Alpha Omega Horizons Math

[kjaye]

This year I'm using Horizons math for my boys. It seems to be working well for my 10yo, but not so well for my 8yo. This is our first year hs'ing, so I don't have anything to compare the program to. If you have used it and ended up switching, what were your reasons?

 

Thanks!

[Saddlemomma]

We are using Horizons and have been since K. I started her out with the upper level and we have been able to continue with it. My dd is now in 4th grade. I plan to continue using it through their new Pre-Algebra. My dd likes it and she does well with the spiral aspect of it.

 

Maybe it's different since your dc didn't start with it? I have noticed that in the 2nd wkbk for 4th grade that they introduce geometry concepts abruptly and move very quickly through it. So, I've started slowing down and doing more review. Whatever we don't finish we'll do during summer.

[SFM]

We used Horizons and while I still think it could be a great program, it's not for us. My son did not like the amount of problems (we were in the 3rd grade book by the way and finished the second half of the 2nd grade level). It was too much spiral for my son. It jumped from topic to topic in the course of one worksheet, he couldn't focus. I did not like the Teacher's Manual at ALL. We switched to Singapore and love it. My son loves staying on a topic for longer (mastery) and I like the process of teaching with the textbook, doing the workbook, and then having mental maths for drill and we also add in Life of Fred and a page of challenging word problems 3x a week. It seems to be working, he says he vastly prefers Singapore to Horizons. I held on to Horizons for awhile because I wanted it to work for us.

 

I think they are both great programs for different reasons and different people, it just didn't work out for us.

[PentecostalMom]

What aspects do you feel are not working and why?

[happyhomemaker]

I use it for dd11. She needs a spiral program though. The spiral aspect boosts her confidence. She gets discouraged with a bunch of new stuff all the same time. I tried it with ds when he was in first. After about 4 months, he started hating math. I asked him why and he said he already knew all of it. The spiral aspect was driving him nuts. We switched him to MM, and he is back to my math-loving guy. Horizons has been working well for dd up until a few weeks ago. They rushed (IMO) through multiplication and division of fractions, and she just didn't get it. We took some time out and went through the MM chapter. It really clicked with her. I think from now on, we will use MM to introduce new topics and use Horizons for that review she needs.

[...................]

Well horizons is very fast paced and also advanced, so it's not for every child.

 

If he's bored of the constant review you can cross out a row of problems.

 

But if he's just lost in general you can try a more slowly paced program like Math U See or Saxon.

[kjaye]

I think it's a great fit for my 10yo. The variety of it is good for him and I think he benefits from the spiral approach. If he had to focus on one type of problem too long, his mind would start to wander.

 

For my 8yo, I think it's just too much spiral. I think he'd feel more comfortable if there weren't so much variety in each daily lesson. I signed up for the group buy through HSBC for MM. Perhaps that'll be a better fit, with some Horizons supplementation. I also just purchased Beast Academy for him, but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

 

I was also a little concerned because I don't see many people using Horizons. I see a lot of Singapore, Saxon, MM, MUS, etc., so I was hoping that I didn't choose an inferior program. Being a HS'ing newbie, I'm second guessing every single curriculum choice. :p

[myfatherslily]

I think it's a great fit for my 10yo. The variety of it is good for him and I think he benefits from the spiral approach. If he had to focus on one type of problem too long, his mind would start to wander.

 

For my 8yo, I think it's just too much spiral. I think he'd feel more comfortable if there weren't so much variety in each daily lesson. I signed up for the group buy through HSBC for MM. Perhaps that'll be a better fit, with some Horizons supplementation. I also just purchased Beast Academy for him, but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

 

I was also a little concerned because I don't see many people using Horizons. I see a lot of Singapore, Saxon, MM, MUS, etc., so I was hoping that I didn't choose an inferior program. Being a HS'ing newbie, I'm second guessing every single curriculum choice. :p

 

While we've done fine with the spiral aspect of Horizons, I did switch my daughter to Math Mammoth in January (after she finished Horizons grade 2 math). Since you've already signed up for the group buy, give it a try! My son is doing fine with his Horizons gr 1, but he'll be switching to MM when he starts 2nd grade in the fall (just cause I like MM!).

[joyfulhomeschooler]

While I don't think Horizons is an inferior program, it isn't for every kid. My son is doing well with it and has been since K. DD on the other hand isn't..

[SFM]

I don't think Horizons is inferior at all. Just not for all types and styles.

[8filltheheart]

I think it's a great fit for my 10yo. The variety of it is good for him and I think he benefits from the spiral approach. If he had to focus on one type of problem too long, his mind would start to wander.

