Alpha Omega LIFEPAC Mathematics

Alpha Omega LIFEPAC Math provides homeschool families a complete, Christian math curriculum that emphasizes skill mastery. Designed for independent learning in grades 1-12, LIFEPACs are student worktexts (ten per grade) that are largely self-instructional. The Kindergarten LIFEPAC Course is teacher-student interactive, and uses two student books rather than the worktexts. A Teacher Guide is available for each grade level and contains the curriculum overview, notes, answer keys, and suggested schedule and teaching guidelines. The Teacher Guides for grades K-1 provide more detailed instruction for grades 2-12, to align with the self-teaching approach. Starting in second grade, the LIFEPAC Worktexts provide more direct student instruction to facilitate independent study. The parents role is to be available for student questions, to administer and grade tests, complete teacher checks, and ensure lesson completion.

Each Complete Boxed Set contains ten LIFEPACs and a teacher guide. The only exception is the Grade K Boxed Set, which contains two student books and a teacher guide. LIFEPACs only (no teacher guide) are also available for use with multiple students. Review and self-tests are built into the curriculum. LIFEPACs are colorful in the elementary grades, but become less colorful as the grade level increases. Each set of ten LIFEPACs provides a year-long curriculum.

You might be wondering, "What's the difference between this curriculum and Horizons Math?" After all, both programs come from the same publisher and follow a similar scope and sequence up to the sixth grade. The main difference, in my opinion, is that Horizons is not self-instructional (written instruction is not included in workbooks). Another difference is that LIFEPACs offer standard practice problems whereas Horizons offers a greater variety of problems (mazes, decoding, etc) as well as standard drills, but LIFEPACs provide many more problems per workbook page.