See below for the links to your FREE Saxon Math online video classes, but read the info below first!
(Links to free placement tests below too!)
A Great Program!
I have taught Saxon Math for 20+ years and am convinced that it is one of the best (if not the best) math programs available to homeschoolers, or anyone else. For many years Saxon has helped homeschooled students excel in math.
Gentle Repetition: Practice ‘Til You Get It
Saxon’s “gentle repetition” helps keep students familiar with, and better able to solve, many problem types. “Old problems” are continually reviewed throughout the book so students don’t forget how to solve them. Many studies attest to the superiority of this method, and students continue to prove the method in class every year!
Makes Science High School Classes Easier
Saxon gradually (and non-threateningly) integrates scientific concepts, notation, and terms for upper-level science classes like Chemistry and Physical Science into its math books. Introducing these scientific principles makes the transition to these science classes less intimidating, because students have seen some of the material in their math books before.
Geometry: No Separate Course Needed!
Saxon also keeps geometry fresh in a student’s mind by integrating it throughout all upper level math courses, beginning with Pre-Algebra. (Avoid the 4th Edition textbooks, as Geometry is stripped out of them, which was part of the whole point of how John Saxon worked his magic!)
When students take Saxon’s Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, they consistently review the geometry skills needed to succeed on achievement tests and college entrance examinations, instead of learning it in one year, then dumping geometry almost totally. Taking geometry as a separate class can come back to hurt kids when the college entrance tests come (sometimes years after completing the class) and students have forgotten most or all of it. Many students I’ve worked with who have gone through the Saxon upper math series have come back from taking the SAT or ACT and talked excitedly (No, I’m not kidding!) about how many questions they could answer by recalling the “stuff we’ve done the last two years in Saxon.”
The United States is still the only major industrialized nation where students take Geometry as a separate course in most government and private schools. Students typically take Algebra 1, then Geometry, then Algebra 2. Thus, if Algebra 1 ends in May, a student often goes about 15 months without regular practice of various algebraic principles! This often makes Algebra 2 more difficult than it should be. It sure made it harder for me, and math was a strong subject.
Over the years, I have worked with countless Algebra 2 students who could not remember the most basic principles taught in Algebra 1. When I taught in the government school system, the Algebra 2 teachers spent most of the year trying to get the kids back up to speed in Algebra 1. This kind of approach certainly doesn’t help American kids excel in math! (As you probably are aware, in practically every recent international study ever done, American high schoolers rank dead last or close to the bottom in math, including Geometry.)
Blasting Public School Math Out of the Water
When I worked in the government school system, I saw first hand how the calculator-dependent, politically correct, concept-review-lacking, “How do you feel about the answer to 2 + 2?” math programs were contributing to the devastating math ignorance of American high schoolers. Those government school bureaucrats who have a special hatred for Saxon Math—which teaches the old fashioned way—despise the Saxon program for the same reason “whole language” advocates don’t like phonics: because it works!
Gentle repetition. Regular review of geometry. Integration of science concepts and terms. The hatred of touchy-feely math supporters. What more could you ask for in a math program?
How Much Are the Saxon Math 76 (“Pre-Pre-Algebra”), Algebra 1/2 (Pre-Algebra), Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 Classes?
FREE! See the bottom of this page for the links to the lessons. All you’ll need are 3rd Edition books, solutions manuals, and tests/answer keys (see below).
What makes Scott Clifton qualified to teach math?
Scott has tutored math or taught math classes for over 30 years, beginning in high school. (He’s very old.) He has been blessed with abilities in math since childhood, including an aptitude for mental calculations involving multiplying, dividing, fractions, and percentages. As a sixth grader, Scott’s score on a statewide math test was the highest in the county, and 17th in the state. As a seventh grader, he was awarded the “Top Math Student” award at Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle School in Wake Forest (after only attending that school half a year). In high school, Scott scored a 700 on the math section of the SAT, which contributed to his being offered a full, four-year academic scholarship for college.
How do the math classes work?
Classes are recorded videos, which families will have access to. Students will get a thorough explanation of each lesson, with lots of tips and tricks, as well as practice problems worked out.
The whole focus on the lesson videos is to make each lesson as clear and easy as possible for students! The math videos are intended to help students have some fun and laugh, to break up any potential tension felt by kids who are intimidated by math!
What do we need to do to get going?
- Give a Placement Test – Give your student the Middle Grade Placement Test, or the Upper Grade Placement Test (below). Three rules: (a) don’t allow a calculator, (b) limit the test to 1 hour, and (c) count problems right or wrong (No partial credit!).
- Choose a Class – Click on a class title at the bottom of this page to get the materials and see the links for the online video lessons.
- Work It! – Have your student watch the video lesson, work the practice problems, and complete the problem set (check the problem set answers with the solutions manual).
- Do the Tests – When it’s time, start your student on tests and check the answers. (See the instructions in the test kit.)
That’s it! I recommend the following for math students:
• a third edition textbook (except for 76; get the fourth edition)
• answer key
• test booklet/test answer key
• solutions manual
Free Classes Offered:
Math Tips, Tricks, and Mental Calculations