By Kenneth H. Updike
Mathetes Solutions
www.mathetessolutions.com
28630 Lennon School Road
Oelrichs, SD 57763
866-255-5746
Mathetes Solutions, named for the Greek word meaning "disciple," is a set of instructional DVDs to accompany the upper-level Saxon math curriculum. The set of twelve DVDs I have is for Algebra I. (Sets for Algebra ½ and Algebra II are also available.) Kenneth Updike strongly believes Saxon is one of the best math programs (he is not affiliated with Saxon), and he has created Mathetes Solutions as a help to parents who are using Saxon with their children. Mr. Updike is a homeschooling father of six children. He is also a certified math teacher with 18 years of teaching experience at the middle and high school level. Mathetes Solutions is a family business.
It is recommended that you use the third edition of the Saxon Algebra I textbook, but the DVD gives references for the second edition if that is what you are using. Each segment includes a lesson as well as a demonstration of how to do some of the problems. Up to lesson ten, the instructor (Kenneth Updike) does half of the problems. After that, he works about seven of the thirty problems per lesson. The lessons, including problems, are about twenty minutes each, and there are 120 lessons in this course.
You just pop in the DVD, select the lesson you want, and away you go. The instructor addresses the students, whom he assumes are being homeschooled. In the first lesson the student is told to take notes and shown how to do it. At the beginning of each lesson, there is a short introduction in which you see Mr. Updike. After that, all you see is his hand as he writes on white paper with a black Sharpie. All distractions are thus eliminated. This benefits the student who has trouble staying focused.
I love Mr. Updike's positive attitude. He believes in the importance of his subject, and this enthusiasm comes through. His voice is pleasant, and he is easy and interesting to listen to. I especially liked the way he connected math to Christianity. For example, he compares the infinity of a line, with no beginning or end, to the character of God. Mr. Updike has a gift for clear explanation, and he moves at a good clip to keep the student engaged. I think it would be important to make clear to the student that he or she should stop and rewind and/or ask the parent/teacher for clarification if something isn't making sense. That is one of the advantages of the DVD format.
Mr. Updike shares some real gems in the way of math "tricks." Using "product of the primes" to find the least common multiple is one example. Even my engineer husband learned some new shortcuts while viewing the DVDs!
In the first lesson, the instructor practically insists the student do all of the assigned problems unless two situations are true: the student is getting 90% of the problems correct and the parent permits it. I liked him better before he issued this exception, but I'm a pretty strict teacher. Ninety percent is a low "A" after all.
By and large, the DVDs are excellent, but I was disappointed by a couple of things. In solving equations, Mr. Updike uses the phrase "kill the constant" as a step in isolating the variable. Some parents may object to this phrasing. Also, I wish he had used two colors of ink, especially when illustrating equal fractions as pieces of a pie. There were some little "misspeaks" and "miswrites", some of which were self-corrected, but some of which were not ("3" instead of "13"). I wonder if these errors could have been edited.
The last lesson ends just as all the others do. It seems abrupt for the completion of a DVD, instructional or not. I wish there had been some sort of closure or wrap-up, like "Congratulations upon completing Saxon Algebra I. Good job! I hope you've enjoyed learning algebra as much as I've enjoyed teaching it. I hope you will continue to work hard and do well with your future math studies." The end of the DVD would be a great place to advertise additional products.
At $119.95, Mathetes Solutions is somewhat expensive, but I think for any teaching parent who doesn't have a solid grounding in algebra or who wants the student to be more independent, it is worth the money.
Product review by Kathy Gelzer, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, May 2007
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