A Beka homeschooling?

[kc10family]

I am looking at A Beka.
Do you?
Have you?
Would you?
Why or why not?
If not then what?

Thank you for your time and infomation.

 

[momofbuzzfan]

I am looking at A Beka.
Do you?
Have you?
Would you?
Why or why not?
If not then what?

Thank you for your time and infomation.

I have,I do, and I would I have a 1st grader this year and we have used ABEKA for this year and last. I wasn't a big fan of it at first, but I like their phonics, so I think I will continue to use it until at least 3rd grade. We weren't sure if we would continue to homeschool (we still take it year by year) and the school that we would probably send him to uses ABEKA. I am type A and like the "boriness" and structure of Abeka, but some find it to be too much paperwork (more "schooly")etc... My DS is very active and would probably enjoy a more creative curriculum, but his mommy just isn't that creative yet I like to have it all laid out and ready to go. A friend of mine uses Sonlight and loves it! It is a reading based curriculum so there is A LOT of reading involved! I think you should go with what works for you and your kiddos!! I hope this helps!

 

[Tink561]

It really depends on what you want.

My oldest son used Abeka in private school in kindergarten and first grade. Since we've been homeschooling we've used their math a couple of times and it was good.

I don't use it now because I don't care for textbooks for every subject. We like to incorporate a lot of literature into our history and do hands-on projects for history and science. I also prefer a more broad vision than Abeka gives. They are very Christian oriented ,and though we are Christians, we prefer to see all views and compare/contrast.

We use Sonlight and are pleased with it for history. My sons do classes at a local museum for science. We use Teaching Textbooks for upper leverl math and Rosetta Stone for Mandarin. We use a variety of things for language arts.

If you're just comparing them to other religious textbook publishers I think they're really good. If you're open to other things, I would skip it.

 

[stczt]

We used ABEKA for pre-k through 1st. Thier phonics is awesome and the books are sooo cute my kids loved them. But for higher grades we started using other programs.

 

[Tink561]

I agree about their phonics for the very early grades. My oldest is by far the best reader and speller of my group and he's the only one who used Abeka.

 

[DisneyBrat]

We used Abeka DVD and it was good. The only problem we had was english UGGGHHH my worst subject when I was in school. My kids were in the 6th and 8th grade. The teacher wasn't clear on how things worked and as our luck would have it they used the same teacher for our 9th grade year also. We are now using Alpha/Omega They dont care for this curriculm. It is designed for a child who can work alone and do ALOT of reading and try to figure out how things work. The teacher key doesn't give examples just answers and that is the hard part for me to figure out how they came up with an answer and explain that to my sons. Abeka for the younger grades im sure would be awesome plus they would be building on the harder subject in Jr and Sr high where my kids came out of public school and never had some of the things Abeka was teaching.. Ex diagraming a sentance and the strong phonics.

 

[Whosemom]

We don't home school, but our school uses some abeka and I have a couple of friends who home school with it.

I second the notion that the phonics program is great. The math program seems to be good for "memorize your facts" but a little weak on concept stuff like geometyr, patterns, ... (don't ask anything too specific, that's hearsay from both the teachers who choose the curriculum at school and one of the HS parents).

Those two taken together, I guess say they are really good at the rote memorization stuff, and face it, those are the building blocks for everthing else. So, maybe a good place to start k-1 or even 2, but keep your ears and eyes open for what you want to use next.

 

[macrosswife]

I teach K at a school that homeschools on M/W, and then they're on campus with me T/Th/F. (We do use the homeschool edition, though.) We use Abeka in Pre-K, K,1st and 2nd.
The first year I taught, I didn't like it. It seemed very repetitive and I felt like I was "beating the dead horse", so to say. The next year I realized that it systematically teaches kids to read, and read well. That was confirmed when I watched one of their training DVDs. Once I had confidence in the curriculum, I understood better why they do what they do.
HTH!!

