Alpha Omega Publications - Horizons {REVIEW}
Review:
Alpha Omega Publications
Horizons 2nd Grade Phonics & Reading Program
$ 106.95
Kit includes:
Teacher's Guide
2 Student Books
2 Student Readers
I received the 2nd grade Horizon's Phonics and Reading set to use with my smallest son for review. The set is a very complete set and my first impression was wow - they have thought of everything because not only does the set include really neat workbooks and the teacher's guide but it even comes with the student readers! I love that because to me that means that everything fits together and will flow smoothly.
I first learned of AOP when I pulled my oldest son out of kindergarten over 11 years ago. This was the first company that I bought homeschool supplies from too!
Fast forward several years and I have used several items from them over the years; I simply love the Horizon's line of products.
My smallest son is 10 and is dyslexic and is a struggling reader, so although this is a second grade level it didn't really matter to us because I wanted to use it for reinforcement and new skill development.
The workbooks are very colorful, I understand to some that is a distraction and honestly at some points throughout it was for my boy, however we pushed through and I could easily get him back on track by adjusting minor things throughout our lessons.
I love how the pages easily tear out, for my son, this helps him not get so side tracked and have such anxiety. Yes, it really is the simple things because this way he doesn't see all the work waiting to be completed and he could do his best for our time in the current lesson.
The student workbooks have over 170 pages each student book.
The student readers are wonderful.
Personally, we had some issues with reading them but I just decided we would tag team it and that seemed to work perfect for us(shared reading).
The passages are actually longer than I expected them to be. That alone for my struggling reader was not that wonderful of a fit but again we made adjustments and it worked.
We had trouble with knowing some of the words but nothing we didn't work out and get done.
We enjoyed several passages that had pictures, but most didn't have any image. I actually liked this because my struggling reader couldn't guess at anything (words/ideas) when a picture wasn't provided.
Now on to the awesome Teacher's Guide!
This book rocks, it has everything you need in one book to teach.
The scope and sequence is in the beginning of the book with some recommendations. I liked how the scope and sequence was broken up into chunks for me to prepare for.
There is an entire section of phonics and spelling rules needed. This is a huge help because you will run into so many questions at this stage in reading because sounds don't make the normal sound! You will also need to know the "why" behind each lesson and be informed yourself on the "why" and that is exactly what you will find in the phonics and spelling rules area.
Then the guide moves on to daily lesson plans.
At the beginning of each lesson there is an overview of what the lesson is about and what you will be covering for it.
It tells you what supplies and materials are needed and then moves on to teaching tips for the lesson.
The answers are provided within the 2 pages of the lesson plan as well.
Everything is scripted for you so there is no confusion.
Normally we would spend the first 10 minutes going over new rules or spellings and reviewing anything that was hard from a previous lesson.
The actual lesson would take about 15/20 minutes for us to complete. I would tear the sheet out of the book for my son each lesson.
The last step of our lessons would be to read a passage in the student reader. This step we normally had to have a break before starting. We also tried doing the reading at bedtime because he couldn't take all the time and attention, he was exhausted mentally and physically by this point so breaking the last step of reading off really helped.
Overall, I liked this but the rules are not sticking very good in my dyslexic's mind. I will have to have additional resources added for it to be a good fit for him long term.
Also for my struggling learner I need more repetition.
This program is a wonderful program for a normal reader but does need some accommodations made if you have a struggling reader.
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