doing just one a day for that same period of time.

The “A” or “B” student who has mastered the material should take no more than fifty minutes to complete the daily assignment of thirty problems if their grade is based upon their weekly test scores and not upon their daily homework. The “C” student should complete the daily assignment of thirty problems in about ninety minutes. The additional time above the normal fifty minutes is usually the result of the “C” student having to look up formulas or concepts that might not have yet been mastered. This is why I recommend using “formula cards.”

Use of the formula cards saves students many hours of time flipping through the book looking for a formula to make sure they have it correctly recorded. The details on how to implement using these cards is explained in detail on page 94 of my book. If you have not yet acquired that book, you can send me an email and I will provide you with the necessary information regarding creating and using “Formula Cards.”

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• THE EFFECTS OF DOING MORE THAN ONE LESSON A DAY: Permitting the students to do two or three lessons a day to allow them to complete the course faster. RATIONALE: “My son wants to finish the Saxon calculus course by the end of his junior year. The only way he can do that is to finish the algebra 2 book in six rather than nine months. Besides, he told me that he already knows how to do most of the material from the previous algebra 1 book.” FACTS: To those who feel it necessary to “speed” through a Saxon math book, I would use the analogy of eating one's daily meals. Why not just eat once or twice a week to save time preparing and eating three meals each day? Not to mention the time saved doing all those dishes. The best way I know to answer both of these questions is to remind the reader that our bodies will not allow us to implement such a time saving methodology any more than our brains will allow us to absorb the new math concepts by doing multiple lessons at one sitting.

I have heard just about every reason to support doing multiple lessons, skipping tests to allow another lesson to be taken, or taking a lesson on test day. All of these processes were attempted solely to speed up completing the textbook. Students who failed calculus did so, not because they did not understand the language and concepts of calculus, but because they did not sufficiently master the algebra. Why must students always be doing something they do not know? What is wrong with students doing something they are familiar with to allow mastery as well as confidence to take over? Why should they become frustrated with their current material because they “rushed” through the previous prerequisite math course?

The two components of “automaticity” are time and repetition, and violating either one of them in an attempt to speed through the textbook (any math book) results in frustration or failure as the student progresses through the higher levels of mathematics. I recall my college calculus professor filling the blackboard with a calculus problem and at the end, he struck the board with the chalk, turned and said “And the rest is just algebra.” To the dismay of the vast majority of students in the classroom - that was the part they did not understand and could not perform. When I took calculus in college, more than half of my class dropped out of their first semester of calculus within weeks of starting the course, because their algebra backgrounds were weak.

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• ENTERING THE SAXON MATH CURRICULUM AFTER MATH 76: Switching to the Saxon math curriculum in algebra 1 or algebra 2 because you have found the curriculum you were previously using was not preparing your child for the ACT or SAT. RATIONALE: “We were having trouble with math because the curriculum we were using, while excellent in the lower grades, did not adequately prepare our son and daughter for the more advanced math concepts. We needed a stronger math curriculum, so we switched to Saxon algebra 1 .” FACTS: Switching math curriculums is always a dangerous process because each math curriculum attempts to bring different math concepts into their curriculum at different levels. Constantly moving from one math curriculum to another - looking for the perfect math book - creates “mathematical holes” in the students' math background.

It also creates a higher level of frustration for these students because, rather than concentrating on learning the mathematics, they must concentrate on what the new textbook's system of presentation is and spend valuable time trying to analyze the new format, method of presentation, test schedule, etc. If you intend to use Saxon in the middle and upper level math courses because of its excellence at these levels of mathematics, I would strongly recommend that you start with the Math 76, 3 rd or 4 th Ed textbook. The cumulative nature of the Saxon math textbooks requires a solid background in the basics of fractions, decimals and percentages. All of these basics, together with the necessary prerequisites for success in pre-algebra or algebra 1 are covered in Saxon's Math 76, 3 rd or 4 th Edition textbook. This math textbook is what I refer to as the “HINGE TEXTBOOK” in the Saxon math curriculum. Successful completion of this book will take care of any “Math Holes” that might have developed from the math curriculum you were using in grades K – 5.

