Customer Rating: 
Summary: I would hate to have had to learn math from this book.
Comment: I am nearing the completion of my PhD in physics at a major research university, so I have studied a fair amount of math in my day. All the math I have studied is geared toward problem solving and understanding how we can describe the world around us using mathematics. This, it seems to me, should be what we are trying to communicate to high school students. I have spent the last two months regularly tutoring a poor girl who is trying her best to learn Algebra II from this book that was inflicted upon her, and I think the book is a disgrace.
It is obvious to me that they are intentionally making the problems more difficult than necessary in order to see if you can grope your way through the haze and figure out what they're asking you. There is no need of this in learning math. Difficult problems are fine, but at least make them clear and precise. That's what math is all about. The way they formulate problems amazes me. Why write that the volume of the gas is 0.007 x 10^-2 liters? What kind of foolishness is that? Either use scientific notation or don't.
This book uses proprietary notation when there is no need to do so. Write 3R - 2U in polar coordinates. What??!!?? I certainly know what polar coordinates are, but 3R - 2U is completely meaningless to me. OK, if you look back, you will discover that this is Saxon's notation for 3x - 2y ("R" is "right" and "U" is "up"). What's wrong with standard Cartesian notation? It has served me perfectly well for many years now. That's what the students will need to know if they ever actually want to use what they're learning outside of the classroom. With the amount of math I know, I don't feel like I should struggle to understand the meaning of a high school algebra II problem.
Finally, this book seems to move incredibly slowly. We've been repeadedly doing the same types of problems in different lessons for over a month now. If you could teach something well once, you might not have to keep teaching it over and over again. It looks to me like this author doesn't understand math very well, at least not in any way that he can figure out what the goal of mathematics is and how to communicate clearly and effectively to a student. As someone who understands the significance of mathematics, and regularly has to use it in many contexts professionally, I would strongly urge everyone to look elsewhere for a way to learn high school algebra.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellence in Mathematics
Comment: I have been using Saxon mathematics for 15 years, first as a 5th-12th grade student and more recently as a tutor. This program is excellent and like one of the other reviewers I can agree that even my "average" Saxon students have significantly better mathematics skills that those students using other programs.
I began using Saxon math in 5th grade. Prior to that I used a typical "learn and drill" method. A new concept was taught and drilled for 20+ problems and then the instruction moved on to another topic. By the time I reached an end of unit exam I had forgotten the early material.
Then in 5th grade we changed curriculums. I didn't become a "math lover" overnight. In fact, although my math skills improved, I adamently hated math all the way through junior high. Then I began algebra. By the end of Saxon's algebra 2 textbook I loved algebra and was making high A's in my homework.
A couple of years after highschool I was invited to begin tutoring math at a private school. At this point I reviewed my Saxon Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 eventually going on to study Advanced Mathematics for the fun of it. I would spend 2-3 hours a day studying math and loving every minute of it.
This independant study was 2 1/2 years ago. I recently decided to attend college as a math major. Last semester I passed Calculus I near or at the top of all the Cal I classes combined. My Saxon skills gave me the tools I needed to study well and grasp rather abstract concepts.
The one area that has concerned me is trigonometry. The Advanced Mathematics covered the topic quite thoroughly, however Calculus requires a lot of trig and it has been so long since I studied Advanced Math I've been afraid my professors will "spring" something on me I don't remember.
Yesterday my fears were alleviated. The math department held an extra credit exam for the Cal 2 students. The exam was a trig placement exam they would like to implement in the future. Because of my other classes I didn't have time to study so I decided to "wing" it and hope my studies 2 1/2 years ago would award me at least partial credit.
I'm quite pleased to say that thanks to Saxon I knew how to work every single problem on the test even though it has been 2 1/2 years since I studied trigonometry and I have not had any trig students since that time. Saxon works... Excellently.
If you are considering the Saxon texts let me encourage you to read the introductions to the texts. They are quite inspiring, imparting the vision Saxon had for math.
In addition students must work every problem. This is the whole reason Saxon works -- lots and lots of review. What most people fail to realize is that mathematics is like music; practice creates excellence.
Finally for those concerned about Saxon's lack of a dedicated geometry text, after having tutored math for 5 years I am convinced that Saxon's integrated approach is far more effective than traditional methods. Saxon teaches geometry concepts throughout the junior high and high school grades allowing for mastery of the ideas long before the formal proofs are introduced in Advanced Mathematics. This is excellent as I believe that older students have a greater capacity to grasp the rather abstract skills required for geometric proofs.
