I always try to read the posts here even if I don't have a lot of time to post myself and I have noticed that on posts asking about curriculums...Abeka is not very mentioned very often. I was wondering if anyone can tell me why this is? It does not appear that many people here use Abeka and I was wondering if it was missing a lot as a curriculum? Thanks in advance, Julie
I don't think Abeka is missing a lot, it's just that for us Abeka is too much, it's too rigid and it's too intense. It's great if you have a child that's happy to write all day long, but my children are very active learners, they prefer projects and games and stories to workbooks, color sheets, and writing pages.
I don't like that there are SO many books needed -- well, not needed exactly, but recommended -- to teach a course! There's a student text, and a teacher edition, and a curriculum that tells you what to do when (never used this myself), then there's a quiz book, and a test book, then a TM for each one of those... Then depending on the subject, science has an additional health book (which I also never used) with its TM, quiz/test book, TM for that too, besides a student lab book or project book or whatever. History has additional geography books with their own accompanying TMs -- it's just too much to keep up with for me! Not to mention expensive! Second, I'm not crazy about their testing schedule in the upper levels, as I prefer to have one test per chapter or unit, and they do that for several, then all of a sudden there's only one test that's cumulative for nine-weeks --- we're not on a nine-weeks schedule, and I hate cumulative tests. Then another cumulative for semester, another for next nine-weeks, then a cumulative final. Third, IMHO, I think they cram too much into K3, K4, and K5, and somehow don't get into much "meat" in science or history until 3rd grade. The texts themselves are just fine, but I'll just use them my own way.... I've used lots of their science and history, but not much else.
I think it all depends on how you use it. I don't use A Beka at all this year (9th) because of the same reasons as above. The grammar book tests would be hard to administer without buying the curriculum schedule because they combine different chapters in one test. I feel that they do everything possible to have people spend a lot of money, but that is my opinion. But, in the first year I homeschooled (7th) we did use an A Beka science book and the information was great with lots of pictures and illustrations. I just made up my own tests and used it that way. It was enjoyable. I think a lot of people who are starting out want a "classroom" type of curriculum only to find themselves and their kids burned out.
I agree with the first two responses. Abeka is too ridged and too intense. Also, it is too expensive and a lot of books. I do have many of thier science and history books that I use as references. I don't like the junior high and high school science because I felt that it was designed for a teacher to teach it. As a mom, I did not have a lot of knowledge to fall back on. We needed a book that taught to the student.
Since Abeka is published for all-Abeka private schools, and each student is required to buy all their own books every year, and the school is required to buy all the TM and curriculum schedule books, etc., these folks are pulling down a chunk of change every year! That's why they make them paper-back and to be written in, so they're not supposed to be reusable, so that every student has to buy all-new every year. Some folks are frugal, though, and use theirs gently, so they can re-sell for less.
I don't use an all-in-one curriculum. However, I do use Abeka for grammar and for health/safety/manners. I actually know a few people who use Abeka when they start out because they feel they need an all-in-one when they first start. Most drop it as they become more eclectic in their homeschooling style and pick and choose things that better fit their kids' needs. I taught from Abeka on the secondary level for five years. I didn't care for their middle school literature books or their middle/high spelling/vocabulary books. As I was the department head, I simply altered what I wanted to alter. We went with other literature books in middle school and switched out the spelling/vocab for all secondary to something that did a better job prepping for the SAT. We didn't use the curriculum schedule at all. We went through the grammar books at our pace and did up our own tests. I dropped the grammar from the 11th and 12th grade levels altogether, so we really just used their literature books. Everything comes down to personal taste and what works with your family. As I said earlier, I think most leave at least parts of Abeka behind as they find other curricula that just seem to work better for their kids.
Perhaps it is because I use pieces of A Beka that I see it mentioned more than not. We have used A Beka as a set curriculum and in pieces. Like any curriculum, you do not have to purchase everything and a child still can receive a great education. It all depends on how the parent teaches and how the child learns. I have never used the curriculum schedule, not even when I used A Beka as a whole curriculum. We just moved along at different paces for each subject and had no problems with the tests. Now I purchase individual subjects that we like and the tests that go to that specific subject.
I agree with what's been posted. I think Abeka is a very aggressive, advanced curricula that resembles school at home vs. homeschool. Does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, I like Abeka (we use their history OUR way, not on their schedule). But I have a friend who uses strictly Abeka and loves it, as do her kids. mamabear on here would be of great assistance, both her sons graduated Abeka. HTH.
I use abeka with my dd completely and it works wonderful. Yes, it is expensive and intense but it works well for her. My ds uses some of it. It's all a matter of personal preference and learning styles. I believe that my dd has received an excellent education from abeka. We do follow all the tests and quizzes and it works well for us. For us I haven't posted anything on it mainly because my dd is in 10th grade and we have used it since K so I have a complete understanding of it and I haven't needed to ask any questions.
