Math-U-See vs. Teaching Textbooks vs. Saxon

I’ve been really impressed with Math Mammoth – even if you don’t decide to use her stuff, she has a TON of great information about teaching math in general. You can sign up for her emails and she sends very good articles dealing with math education (without the sole purpose of pushing her curriculum). Another bonus to her books is that they are very inexpensive. I like that it is very down to business, but easy to understand. It seems like a very good curriculum to adapt to your particular child’s needs. BUT I am not meaning just to promote her books – I really just think her different articles/emails can be very helpful in helping you decide and implement.

I’ve used all three. I will give you a quick summary of how I’ve used each program, but each mom knows her children and what will probably work best for their own children.

Saxon – To textbooky for us. My dd used it when we first started homeschooling three years ago (she will be in 7th grade in the fall). She used it for a couple of years, but didn’t feel confident in math nor liked the subject although she did o.k. with it.

Teaching Textbooks – I used it in our first year of homeschooling for my 11th grade dd. I had taken her out of PS at the end of 10th grade and I couldn’t nor did I want to teach Algebra 2. She liked it and did well with it. It explains things thoroughly. I think for the elementary age, TT is too expensive (that’s just me). I’m not sure how my girls will do with the high school level of Math-U-See. If I feel that they need some hand holding, then I will possibly consider purchasing TT then, but I still have another two years before that happens.

Math-U-See – All my girls use it now and my oldest dd at home now (she used Saxon above) enjoys math and feels confident because she feels like she not only understands how to do the problems, but knows why (she’ll be in 7th grade in the fall). My 4th grade dd did very well with Horizon, but is now struggles a little with double-digit multiplication with Math-U-See, but she’s working diligently through the program. I wanted my children to really understand the how and why behind math. I did not learn it that way. I just do the problem so I’m also learning along with my children so it’s been fun.

I met a young man at the Math-U-See table at one of the hs conferences and he indicated that he’s used Math-U-See from the beginning through high school (on his own during hs) and he scored a 29 on his ACT and was upset that it wasn’t higher. He did very well in math.

I also have a Math-U-See newsletter that Mr. Demme (author of MUS) discusses parent’s concern with upper level math:

“It seems that every spring and earyl summer I hear from parents who are questioning whether Mathusee is the right program for the upper levels.  I believe it is, but then I was a high school teacher and wrote the prgram.  This month I thought I would let you hear from your peers.  And I hope what they have to say will encourage you.”

I checked the Math-U-See newsletter archives on his website and didn’t find the rest of the above entry, but if you’d like, I can email it to you privately.

You can read more about Math-U-See on his website (http://mathusee.com/index.html). They also have a blog and a forum you can check out. 

HTH

We had my dd using Saxon and (3 years of it) and she simply was not understanding math.  It dis not make ‘sense’ to her.  So this summer we started over at the beginning with MUS Alpha.  My dd is 3rd grade.  It has made a huge difference!  She understands what she is doing and why, uses the manipulatives, and even watches the dvd with me.  She says she likes math now. 

Saxon would cover 12 different topics in 12 lessons (4 lessons per week), and then come back and cover them again.  (a learning spiral)  While I think that would work for my next child(math makes sense to him – very math/logic minded), it simply didn’t give my DD enough focused practice.  With MUS we take the lessons as they come and stick with one until she understands it.  DD also hated the workbooks for Saxon. 

I love MUS as well, but I wanted to plug a  couple of other things that have worked for us too. I love Life of Fred, which goes from pre-AL to Statisitics (including Calculus).  My kids really like Fred. 🙂 http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html

Also, I have had HUGE success with Systematic Mathematics. http://www.systemath.com  I bought all of the modules used and my 11 year old does it all completely on his own.  The books this site recommends for the younger ages are wonderful too. My 10 year old is working through Practical Arithmetic book 1 along side Delta from MUS.

We adore MUS too, but I just have the urge to experiment when I see a good deal.

I just LOVE being able to get all this input on curriculum and ideas! Thanks so much to everyone who takes the time to share! I am overwhelmed with all the choices for math, and don’t want to make a costly $$ mistake. I haven’t seen many comments about Singapore math, at least not in this thread and a couple others I checked. What are your experiences?

Hi Kathi:

Here is more information on the Honors portion of Math-U-See. It’s only available from pre-Algebra through pre-Calculus.

http://www.mathusee.com/honors.html

For the older version, the honors book is sold separately. For the newer books (the contents is the same, but they contain enhanced solutions for all of the math problems), the honors portion is included in the book due to the high cost of the binding.

HTH.

I read through the calculus portion of life of fred.  I wish I had been taught math that way!