I'm very thankful for the curriculum switch in 5th grade. Because of Saxon I have transformed from a math-hating elementary student to a very succesful math major.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Free from saxon for good
Comment: I teach at a very large high school, and this book and other of different levels were used extensively from the lowest level to the highest, which included math and physics. ours students improved from the lowest level, but never move beyond a certain level, mainly because the text are of very low level. Review, indeed they do. but what good is to review old material that is not challenging and does not offer enough of the material seen on standarized test and AP exams.
we finally managed to removed this text from our school after much debate. our students are starting to show improvement using better books, and with it, better teaching.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very behind!
Comment: I'm doing the saxon Algebra 2 this year, and I hate it! Last year I did Algebra 1(Abeka) and I never liked Math so much before! I always understood the concept and got good grades even though the Math was challenging. People rave about Saxon because they say it has so much review! This is wear I think they make a mistake. Every lesson does have 30 problems, true. The problem is they only give you 2 problems about the new concept that you just struggled to learn. For me that's not enough practice to get the concept into my head, so I find that when I get to the next lesson that reviews that concept I have to go back and relearn it all over again. I can't say that I have learned anything new at all in Algebra and I find the book far behind abeka when it comes to Algebra. The only new problems I've learned are dealing with Geometry. And when you learn something new, the book has the most round about way of explaining it. Once I figure out the new concept and have done the 2 dinky practice problems It takes forever to get through the 30 review problems. It takes me at least 2 hours to finish a lesson!!!!!
One more thing that really bugs me about the book is that the Author comes straight out and says that he doesn't like Mathematics! He certainly isn't passing on a love for Math, if anything he is passing on a hate for the Subject. I am a little worried this year that I won't get a good enough Algebra 2 education.
I used to look forward to Math every day, Not ever since I met this book. Maybe you think I'm just not very good at Math, but my best friend has the same problems.
I hope this review is some help! I'm a 10th grade homeschooler who wants to save you from falling into the saxon trap!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Algebra 2: An Incremental Development
Comment: The book didn't look pretty, but I know that is not going to be new. I'm satisfied with the purchase.
Summary: I would hate to have had to learn math from this book.
Comment: I am nearing the completion of my PhD in physics at a major research university, so I have studied a fair amount of math in my day. All the math I have studied is geared toward problem solving and understanding how we can describe the world around us using mathematics. This, it seems to me, should be what we are trying to communicate to high school students. I have spent the last two months regularly tutoring a poor girl who is trying her best to learn Algebra II from this book that was inflicted upon her, and I think the book is a disgrace.
It is obvious to me that they are intentionally making the problems more difficult than necessary in order to see if you can grope your way through the haze and figure out what they're asking you. There is no need of this in learning math. Difficult problems are fine, but at least make them clear and precise. That's what math is all about. The way they formulate problems amazes me. Why write that the volume of the gas is 0.007 x 10^-2 liters? What kind of foolishness is that? Either use scientific notation or don't.
This book uses proprietary notation when there is no need to do so. Write 3R - 2U in polar coordinates. What??!!?? I certainly know what polar coordinates are, but 3R - 2U is completely meaningless to me. OK, if you look back, you will discover that this is Saxon's notation for 3x - 2y ("R" is "right" and "U" is "up"). What's wrong with standard Cartesian notation? It has served me perfectly well for many years now. That's what the students will need to know if they ever actually want to use what they're learning outside of the classroom. With the amount of math I know, I don't feel like I should struggle to understand the meaning of a high school algebra II problem.
Finally, this book seems to move incredibly slowly. We've been repeadedly doing the same types of problems in different lessons for over a month now. If you could teach something well once, you might not have to keep teaching it over and over again. It looks to me like this author doesn't understand math very well, at least not in any way that he can figure out what the goal of mathematics is and how to communicate clearly and effectively to a student. As someone who understands the significance of mathematics, and regularly has to use it in many contexts professionally, I would strongly urge everyone to look elsewhere for a way to learn high school algebra.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellence in Mathematics
Comment: I have been using Saxon mathematics for 15 years, first as a 5th-12th grade student and more recently as a tutor. This program is excellent and like one of the other reviewers I can agree that even my "average" Saxon students have significantly better mathematics skills that those students using other programs.
