Saxon Math Homeschool Curriculum Taught Me How to Love My Enemy

In the 1990s, reform programs in mathematics as ‘Everyday Mathematics’ has been widely adopted as the new wave by President Clinton’s Department of Education. As a result, the school district after school throughout the country has adopted this new approach. But despite the adoration of the “experts”, the end result was sad test scores.

For example, schools in California have embraced the reform plans for mathematics in the early 1990. By 1996, test scores in California dropped to one of the lowest in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Finally in 1997, the California State Board of Education approved mathematics reform was a mistake and revised state standards to return to the traditional mathematics curriculum.

The problem with the programs of these reforms is that mathematical approach to mathematics, as if it were a conceptual exercise critical thinking. mathematics reform abandons the more traditional approach, which focuses on training math facts reinforced by practical exercises in mathematics. However, mathematical concepts build on each other like building blocks. mathematics reform was an attempt to bypass the blocks at all. These programs failed because no knowledge of math facts kids were not able to grasp the concepts.

While the Department of Education tried to right the math curriculum, many homeschool parents were on the same research. My parents were among them, looking for the right to use mathematics curriculum homeschooling for me and my 10 brothers. Grow as a homeschool child, I remember the trial and error process of my parents went through as they tried curriculum that would allow all their children to excel in all subjects.

By the time I did in fourth grade, mathematics had become my bitter enemy. I struggled with math more than any other person. To put it bluntly, I hated math.

When I was in fifth grade, my parents selected Saxon Math as my homeschool curriculum. Saxon Math because I will never forget the person I fought with the most suddenly became easy. Not only my standardized test scores go up, but I never hated math. In fact, it was almost funny!

Saxon Math is the other end of the spectrum from reform math programs, like the tortoise and the hare. Like the hare, reform math programs attempt to take shortcuts to move quickly to the solution but in the end fail to reach your destination. Like the turtle, Saxon Math provides an incremental approach slow and steady. Rather than bypassing the fundamental facts math, Saxon makes them focus. Saxon curriculum is designed for quick and effortless recall of those facts. To do this, it focuses primarily on the review and drill.

Saxon incremental approach was exactly what I needed. Using Saxon I learned to remember the facts fluently and accurately using algorithms to solve problems instead of letting me think for a calculator. Saxon gave me the feeling of mental agility and mastery as I worked with problem after problem, picking up speed even if the lessons it has become progressively more difficult. I managed to successfully complete all requirements for math for high school diploma because of Saxon’s consistent, predictable drilling. I also graduated a year ahead!

This is State 14 years ago and my parents have not yet found a better math curriculum.

Although Saxon Math was exactly what I needed, it may not be right for some students. In fact, the reasons I enjoyed Saxon are the same reasons some people might hate. Not all children respond well to the page after page of math problems repetitive. Drilling the same problems over and over again can become tedious, especially for talented math students who do not need constant drilling. While the emphasis on Saxon Math drill and repetition allows students to perform well within a concept (and therefore, higher scores on standardized tests), the disadvantage is that emphasize critical thinking skills or problem solving creatively.

All in all, my parents chose a winner with Saxon Math homeschool curriculum. I believe that outperforms other programs in mathematics and works very effectively for the majority of students. Perhaps the Ministry of Education should check with my parents, before approving a new program for mathematics.

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