...come to me! I'm intruiged by this curriculum. I'm done w/ mfw, i'm done w/ sonlight, i'm done trying to pull it all together on my own...I need something that sticks! What do you think of it and why do you love it? It seems so popular and I know next to nothing about it. fill me in! what's all the fuss about? And for you a beka haters...why the hate? Help a sister out!
I love their language program. But this year I only purchased Language A. I didn't buy the readers or the spelling this year. I stopped using the readers and speller because I wanted to get away from the usual.
I forgot to add that I used only A Beka for the first couple of years. As a whole, I liked it. This year I went with BJ Math because I didn't care for the way A beka's math started to flow. It progresses to fast once you get 2nd grade.
I have a friend who has used only Abeka for years. Her sons do tremendously well with Abeka. They score very high on the standardized tests...if that means anything..but I thought I would throw that in. She doesn't see it lacking in any area but she never tried anything else because it has worked so well for her. I have used Abeka for K-2 grade. Beyond that I personally would not use it. I think in the younger grades it has an awesome phonics and reading program. I think the other subjects are done well also but phonics and reading are where Abeka shine. Now, this is just my assessment...but I think the math is lacking. I think beyond the younger grades it gets way too repetative and old. However, some kids do very well with this type of learning and may need the extra work. However, I think they could have done away with about 1/2 the workbook pages. I didn't care for the science as to me it seemed like an afterthought. The math moved quickly but it was boring...maybe because I have a visual learner. I think it depends on your student to be honest. My son would do awesome with any workbook based program. He is an auditory learner. My dd needed something more interesting and hands on. However, if not for Abeka in the early years she would still be on short vowel words...LOL. I don't hate Abeka I just don't care for it past the 2nd grade. I am sorry I can't really sound intelligent about this...LOL...it seems my main complaints are minor. So what do I know? lol. I just got so sick of Abeka's program and my kids did also. I am sure you can just not use all the workbook pages if you find it repetative. Abeka has shows all the time. I encourage you to go and check out the material for yourself. If you purchase at a show you don't pay for shipping. I think the website will have more details.
Go online on order a sample dvd. This will show you more of the abeka dvds but you still can see the books some. I have used abeka for some subjects 1st-5th and completely from 6-8th. My dd excels in it. We do the videos. She likes the book work. My ds is more of a hands on type learner and some of the subjects would just move to fast for him or have too much info to take in - in such a short period of time. Such as spelling and history. We changed our spelling program just a month ago and he is getting A's! Now like I said my dd gets A's in the same subject my ds couldn't get. So it all depends on what type of learner you have. I don't know what grade your looking for because I know in the younger grades I added material because I didn't think it was enough and the kids always seemed to have wanted more. We also like the Christian view point. Hopefully Ohiogma will pop in - she uses abeka also.
We have been using Abeka (K-8) and Abeka Academy (9-12) from the very beginning. In my opinion and my experience: It is already being used at private schools and at the Abeka Academy in Florida. It was made available to homeschoolers. It is well thought out, very organized and just an overall wonderful curriculum. It is an excellent curriculum and my ds' will be graduating from Abeka Academy this year. They are well above their actual grade and they LOVE it! I have nothing negative to say about it, all I can say is my kids are proof that it is a FANTASTIC curriculum! I give it an A+!
I have only used Abeka science & that for grade 7. I felt is was lacking. It doesn't encourage analyticl thinking, the weighing & comparing of evidence or really teach the scientific method. I moved to Apologia for that reason.
I started out with Abeka 11 years ago when my oldest was starting kindergarten. I liked it because it was so well laid out. I was worried about being able to homeschool 'right' and the daily lesson plans really helped. I kept using Abeka because my children excelled with it. Their phonics program is the best I've ever seen or heard of. I like the repetition in their math because it reinforces what has already been learned. We did eventually move on to other curriculum for history and science. I don't think there is anything wrong with Abeka science and history, we just wanted to try something new. The Abeka science doesn't go as deep into the topics as we would like. Right now my oldest is doing Abeka Academy and she loves it, I love it. Her classes are equivalent to college prep or Ap classes in the public schools. Some of what she is doing in high school I didn't get until college. Abeka is a good, strong curriculum, I highly recommend it. If you would like to be able to look at the books before you decide, they do displays all over the country. They will have all the books for each grade for you to look through. You can find the display nearest you on their website, www.abeka.com. This is our first year with Apologia and we love it! My 7th grader is doing the Physical Science and it's been great!
