By the words of John Saxon, the author of Algebra ½, “algebra is not difficult. Algebra is just different.” So, when you and your child skim this textbook and see what looks like walls of cryptic code like something out of The Matrix, fear not! At first glance, I thought we would be thrown into a cold and dry journey of despair, where we are introduced to a concept and then slog through sample problems. To the contrary, the curriculum is actually a carefully crafted course that incrementally builds upon concepts in order to avoid overwhelming the student.
There is an understanding that students will make mistakes. To combat this, the problem sets are extensive. As we all know, practice makes perfect, and to ensure that this practice is effective, students can check their work with the odds-only answer key in the back of the textbook. As the instructor, you can further check the work with the full answer book.
Be aware, this curriculum is not self-guided. You will need to understand each chapter and concept before attempting to teach your child.
The beauty of homeschooling allows us to move at a pace best suited for our children. As someone who loves Algebra, it would be amazing if my daughter was at this level of math, however she is at grade level and we are not yet ready to use this math. Just flipping through the book makes me excited and gives me a bit of nostalgia for learning these topics all over again. Even though the book is self-guided, everything is pretty straightforward, and efficient.
A TRUER MOTHER, LIFE, AND HOMESCHOOL 