If you have high expectations and believe that your child is capable of more than just "getting along," you will want to check out what Alpha Omega has to offer with their Horizons curriculum. My husband and I have high academic standards and believe our children will rise to the standards we set. If we expect little, that is what we will always get. If we challenge them, we are always amazed at how capable they are. It usually surprises them as well!

I had the chance to start the Horizons Penmanship Cursive Third Grade program, and right from day one, I was impressed with what I saw! I had the feeling that Horizons had the same "vision" as I did. Yes, beautiful handwriting is a wonderful thing to strive for, and it instills the important character traits of discipline and diligence, but what you find, working through this program, are the true foundations of all learning - the wisdom of the Word, primarily in this case, the book of Genesis. Students are not just learning to "write pretty" with this penmanship workbook. This program shows the obvious (important) reason for clear communication - to share God's word. Each lesson incorporates comprehension and vocabulary as the student practices their new found skills by writing out stories from Genesis, which are on "special" decorated pages and can be torn out and put together to make their very own book. I think this is brilliant. Short and long term goals are set. It also makes for great character training lessons. The Teacher's Edition is laid out so well that daily lessons are a breeze to put together, and are completely Christ-centered, stressing student comprehension. Do they know what they are writing? Do they understand the stories in Genesis? Do they know what those big words mean? It is really put together in a wonderful fashion.

I am so thankful that there are still companies that refuse to subscribe to the attitude of the general population, which encourages the "dumbing down" of our kids. This is not so with the Horizon products I reviewed. To find curriculum that falls completely in line with my own values and standards is a tremendous blessing. This was my first introduction to the Alpha Omega line, and I was pleasantly surprised. Keep up the great work Alpha Omega!



-- Product review by: Jenefer Igarashi, Senior Editor, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine