sewpeaceful
07-26-2007, 07:33 PM
Name of curriculum:
Horizons Phonics & Reading
Common Abbreviation:
Which aspect of LA: claims to focus on phonics & reading but so much more. It addresses spelling, grammar, comprehension, spelling rules, compound words, plural, possessive, the list goes on
Age range of students:
K-2
Educational Philosophy: traditional textbook (series of workbooks)
Worldview: Christian, but the religious touch is very light - most secular probably wouldn't be offended
Website: http://www.aop.com/horizons/index.php
Review: This is traditional Horizons spiral approach. Lots of review and practice. The student practices reading, writing, phonics, grammar... as they progress to 1st grade they do word searches and crossword puzzles, writing their own sentences progressing to writing letters and short stories. This is truly an all encompasing language art program - nice and concise. We are very pleased with it.
I will give the following warning: it is traditional Horizons: it is usually graded 1 year higher than the average student. So if the book says 1st grade, it is really more for the average 2nd grader. Their Kindergarten program has a LOT of writing for a kindergartener... we simply slowed it down.
A quote from the website:
Horizons Phonics is a phonetically based word-recognition and early reading program. Strong emphasis is placed on comprehension and language arts skills. In this course, students learn to identify the name and sounds of each letter through picture association from the sequential alphabet story.
The use of each individual letter sound blended into words is further reinforced by pictures and printing letter names. Sentences and stories are introduced immediately. Dolch sight words are incorporated to enhance comprehension. In addition to the reading section, much emphasis is placed on the following: spelling, alphabetizing, rhyming, vocabulary development, sentence structure including statement, question, and exclamation sentences, puzzle and make-up words, phrases and sentences for accurate decoding, auditory skills in recognizing a spoken word, sequence, diacritical markings, complete sentence identification, nouns verbs, pronouns, apostrophe for possession, and contractions realistic choices.
There are several activities associated with each skill. The teacher can choose to expand on a certain skill by utilizing the accumulation of words for each segment. Using the puzzle approach on the white board with easy-erase markers allows the teacher the freedom to review and expand the material within the lesson. Underneath each skill name in the Scope and Sequence is the list of activities that are included with that skill.
Have you used this curriculum? What levels?
We are finishing up K and will start 1st in 1 more book.
Strengths:
Lots of practice. I ditched WTM, handwriting, and ETC to end up with, in my opinion, a better, more all encompasing program. My daughter enjoys it.
Weaknesses:
Lots of handwriting - but then again, that is making her a much stronger writer and speller and that is what I was hoping for in the first place. :)
Comments:
Others are welcome to add their two cents.
FTC Disclosure: PLEASE NOTE: This is a “For Profit” site. The Library makes commissions on products sold through affiliate and advertiser links. The products reviewed here may or may not have an affiliate link (most don’t), but we want you to be aware that it is a possibility. Whether this affiliation affects the objectivity of the reviews here is debatable. We don’t think it does, but that’s up to you to decide. If you want to know about a specific product, please feel free to ask. For a full list of current affiliates, check out the Affiliate Forum.
Horizons Phonics & Reading
Common Abbreviation:
Which aspect of LA: claims to focus on phonics & reading but so much more. It addresses spelling, grammar, comprehension, spelling rules, compound words, plural, possessive, the list goes on
Age range of students:
K-2
Educational Philosophy: traditional textbook (series of workbooks)
Worldview: Christian, but the religious touch is very light - most secular probably wouldn't be offended
Website: http://www.aop.com/horizons/index.php
Review: This is traditional Horizons spiral approach. Lots of review and practice. The student practices reading, writing, phonics, grammar... as they progress to 1st grade they do word searches and crossword puzzles, writing their own sentences progressing to writing letters and short stories. This is truly an all encompasing language art program - nice and concise. We are very pleased with it.
I will give the following warning: it is traditional Horizons: it is usually graded 1 year higher than the average student. So if the book says 1st grade, it is really more for the average 2nd grader. Their Kindergarten program has a LOT of writing for a kindergartener... we simply slowed it down.
A quote from the website:
Horizons Phonics is a phonetically based word-recognition and early reading program. Strong emphasis is placed on comprehension and language arts skills. In this course, students learn to identify the name and sounds of each letter through picture association from the sequential alphabet story.
The use of each individual letter sound blended into words is further reinforced by pictures and printing letter names. Sentences and stories are introduced immediately. Dolch sight words are incorporated to enhance comprehension. In addition to the reading section, much emphasis is placed on the following: spelling, alphabetizing, rhyming, vocabulary development, sentence structure including statement, question, and exclamation sentences, puzzle and make-up words, phrases and sentences for accurate decoding, auditory skills in recognizing a spoken word, sequence, diacritical markings, complete sentence identification, nouns verbs, pronouns, apostrophe for possession, and contractions realistic choices.
There are several activities associated with each skill. The teacher can choose to expand on a certain skill by utilizing the accumulation of words for each segment. Using the puzzle approach on the white board with easy-erase markers allows the teacher the freedom to review and expand the material within the lesson. Underneath each skill name in the Scope and Sequence is the list of activities that are included with that skill.
Have you used this curriculum? What levels?
We are finishing up K and will start 1st in 1 more book.
Strengths:
Lots of practice. I ditched WTM, handwriting, and ETC to end up with, in my opinion, a better, more all encompasing program. My daughter enjoys it.
Weaknesses:
Lots of handwriting - but then again, that is making her a much stronger writer and speller and that is what I was hoping for in the first place. :)
Comments:
Others are welcome to add their two cents.
FTC Disclosure: PLEASE NOTE: This is a “For Profit” site. The Library makes commissions on products sold through affiliate and advertiser links. The products reviewed here may or may not have an affiliate link (most don’t), but we want you to be aware that it is a possibility. Whether this affiliation affects the objectivity of the reviews here is debatable. We don’t think it does, but that’s up to you to decide. If you want to know about a specific product, please feel free to ask. For a full list of current affiliates, check out the Affiliate Forum.