I have had the hardest time deciding what phonics program to go with...Abeka vs. some of the less known curriculums such as frontline phonics or rocket phonics. Since I was tired of beating my head against the wall I decided to just go with the A Beka because it is more popular. (great reason, huh?! hehe!) Anyway, I am shopping online and filled my cart with the reading/phonics materials for Kinder 5. Oh my!!! Over $400 worth of materials....so now, I need help picking what I really need. So, any A Beka K5 users have advice?? Or any users of other curriculum have suggestions for a better phonics curriculum than A Beka? I have a 5 year old boy...
Geez, that sounds like a lot. That's more than I spent for my entire K5 curriculum! I did Bob Jones K5, and my 5 year old and 6 year old are reading fine. Just get the phonics workbook [and the language arts one is good as well to help reinforce]. They also have little readers that slowly build up to reading---- I really liked the way they structured it. Bob Jones also offered things like flash cards and such, but you don't need them. I liked the word flash cards for supplemental games, but otherwise they weren't really necessary or used. They also had a CD, but I found it so annoying that I never used it past the first listen. So, if you went with Bob Jones, I get the student Phonics workbook, possibly the language arts workbook, and possibly the word flashcards. If all you get is the phonics workbook, you won't even need the teacher edition. Here's a link to the whole Bob Jones K5 homeschool kit: http://www.bjupress.com/nav/product/221424?path=1039 The total cost for the entire curriculum is only $108 compared to your $400 for just phonice in ABeka.
Oh GIRL I'm having the EXACT same problem!!! I don't know what to do!!! Sometimes there are just TTOO many choices. I don't know anything about Abeka...I'm trying to learn more. We did the readers from Sonlight and my little girl just "got it". I was very pleased with the books they had, the little stories each day goes with the one before and each day she would say, "I can't wait to see what happens today!" I was very pleased with the fact they had worksheets to work on penmanship and punctuation. Good luck! Let us know what you decide on!
Abeka rocks, you picked a fantastic program! I would not skimp on the necessary items since you are just starting out and you want to be sure to work the program correctly. Can you copy/paste what you have in your cart and if you like I can tell you what I suggest is necessary? That would be easiest.
I didn't spend that much on all 4 of my kids curriculum! I already have some things and buy as much as possible used. Unfortunately, not all of us have unlimited financial resources, and cost IS a factor. We have to chose carefully what we absoulutely need and what we can get by without. I do like A Beka phonics. I would say get the workbook, and the accessories pack. The accessories pack had some really neat things in it, if I remember correctly. I did not use the TM. There are folks who say it's necessary. If you feel you have to have it, try to find it used. But be careful with the editions. A Beka updates frequently, so the older manuals don't match the newer books. Sometimes you can get away with it though.
Not knocking Abeka phonics (because I know it works from other friends) but there are less expensive ones.....guess it depends how much you want laid out and if you don't mind pulling from a few sources. Have you checked out Horizons? It's a bit cheaper (if I recall). We use their math but have looked at the Reading, etc....just don't think it would be the best fit for my ds yet. We're using Hooked on Phonics and Explode the Code....mostly because it works for him and I already owned HOP (but my girls didn't like it...he loves it). Abeka is good though...have you checked used prices? I've gotten some used Abeka resources from a local HS store and from other mom's.
Abeka didn't work for my son at all and it ended up being a waste of money, they do hotel shows where you can preview the materials before you spend so much you might want to look into that. For phonics, we're using a combo of Explode The Code & Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons.
Well, we just bought the whole K program and the 3 year old program for my ds and dd. We spent 805.00, so I guess I liked what I saw, huh?
I liked A Beka K program. I use it for my 4 year old and she is already reading small words. sock, run, dad, mom, she can sound out any words similar. A Beka rocks
These are the things that I bought and felt were very important: reading books phonics cards blend cards parent/teacher books-curriculum
I basically put in my shopping cart, all the materials for K5 -- hoping to narrow it down. I already have the Reading is Fundamental book set because I bought it on ebay. I wanted to order the games because this approach seems to work well with my son. Let me tell you what skills he already has and maybe I can get some suggestions as to what I might need: he knows the name/sound of each letter upper and lowercase. He has approximately 15 sight words, and can blend 3 letter words. He isn't always 100% consistent in any of these skills, but probably 95% of the time he gets it. I am worried about buying this expensive curriculum and him hating it. I bought Math U See and he loves it---so I didn't mind the investment. I have Teach Your Child in 100 Easy Lessons --- he absolutely hates it! If I bring out that book he says, "Mom can't you teach me using something else!" He enjoys the critical thinking worksheets in various workbooks. We play alot of "fishing" for letters/words, and "shoot" the word/letter. Maybe this will give you an idea of his likes/dislikes...so I can get a clearer picture of whether or not this is a good fit.