 

For my 8yo, I think it's just too much spiral. I think he'd feel more comfortable if there weren't so much variety in each daily lesson. I signed up for the group buy through HSBC for MM. Perhaps that'll be a better fit, with some Horizons supplementation. I also just purchased Beast Academy for him, but we haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

 

I was also a little concerned because I don't see many people using Horizons. I see a lot of Singapore, Saxon, MM, MUS, etc., so I was hoping that I didn't choose an inferior program. Being a HS'ing newbie, I'm second guessing every single curriculum choice. :p

 

Horizons is not an inferior program. All of my kids have used Horizons (on my 7th one through. #6 will be finishing with Horizons next yr) and have been solidly prepared for higher level math (and one is now a chemical engineer and one is taking high level college math courses in 11th grade and my 8th grader has completed alg1 and only has 1 chpt left in geo.)

 

This forum often appears skewed toward Singapore. MM jumped onto the scene a few yrs ago. I own several levels and MM seems equivalent to a mastery version of Horizons. I am often baffled by people's criticisms of Horizons for not teaching x,y,z when it clearly does. B/c it is spiral, it isn't all taught in a single chpt at once. The concepts are interspersed throughout the texts logically connected with different concepts.

 

That said, if a child needs mastery vs. spiral, Horizons is not going to be a good choice.

[Tess in the Burbs]

We have used Horizons through 6 now and I can say that I had my doubts when they were in 2 and 3, but I see the bigger picture now that we are almost through the elementary series. I will say that I didn't use the TM for teaching. I taught how I know it, I used online videos for another perspective, and sometimes I had to skip something and come back to it when they were teaching that concept a little more in depth so my kid got the point of it. It's spiral, it's fast paced but you don't have to go at that pace. If your child didn't get a lesson offer an online video of another way to explain it. Then do extra work from the worksheets or other free online worksheet. I found when I was willing to offer another viewpoint it often was the lightbulb and then he could do it just fine. I will freely admit my ds just doesn't like math. However, he's good at math from using Horizons. It's a great program and one I think that you need to just go with it until the end to see the results. My dd has had no issues with it either, but when she gets stuck on something we take another day or come back when it's presented again perhaps with more/better info.

 

Horizons isn't for every kid though. But I have no regrets going through it with my kids. And my ds really hates math. I hear about it daily. He whines all through the tests every single time. Then he gets in the upper 90s and it drives me bonkers LOL. I will say the only thing I have 'added' is word problems from other sources. Any program will have their style of word problems and I think Horizons are very straightforward and we wanted more variety.

 

It's ok to switch but don't do it b/c one day was bad. Consider how your child learns and then pick the best program. In our case we had left MUS to go to Horizon. I saw the Singapore craze here but I didn't like it/couldn't teach it their way, so we ended up with Horizons. Again, my kids are good in math and the program is solid. I truly think it's best used through level 6 to see it's benefits.

[Bensmom]

We use Horizons (finishing 4 now). Third grade was very rough for us. There was so much new info. and the stress of mastering the multiplication table was overwhelming for my ds. Fourth grade has been a breeze. If you can hold out and finish 3rd grade, you may find that your younger son enjoys math much more next year :)

 

 

 

Editing to add that we do standardized testing every year and my ds does very well in math even though it is not his favorite subject. He was in the 93rd percentile after surviving that rough third grade year. I do not doubt that it is a solid program.

[...................]

We spent TONS of time and energyadteinh multiplication before even starting the 3rd grade book. We used Times Tales.

[...................]

We spent TONS of time and energy masteringmultiplication before even starting the 3rd grade book. We used Times Tales.

[PentecostalMom]

I hate to even chime in here because I literally just bought Horizons, but I will say my piece. Before I bought it, I read reviews on various forums, asked all of the questions I could think of to ask, and decided to order. (By the way, I have used Abeka in elementary and high school, Saxon in high school, I just worked through Saxon K, 1, and about halfway through 2 before dd and I decided we were both miserable.)

 

First, I have read numberous times that Horizons has an excessive number of problems. In my limited experience and viewing samles (we have been using it only a few days) it has less problems than Abeka, which is a very thorough program. Everything I have read states that it is an excellent program and somewhat advanced (though I think it all evens out in the end). It is spiral and while that type of learning may not be appropriate for everyone, it does not detract from the validity of Horizons as an overall program.

