Horizons or Saxon for Kindergarten?

[noah&emmasmommy]

My daughter is going to be doing more formal Kindergarten this coming year. She just turned 5 couple of months ago, and we've been working through OPTR, and MUS Primer(which I only purchased for her because she wanted to do "school" like her older brother. I really like the look of Horizons Math, it seems to be something she would really enjoy. I however, I am interested in some opinions on Saxon K and Saxon 1. It seems to me that she could just go right into Saxon 1, if i decided to use Saxon. I have looked at the placement test, and that seems where she would be. I have a friend who uses Horizons and likes it very well. So I'm interested in any opinions anyone has on the two math programs. Thanks!:001_smile:

[Heather in WI]

I've used both Saxon and Horizon and prefer Saxon for that age because I like having the scripted lesson plans. If you go with Saxon, I would definitely start with Saxon 1. The accompanying manipulative kit is a must buy.

[Brindee]

If you choose to go with Saxon, go with the grade 1! My dd was 5 when she started K, and we did the Saxon 1. It was easy for her! Can't imagine what the K is like! Some people get tired of the repetition and meeting books. I haven't used it, but have heard Horizons is HIGHLY recommended! If I had it to do over, I'd go with Horizons.

[Emma]

You really want my honest opinion on Saxon???

 

 

OK,here it is: :ack2::ack2::ack2::ack2: :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

 

I've used both, and Horizons wins hands down for us. Saxon is boring, dull, yuck! Horizons is much more mom friendly and much,much more interesting for the kiddos. If your child knows her numbers, the first 100 pages of Saxon are going to be B.O.R.I.N.G. And I never did get the point of the "meeting book." Stupid... Just my opinion though... :)

[HeatherInWI]

Of those two, I'd take Horizons, but it depends upon the child. My children were bored stiff with Saxon for K/1 -- it was simply too scripted and repetitive for us. They liked more colorful basic math books better.

 

We tried many curricula before deciding that Singapore fit us best, with Abeka an honorable mention for those parents with less math background.

[noah&emmasmommy]

:lol: I have heard some others with the same opinion on Saxon. I really like the look of the Horizons books, so they are at the top of the list, but Saxon is close behind. Just curious, what do you switch to after completing Horizons since it only goes up to 6th grade?

[Brindee]

You really want my honest opinion on Saxon???

 

 

OK,here it is: :ack2::ack2::ack2::ack2: :banghead::banghead::banghead:

 

 

I've used both, and Horizons wins hands down for us. Saxon is boring, dull, yuck! Horizons is much more mom friendly and much,much more interesting for the kiddos. If your child knows her numbers, the first 100 pages of Saxon are going to be B.O.R.I.N.G. And I never did get the point of the "meeting book." Stupid... Just my opinion though...

But what do you REALLY think about Saxon??? :lol:

[HollyDay]

Emma, I totally agree!!:iagree:

 

If I had to do it over again, I would use Horizons for K.

[Brindee]

Just curious, what do you switch to after completing Horizons since it only goes up to 6th grade?

Horizons gives a solid base to draw from. I think with a strong base they could do most any program, so you'd look for one that fit their learning style the best!

[Emma]

:lol: I asked if you really wanted my true opinion!!!;)

 

I would switch to Teaching Textbooks, since it's my new favorite "big kid" program. We like TT in this family!

[myfatherslily]

You can call Saxon and get a sample booklet from them.

I just could NOT use Saxon myself. There's no way I could follow their structure in the lower grades, as the teacher. It doesn't help either that I used it as the student in high school and HATED IT, but I did make myself examine it more closely so that my biases didn't make us miss out on something good. Really, though, as the teacher, I just couldn't deal with all that scripting.

I've looked at Horizons just a little bit and haven't ruled it out yet. We're doing Singapore EarlyBird right now, so I'm not sure yet what we'll do after. Just NOT Saxon:)

[Chris in VA]

I think Saxon math is one of those wonderful examples of programs that people either LOVE or HATE with a passion!

 

I really liked using Saxon for K-3. I used it a year ahead, and did my own thing with the meeting book. I tweaked the script a little, but used my own materials for the meeting. For instance, instead of using the calendar in the book, I did a poster-sized calendar on the wall, and instead of writing the number of the day in the meeting book, I wrote the number on an index card, making a row of numbers around the edge of the wall by the ceiling.

 

I didn't find Saxon to be dull, boring or anything negative. I loved it. I think it's a clever program that is so well-thought out. I did look at Horizons, but did not like the reliance on the number line so early. I have heard there is not a lot of teacher help--the explanations to give to the child are lacking. I do think you can get around that, and the color is really nice. The color and pizazz in Saxon comes from using real objects, not the workbook pages. I would go with Saxon 1 for K, tho.

