In regards to Science and History. I use Horizons from Abeka for the rest on the basics. My daughter will be in 2nd grade next year and that is what I am looking for. She is very much a workbook loving child. I have read different post that Bob Jones is boring but I have not read any thing about Alpha Omega Lifepacs. I am looking for pros and cons. Thanks, Janet
We are using Lifepacs right now. My daughter is in 2nd grade. She LOVES them. They do have suggested hands on activities in the teachers books which we try to add to it too. My daughter doesn't seem bored at all. And we were talking with her about what to do next year. WE had planned to switch to SOS, but she said she really liked the workbooks, so we're going with workbooks another year. I LOVE the way they weave scripture thru it, so if you're looking for one that reinforces bible as well as teach the subject, it's great. Hope this helps.
Bob Jones Science is dull, but I don't feel that way about the English 2, Math 1 and Spelling 1 we use. I like how nicely it's laid out.
I am leaning toward Lifepacs for Emily for fourth grade next year. We are going to a curriculum fair next month so I can decide.
I used Life paks for the first 8 years of my dds13, and ds15, wiht exception of SOS for Science. They did fine with them really enjoyed them in the younger years. They are colorfully done with cute characters to help the younger ones learn. We found as they get older and its more self pace and self instruction that they got boring for my kids because its so much read read read answer answer... I even took turns reading with them and we would sit and discuss the dif things, but in JR high and High it seems its not as enjoyable for them. ds9 used them up to this year and was fine with them but we were given SOS for free so using it for now. I personaly am bored after all these years so to get me fired up I am researching other people. They are inexpensive and yes have lots of helps in the teacher books, just remember to use them! It is easy in younger grades to grade without the books and forget you have them, they also have wonderful schedule suggestions and a lay out for lesson plans that you can photocopy. so I do recomend them if you have not been using them for so many years haha!
I do not have experience with Alpha Omega so I cannot compare it to BJ. However, I use Bob Jones for spelling and english and I really like it. My dd likes it also. I don't think it is boring. I do agree that BJ science is kinda dull. I have heard good things about both. Perhaps you can get a sample of each on their websites.
oh and we are trying out Bob Jones English for the first time so I can't say if its boring yet, but from what I have seen it looks exciting!
Alpha Omega has several options available. Likepacs, workbook based cur. Horizons, workbook based cur. SOS which is a computerized curr. based on Lifepacs Weaver which is a Unit Study type cur. Horizons is similar to Lifepacs, but a bit more spiral learning and less mastery oriented. I have used BJU for Bible and History/Social Studies this year for 1st grade. I did not use the teachers manuals however. To compare these to each other, I would need to see the manual for the BJU to see how the overall package is. Based just on the history student book it seem a bit light. I simple use it as a map of what to teach and we explore the topics that are laid out in the text using the internet and books etc.
We just started BJU Science 1 this week. I picked up the teachers manual and cassette tape at a local consignment shop for 10 bucks. The lady wouldn't take the plastic wrap off so I could look at it there so I had to buy it. I'm glad I did because I saved myself some money and even though it wasn't my original plan for science, it has things we wouldn't have covered with the science I was going to get. We just finished the first unit and I'll be posting pics in my blog of the lapbook we made. The teachers book is excellent, lots of neat ideas and hands on activities that really get the point across. Blew me away that dd can tell me the path of the sun, phases of the moon, why starts twinkle, ect. She learned all of that this week by doing the lapbook and the activities that are in the teachers manual. The student worksheets are minimal. Very little written work- at least for the 1st grade. Each lesson only has one sheet to do. Yes it could be dull, but I think if you really read the teachers book and get creative it can be a lot of fun. I know we had fun this week! We probably won't do every unit in the book either because some things we've covered since pulling dd from ps back in December. If it gets to the point where it's just not exciting anymore I'll be ordering noeoscience. I can't say anything about lifepac because I've never looked at them. I do know a lot of homeschoolers HERE do not like lifepacs in general and liked the science even less. Most of them use Apologia or Sonlight for the younger grades.
