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Did you Use Horizons in Elementary & Like It?


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I'm wondering if any of you used Horizons Math in K-6 and found it to be a great base for upper math? Please also let me know if you really disliked it and felt that it did not prepare your dc for upper level math.

 

Horizons only goes through 6th so I know I will need to switch at some point. Any pointers/opinions on a good curriculum to switch to after Horizons?

 

Thanks for your BTDT wisdom!

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Momof7, when you used Horizons from 4th grade up, how did you teach the lessons?

I've used Horizons K-3 and loved it. Now that we're in Horizons 4, I've heard that the TM is useless, so did not buy one.

I've found that most of Book 1 in Horizons 4 is review, is this the case for Book 1 of the rest of the levels?

Thanks.:)

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Momof7, when you used Horizons from 4th grade up, how did you teach the lessons?

I've used Horizons K-3 and loved it. Now that we're in Horizons 4, I've heard that the TM is useless, so did not buy one.

I've found that most of Book 1 in Horizons 4 is review, is this the case for Book 1 of the rest of the levels?

Thanks.:)

 

I disagree that most of the 1st book is review. I think maybe the first 10-15 lessons are review and then the concepts are the same, but simply harder. That is about all that happens in elementary math. Double digit multiplication becomes triple, quadruple, etc. Division becomes more complicated.

 

Terminology becomes more precise, order of operations becomes necessary, fractions become more integral, and variables are used more frequently, etc. But, I wouldn't say a whole lot completely new concepts are introduced.

 

As far as the TMs, I have never used them for anything more than grading.

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Thank you momof7 for the info. So far Horizons seems to be working pretty well for my girls although my oldest is a bit distracted by all the colorful graphics. She seems to be coping a bit better this year. I like the program but I don't want to get to 7th grade and figure out that we should have done something else to prepare for upper division math.

 

Thanks again. Any other comments are still welcome. The more the merrier!

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I used Horizons in 4th grade for my ds. I had to switch to something as my ds had been using Miquon, which ends after 3rd grade. I decided to try Horizons as it looked to be colorful and appealing (Saxon looked so dry) and I'd heard a spiralling (constant review) approach was very good.

 

I'm sorry to say I ended up really disliking Horizons. At first it seemed like it would be good and ds would enjoy it, but over the course of the year, it seemed like he understood math less and less. He had always seemed so math-bright, but in Horizons, he was getting only 80% or so on his tests. And he wasn't really understanding or caring about what he missed. This was baffling to me--the problems were so straightforward, and the review so easy it bordered on the ridiculous (reviewing things like 17-9? That should be mastered to the point of being automatic at this point. Problems should be using the early skills, not reviewing them in isolation! GRRR). I thought, how could he not be getting this?? :confused: It was like watching his mind turn off. By the end of the year, I was really alarmed. I switched to Singapore Math in 5th grade, and used Horizons as a supplement only (for English measurement concepts and the little things like basic statistics that get thrown into American elementary math programs.) We had to do a lot of backtracking in Singapore, and it took a good year to get his math-brain back. But he did get it back, and now does spectacularly well in math (he's a high school senior.) Ever since that year with Horizons, I've been very leery of spiral methods. My best guess at what happened is that the constant review may have led to mindless review, and that not being required to think very hard may have led to just plain not thinking!

 

I personally wouldn't recommend Horizons as a primary program (it was good as a supplement), but I do know that some children have done well with it, so it may depend on the child. I would just recommend being extra-vigilant with any spiral program--make sure the child is being challenged to think. They will need thinking skills for upper level math.

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I'm wondering if any of you used Horizons Math in K-6 and found it to be a great base for upper math? Please also let me know if you really disliked it and felt that it did not prepare your dc for upper level math.

 

Horizons only goes through 6th so I know I will need to switch at some point. Any pointers/opinions on a good curriculum to switch to after Horizons?

 

Thanks for your BTDT wisdom!

 

When we first started homeschooling I had a 4th grader and a second grader. My 4th grader went with Saxon all the way into high school and then went to city college. My dd, loved Horizons when she was in 2nd grade, but the next year nothing was available for her as she was going into third grade. We went to Abeka.

 

With the younger two, I started them in Horizons and they both went through the whole program. I don't usually do standardized testing but the homeschool group that we are in, had two extras last year. My 6th grader took the 7th grade test and my 9th grader took the 10th grade test. Both kids were literally through the roof in their math scores. My ds10th grader is in precal right now and we are switching the 7th grader to the NEM Singapore because Horizons doesn't go any farther than 6th grade. But the NEM seems so easy that I am going to have to skip the first couple of chapters.

I used Transition Math with our third from the Chicago School of Mathematics project for two years when he was finished with Horizons.

 

I think whatever you chose you need to stick with it and just remember, "Math is like brushing your teeth...some days you just want to walk out the door without doing it, but you can't." ~from me, to my kids...every single school year!

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