Blackwell, I somewhat agree with you. Some kids just aren’t gifted at math. I homeschooled my 2 oldest daughters, who were artistically gifted. I used THEE best math program (Saxon) and they managed well until we hit quadratic equations. It was just too abstract for them.
For my son, aged 14 now, I used Singapore Math in grade school, which excelled at teaching mental math. I am blown away when he does long division and complicated fraction problems only in his head. He is obviously gifted at math.
He will start Saxon Algebra 1 this fall.
What makes Saxon so great?: The constant review and the built in drills. It builds to the hard stuff slower than public school math curriculum, but it does a better job of creating automatic mathematical thinking. So when the student starts Algebra, his brain is wired, so to speak, to excel.
Our neighbor’s son, who attends public school, tells me they never finish the math books, or other text books for that matter. I think public schools push students to do ever higher math before they have had time to really absorb it.