[Guest 4boys]

My 5yo is using Horizons K right now and it is going well. I would say it is quite advanced though. It starts out pretty easy but progresses quickly. I let him do however much he wants and I am only covering book 1 this year. Next year for "official" Kindergarten he will do book 2. I think the relaxed approach is what is making it successful. Covering both books in one year would be hard IMO because there are soooo many lessons.

 

Beyond that I think we will be switching. I had my 7yo using Horizons 1 this year and we just dropped it. It progressed too quickly for him.

[kgreenaz]

We just finished Horizons 1 with my 6yo & 7yo. I just switched all three kids to SINGAPORE math!

 

Horizons is great for 'mathy' kids. There is not a lot of explanation or helping children to understand why they are doing what they are doing. They may know 'how' but not necessarily 'why'. My 6yo could do Horizons forever, I'm sure.

 

Horizons is a spiral program. Singapore is more of a mastery/spiral program. So you get to try, try again until you get it and then move on. With Horizons my 7yo would get everything right on his worksheets but not without a lot of explanation from me and, when I would test him, I could see that he had gaps and that he didn't understand why he was doing certain things. Solving for the unknown, number bonds, etc. Singapore finds and fills in those gaps.

 

Singapore is colorful like Horizons which we like. But it goes through the entire cycle of concrete - pictorial - abstract which, IMO, is invaluable to learning math.

 

I can't speak about Saxon. I wouldn't touch it right now because I have friends that use it and I've heard that it is very repetitious and not necessarily in a creative way like Singapore. But I've never seen it myself.

 

Sorry to bring another math program into this discussion but I am so thrilled with Singapore now that I can't stop singing its praises!

 

God bless, Kim

[FO4UR]

I have tried both Saxon K and Horizons K, and I vote "none of the above"!:tongue_smilie:

 

I highly recommend looking into Miquon, Singapore or RightStart! ymmv

[noah&emmasmommy]

Thanks so much for all of your opinions. I definitely would like to find a math curriculum and stick with it, but am open to change if my daughter needs it. I'm still leaning toward Horizons, but I am still interested in Saxon, and a friend of mine is also very excited about Singapore. I've not looked at it, so maybe it's worth the time to check it out.

 

Are any of these programs manipulative heavy? I'm not sure whether my daughter will need a ton of blocks, etc. It's hard to tell at this age, although she does enjoy playing with her brother's MUS blocks.

[Aloha2U]

I have tried both Saxon K and Horizons K, and I vote "none of the above"!:tongue_smilie:

 

I highly recommend looking into Miquon, Singapore or RightStart! ymmv

 

:iagree: I liked the idea of repetition and review that Saxon offers and I thought I would be one to recommend it, but I have to agree with 3blessingmom.

 

Here is my recent experience w/Saxon...

 

Our scheduled math lessons went out the window this week and I couldn't be happier about it. After completing the first 5 lessons in Saxon Math 1, we are officially switching from Saxon to RightStart Mathematics as our spine. We will, however, continue to use the Saxon Math K meeting book for calendar review and supplement with Singapore Math (U.S. Editions). I've already sold all of our Saxon materials, purchased some used RightStart materials and placed an order w/RightStart on Monday for the remaining materials that we need, which arrived today! :o) Wah-hoo!

 

Saxon Math K was a fun intro to math and my little man definitely benefitted from doing it (as did I), especially the meeting book. Unfortunately, I usually had to make the lessons harder than what was scripted. When we dove into Saxon Math 1, after completing Saxon Math K, it became crystal clear that Saxon's way of teaching concepts and their baby steps approach was not going to fly with us... at least not in their K-3 levels. We could've practically skipped Saxon Math 1 entirely and just moved into Saxon Math 2.

 

That said, we already had RightStart's Math Card Games Kit on hand, as well as the AL Abacus and activities/worksheets books that we have been doing on the side and I could easily see that these games/activities were far more beneficial than the actual lessons we had done in Saxon Math K and planned to do in Saxon Math 1... which is what initially led me to further research RightStart's methods and eventually make the switch from Saxon to RightStart. In addition to that, daddy gets to be a part of the learning process because he can play the RightStart games with our little man too. We do have some Miquon Math materials that I'll look into to using solely as an extra resource in the future, as well as the Math Enhancement Programme (aka MEP, which is a free online resource), but our focus will be using RightStart Math supplemented w/Singapore Primary Math.

 

Saxon Math K was a security blanket and it gave me the confidence I needed starting out, but we're ready to move on and continuing with Saxon's 1-3 levels is not the right fit for us. I'm really excited about RightStart! In addition to all this, I prefer the manipulatives recommended for RS and Singapore over Saxon's.

 

I've no knowledge of Horizons, so I can't comment there.

 

HTH,

 

:001_smile: Melissa

[AmyinFL]

Horizon looks fun but I used Saxon with all of mine, different learning styles, and all do very well in Math and are beyond grade level (not my goal but a bonus). I would not consider K and just go to Level I, it is basic enough in the beginning and takes it up a notch in the end. Saxon provides a great base for learning all Math concepts in my opinion.