Horizons Mathematics

I have used Horizons math from K-6 with one child. She is good at math and recently decided she didn't want to use Horizons anymore, so halfway through 6th grade, she switched to Saxon 76. Her issues with Horizons began in the upper grades 4+ when she wanted more detailed explanations in the workbooks than what Horizons had to offer. I wasn't sure what to use, so we stayed with Horizons for a while until I found out that Saxon had those fantastic explanations that she was looking for. She is very happy with her switch to Saxon and so am I. I think Horizons is still a good math program, but for the next child I will only use it in K-3 and then switch to Saxon math 54.

Overall, the teacher manuals as well as the workbooks could definitely be stronger in the area of concept explanation. The workbooks are colorful, which is fun for younger children. I also liked that the program spiraled with the child working on 5 or so concepts per lesson.

I've used grade 1 through prealgebra with my kids so far. I love Horizons math! So simple to implement, builds up concepts on the stealth, short and effective lessons, keeps old concepts fresh, and my kids have quite easily taken their math skills elsewhere.

The small sets of several different types of problems/concepts keep the math interesting. My accelerated kids had no problem doubling lessons and just moving as fast as they like. The more average workers steadily plugged along at one lesson a day and did fabulous. Rather than one main concept at a time this has a few concepts that are steadily growing in little bites, and often stealthily in what looks like a review set. My kids have no idea how hard their math is ramping up while they work through it day after day.

A common con I hear is there isn't enough instruction in the teacher manual. The instruction in the student texts has been plenty for us. I only pick up the teacher manual to make grading completed lessons easier. The other common con is a complaint that it has too many problems or not enough review. Horizons has been right in the middle for us. My kids complete every problem of every exercise of every lesson. Their math skills are rock solid and unshakeable. The older two Horizons kids have since moved onto competition math and are thriving.

This curriculum is very colorful and thorough. It is easy to use and my kids love it.

my son enjoys all the colorful pictures.

This is a good math program, very open and go. The elementary is colorful, and enjoyable for young children. having said that, I will say that this curriculum is not good for a child who struggles in math. There are a lot of problem sets daily, some lessons do not have much explanation. It was frustrating for my learning disabled child, so we switched programs.

We love this curriculum. My children love the colors and the workbooks. It has a lot of repetition so the subjects can be mastered, and it spirals so things can be reviewed. We have used K through 4th so far, and are looking forward to 5th next year!

We started in the K level with both of my children. At first it was great but by mid 1st grade my children were burned out with the worksheet load of this program. Math took so long every day, and my daughter, who never missed a math problem a day in her life was starting to say math was her worst subject by the start of her 3rd grade year. After changing her program mid-year, I saw my younger son heading in that same direction but I caught it earlier. I changed his as well and they both finally love math!

I would recommend horizons math. We're planning to use it next year too.

I'm using Horizons Math 1 with my advanced kindergartener and it's been such a great way to do math! The spiral method is gentle and effective. The workbooks are colorful and exciting to use. I have found the teachers manual to not be needed most days - it's really geared towards a classroom or multiple kids although I've gotten a few good ideas from it. Most lessons start with quick drills and flashcards, something we don't always do since she's only 5. I also haven't found the math manipulatives worth getting but that could just be because my daughter doesn't enjoy them. I highly recommend Horizons if you have a child that's good with workbooks.

I love the colorful pictures and fun additions like riddles and such.

We tried Horizons for a year, but ended up switching. I think the coverage of topics is good, but in some places they move from one subject to the next too fast. There also wasn't enough explanation or teaching on some subjects. For my first grader it was okay. some of the lessons were a little long though, The 3rd grade book had very long lessons! Math would take forever because my 3rd grader had so much to do in each lesson.

I love using Horizons for my younger children. Having 4 children at different levels is hard to handle in math. These books give a simple explanation at the beginning of each unit for a new concept. It then repeats some problems from previous lessons but not so many to be boring. It is quick to correct also. My children all love these books.

It's very colorful and pretty to look at, but I personally don't care for the lesson layout. Each lesson has 5-6 section with 4-7 math problems of the same kind in each section. So your student only gets to practice a little bit of each in the 5-6 sections. It's not really a mastery-based curriculum. I prefer more practice of individual concepts instead of a whole bunch per lesson.

This was a wonderfully colorful and engaging math program that my DD was happy to work on, even though she really isn't a big fan of math. It uses a spiral approach, which did a great job of constantly reviewing all concepts to keep them fresh in the student's mind, but that can become tedious. Also, I felt it lacked any significant depth in TEACHING. It just provided more and more gradual problems with minimal direction. My DD needed more teaching of the concepts in depth and did best with tactile manipulatives to make the math REAL. So we only made it to third grade and switched curriculum.

A student who takes to math well naturally would do fine with this curriculum. Or, if you as the teacher, feel comfortable teaching what it doesn't, it would be good.

We use this program in our homeschool from K to 2nd grade. The worksheets are very colorful and the spiral method gives constant review of concepts for kids to learn. The teachers guide is easy to use and has a lot of additional things to add to the actual sheets, so be sure to follow the guide for the extras. The only thing is that about the middle of Level 1 and into Level 2 there are lots of problems and it really bogged down my guys who saw all the problems and felt discouraged. I ended up crossing out rows to adapt since I knew they had mastered the concepts and didn't need all that additional work. I also thought they introduced multiplication kind of early, but we were using another program for drilling facts so my guys were ready.

Horizons was a great choice for my son and we used it from K through 6th. At the time 6th was the highest level available. It worked so well for him that he struggled to find something he could relate to as well after 6th ended.

I have used Horizons with both of my kids k, 1, 2, and will be using 3rd grade this year with my oldest. I love how easy it is to use. It uses a spiral approach so there is lots of review build into the books. My kids love the bright colors.

We have used Horizons with three of our children for five years. The materials were thorough. My children retained the materials well. The teacher;s guide is easy to follow. We have had success with my child who gets math and with my two that struggle a little bit more. I highly recommend this math program.

I love the way this curriculum loops back around to review past lessons while adding new concepts slowly. My child was having trouble remembering units after we had stepped away from the for a while. The way this adds in a short review from many units really works for him!

Horizons just takes the work out of teaching math!