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
