Eva Marina Homeschools

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Curriculum Review | Horizons Math K

We have been using Horizons Math this year and couldn’t be happier.  I really like that it uses a spiral approach to teaching and reviewing concepts.  There are a total of 160 lessons.  Each lesson consists of a two sided page, usually broken down into four or five sections. 

Here is the Scope & Sequence for Level K:
  1. Counting 1-100 (Counting by 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, 2’s, 3’s, 4’s to 100)
  2. Number Recognition (Recognition of all families to 100)
  3. Number writing (Writing of all families to 100)
  4. Number value (Value of all single digit numbers)
  5. Number After (Naming the number that comes after for all families to 100)
  6. Number Before (Naming the number that comes before for all families to 100)
  7. Number Between (Naming the number that comes between for all families to 100)
  8. Place Value (Digit value: ones, tens)
  9. Addition (Adding a single digit to all families without regrouping)
  10. Subtraction (Subtracting a single digit to all families without regrouping)
  11. Money (Recognition, value, and use of the penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half dollar, dollar bill and dollar coin)
  12. Time (Naming time on the hour, half-hour, quarter-hour and 5 minutes)
  13. Calendar (Naming the days of the week, the months of the year and the seasons)
  14. Number Theory (Recognition of ordinal numbers, even and odd numbers)
  15. Colors (Recognition of black, yellow, green, red, blue, brown, orange and purple)
  16. Shapes (Recognition of circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond, star, hexagon, octagon, cone, sphere and cylinder)
  17. Comparisons (Comparisons of items and quantities that are different, pairs, twins, belong together, tall, short, long, larger number and smaller number)
  18. Direction & Position (Recognition of the direction and position of right, left, up, down, top, bottom, middle, inside, outside, first, next, last, front and back)
  19. Graphs (Read and complete bar graphs and pictographs)
  20. Measurement (Reading lengths in inches and centimeters, perimeter in inches)
  21. Units of Measure (Identify and count cup, quart, gallon and liter)
  22. Fractions (Recognize whole, 1/2, 1/3 and1/4)
  23. Sequence (Determine what comes next)
You can download some sample pages (usually the first few lessons) from AOP’s website.  Here are a few more samples for you.


There is a lot of variety within the lessons.  Ignacio likes to write surprise messages to me within his assignments.  :)


We worked on Lesson 146 today.


I’d say it’s pretty well rounded.  It is challenging, but doable.  There are at times a lot of problems, but you don’t have to complete them all.  I usually mark the ones I want him to complete.  If he gets one wrong, he corrects it and completes an additional problem.  He really likes it and sometimes even completes more problems than I assigned.  I’d rather have the option of completing more problems if necessary than having to supplement what should be a complete curriculum. 

The Teacher’s Manual offers a detailed overview, list of necessary materials and supplies, teaching tips, and activities for each lesson.  It is not necessary at this level, but can be helpful when introducing new concepts.  It also includes 40 reproducible worksheets which can be used as a review or assessment. 

The full curriculum might be considered expensive, at $69.95.  I bought my set on eBay for $36 including shipping.  It was in like new condition with absolutely no writing on it.

I should mention that Horizons is a Christian publisher.  I try to only use secular curriculum, but found that the Christian references in their math series were minimal.  We will be using them again next year.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Eva!!!!
what do you mean by" There are a lot of review problems, but I just pick and choose which ones I want him to complete." in your Math review

Eva Marina said...

Horizons uses a spiral method of teaching. Every lesson introduces a new concept and also reviews previous concepts. The review sections sometimes have a lot problems (I remember one that had sixteen addition problems in addition to the other sections within the lesson). When I know Ignacio understands a concept I don't make him complete every problem. I pick which ones I want him to complete. If he gets one wrong he corrects it and completes an additional problem. If he gets them all right, he is done with that section. Does that make sense?

Anonymous said...

Eva
DID you use any special way to teach him the 50 states? My son loves to learn about the states so i am tr4ying to find a way that he can learn them !

Eva Marina said...

I've been taking a little break from blogging, but I'll be back soon. I actually have plans for a geography post soon. I'll tell you this though, there were two things that really helped him learn the states. First, he has probably five or six different US map puzzles. Second, he absolutely loves the books "The Scrambled States of America" and "The Scrambled states of America Talent Show" by Laurie Keller. Ignacio knows all 50 states and can recognize any one of the by shape alone with just a quick glance. Look out for the post, I'll share some good resources. Thanks!