Just wondering if anyone has heard of A.C.E. curriculum and if anyone has any opinions they could share with me about it. I have heard it is an easy to understand, self teaching curriculum that you can use at your own pace and pretty inexpensive. I also have heard that the math gets pretty hard to follow once you hit algebra. I have a ds in 5th grade and he gets "it" pretty easily. My dd is in 3rd grade and has quite a bit harder time grasping the concept of things. We pulled her out of school half way through the year this year because she was struggling to keep up and I didn't want her to get so far behind that she lost hope (we already planned on her being home next school year to hs...we just started a little sooner!). Leslie
ACE Curriculum My youngest daugther used ACE from Pre-K through 7th grade. There are 12 booklets per subject per year. Subjects are Math, English, Social Studies, Science, Word Builing. Each booklet has an answer book. Every morning the student sets goals in each subject, as approved by the teacher (you), generally 3-5 pages per subject in grade school, more in HS. As the student finishes math, she goes to a place away from her desk with no writing utensils to where the answer books are kept and using a red pen, scores her work. The answers that are wrong have to be corrected immediately and re-scored. She does this in each of her subjects until she's done. If it's okay with you, THEN she's allowed to work ahead in favorite subjects or ones she's behind in. If you are not comfortable with her scoring her own work, you can do it yourself. My oldest daughter used this from 2nd through 8th grade, and when she got into the higher math and needed help that I couldn't figure out, I would read the answer book, see the formula used, and instruct her through it. There are progress tests through out the booklets, and a final test. Each subject also has a bible verse that must be passed as part of the final test, they're short the first few years, but get longer as the student progresses in the grades. You can choose to use the program wherein you purchase the curriculum and have the company keep track of the grades and such, which helps with transcripts later as the ACE grading is different than most others. The other program is to purchase the Parent Home School kit, which shows you how to train yourself and your student how to use the materials, and trains you how to keep track of their work. You can be as involved in the material/teaching as you want to be, or not. The idea is to teach the student how to read materials and in the progress tests, it's open book so they then can look for their answers, if they are stuck. The final test is closed book, and must be a C or above to pass. They offer a Placement Testing kit, which would be good before you purchase anything. If you choose to order all from them, they offer discounts for full grade kits, even if it's grade 6 of English and grade 5 of Math, etc. As long as it's 12 booklets per subject, all 5 subjects, you qualify. I would suggest that if you are going to do this all on your own, you get the parent kit. I spent one year at the school as an assistant, the next year myself and another woman supervised 4th through 8th grade, and another year we taught kindergarten. It's not hard, just a new system to learn. Hope this helps!
Oh, and I think the cost was under $300 for the full year, but if you keep the answer books in good shape, they give you a partial refund on them.
never heard of this program need to go look this one over. still looking for something for my dd's for next year.
Here's their site. I know a lot of missionaries use it as it's portable and Christian based. http://www.schooloftomorrow.com/
I started homeschooling my 2 children, now ages 10 and 8, last July. We used ACE Paces for 2nd and 4th grade. We used the 5 subjects listed by moesje. It went very well. We finished all the Paces in 6 months, finishing one every 2 weeks. I got the Paces again for 3rd and 5th grade, adding in the Reading & Literature Pace. This time it didn't go so well. In fact it went so bad that after the 4th set of Paces, we quit using them. I am going to a different curriculum. The Paces were not the problem, me and my kids were. We weren't structured enough to keep them up. I was not using the keys to grade them. I was doing it myself. For various reasons, I was falling behind in getting the grading done. Of course, this was not helping my kids any. By the time I would realize they were not understanding what they were supposed to be learning, it was too late. Then Paces started disappearing (with the help of my kids) and were nowhere to be found. As I said, the problem was us not the Paces. We've had a bumpy road so far if you can't tell. Personally, I liked the Paces. I liked how it presented most of the material. It, however, did not work well with the way my kids learn. We're working through trial-and-error to see what we can find that works for us. Darlene
Darlene, I did find that scoring the work myself would cause the kids to fall behind. When they were in the private school, they scored their own work. One of the things that the kids were required to have was a "magazine" holder, where they would put all their PACES. When we homeschooled for a time, I kept that idea and had the kids do their work in the dining room, and when they were done for the day, their PACES went into the magazine holder. It went well for us mostly because my girls and I were very familiar with the cirriculum and the procedures that the school used. We just followed that. No matter what you use, it's a new system you have to learn and you have to learn how to organize it so you and the kids can use it. The only reason we might not be using it with our oldest daughter (who we might be pulling out of public school now), is because she's also spent some time on Alpha Omega's (AOP) computerized system, and she likes that. So I may use some ACE to supplement on electives, but the core will be AOP.
Thank you so much for the detailed info...that is exactly what I was hoping for! I am really leaning toward this program. It sounds like something we would do well with. And I love that it is not too expensive...of course, I would pay it if it was to ensure my kids get a good education!! Thanks again.... Leslie
Yes, they go through highschool, and I think they even have some college electives (don't quote me on that, though). Their website address is http://www.schooloftomorrow.com/
Deena, Post here what you think about it. I was looking it over today. What I seen looked pretty darn good. But, would like to know what you think. Thanks alot
I will, Kris (at least I hope I remember)! I was having a hard time seeing exactly how to run it all (The ACE program and paces, and what you get for your money and stuff like that), so I'm going back to it later. My younger two have stringed instrument adjudications today (group---the Homeschool orchestra they're in, and personal ones, where they play by themselves, tomorrow), so I have to get going now. I may have time to look at it again tonight.
Kris, I met someone at the library yesterday that had been hs'd herself. She used the A.C.E. curriculum and loved it. She plans on using it for her kids when they reach school age. She explained it alot like Moesje. She said it is nice because it is a self paced program...so you can work as quickly as you want through a book and if you need to slow down to better grasp a concept, you can and you don't get behind. (at least she never did) Anyway, I love the flexibility of this program. No one seems to have any negatives about it! Blessings, Leslie
Thanks Leslie that helps to know. I love to find out as much information about a program before I order everything. I will look it at better tonight and see if it will work for my girls. thanks again
There are two ways you can get started: One is to just order the testing materials and test her and see where she's at. The second option is to order the Parent Home School Kit for $20, which has the testing kit in there. The system is like this: 1001-1012 is first grade, 1013-1024 is second grade, etc. Every 12 books is a grade. She may test in the middle of a grade, and that's okay, the test kit tells you what grade and what booklet she should start in. Then if you want all ACE curriculum, you order: 12 booklets and answer keys for Math, 12 booklets and answer keys for English 12 booklets and answer keys for Social Studies 12 booklets and answer keys for Science 12 booklets and answer keys for Word Building (which is spelling) On the Store page the way it's listed is that first price of the kit has 12 books of whatever subject. Then you have to scroll down on the left hand side and find the corresponding score keys. The score keys can be purchased as a full grade set, or broken down based on where your daughter tests at. Make sense? If not, you can always call and talk to somone there and they can either walk you through the online ordering, or ordering over the phone. The score keys have hole punches in them, so get some 3 ring binders to keep them in, that way they don't get lost and you can recupe some money back on them for your next purchases. And they don't get lost! Moejse
