Alpha and Omega Horizons program ( K-6)?

Question

My kids just turned 6 (they are twins). We have always unschooled and this year in September ( once we got settled from buying the house and PCS move UGH) i started using AOP horizons Math and PHonics on the recommendation of a girlfriend. On the math i have them do 5 lessons a day and on PHonics we do 2 or 3 depending on how many pages they are.

I have read several places where "mother-consumers" say that Horizons is advanced and to expect to start 1/2 grade lower than where they would be in PS. ( ie. horizons HS first grade stuff is PS 2nd grade stuff).

my kids seem to do fine with as many lessons as they are doing. (no tears, not frustrated or tired or whiney) We started school on the 8th of september and just started in the second book for K math.

So my questions are:

Should i slow them down or keep it up and wait till it starts to get difficult?

Is horizons really advanced compared to PS or other HS programs?

Answer 1

My son has used Horizons since 2nd half of first grade.  Let them move at their own pace.  They will eventually hit something they will need to spend more time on.  That is the joy of homeschool.  They pace themselves.

Compared to state standards, yes Horizons is one to one and one half years ahead.  And when I talked to my neighbor with a child in PS one year ahead of mine, they both began multiplication at the same time.  My son one grade behind her.  Further confirmation is that my son routinely tests on CATS in the high 90's in math and on the PASS Test given in 1st quarter of 4th grade  he tested between 5th and 6th grade at 84%.  So I think that pretty well confirms it.  

Oh also, since Horizons stops at 6th grade, most of our friends switched to Saxon and had to buy the materials for the next year's grade.  (further confirmation).

Friends that use Singapore math have reported the same thing to me, btw.

Answer 2

I've never used Horizons but if your kids are doing fine I think you should keep going. I've got kids who work ahead of where they "should" be and sometimes I wonder if their going to hit a brick wall because they went to fast earlier. I just have trust. They're happy doing it so why should I say "Hey, you can't do any more math until you slow down."  We use Singapore Math which is an "advanced" program and it is encouraged to start 1/2 a grade to 1 grade below they'd be in public school. Since we unschool  I don't encourage the grade thing and we just start at 1A when they're ready and then continue through the books and end at 6B when they get there. I'd recommend doing the same with Horizons.

Answer 3

Horizons is advanced compared to many other homeschool programs, and more advanced than almost any Public school program.

The amount of work you are doing is fine if the kids are enjoying it, but I would be very careful not to push if they don't want to do as much.

Now, I have another question though.  With doing that many lessons, especially of the phonics which is often 6 pages per lesson in Horizons K, are you finding time to do other stuff?

I mean, do you get a chance to read children's literature to them, do art, do science experiments, go on nature walks, and just play?

I use Horizons, we do one lesson a day of Math and one Lesson a day of Phonics.  Then we do experiments for science, read lots of books, study History, do art projects, do a Bible curriculum,  make lapbooks....  there is more to our learning than just math and phonics.

At any rate, as long as your children are progressing well, I wouldn't worry about it,  as a former unschooler I am sure you know better than to push.