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Rating: 
Summary: This book is EVIL
Review: After experimenting with several math texts in our early years of home schooling, we tried Saxon. I now have three children at various levels in the series. My eldest student, having used Saxon since grade 3, is currently half-way through the Algebra II text.One of the key distinguishing features of Saxon is the continuous review. As in traditional texts, each day's lesson presents one to two new concepts, but most texts then have the student do 30 of that type of problem only. Saxon will give several practice problems then the student will have 25 to 30 problems of mixed type, a few of which will be the new topic the rest are problems from previous lessons. This continuity of practice allows students to develop long-term memory of procedures as well as make connections between different math concepts and strategies. In many of the levels, each problem references what lesson the concept was taught in so students can easily look back if he has trouble. Unfortunately, Algebra II (second Edition) does not have this feature. I anticipate that future editions will remedy this however. As far as the Saxon series in general, student test results are an easy benchmark to go by. Standardized test results have not arrived yet for current exams but two year old test results (equivalent to the Saxon 7/6 text) show the following for the Stanford 9 exam for 7th grade:
Poblem Solving 75th percentile
Procedures 58th percentile.
Specifics of subtest results: Above average in measurement, estimation, number relationships, number systems, probability, and geometry; Average in Problem solving strategies, patterns and functions, algebra; below average in statistics. I anticipate the next exam results (Algebra II) to show an even greater percentile rank.
Rating: 
Summary: Information on algebra 2
Review: Algebra 2 is a good book. Could somebody tell me whether this is a book for students to learn or a teacher's book?
Rating: 
Summary: Depressing... but probably useful for many students
Review: As a math graduate student who used this book in high school, it amazes me that I ever gave mathematics another chance when I got to college. I hated this book. The assignments were never challenging, just tedious and time-consuming. I never felt that I was learning anything. When I began to study "real" mathematics (i.e. proof based analysis, abstract algebra, etc.) I found myself far behind the other students, even though I had done well with books like this in high school. I was pretty angry that I had spent years doing mindless calculations instead of learning to solve hard algebra problems. That said, this book does teach basic computation very well, and that's more than most students get out of high school. For the many students who could care less about math the Saxon series is probably not a bad choice, particularly if the teacher isn't a mathematician. I noticed that many users of this book homeschool--and I can see why this book would work well in such an environment. If you find that your kid is bored with this book, though, I urge you to find him or her a tutor with advanced mathematical training. The Saxon books (and most high schools, I'm afraid) are just not equipped for the talented math student, and it's a terrible thing to be intellectually bored and frustrated during the teen years.
Rating:
Summary: Depressing... but probably useful for many students
Review: As a math graduate student who used this book in high school, it amazes me that I ever gave mathematics another chance when I got to college. I hated this book. The assignments were never challenging, just tedious and time-consuming. I never felt that I was learning anything. When I began to study "real" mathematics (i.e. proof based analysis, abstract algebra, etc.) I found myself far behind the other students, even though I had done well with books like this in high school. I was pretty angry that I had spent years doing mindless calculations instead of learning to solve hard algebra problems. That said, this book does teach basic computation very well, and that's more than most students get out of high school. For the many students who could care less about math the Saxon series is probably not a bad choice, particularly if the teacher isn't a mathematician. I noticed that many users of this book homeschool--and I can see why this book would work well in such an environment. If you find that your kid is bored with this book, though, I urge you to find him or her a tutor with advanced mathematical training. The Saxon books (and most high schools, I'm afraid) are just not equipped for the talented math student, and it's a terrible thing to be intellectually bored and frustrated during the teen years.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written without the Fancy Ruffles
Review: Before my sophomore year in high school I went through the beggining of this well written mathematics textbook. It was enough to clarify all the points on Algebra II, and cleared up any confusion from previous years. With a well structured answer to problems, a predictable pattern, and no smiling faces or unnecessary colors trying to make out that math was fun, the book focused on the basics neccessary to understand advanced math, which started me off way ahead of the game. I would reccommend this book to already imaginitive homeschoolers and such students who want the clear and consice knowlege without having to sort through large quanties of extraneous information.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written without the Fancy Ruffles
Review: Before my sophomore year in high school I went through the beggining of this well written mathematics textbook. It was enough to clarify all the points on Algebra II, and cleared up any confusion from previous years. With a well structured answer to problems, a predictable pattern, and no smiling faces or unnecessary colors trying to make out that math was fun, the book focused on the basics neccessary to understand advanced math, which started me off way ahead of the game. I would reccommend this book to already imaginitive homeschoolers and such students who want the clear and consice knowlege without having to sort through large quanties of extraneous information.
Rating:
Summary: This book is EVIL
Review: Ok, I'll admit that math isn't my favorite subject. However, I'm pretty sure that a math text should not make a person want to rip their hair out. This book first catches the student off guard by "teaching" concepts we really should know before middle school, then casually mentions how to do a difficult problem a few pages before the problem set addressing that particular problem. It takes far too much time and energy to even find the passage where the solution is mentioned. The examples are ridiculously easy, and the actual problems are horribly difficult. Still, if that's your learning style, go for it.
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