Thank you all so much for your indepth opinions on Abeka. My son and I have been using it this year and I just wanted to make sure we were not missing a lot of stuff ( ya know always wondering! lol) My son does seem to enjoy using Abeka, and things are really clicking with him now. His reading, spelling and math has improved leaps and bounds since we have started home schooling. I am thinking that this is due more to one on one instruction than the fact that we are using Abeka. My son at this point still wants to take tests ( he is obessed with getting an A) so we are doing the tests for each subject but I have changed the Abeka schedule from testing one subject each day to all of the tests on Fridays. This works much better for our schedule. We also have a large white board that we do a lot of work on instead of on paper so he is not in his "seat" all the time. With his schedule ( which I listed below) he has about 4 worksheets a day and they don't seem to take him very long. Does this look like too much or not enough? His 2nd grade schedule: Math- Abeka Spelling- Abeka Sounds and Letters- Abeka Langauge- Abeka History- Abeka Health- Abeka Science- Abeka Bible- 3rd grade Life Pacs Silent Reading- his choice of book (we get his books from Our Father's library) Reading- He reads to me daily (sometimes the assigned Abeka reader sometimes he reads the bible curriculum to me, lol either one counts) The cursive writing book- I have saved for next year. We also play with his globe for a geography lesson but no written work is done. He also does AWANA so at sometime through the week we try to read a little of his book. I really appreciate the look into the future about the secondary grades. Maybe by then we will be using something else:lol: Sorry so long. Thanks again for your help in advance!
My ds was enrolled with The Abeka Academy for 2nd grade. We used the DVD format. Thought I was going to need a wig (from pulling my hair out) and possibly my kiddo was going to need dentures (getting him to do the work was like pulling teeth). I thought that my standards were high....until Abeka. Now, don't get me wrong, ds received a fantastic education that prepared him for The Mommy Curriculum.....but the calendar drove me nuts. I have a friend that both of her boys have used Abeka exclusively since K-4....and those boys are off the charts (they are 7th and 11th grade). I just can't handle such a strict schedule.
As far as being too much or too little, I think the only way you could know for sure is too observe your child and see if he is getting stressed. At this age they don't need a lot of formal academics, but it may be hard to figure out exactly what to do without a program. So, if he is doing well and not getting stressed it is probably OK. Just keep in mind that if you need to change something down the road it is OK also. Be flexible. You may be worried that you might miss something essential and "ruin" his education, I don't believe you can unless you don't love him and obviously you do love him.
ABEKA ROCKS! We used Abeka K-12 and my kids did VERY well. When they were required to take standardized tests mandated by the state and administered by a third party they scored on the comp above the 90th percentile. My oldest son LOVED Physics and he is currently 21 years old and is studying physics again. Abeka is an EXCELLENT curriculum! My kids actually never found it to be very difficult as some others have suggested. Overall, Abeka will give your kids a good education in my opinion.
I am curious why you are holding off on teaching him cursive until 3rd grade? The Abeka reading books really rock. I like how they correlate with the lang., spelling and vocab books.
I held off with the cursive workbook because he was not printing all his letters correctly when we first started homeschooling. His printing also had a lot to be desired in neatness. He is learning the letters and I can write in cursive for him to read but he will just do the workbook next year.
We use some Abeka. This year (for 2nd grade) we've used language, letters and sounds, spelling, health, science, Our America and a writing tablet. I was blessed to be able to find the heath, science and America readers at a second hand shop for 1,2 and 3rd grade a couple of years ago. I use those books as an outline and we take side trips to stretch stuff out if we want to dig deeper. (they were just the student reader books, no teacher manual so I never did follow what the teacher books say anyway) For 3rd grade I'm going to change a couple of things. I'm not going to buy the girls the student spelling books. I found the teach book at a used book store and I'm going to make up my own work sheets and use spelling city more. I'm also not going to buy any handwriting books, they've pretty much got cursive understood, they just need to perfect it and they don't need a book to do that. I don't use their math because we have something that already works for us. Math seems to be the only subject that I have always bought the teacher book so far. I've got one that struggles a bit and one that breezes through math and it comes in handy to have extra worksheets to help the one that needs it right then.
I agree wholeheartedly with Crabsmom40. If your son is going good, stick with what you are doing. All children are different. What works for one may not work for another.
We use Abeka, mostly. I don't care for the spelling after second grade. It seemed to me the kids spent way too much time trying to memorize more and more words, and not actually learning to spell them. I do what I think works best for the kids. For the most part I like Abeka, but I think their testing is way too heavy.
Abeka is a good program. I use pieces of it. A friend used it exclusively. Here's a funny story about it. She enrolled her son in public school for sixth grade. He started acting concerned about his transition to public school since he'd never been enrolled before. When she questioned him about his fears, he said that he that he was worried that he couldn't sit up straight and still all day like the kids in the Abeka videos! I'm sure he was relieved when he got in school and saw kids slouching at their desks and shuffling their feet! Academically, he had nothing to worry about; he was ahead of his peers.