I didn't have much time last night to write out my response so I did it rather quickly. DITTO! To all the positive things said about about Abeka. Well stated.
With any curriulum, you're going to get some that love it, some that hate it and some that are in-between. So I agree with what they said--find a show near you and go see it hands-on, where you can look through the books and ask questions! We used A Beka some....The Math, Language, History, and Science mostly. Plus one year of the Spelling. By 3rd grade my kids hated the math. We didn't feel it was too advanced, it was just the lay-out and I don't remember what all. So we switched math. The Language was OK, but again, didn't "click" with our kids. We liked the Science for awhile! And we loved the 5th grade history, that was awesome! We finally moved on to other things. We're not doing a set curriculum, we use different things that fit my childrens' learning styles better. If you go to a show and decide to get it, it could be the best thing for your kids and just what they like! I hope that would be the case! BUT, if it happens NOT to fit, just know that you're not the only one that's happened to, and it's OK. Just regroup and try other things! Best wishes in your decisions!
I have to agree that ABeka is great for k-2nd grades, but not so sure about other grades. My daughter started out in a private school and did Abeka prek-1st. Wonderful program for her! I started out hsing with the plan to continue with Abeka, but ran into some glitches. Biggest complaint is all the busywork. Dd hates to write anything - much more oral or hands-on child - so Abeka no longer fit her that well. We are still using it for math, but feel this is our last year with it. I do cross out a lot of the busywork/repitition in the workbooks, but still moves quite fast. I do plan to do ABeka language next year, though. They have a very strong language problem all through high school. Our plan is to alternate-one year with Abeka language and next with something more of the Charlotte Mason style. Keep in mind that each child is different. What doesn't work for my child, can certainly work for yours. Best wishes in your decision!
I'm not a huge A Beka fan. There are some good things. My ds used the Language B last year along with Easy Grammar and it was good. I used it exclusively my 2nd year at homeschooling (grades 1 and 4). I thought the science and history for the lower grades was shallow, pretty much like a Sunday School lesson ("God gave us ears to hear." "God gave us eyes to see." - kind of thing). We had to add much to it. The 4th grade science and history were much better, but seemed to focus on memorization of lots of facts rather than real learning. I agree with whoever said it did not teach analytical thinking. A Beka was designed for private schools, so it is set up for classroom learning. If you want the school-at-home approach, it's likely that you will like A Beka. If you want more hands-on learning, you may not like it.
Thanks so much ladies. I will definatly hit the display the end of this month. But...the person running those is obviously trying to SELL something, I wanted first hand, nothing to gain or lose opinions before I set out. You girls (as always)ROCK!
I just wanted to add - We are using the English 9 setup for my son this semester. It has everything together in lesson plans and for the inexperienced, I love that part! I have to admit that it has LOT of work for them to be doing, especially as he is comparing it to the public school he came from. He likes the learning more at one time part, but sometimes struggles to catch it all before we are supposed to be moving on. A lot of the Grammar and Comp portions we review a 2nd or 3rd day to make sure he has grasped it completely.
I am leaning toward this for Grace for K. Samantha's preschool used it and she is a great reader and has always been above level/ I'm not sure if I will just get phonics or the whole K program.
Okay can someone please tell me is there a place to order a complete Abeka phonics set for K??? I went to the website and it looks like I have to pick and choose and put it together myself. I am not going to do that!
WOW!!!! That is expensive!!!!!!! Explode the Code is much cheaper. Maybe I ought to rethink this. Thanks for the link MamaBear!
I do think A Beka has a good beginning phonics program. I bought it for my dd9 when she was younger, but because of her perception problems, it was way too much for her. I went back to ETC, and it worked better. Reading is a struggle for her, no matter what we use. I just try to make it a tear-free as possible. I just found the Phonics 1 book I bought for her and may actually try it out on dd6. She's been using the ETC, but I think she could handle the A Beka. One thing I LOVE about the A Beka phonics is the way it has them mark the vowels as they learn the phonics rules. I took that idea and use it with the ETC.
I only used Letters & Sounds K for my ds5 and he is reading pretty well. He is half way through Abeka Arithmetic 1 already. I love the Letters & Sounds K workbook. It has such a solid foundation for reading. It really teaches them instead of them just memorizing the word.
