Algebra 1: An Incremental Development

by John H. Saxon Jr.

Book Overview

Book Details:Format: HardcoverPublication Date: 1/1/2003Pages: 564Reading Level: Age 13 and Up This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0939798425
• ISBN13: 9780939798421
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: Saxon Publishers
• Length: 561 Pages
• Weight: 3.14 lbs.
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Misrepresentation

What I received was not a 3 rd edition. So now I have to buy another copy to go along with the other material.

Not wat I was expecting.

The book I received was in great condition, albeit lacking in decades of edits. I purchased what was supposed to be a third edition and received a first edition which doesn't match any of my answer keys. I can't be sure that the listing said 3rd edition, But That is what I searched for. Buyer beware check The addition of the books before you buy.

Wrong edition sent.

I ordered the 3rd edition and they sent me the 1st edition. It wasn’t needed until after the return deadline. Since the books have the same cover, I didn’t realize it was the wrong edition. They refuse to exchange it.

Good Book, Bad Seller

I love Saxon Math; it's what I grew up with and what helped me so much in my getting my college degree in math. I ordered 6 books for my students, but one of them, although it was marked as "Very Good," contained answers written in the book on almost every lesson (also, what kind of monster writes in the book??). Inquire about where the book is coming from before placing your order.

Not what I thought it was.

The picture showed a teacher edition and I guess that’s my mistake. I hate how they can’t show an actual picture of the item or even an accurate picture. I did not need another student edition. I missed it I guess.

Older Version

The description I ordered is the 2003 publication date. The one I received is from 1981. I'm very disappointed in the book I received. It doesn't match our other curriculum, so it was a waste of money for me.

Algebra made... understandable

John Saxon, former Air Force test pilot, published an article in the May 29, 1981 issue of National Review titled "al-ge-bra MADE UNDERSTANDABLE." It was a screed against mathematics textbooks that "...confuse and frighten students by belaboring concepts that are trivial and by giving insufficient emphasis to concepts that are fundamental." Saxon condemned mastery learning and advocated teaching mathematics using "... an incremental development with a continuous review." In the mathematics textbooks he wrote himself, Saxon used an innovation he called "general repetition" -- presenting lots of problems so that students practiced doing what they learned over and over again so that they mastered necessary skills. Saxon's books, Algebra 1/2 - Algebra 1 - Algebra 2 - Advanced Mathematics - and Calculus, are an excellent way to learn mathematics. You can teach yourself by using them. I worked through the Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 books by myself when my son was in school, quite an accomplishment for a 40+ year old math dummy, and my son finished the entire sequence of books as supplemental work while using other textbooks in his school classes. The Saxon books helped make him a great mathematics student.

Great book of math

I am a 12 year old that is in algebra math. He describes and teaches well in his text, which makes you not even need a teacher. I learned algebra without anybody helping me, and I passed the SAT test with flying colors. Thanks Saxon!!

excelent

this book is excellent because it shows you how to do math, instead of telling you to do it this way.

Another biophysicist offers an opinion

Gee. I didn't realize a doctorate was even offered in "theoretical" biophysics. Oh well, I may be losing contact with the avant garde of my field, but I have been homeschooling two bright kids for...lessee, my son will be 14 in May, my daughter 11 in August, so quite a long time. "Saxon Math" has been and continues to be the cornerstone, both pedagogically and pragmatically, of math education in our household. I think the "incremental" philosophy of John Saxon is unassailable, this last view offered in the face of evidence from my own experience as well as from dozens of other committed homeschoolers of my acquaintance. The results speak for themselves: both of my children routinely score in the math 99 %tile on national achievement tests.(Sometimes I subject the kids to BOTH the "Iowa" AND the CAT. Pretty mean, huh?) I have heard of similar results from many others. Get Saxon, stick with the program, and math success is guaranteed, whether you are a math savant or, like me and mine, just hard working.

Five stars for a mathbook, that is

Saxon's explanations are lucid, but sometimes over-laboured; he's perfectly willing to repeat himself over and over. Following each chapter's explanation is a problem set of 30 or so problems, which tests the student on the latest concept and every single other concept covered so far. Needless to say, doing the same kind of problems over and over and over again gets very old. The one redeeming feature is Saxon's word problems, which are inventive and sometimes (as I found against my will) quite funny. Repetitive though the book is, though, it succeeds very well at teaching the student basic algebra; no one can go through this book and not know the material cold.