Chalkdust Pre-Algebra vs. Saxon 8/7

[AmeliaBinMO]

Hello all! I will appreciate any and all help with this!

I have used Saxon 8/7 successfully with one child this year, and plan to move that one on to Chalkdust Algebra I next year.

I have another child that will be moving into pre-algebra next year, and I can re-use the Saxon 8/7 text we already own (we have always used Saxon), but am considering Chalkdust Pre-Algebra for that student instead. I understand the approaches of the two programs are completely different. I am wondering, though, how the two programs compare in regards to content and level of difficulty. Is one more "thorough" than the other? Does one program prepare better for Algebra 1?

If anyone here is familiar with both programs, or can give some insight into Chalkdust's Pre-Algebra, I would immensely appreciate any help. Knowing a little more about Chalkdust, or how the content compares with Saxon might then further help me decide which one will work best for this child. Thanks a million for any help!

AmeliaBinMO

[Karin]

Do you need to do pre-Algebra after Saxon 8/7? I had the understanding that you don't. Dd did Saxon through 7/6; because she had SM 6 before that, she tested out of pre-Algebra, and it gave her enough, I guess (she already knew negative numbers, which SM doesn't cover by that point).

We chose not to do Chalkdust due to the high price, so I can't help you with that part

[Jann in TX]

I'm pretty sure they both cover the same bases. Both will prepare students for any Algebra 1 program.

Saxon 8/7 is tough for many students--because it changes concepts so many times within the lesson (homework). As concepts get more involved many students do better if they can camp out on them for a while (or at least a day) before moving on to a new one.

I've pulled several students from Saxon (including my own dd who used Saxon all the way up to part of 8/7) because things started 'snowballing'--once they were in a more traditional program they flourished again.

Chalkdust is expensive--but it also has a high re-sale value.

My next favorite Pre-Algebra text is Lial's Basic College Math. BCM is inexpensive too (5th-7th editions).

[AmeliaBinMO]

nm

[Karin]

I'm pretty sure they both cover the same bases. Both will prepare students for any Algebra 1 program.

My next favorite Pre-Algebra text is Lial's Basic College Math. BCM is inexpensive too (5th-7th editions).

My dd did Lial's Algebra 1 (I don't remember which title off the top of my head) and liked it. She did, however hit a wall somewhere because she likes to learn by reading the text book and hates to do it my way. It's a good program, but we needed one my daughter could learn by reading the text and with very little help from my dh or I.

We are going to do some pre-Algebra for my 10 yo, who will be starting it at 11. However, Saxon was not a good fit for her, so none of that is relevant to this thread.