Saxon Math is one of the oldest homeschool curriculum standbys there is.
The original first and second edition hardback texts, published in the late 80’s through the 90’s are still bought and sold all the time at curriculum sales. Even now in 2016, they are still holding up to family after family and child after child.
In 2005, after being purchased by Harcourt Achieve (a nationally known textbook publisher), Saxon released a line of “homeschool edition” books.
At the same time, they discontinued offering hardbound textbooks to homeschoolers. Since 2006, the “homeschool edition” sets have been the only ones they are allowing homeschoolers to purchase, either through their site or other curriculum companies.
It seems to be quite the money making venture.
The homeschool edition books are not just softcover, but they appear to be made from the cheapest, thinnest, softest paper they could find.
These textbooks will not withstand the handing-down that Saxon textbooks have traditionally known. Large families, who once knew that their investment in math texts would hold up through all of their children, are faced with the reality that they must repurchase these same books after one or two students have used them. They are very cheaply made!
Cheaply made, but not inexpensive. The new homeschool kits are about $25 more than the ones with the hardback books were.
After searching around, I decided that I would try to find hardback, recent-edition Saxon math books. Saxon only makes these available to schools with purchase orders.
If you are facing the same dilemma as I did, there is hope!
When I originally wrote this post in July of 2006 (TEN years ago!), Amazon did not carry the “new” Saxon school line of books. I had to skip all over the Net to locate the titles to put together my own “homeschool kit” from the new “school edition” books. Now they are readily available, and in many cases they qualify for free shipping too.
Here are the prices I spotted today on Amazon (03/14/17):
Saxon Math 65, 3rd edition hardback student textbook for $7.99 used
Saxon Math 65, 3rd edition Solutions Manual for $20.57 used
Saxon Math 65 3rd edition Homeschool ed. Tests & Worksheets for $19.89 used
TOTAL COST INCLUDING SHIPPING: $55.45 including shipping
The new edition Saxon 65 Homeschool Kits still cost approximately $86.00 and include a cheap paperback student text.
The newest thing now is the ability to RENT textbooks too!
Some of these textbooks are available as a school year rental. This is usually cheaper, or at the very least it will be around the same cost and you won’t have to deal with selling the book when you’re done. Obviously, this is only a good deal if you’ll only use it for one school year or one child.
School Edition (hardcover) Saxon Math Textbooks
This is what the first revised school edition student textbooks look like. I was able to find them on Amazon with both New and Used options for purchasing.
