Why I use Saxon Math

There are a thousand ways to teach your child math, from unschooling to DIY to buying a curriculum.

I choose to use Saxon Math Homeschool sets.

Why?

For starters, it's a complete homeschool math curriculum that has been producing materials for homeschoolers for decades. Saxon knows what homeschool families need.  A Saxon Math homeschool kit includes not just the book, but the tests as well and all the answer keys to both tests and every single problem set. A homeschool program I belong to recently purchased a non-homeschool Saxon math text, and it's not the same. The homeschool kits include things you, as a parent-teacher, need in order to teach math. (Get the homeschool kit. It's worth it.)

Saxon Math is a solid, proven math curriculum. I read an article a few years back (and I wish I could find the link) about a failing school in California. They'd been failing, with the lowest scores in the district for years. Then all of a sudden, in one year, their scores went from the lowest to near the highest on the standardized math tests. What changed? The teachers saved their own money and bought classroom sets of Saxon Math books to teach from. Saxon Math works to teach kids how to do math. Kids who use Saxon are prepared for college math. Saxon works.

And my favorite thing about Saxon Math: every single lesson includes a "Practice Set" of math problems that come from the lesson the child just finished and all the previous lessons. This has two benefits: 1. The kids never forget how to do the math because they are constantly practicing it, and 2. The kids never have to do thirty of the same type of problem, so they don't get as bored doing math every day.

Of all the ways to do math out there, I recommend using the Saxon Homeschool kits. You can buy them from Saxon (http://www.hmhco.com/shop/education-curriculum/math/homeschool/saxon-math-homeschool), get them on Ebay or Amazon (but make sure you're getting the whole kit: Textbook, Test booklet, and Answer Book), or order them from a curriculum library or co-op in your area. Even the "old" Saxon Math kits are fabulous--I love my second editions as much as my most recent editions.