Horizons Algebra 1 Algebra 1 is where math shifts to working with variables, patterns, and relationships instead of just numbers. Horizons Algebra 1 is a print-based math curriculum that gives your eighth grader a structured way through that transition. The full course runs 160 lessons in a single student workbook, covering exponents and powers, absolute value, radical expressions, scientific notation, operations with monomials and polynomials (including the FOIL method), factoring trinomials, solving and graphing linear equations, complex fractions and rational expressions, quadratic functions, exponential growth, and compound inequalities. Real-life application sections appear before each block of ten lessons. Horizons uses a spiral curriculum design, which means concepts are introduced briefly, then revisited again and again across the year with a little more depth each time. This contrasts with mastery-based programs, which work through one concept thoroughly before moving to the next. Spiral curricula are usually a better fit for kids who get bored doing the same kind of problem repeatedly, and for parents who'd rather their student see a concept multiple times across the year than spend a whole unit on it once. The Tests & Resources book adds 80 worksheets, 16 tests, 4 quarterly exams, and algebra manipulatives for hands-on work. The teacher's guide walks you through each day's lesson with daily lesson plans, teaching tips, materials lists, a readiness evaluation test, and complete answer keys for the student workbook, worksheets, tests, and exams. Horizons Algebra 1 includes occasional Christian references in its lessons, as do other levels beginning in grade 4. The K-3 levels of the series are nonreligious. Horizons Algebra 1 is a good fit for an eighth-grader who's ready for Algebra 1 and parents who want a fully scripted lesson plan rather than building their own.
