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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm not too worried about Saxon.  They cycle through prior material and keep it fresh with each section.  And the AZ Basis kids are absolutely killing it on the APs, with some phenomenal results, so obviously they are picking up the concepts as well.  As for "enrichment" - unless your kid absolutely loves math and does it just for the pure joy of it, I don't think you can realistically expect to pile on a whole lot more without sucking every last minute of daylight and every last ounce of joy out of your kid's life.[/quote]

Saxon itself is not that great at concepts.  Basis requires math teachers to have math degrees, though (or some mathematical subject, like physics).  So, the teachers usually know where to supplement the material.  They seem to be doing a very good job of it -- far better than their competition.

Saxon home schoolers are notoriously weak at theory.  I wouldn't recommend it without proper support.[/quote]

Any links on data?[/quote]

"Notorious" is not a valid statement for statistical analysis.  It is from personal experience as a university instructor, plus the same for my wife, and a good number of colleagues.  Many homeschoolers have had to re-take Precal, even though they "aced" the course in Saxon.  Some really do well, but they are the exception, not the norm.  I wouldn't have the same concern with a well-trained teacher.  Saxon does problem solving / application very well, at least through Precal (Advanced Math).  I don't dislike it -- I just recognize its limitations.

Saxon himself is changing his curriculum in response to the shortcoming (he recognizes it).  It's really obvious if you look at the material.  It is structured to provide an application or concept each day, and lots of review.  A theoretical derivation requires focus from time to time, and Saxon (at least, the old edition) doesn't allow for that.  The teachers have to make up for it.

Basis still uses the old edition, which is more oriented towards application and testing skills.  The teachers usually do provide the theory as needed, particularly in the "higher" math classes.  Those kids are doing just fine from what we can tell.  We will keep watching, though, just to be sure.[/quote]

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