When I started homeschooling ds at fifth grade, I knew about three: Abeka (too expensive), ACE (not rigorous enough), and Lifepac. We went with all lifepac except for Saxon math until he was done (which is not to say all the way through twelfth grade - circumstances were such that he considered himself done and took his GED, and passed it first time, a year ahead of his former ps classmates). At the time I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread, and this was in the days BC (Before Color). We just finished our tenth year of schooling Other People's Kids, and we still use some lifepac stuff, mostly history or science, but not as often as we used to. There's nothing really wrong with lifepac curriculum, but for Reading, LA, and Math I find Christian Light Education soooo much better in its new Sunrise Editions! I really really wish that there had been Sunrise Editions back in the day. Originally, the CLE people had a contract to "borrow and tweak" the Lifepac curriculum. But since then, they've been working on writing their own, which are the Sunrise Editions. The reading is separate from the LA, so you can have two different levels of these if you need them, and each one is a more complete course than the Lifepac which is combined. The LA and the Math of CLE are both built on an incremental spiral, so a little new lesson followed by mixed review which is distributed over many lessons. Sometimes with Lifepac, I didn't really see the logic of the sequence, but with CLE I feel it's much clearer. With Sunrise Editions, the lessons are laid out daily for you, so there's no guessing or figuring how many pages to do per day, like there is in Lifepac, and the quizzes are regularly spaced and removable before you issue the Lightunit, where Lifepac's are included within the unit at the end of each section, which might vary from one to five per lifepac. That said, I must note that much of CLE's Bible, Science, and H&G courses are still in the older Lifepac format, as they have not yet been rewritten. Still, those which are still Lifepac format are more than a dollar less expensive each one than the Lifepacs they were "borrowed and tweaked" from, $3.20 as compared to $4.75 each. Of course, if color is worth that much to you, maybe you don't mind. In ten years, not one of my 37 students so far has complained about lack of color.
I heart Lifepacs! We used MUS for math our first two years, but next year we'll be using all LP and SOS (the digital version). I LOVE the fact that, even in second grade, my oldest can work through most of the book on his own. I just adore the worktext format.
I have always wanted to use Lifepacs but on such an extreme budget, I never could swing it. I love the way they look,though. the format is just what we need.
I am looking for everything but math. We are already doing Horizons for math. I was thinking of Lifepacs because in 3rd and up I want them to do SOS.
Leissa, with CLE you get the workbook format for most things, and you can buy just a few workbooks at a time, and they're cheaper per workbook than Lifepacs. Would that help?
We liked them. I used them pretty much for the first 9 years of oru homeschool, then I found out that not all the kids were enjoying them anymore and started inserting other things. After 9 th grade they branched out to other things, SOS, was great too! Ds is my last home schooler he did up to 4th grade did 4th with SOS, and then kept the sos science andd went to sos math this year. We do not like thier math for High school levels but were pretty okay with it up to there. Some people have called them boring but my kids really liked the people in the younger grades they followed a family of people on trips for geography, they liked the Bible the most! They are pretty good with Lang arts, and dd knows her civics from the jr/sr levels that repeat the different aspects a few times. So over all we liked them and if you use them I have some teacher books in some of the grades!
I have to insert an opposing view. I am not going to say they are bad for everyone, but there are some things to be aware of: (I only have experience with 7th and 8th) 1. In the math there is little or unsatisfactory explanation 2. The history is dry as day old bread left out in the desert. My son was in tears and he LOVES history. 3. Some of the stuff covered may be great to learn, but seemed a little random IMO. For instance, in the 8th grade math they spend a page (or several) talking about numbers representing something and not being a value in themselves (or something like that). It left me wondering--WHY use up precious space with this? 4. The grammar doesn't seem organized in a fashion to really "get" something before you move on. I wanted to like them, I even ordered the 4 basic subjects for this year (last spring), but then I ended up putting some back for consignment and the lady who ran the store put some back on the shelves without charging me. My suggestion is:Buy a few individual booklets and test them out on your kids first. It is a lot easier to waste $20-$30 then waste hundreds.
I use LP and we like them. The history is a little dry, but that won't kill them! I supplement it with library videos, they like that. I use horizons for math though. never tried the LP for math. I actually have a 4th grade Language and 4th History, w teachers guide, if anyone can use it, I'd sell each set for $10 Plus the shipping, PM me if anyone wants them.
I started out using LP's in K when I started homeschooling. We tossed them a month or so later. They bored my kid to tears. With all of the curriculum I have seen and reviewed, it is my opinion that Lifepacs are a little "behind". They are definately not for the advanced student. If your student is average or struggling they may work for you. Please - No offense to anyone using it. If you buy it, I would get only one subject first, get it used from www.homeschoolclassifieds.com just to see if you like it before you invest a lot into it.
I really did NOT like the language arts. We liked the math - but my kids are moving on....neither kid liked the history. Science - the same.... neither really ever got into it. For year 1 - it was great..... I was able to get through everything without being overly stressed. I actually got more stressed when I started finding other stuff. DH wasn't happy with the LifePacs though which is why we started changing them.
The first real curriculum I bought was Lifepacs. I used for 2nd, 3rd and part of 4th Grade. Also, used the Math for my middle this year. If your child is a workbook type child, I think they're great. If it's not their learning style, it can be difficult. I like their pacing, I like their subjects. The one flaw, is that they seem to be written to a school setting, so there were some activities that were sometimes hard to complete without a "class". We take a more CM, Classical type approach now...but it was starting out with a "box" that gave me confidence to break out on my own. I think a "box" is good to start with for a newbie. That's my .02!
I have had to skip a couple of activities or modify them becuase they were written for a class. But that doesn't come up often. You can also buy kits of the necessary Science supplies from Home Science Tools. They box up the items you'll need based on the grade and curriculum and LP is one of the curriculum they box for.
I personally do not like Lifepacs. I don't care for the student driven workbook approach. However, my dd wanted to try the math program. She LOVES it. In fact, she is understanding math better than before. Keep in mind, she is a bit of a math oriented girl...but fell a bit behind because she just couldn't get a few things. For some reason long division threw her. Well, I got Lifepacs and now she understands almost every concept without my explanation. I am surprised how well she is doing. I have seen lifepac books for science and language and did not like it at all. I have heard the bible is good though. I am undecided if we will stick with lifepacs for my dd. Now that she is back on track, I may try teaching textbooks. But...it's up to her...she knows what works for her. My son is using something else...but I am considering it for him next year. He is a workbook type kid...and likes doing things on his own. So, it really has to do with what works for your child. I would NOT use lifepacs for every subject...but again if your child excels with it then it go with it. I don't like it at all...lol...but I'm not the student. lol