[Shannon in TN]

In 4th grade, I switched over to Horizons from CLE for my dd, and it's been a good switch. My son has started with Horizon's K and he's in 1 now. I like Horizons and their spiral approach. There's always review of previous concepts. I do feel that it is weak in the word problem area, and there are no "mastery drills" for those initial basic math facts. Children in our co-op - in my dd's 4th/5th grade class - that have grown up in the co-op starting in K did not have mastery of the simple math facts. They spent the first month or so of this year reviewing flash cards because they were still doing multiplication counting on their fingers. With my son (he'll be home next fall and not in the co-op except for one enrichment day), I plan on continuing with separate timed drills of simple math facts to get those memorized, and a separate word problem workbook. We use Singapore's challenging word problems for that. For my dd, I'll be using Life of Fred to supplement word problems.

 

All that being said, I think I liked CLE better because it had the drills in the back that my daughter and I used, as well as a few more word problems - but she began to hate it because it wasn't colorful enough, and we were switching to a co-op that used Horizons. I've considered going back to CLE, but I don't really want to be switching back and forth every couple of years. Of course, I've also considered switching to MUS and Saxon (I even started another thread on that) because Horizons doesn't go into high school. I was thinking starting something new in middle school that would carry on to high school might be the right thing to do - but that's a whole other thread and not what you were asking about. Sorry to get off course!

[myfatherslily]

In 4th grade, I switched over to Horizons from CLE for my dd, and it's been a good switch. My son has started with Horizon's K and he's in 1 now. I like Horizons and their spiral approach. There's always review of previous concepts. I do feel that it is weak in the word problem area, and there are no "mastery drills" for those initial basic math facts. Children in our co-op - in my dd's 4th/5th grade class - that have grown up in the co-op starting in K did not have mastery of the simple math facts. They spent the first month or so of this year reviewing flash cards because they were still doing multiplication counting on their fingers. With my son (he'll be home next fall and not in the co-op except for one enrichment day), I plan on continuing with separate timed drills of simple math facts to get those memorized, and a separate word problem workbook. We use Singapore's challenging word problems for that. For my dd, I'll be using Life of Fred to supplement word problems.

 

All that being said, I think I liked CLE better because it had the drills in the back that my daughter and I used, as well as a few more word problems - but she began to hate it because it wasn't colorful enough, and we were switching to a co-op that used Horizons. I've considered going back to CLE, but I don't really want to be switching back and forth every couple of years. Of course, I've also considered switching to MUS and Saxon (I even started another thread on that) because Horizons doesn't go into high school. I was thinking starting something new in middle school that would carry on to high school might be the right thing to do - but that's a whole other thread and not what you were asking about. Sorry to get off course!

 

 

Did you use the teacher's manual? There is SO MUCH drill, imo! Daily skip counting, flashcards out your ears, plus daily drill pages that are included in the TM for copying (or you can buy the pages separately).

[Shannon in TN]

Did you use the teacher's manual? There is SO MUCH drill, imo! Daily skip counting, flashcards out your ears, plus daily drill pages that are included in the TM for copying (or you can buy the pages separately).

 

 

I have the TM, but I only use it to grade and if there's an area where she seems to be needing more practice, I'd copy that particular worksheet. I don't use it for the lesson planning. Maybe I should...

 

ETA: this is for the 5th grader. I don't have one for the 1st grader.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I have to suggest the TM's. There is SOOOO much drill. There was too much in fact. Starting in grade 4 I think the drill is set aside because the fats are already mastered and practiced throughout the program in grade four. In grades k-3 though there is a TON of drill, including drill sheets to be copied in the manual.

In 4th grade, I switched over to Horizons from CLE for my dd, and it's been a good switch. My son has started with Horizon's K and he's in 1 now. I like Horizons and their spiral approach. There's always review of previous concepts. I do feel that it is weak in the word problem area, and there are no "mastery drills" for those initial basic math facts. Children in our co-op - in my dd's 4th/5th grade class - that have grown up in the co-op starting in K did not have mastery of the simple math facts. They spent the first month or so of this year reviewing flash cards because they were still doing multiplication counting on their fingers. With my son (he'll be home next fall and not in the co-op except for one enrichment day), I plan on continuing with separate timed drills of simple math facts to get those memorized, and a separate word problem workbook. We use Singapore's challenging word problems for that. For my dd, I'll be using Life of Fred to supplement word problems.

 

All that being said, I think I liked CLE better because it had the drills in the back that my daughter and I used, as well as a few more word problems - but she began to hate it because it wasn't colorful enough, and we were switching to a co-op that used Horizons. I've considered going back to CLE, but I don't really want to be switching back and forth every couple of years. Of course, I've also considered switching to MUS and Saxon (I even started another thread on that) because Horizons doesn't go into high school. I was thinking starting something new in middle school that would carry on to high school might be the right thing to do - but that's a whole other thread and not what you were asking about. Sorry to get off course!