Successful completion of this book can allow the student to move successfully to the Saxon algebra ½ textbook (a pre-algebra course). Should students encounter difficulty in the latter part of the Math 76 text, they can move to the Saxon Math 87, 2 nd or 3 rd Ed and, upon successful completion of that book, move either to the algebra ½ or the algebra 1 course depending on how strong their last 4 or 5 test scores were. Yes, some students have been successful entering the Saxon curriculum at either the algebra 1 or the algebra 2 levels, but the number of failures because of weak math backgrounds from using other curriculums, roughly exceeds the number of successes by hundreds to one!

As I mentioned last month, there will always be exceptions that justify the rule. However, just because one parent tells you their child did any one or all of the above, and had no trouble with their advanced math course does not mean you should also attempt it with your child. That parent might not have told you that (1) their child encountered extreme difficulty when they reached Saxon algebra 2, and even more difficulty and frustration or failure with the Saxon advanced mathematics or calculus courses, or (2) they had switched curriculum after experiencing difficulty in Saxon algebra 1, or (3) their child had to take remedial college algebra when they enrolled at the university, because they received a low score on the university's math entrance exam.

If your child is already experiencing trouble in one of the Saxon series math books, and you need to find a workable solution, please email me at: art.reed@usingsaxon.com .

In next month's issue, I will cover:

• ATTEMPTING THE ADVANCED MATH TEXTBOOK IN A SINGLE YEAR:

• IS IT CRITICAL FOR STUDENTS TO TAKE CALCULUS IN HIGH SCHOOL?

• DO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS NEED A SEPARATE GEOMETRY TEXTBOOK?

Both homeschool educators as well as public and private school administrators have asked me “Why do John Saxon's math books require special handling? Another question I am also frequently asked by them is “If John Saxon's math books require special instructions to use them successfully, why would we want to use them”? Before the end of this newsletter, I hope to be able to answer both of these questions to your satisfaction.

There is nothing “magic” about John Saxon's math books. They were published as a series of math textbooks to be taken sequentially. Math 54 followed by Math 65, and then Math 76, followed by either Math 87 or Algebra ½, and then algebra 1, etc. While other publishers were “dumbing-down” the content of their new math books, John Saxon's was publishing his new editions with stronger content. Homeschool families, attempting to save money by buying older used Saxon Math books, were unaware that the older editions were often incompatible with the newer, more challenging editions. The same problem developed in the public and private school sector adding to the confusion about the difficulty of John's math books.

For example, a student using the old second edition of Math 76 would experience difficulty entering the newer second or third editions of Math 87 because the content in the outdated edition of Math 76 was about the same as that of the material covered in the newer edition of Math 65 (the book preceding Math 76). Jumping from the outdated older edition of Math 76 to the newer editions of either Math 87 or algebra ½ would result in frustration or even failure for most of the students who attempted this.

Many homeschool educators and administrators were also unaware that when finishing a Saxon math book, they were not to use the Saxon placement test to determine the student's next book in the Saxon series. The Saxon placement test was designed to assist in initially placing non-Saxon math students into the correct level Saxon math book. The test was not designed to show parents what the student already knew, it was designed to find out what the student did not know. Students taking the placement test, who are already using a Saxon math book, receive unusually high “false” placement test scores. These test results may recommend a book one or even two levels higher than the level book being used by the student (e.g. from their current Math 65 textbook to the Math 87 textbook).

By far, the problems homeschool educators as well as classroom teachers encounter using – or shall I say misusing – John's math books are not all that difficult to correct. However, when these “short-cuts” are taken, the resulting repercussions are not at first easily noticed. Later in the course, when the student begins to encounter difficulty with their daily assignments - in any level of Saxon math books - the parent or teacher assumes that the student is unable to handle the work and determines that either the student is not learning because the book is too difficult for the student.

