abeka homeschooling?

Question

i think that is how it is spelt. it is a homeschool curriculm.
if any one has used it, or knows someone that has, i want to know

how it worked for you/them
how challanging it was
the methods used
how you/them liked it
why you/them chose it
and anything else that you would like to add.

i am currently homeschooled, and i would like to change my curriculm, i am looking at my options.

Answer 1

I was homeschooled from K-10th grade (then went straight to community college where I am now, it's working out great and I graduate this year) and used mainly the abeka curriculum. (I'll mostly go over the high school books here.)

I quit using the math books about 3rd grade when we switched to Saxon math, which I HIGHLY recommend. An alternative to saxon for algebra and geometry are Harold Jacob's books (look for the ones with the Escher illustrations on the cover) which are excellent and make math fun.

Abeka Language/Grammar and Composition (English) is heavy on grammar exercises but they really come in handy when you get to the collegiate level and are the only one in your class who knows about verb tenses, participles etc. They are pretty light on paragraph, short story writing etc. so I would suggest an additional program for that. I got my writing experience from doing collaborative sci-fi writing with online friends on my own time, which has helped immensely. Difficulty wasn't too bad, although they have you do a lot of sentence-parts diagrams, which always seemed a little pointless to me.

I loved the science books up until Chemistry--they're great for a Christian perspective and pretty in-depth, and I think I recall the Biology one talking a bit about dissection. My younger sister is really into this and has amassed a collection of dissection tools, specimens etc. but doesn't use Abeka for it. My only gripe with Chemistry is that they moved really fast and pretty much lost me past the first couple of chapters. They didn't explain things well enough, so unless you tend to have a knack for that subject I recommend getting 1) different curriculum, or 2) someone who can explain it to you as you go.

History and Geography were pretty good in the younger grades but get pretty dry as you get up into the 9-10th grade stuff. I've never particularly cared for the subjects, though, so maybe it's just me. Those ones have "chapter checkups" at the end of every section (same with all the science books) that have you write quite a bit for History. It's good, as it forces you to go back and review critical points and themes if you weren't paying attention in the first place, but detracts a little from the enjoyment of learning about it.

Overall I found Abeka great for thorough, Christian curriculum that moved at a good pace (mostly) and was fairly challenging. The Math and Language books come with teacher guides that give the answers, which is what we used--I would do the work and have my mom check the answers against the guide, then go back and redo it until I got it right. History and science you mostly have to wing it, which could have been part of my problem with chemistry--I never got enough feedback to know if I was even understanding it correctly. If you're worried about the theological stuff getting in the way, don't-- the only time that it ever comes into play is in parts of the science books. Biblical references are made in History and English at times, but hardly enough to bother anyone I'd think. I didn't mind them at all.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I chose the a beka curriculum because I saw their books and was impressed. I also didn't know what to look for at the time. I have since found nothing that I like better although I am partial to the Classical Approach to education. A beka has worked out really well with my family and was not at all challenging. Not to say that its easy to homeschool. But Abeka is not more challenging then other programs. There is a lot of repitition in the early grades that is tedious for me, but my children don't mind and it enables them to keep up with the rapid pace. Abeka is very clear and I am finding many holes in my education filled and struggles I had as I child avoided for my children. The greatest blessing has been in the central role God plays.

Answer 4

I used it for awhile. its one of the top out today. At first its challenging but its really really really really really repetitive like most corriculums. i mean in the begining of all the math books they have like three or four pages on basic addition and subtraction (FYI i used it from 2nd grade to 6th so in four years I was wasting time trying to find stuff worth doing) I don't really remember a whole lot of the specific stuff but i would reccomend looking into virutal schools i don't know where you live but here in Florida they have FLVS.net which is like an online corriculum and you work at your own pace. Anyway abeka is a good corriculum once you get past all the pointless review. My opinion is if you want to learn no matter the corriclum you use your going to learn because you'll find interesting things, ask questions and do research.

Answer 5

I think Abeka has a very good curriculum for homeschoolers.K-12

They have many good subjects, and the teachers were very clear in th lectures.

I used a curriculum with dvds-link.https://www.abeka.com/script/MotelMeetings/default.html

I've been using Abeka since I was in 8th grade and I would recommend it to other homeschoolers; they material they teach is very interesting, and the teachers don't bore you.

My homeschool club also uses Abeka curriculum, and most of my firends have better grades after using Abeka.

http://www.abeka.com

Answer 6

I used it for a year and it was great, but it wasn't a great match for my child. There seems to be a lot of writing (more than I felt was necessary). My son also didn't like their math program. I am a former math teacher and I didn't find any fault with their math program--it's more conventional. [ But my son used to cry when I bring out the ABeka math, so we switched to Math-U-See. It's a wonderful program. ]

Overall it's a good program, but everyone learns differently, so the best thing to do is to check out their hotel exhibit. They bring out just about all the books they carry, so you can look at them at your leisure, and purchase them there if you so choose. If you buy at the hotel exhibit, the shipping is free! You can find one close to you on their website.

Answer 7

My mother used it and it was definitely a challenge! It really prepared me for college and has helped me surpass most of those that have been in public school and most private schools.
I also have used A.C.E. DO NOT USE THAT ONE! It is extremely dated and really set me back for a little while. It was not a challenge and I absolutely hated it.