Wow missin the science is the best part of Life Paks, but SOS version gives you a great video view of the experiments, we liked the science because it gave us experiments, and stuff... the one thing I am keeping this year is my SOS SCIENCE!
See I think there are a lot of great ideas in the BJU science- we're using grade 1. Dd loves hands on stuff and this is working well. This week we worked on pushes and pulls/gravity/force, ect. We had a lot of fun with it too. Like I said, I have no experience with Lifepacs, just not a lot of people here don't like them. Most of the people here use sonlights science for the younger grades and apologia for the upper grades.
I have looked at the Lifepacs and Horizons by Alpha Omega publishing side by side and read about both. I choose Horizons for Math and we have enjoyed it for both K and 1st. We will use it again for 2nd. I will likely use Horizons again for Phonics/Reading etc. We used something else this year but I feel that we are over our hump and Horizons will be a good match for where are at now. As for the BJU social studies we used Heritage Studies 1. It is basically an American History book. It covers the idea of Europeans coming to this continent to find cultures existing here. It covers the concept that various cultures existed here with variations that concur with climate and terrain. the early colonies and pilgrims are covered. early American times are compared and contrasted with modern. the last part of the book is basically sociology type concepts. Families, community, etc are covered. The student book does not go into much detail. I used it primarily as a set of illistrations and maps etc. It also served as a roadmap for me as I would take the topics covered and expand on them. We also keyed our science lessons to this. Overall it is a bit light as just the student book, I cannot speak for the overall program, if used as intended. It served our purposes well.
okay I am lookign at the heritage older kids stuff, 5th and 9th grade stuff.... but not sure. its so hard to tell with some of this stuff what grade it is for?
Missin...I'm surprised to hear that too. I love the science. We do the lifepacs not the SOS, but it has just enough book work/experiment work. We've really had a good time with it. I love the teachers manual's suggestions for extra/fun activities to enhance the learning.
Hi, thought I would toss my two cents in! I use lifepacs for language arts and I am considering using them for social studies. I like the language arts because they cover everything. I think they are pretty good at keeping kids on track and learning what they should be. I don't buy the teachers books because I also have been using Tommy Tales. They are books and printables found at learnings pages. (You print the books and put them together) They are pretty cool, plus they are free! My boys really like them! I don't care for SOS at least not for my kids, they are only 8 and in 3rd grade. I tried SOS math and Social Studies. (ICK) Other than that I use Saxon for math because I like the program and understand how it works. I use Abeka for Science and Health Safety and Manners right now, I'm not overly impressed with them. I know people who love Abeka and other people who don't. Have a great day!
maybe it's just us weirdos in VA lol. I am definetly using this for science as soon as we are done with this BJU book though. www.noeoscience.com
We have not used Bob Jones but we are useing life pac Alpha Omega for math and Lang, my son doesn't like them he is bored with them. I'm not very fond of them either. (This is my 1st year and I might not be doing them the correct way). The math is too easy for him. he is in 3rd grade this year. He has not been happy with them. We are going for something different for him for next year. Tc
I thought VA was for lovers not weirdos! LOL That looks really cool!!! Hey Twillite! I LOVE learningpage!!! I used their other units for my daughter for kinder/1st grade. I'm going to use the Tommy Tales for my son. He's going to be doing 1st grade this year...and i think he'd LOVE Tommy Tales. I know that they are a little above the 1st grade level (written for 3rd grade, right?). BUT...I figured I could help him out and he'd like it. Thanks for posting that you did that...I was feeling unsure about doing it...but now that I see someone else has, I feel better about it.
Tommy Tales is so awesome. My boys love it. I don't know what level but with help any one can do them! We used the Pirate story and burried hidden treasure at our house! They kids love them. I think they are very educational and a totally cool resource. You could almost teach an entire reading, language arts course using Tommy Tales don't you think? Now they have a bunch of the stories in spanish! We are still using Tommy Tales. We even color the pages.
