Ok, now what about Abeka and maybe the Saxon math curriculums?

Question

my friend said she liked the Abeka but she wasn't at all impressed with their math. She also said she found saxon math wonderful. Any advise on these? Now I'm horrible with math, so I'd have to have something really self explanitory and something that would teach my daughter with out me being too much of a teacher here. I really appreciate all you ladies helping me here! Really!

Answer 1

I use Abeka with my children and we love it.  Everything is taught in a sequental step by step method.  The lessons are self-explanatory and easy to use.  And the kids love the colorful workbook pages.

For us, Saxon involved too much review of concepts they already thoroughly understood.  It was also a bit to time consuming for us.  My son picks up on concepts quickly so we prefer to just move on.  We also didn't like that it was black and white - too dull for us!

Anyway, it is really a matter of personal preference and what your child prefers.  Take a look at both of them and see  what you think will fit.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Saxon is good for younger children, but usually not thorough enough for high school. Advanced math students usually prefer something more challenging. At the pre Algebra stage, check out Teaching Textbooks. So many homeschoolers love this program. It features DVD lectures on each lesson, practice problems, and answer DVD's that explain how to do any problems you got wrong. Also check out Aleks Math. I wish I had started with that. A very good program that does not move on until mastery is gained in each area. This is for all ages. I have also spoken to many people who really like Chalkdust.

http://www.teachingtextbooks.com/

www.aleks.com

http://www.chalkdust.com/

Answer 3

I copy and pasted this answer because I just answered it a few days ago and honestly, my answer hasn't changed!

I used Abeka K- 5/6 and it was awful. I was having such a hard time with it that my parents switched me mid-year to Saxon. Abeka did not have enough review before moving on, new problems where not gone through step-by-step, and my mom didn't like the teacher's key. Math immediately became easier once we switched, but the damage was already done. Math continued to give me problems and I really struggled in highschool. My brother and sister however grew up using only Saxon and are not exactly math whizzes, but they never have problems. My brother even took all the advanced classes when he attended school. I'm not blaming it completely on the curriculum, but Abeka never measured up to Saxon in our family.

Answer 4

How old is your daughter?  There are really fabulous programs that will teach directly to her, but many are specialized toward specific age groups.  Please let us know and we can point you toward them :)

Answer 5

We really liked Horizons math because there's just enough practice and the workbooks are nice and colorful. They follow a spiral approach like Saxon but seemed much more fun for my children. Sonlight.com carries horizon and they have an awesome return policy.

Warm Regards,

Jana

http://www.summerhouseliving.com

http://www.purehomeschooling.com

Answer 6

Saxon is far superior to A-Beka, which is far more devoted to teaching their special brand of religion than teaching principles of math.

The Saxon program is time-tested and has worked well with countless youngsters.