And kudos to you for taking such a huge step!! Homeschooling is not for everyone, but I have an incredible amount of respect for those who choose (or those who feel led) to do so!!!!


~Kimber

ETA-Just re-read some of the previous posts. We use Shurley Grammar starting in 1st and going through at least 5th (maybe higher, but I'm not sure...they're upstairs and I'm downstairs, LOL!). Starting in 3rd grade, we use literature units in lieu of Abeka.
And just for a point of reference, we use Saxon Math, but one grade level ahead. (So my K students are using the 1st grade math.)

 

[horseshowmom]

Do you? I did when I homeschooled my daughter.

Have you? from the preschool materials through graduation

Would you? I'd select the same curriculum in a heartbeat.

Why or why not?
It presents you with an organized curriculum that provides excellent coverage of all subjects. It helps you learn to learn (and not just memorize facts).

Among other things, we were working toward a good ACT score and the hope of scholarship money. My daughter made a 32 on her ACT and was accepted into the Early Entry Pharmacy Honors program. She's a sophomore and has received enough scholarship money to cover her expenses plus some left over for extras. We give A Beka the credit for prepaing her. She currently has a 4.0 GPA and helps students who were in AP courses in public high school.

However, A Beka is advanced, and if a child had been in public school for a few years and was struggling, they would probably have a hard time with A Beka (because they would be even further behind in A Beka than they already were in public school).

 

[kc10family]

Thank you all for the information.

I guess I should expand.... I am not as "great" as some of you have typed, I could not homeschool but I want to supplement and participate in her learning. I figure I could find some information and we could use it as fun learning at home that should follow her school. DD #1 is in a private Christain school and DD#2 will attend soon. I figure if we took the time to supplemant a little then they would love school the way I never did. I hate to read and just can't stand school. I don't want them to be like tha so I want to show them home much fun we can have with it.
Also if I supplement for a few years we can all have special "homework" time together and share in so learning that I wont be doing with them at home.
I hope you don't think I am crazy or strange for not homeschooling alone.

If I may ask a few more questions.
Do you think it would be just fine to by items off ebay? Or does the ABeka site sell things to folks who are not enrolled in a homeschool system?
Do you have any idea of other places to buy ABeka things such as the dvd, cd's books, worksheets.

I think with what you all have said, ABeka would be a great choice to supplement and be a different part of my girls learning.

I can't thank you all enough for the help. Have a wonderful day.

 

[horseshowmom]

A Beka will happily sell you anything that you want to buy regardless of whether you're enrolled as a homeschooler with them or not. Of course, the "workbooks, etc." are generally tied to their curriculum/books.

In your case, I'd probably go with ebay if at all possible, because it will more than likely be cheaper. You can pull up their website to compare prices.

My only caution (so that you don't defeat your stated purpose) is to be careful that they don't feel like they've had to work at school all day and now we have to do work at home too (in addition to already assigned homework).

That said, supplementing the regular curriculum can be a good thing. You may or may not want to use A Beka.

Good luck!

 

[kc10family]

A Beka will happily sell you anything that you want to buy regardless of whether you're enrolled as a homeschooler with them or not. Of course, the "workbooks, etc." are generally tied to their curriculum/books.

In your case, I'd probably go with ebay if at all possible, because it will more than likely be cheaper. You can pull up their website to compare prices.

My only caution (so that you don't defeat your stated purpose) is to be careful that they don't feel like they've had to work at school all day and now we have to do work at home too (in addition to already assigned homework).

That said, supplementing the regular curriculum can be a good thing. You may or may not want to use A Beka.

Good luck!

Thank you for the info.
I agree with not a lot of extra, but I have to tell you last night DD#1 and I spend about 20 minutes doing some worksheets from a book I bought at Costco (this is why I decided to check out ABeka or some other homeschool stuff) and she LOVED it. We laughed and talked about time (clock time) and a few other things. I enjoyed it as much as she did.
I will check ebay as well as the ABeka site.
I am so excited!!!

