Rich with Kids Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I'm looking into this for dd. Likes/Dislikes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excelsior! Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 We have a group of friends, about 7 families, that all use these. They ALL LOVE them. Basically, it is just a taped classroom. So you will see discipline problems, etc. I do not have any high schoolers yet, so I can't comment fully. But I personally prefer to teach myself. If I didn't want to teach a subject I would probably put them in a real classroom setting, not a virtual one. JMHO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 One of my dislikes would be their high school math program. It is by far the weakest I've ever seen/taught. Their Geometry program is the worst text I have ever seen --period! With the DVDs at least there would be a teacher to decipher the text for the students--but even then, the content is not up to par--most of their high school program is taken directly from math books published around 1914...they are VERY dated. I had to supplement almost every lesson (I was forced to teach from it at a private school). It is very difficult to find just one publisher that is equally good/acceptable across the different courses. ABeka tends to have lots of busy work and a very narrow perspective (and I consider myself very conservative too!). I think a student would have a much better education if each course is chosen from a publisher separately. It takes a bit more work--but it is much easier to tailor fit to individual needs and learning styles. Do you have any specific reasons for wanting an 'all in one' program for high school? There are several other alternatives (Christian and secular) that we can help you explore with a bit more information on your reasons and goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 One of my dislikes would be their high school math program. It is by far the weakest I've ever seen/taught. Their Geometry program is the worst text I have ever seen --period! With the DVDs at least there would be a teacher to decipher the text for the students--but even then, the content is not up to par--most of their high school program is taken directly from math books published around 1914...they are VERY dated. I had to supplement almost every lesson (I was forced to teach from it at a private school). It is very difficult to find just one publisher that is equally good/acceptable across the different courses. ABeka tends to have lots of busy work and a very narrow perspective (and I consider myself very conservative too!). I think a student would have a much better education if each course is chosen from a publisher separately. It takes a bit more work--but it is much easier to tailor fit to individual needs and learning styles. Do you have any specific reasons for wanting an 'all in one' program for high school? There are several other alternatives (Christian and secular) that we can help you explore with a bit more information on your reasons and goals. I guess I'm freaking out a little. I'm afraid of transcripts. SAT's, applying for college, getting into college. I just haven't really researched it very much. I have a friend that does Abeka DVD and feels like her son is really prepared for college. (He's a senior) I like dd's curriculum. She's doing Apologia Science, Notgrass History, Math-u-See, Spelling Power We're about to start AG and Jump in. (We were doing CW, but I quit. Too hard with 4 other younger dc to teach) She likes what she does now. I'm just making sure we are where we should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi-FL Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 You can do high school at home. If your only reason for going with the DVDs are because you're afraid you can't do a good job, you could hire some really good tutors in the areas which you feel the weakest instead of watching someone else's classroom. Another con is that you can't work ahead or behind their pace. I've had times when my kids didn't get a concept and had to spend more time, and totally got 3 concepts in a row and moved along quickly. You wouldn't be able to do that. I'll have 3 in high school next year and really don't know how we've even made it this far, but you know what? when I look back to their junior high years, they know SO MUCH more than they did, and somehow, they got that knowledge with *me* as their primary teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 You can do high school at home. If your only reason for going with the DVDs are because you're afraid you can't do a good job, you could hire some really good tutors in the areas which you feel the weakest instead of watching someone else's classroom. Another con is that you can't work ahead or behind their pace. I've had times when my kids didn't get a concept and had to spend more time, and totally got 3 concepts in a row and moved along quickly. You wouldn't be able to do that. I'll have 3 in high school next year and really don't know how we've even made it this far, but you know what? when I look back to their junior high years, they know SO MUCH more than they did, and somehow, they got that knowledge with *me* as their primary teacher. Thank you! I tried to "rep" you, but I've done too many today. I'll get ya next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GothicGyrl Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Ahem... "O-to-MAH- toe- POE- eh- A" Otomotopeia pronounced Ah toe mah toe POE AHhEHH a... No.. that's NOT how it is pronounced. Not in a million years has it ever been pronounced like that. It is Ah Toe Ma Toe pee ah--or rather, to make it clearer-- Auto mauto pee ahh She was a weird literature chick. And their science is BOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 Ahem..."O-to-MAH- toe- POE- eh- A" Otomotopeia pronounced Ah toe mah toe POE AHhEHH a... No.. that's NOT how it is pronounced. Not in a million years has it ever been pronounced like that. It is Ah Toe Ma Toe pee ah--or rather, to make it clearer-- Auto mauto pee ahh She was a weird literature chick. And their science is BOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG.... Yeah, I was afraid of boring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 While you're considering it, you should also look in to BJUP's HomeSat. It's similar, yet different. Some people like it better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 After researching both A Beka and Bob Jones DVD programs last year, dh and I decided to use the A Beka DVD English grade 11 for ds this year. I love it! The teacher is so competent and thorough. She brings such richness to the literature study too. I wish I had had both dc use these all through high school. One drawback, of course, is that the programs don't fit into TWTM four year cycle, but we branched off into a more traditional approach in high school anyway so it wasn't an issue for us. I would not consider using DVDs for all subjects though. It would be too much from the same publisher and I don't think all their subjects are equally strong. English does seem to be one of A Beka's strengths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Thank you for sharing this. My dd loves Abeka Grammar & Comp and I'm looking to high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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