Saxon teacher vs. TT

[4wildberrys]

I am back to questioning whether TT is rigorous enough for ds. It works well for dd who really, truly hates math. So has anyone used the Saxon teacher cds yet to be able to say whether they are TT on "steroids"? I mean, I don't think TT is very challenging, but my kids love it. I know my son likes to take the path of least resistance---but I am worried that if we go back to Saxon for him I might create a math-hater. The Saxon Teacher cds, though, seem to be the same thing as TT. Is Saxon really THAT different than other math programs? Am I shooting myself in the foot (once again) even thinking about Saxon?

I am STILL worried about TT not being "enough" for ds, as on his tentative schedule he should hit Calc in 12th grade----I am worried that even going through TT Pre-Calc he won't be ready for Saxon or Thinkwell Calc. :confused:

[Carol in Cal.]

...from watching the curriculum boards all these years, when a student finishes Saxon Algebra 1 she is farther along than when she finisheds TT Algebra 1.

Some other programs take you further faster than Saxon. I would put Video Text and Chalkdust into that category, based on what I have seen.

But I believe that Saxon 1 will get my DD through algebra without any big holes; just without all of the rigorous college level math talk that VT has. And VT doesn't have enough practice or spiraling for her. So Saxon is the right fit for us.

Having said that, if she can't finish Saxon Algebra 1 in one year, we will be in a world of hurt, and I might wish at that point that I had switched to TT.

BTW, we use the DIVE CD's, so I have not seen the new Saxon Teacher CDs. I do supplement with Dd, but she has been getting her main learning from the DIVE's for the last 15 months or so, and it's been going pretty well.