 

[horseshowmom]

Thank you for the info.
I agree with not a lot of extra, but I have to tell you last night DD#1 and I spend about 20 minutes doing some worksheets from a book I bought at Costco (this is why I decided to check out ABeka or some other homeschool stuff) and she LOVED it. We laughed and talked about time (clock time) and a few other things. I enjoyed it as much as she did.
I will check ebay as well as the ABeka site.
I am so excited!!!

Another good skill to work on is measurement (which you can start when they're very young). In my own daughter's case, she learned to help measure whether it was making cookies, using a tape measure, or whatever. We looked at the different sized items in the grocery store (and the different types of measurement - pounds, ounces, quarts, liters, etc.) and found the best buy for the money.

My DH teaches 4th grade, and every year he has many students who have a lot of difficulty with measurement. I even used to regularly see this problem with the high school students that I worked with (when I was still in the classroom).

Good luck and continue having fun!

 

[minnierocks]

I used Abeka's phonics and in my opinion, it is the best! I brought my son home from PS and that is what we started with. What he missed in school, Abeka gave him. What I loved most about the program is that it is very systematic and taught him to group words by "special sounds", which in turn helped him to decode words that he didn't know and improved his spelling. Both of my children learned to read using this program and have had much success because of it. When they went back to PS, they were way ahead of most of the other kids.

The only problem that I had with Abeka, in general, was the fact that there was so many "extra" things that they wanted you to buy. I chose not to buy everything and had no problem utilizing the program with just the basics. I chose Horizons math program, because I thought that the Abeka program was just too expensive for the younger grades. Because I was homeschooling two children, we used other curriculum for our other subjects. I was able to teach them both at the same time, by adjusting the difficulty level for each child.

Enjoy your time with your children...I miss mine! There are days when I dread that school bus that pulls up in front and long for our days of homeschooling!

 

[CarolinaBlue]

Yes, we use ABEKA. I've been homeschooling DD(12) since 4th grade. This is the same curriculum they use in the private school that she attended and DD(16) still attends. I think it's convenient. The lesson plans are very helpful.

 

[disneymom3]

Can I piggyback on your questions? I have considered using ABEKA for language arts once DD is in middle school. A woman I met while waiting for my kids at a class they were in was telling me that is what she does after her kids finish Easy Grammar. I can't figure out how to buy just the LA program from Abeka. All I am seeing is the sign up for the whole deal option. Anyone know--can I just get the video instruction for Language Arts?

 

[noodleknitter]

If I were just supplementing, I wouldn't go with a workbook oriented program. Most school kids spent the majority of their day doing workbook/busywork. If I were supplemmenting, I'd find something fun and different. Read real books, get one of those big books of science experiments, Get a book about history that shows how thed lived, and try some of the stuff.

Abeka is a lovely curriculum, but I'd never use it to supplement. Kids don't need to do school twice in a day. My opinion.

 

[horseshowmom]

Can I piggyback on your questions? I have considered using ABEKA for language arts once DD is in middle school. A woman I met while waiting for my kids at a class they were in was telling me that is what she does after her kids finish Easy Grammar. I can't figure out how to buy just the LA program from Abeka. All I am seeing is the sign up for the whole deal option. Anyone know--can I just get the video instruction for Language Arts?

You can buy the books, the workbooks, etc. separately, but you can't buy the DVDs. They're part of the homeschool program that you actually enroll in.

 

[kc10family]

You can buy the books, the workbooks, etc. separately, but you can't buy the DVDs. They're part of the homeschool program that you actually enroll in.

The girls would have enjoyed them while on long car rides. Bummer.
I guess I need to check auction sites.

 

[horseshowmom]

The girls would have enjoyed them while on long car rides. Bummer.
I guess I need to check auction sites.

You won't be able to get them on the auction sites either. Although you keep everything else, you actually have to send the DVD's back to A Beka as you finish with them each nine weeks.