HOME EDUCATING: Curriculum choices for this year: Horizons Math (elementary)

BOX DAY!!! 
This may be my favorite time of year. It's like Christmas in July! I love books, so even though they aren't for me (except the thick, boring ones! :) the fresh, unmarked pages still give me a little thrill.  


I hope these posts will be a help to you, as you are searching out the myriad of choices for your curriculum. I will post everything that I am using and try to include as many pictures as possible, so you can make an informed decision on your curriculum choices. I like to show you pictures of what the books look like inside, because engaging the students is so important, especially for young learners. You shouldn't have to cross your fingers and hope for the best, when shelling out your cash for curriculum.

Math: Horizons
I used Horizons for the first time last year and I loved it. The pages are bright, the information is solid and it keeps building and reinforcing throughout the year. Here are some pictures of the books. Each grade level is comprised of 180 lessons, split into two books (nice for a little mid-year, new book excitement :) and a great teachers guide, with lots of ideas to get their noses out of their workbooks. It is a challenge not to just assign work, but engage in meaningful learning environments. This curriculum definitely helps with that! It is a challenging curriculum and sometimes tough to learn the concepts in the time period we have allocated. I have spread it out a little by continuing the math into the summer, to give them more time to learn the various concepts. 


GRADE 1 BOOK EXAMPLE: (nice, large spaces for early writers)

 
GRADE 3 EXAMPLE: (the writing space gradually becomes smaller, as the student becomes a more proficient writer)

TEACHERS GUIDE EXAMPLE: (c'mon! why don't I get any color!!?? :) 

More curriculum reviews will be posted throughout the next month. I hope they will help you not to make as many poor curriculum purchases as I made, my first couple years. :)

My biggest loser was the purchase I made for my poor little kindergartner (in our first year of homeschooling) - I purchased CLASSICAL MATH. It was so DULL and so LONG, TEDIOUS and did I mention DULL? I chucked it within the first couple months. 

(btw, I would love to hear your comments on what your curriculum choices are this year!) 

Happy summer homeschool planning to you all! 

Kristen