I began using Saxon math in 5th grade. Prior to that I used a typical "learn and drill" method. A new concept was taught and drilled for 20+ problems and then the instruction moved on to another topic. By the time I reached an end of unit exam I had forgotten the early material.
Then in 5th grade we changed curriculums. I didn't become a "math lover" overnight. In fact, although my math skills improved, I adamently hated math all the way through junior high. Then I began algebra. By the end of Saxon's algebra 2 textbook I loved algebra and was making high A's in my homework.
A couple of years after highschool I was invited to begin tutoring math at a private school. At this point I reviewed my Saxon Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 eventually going on to study Advanced Mathematics for the fun of it. I would spend 2-3 hours a day studying math and loving every minute of it.
This independant study was 2 1/2 years ago. I recently decided to attend college as a math major. Last semester I passed Calculus I near or at the top of all the Cal I classes combined. My Saxon skills gave me the tools I needed to study well and grasp rather abstract concepts.
The one area that has concerned me is trigonometry. The Advanced Mathematics covered the topic quite thoroughly, however Calculus requires a lot of trig and it has been so long since I studied Advanced Math I've been afraid my professors will "spring" something on me I don't remember.
Yesterday my fears were alleviated. The math department held an extra credit exam for the Cal 2 students. The exam was a trig placement exam they would like to implement in the future. Because of my other classes I didn't have time to study so I decided to "wing" it and hope my studies 2 1/2 years ago would award me at least partial credit.
I'm quite pleased to say that thanks to Saxon I knew how to work every single problem on the test even though it has been 2 1/2 years since I studied trigonometry and I have not had any trig students since that time. Saxon works... Excellently.
If you are considering the Saxon texts let me encourage you to read the introductions to the texts. They are quite inspiring, imparting the vision Saxon had for math.
In addition students must work every problem. This is the whole reason Saxon works -- lots and lots of review. What most people fail to realize is that mathematics is like music; practice creates excellence.
Finally for those concerned about Saxon's lack of a dedicated geometry text, after having tutored math for 5 years I am convinced that Saxon's integrated approach is far more effective than traditional methods. Saxon teaches geometry concepts throughout the junior high and high school grades allowing for mastery of the ideas long before the formal proofs are introduced in Advanced Mathematics. This is excellent as I believe that older students have a greater capacity to grasp the rather abstract skills required for geometric proofs.
I'm very thankful for the curriculum switch in 5th grade. Because of Saxon I have transformed from a math-hating elementary student to a very succesful math major.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Free from saxon for good
Comment: I teach at a very large high school, and this book and other of different levels were used extensively from the lowest level to the highest, which included math and physics. ours students improved from the lowest level, but never move beyond a certain level, mainly because the text are of very low level. Review, indeed they do. but what good is to review old material that is not challenging and does not offer enough of the material seen on standarized test and AP exams.
we finally managed to removed this text from our school after much debate. our students are starting to show improvement using better books, and with it, better teaching.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very behind!
Comment: I'm doing the saxon Algebra 2 this year, and I hate it! Last year I did Algebra 1(Abeka) and I never liked Math so much before! I always understood the concept and got good grades even though the Math was challenging. People rave about Saxon because they say it has so much review! This is wear I think they make a mistake. Every lesson does have 30 problems, true. The problem is they only give you 2 problems about the new concept that you just struggled to learn. For me that's not enough practice to get the concept into my head, so I find that when I get to the next lesson that reviews that concept I have to go back and relearn it all over again. I can't say that I have learned anything new at all in Algebra and I find the book far behind abeka when it comes to Algebra. The only new problems I've learned are dealing with Geometry. And when you learn something new, the book has the most round about way of explaining it. Once I figure out the new concept and have done the 2 dinky practice problems It takes forever to get through the 30 review problems. It takes me at least 2 hours to finish a lesson!!!!!
One more thing that really bugs me about the book is that the Author comes straight out and says that he doesn't like Mathematics! He certainly isn't passing on a love for Math, if anything he is passing on a hate for the Subject. I am a little worried this year that I won't get a good enough Algebra 2 education.
I used to look forward to Math every day, Not ever since I met this book. Maybe you think I'm just not very good at Math, but my best friend has the same problems.
I hope this review is some help! I'm a 10th grade homeschooler who wants to save you from falling into the saxon trap!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Algebra 2: An Incremental Development
Comment: The book didn't look pretty, but I know that is not going to be new. I'm satisfied with the purchase.