H ere are some of the most common or misuses I have encountered literally hundreds of times during these past twenty years of teaching and providing curriculum advice to homeschool educators:

• NOT FINISHING THE ENTIRETY OF THE TEXTBOOK: Not requiring the student to finish the entirety of one book before moving on to the next book in the sequence. RATIONALE: The beginning of the new book covers the same material we are skipping in the other book, so why repeat it? FACT: The student encounters some review of this material in the next book, but this review assumes the student has already encountered the simpler version in the previous text. The review concepts in the new book are a bit tougher than the one's they skipped in the previous book. This does not initially appear to create a problem until the student gets to about lesson thirty or so in the book, and by then both the parent and the student have gotten so far into the new book that they do not attribute the student's problem to be the result of not finishing the previous textbook. They start to think the material is too difficult to process correctly and do not see the error of their having skipped the last thirty or so lessons in the previous book. They now fault the excessive difficulty of the current textbook as the reason their child is failing. SOLUTION: Always finish the entirety of every Saxon math textbook. Because all children are not alike, if as you're reading this article you have already encountered this particular phenomenon with your child, there are several steps you can take to satisfactorily solve the problem without harming the child's progress or self-esteem. So that we can find the correct solution, please email me and include your telephone number and I will call you that same day – on my dime!

• MISUSE OF THE SAXON PLACEMENT TEST : Skipping one of the books in the sequence (e.g. going from Math 54 to Math 76) because the Saxon “Placement Test” results clearly showed the student could easily handle Math 76. RATIONALE: “ He even got some of the Math 87 level questions correct. Besides, we had him look at the material in the Math 65 book and he said that he already knew that material, so why bother doing the same concepts again .” FACT : First, the Saxon placement test was designed to place non-Saxon math students into the correct level math book. It was designed to see what the child had not encountered or mastered, not what he already knew. Saxon students who take the Saxon placement test receive unusually high “false” test scores. The only way to determine if the student is ready for the next math book is to evaluate their last four or five tests in their current math book to determine whether or not they have mastered the required concepts to be successful in the next level book. The brain of young students cannot decipher the difference between recognizing something and being able to provide solutions to the problems dealing with those concepts. So when they thumb through a book and say “I know how to do this” what they really mean is “I recognize this .” Recognition of a concept or process does not reflect mastery.

• USING DAILY HOMEWORK TO DETERMINE A STUDENT'S GRADE: Skipping the weekly tests and using the student's daily assignments to determine their grade for the course reflects memory rather than mastery of the material. RATIONALE: I cannot count the number of times I have been told by a parent “He does not test well, so I use the daily grades to determine his course grade. He knows what he is doing because he gets hundreds on his daily work.” FACT: Just like practicing the piano, violin, or soccer, the student is not under the same pressure as when they have to perform for a solo or a big game. The weekly tests determine what a student has mastered through daily practice. The daily homework only reflects what they have temporarily memorized as they have access to information in the book not available on tests. Answers are provided for the odd numbered problems and some students quickly learn to “back-peddle.” This phenomenon occurs when the student looks at a problem and does not have the foggiest idea of how to work the problem. So they go to the answers and after seeing the answer to that particular problem, suddenly recall how to solve the problem. However, later, when they take the test, there are no answers to look up preventing them from “back-peddling” through to the correct solution.

As with anything, there are always exceptions that justify the rule. However, just because one parent says their child did any one or all of the above, and had no trouble with their math, does not mean you should also attempt it with your child. That parent might not have told you that (1) their child encountered extreme difficulty when they reached Saxon algebra 2, and even more difficulty with the Saxon advanced mathematics textbook, or (2) they had switched curriculum after experiencing difficulty in Saxon algebra 1, or (3) their child had to take remedial college algebra when they enrolled at the university, because they received a low score on the university's math entrance exam.

If your child is already experiencing trouble in one of the Saxon series math books, and you need to find a workable solution, please email me at: art.reed@usingsaxon.com .

In next month's issue, I will cover:

• THE EFFECTS OF DOING JUST THE ODD OR EVEN PROBLEMS:
• THE EFFECTS OF DOING MORE THAN ONE LESSON A DAY:
• ENTERING THE SAXON MATH CURRICULUM AFTER MATH 76:

Then in February's newsletter, I will cover:

• ATTEMPTING THE ADVANCED MATH TEXTBOOK IN A SINGLE YEAR:
• IS CALCULUS CRITICAL IN HIGH SCHOOL?
• DO WE NEED A SEPARATE GEOMETRY TEXTBOOK?

Almost forgot, your 2007 - 2008 password to the “USEFUL LINKS” has been extended through 2009.