how is a beka for 9th grade need help with my line up??

[Guest hockeymomof3]

I am new to home schooling, I started mid-year home schooling my bright 8th grade daughter.

 

For 9th grade I am thinking about using A beka for Language arts, georaphy and History. (I am using other things now and not overly happy)

Apologia for Biology + local biology lab classes

Algerbra 1 from Saxon math

We also will be doing Latin, informal logic and she is doing weight traning and competitive hockey as well as high school hockey for PE.

 

I don't feel like I know enough about good curriculums to know if I have made a good choices for her. Please any help would be appreciated.

[Ellie]

I am new to home schooling, I started mid-year home schooling my bright 8th grade daughter.

 

For 9th grade I am thinking about using A beka for Language arts, georaphy and History. (I am using other things now and not overly happy)

Apologia for Biology + local biology lab classes

Algerbra 1 from Saxon math

We also will be doing Latin, informal logic and she is doing weight traning and competitive hockey as well as high school hockey for PE.

 

I don't feel like I know enough about good curriculums to know if I have made a good choices for her. Please any help would be appreciated.

I wouldn't do Abeka's grammar/comp, not unless your dd has had significant grammar instruction. Also, unless you buy the curriculum guide, there won't be enough writing, as most assignments are in the guide, not in the student workbook. I would lean more toward BJUP for grammar/comp: less grammar each year, more writing, and everything is in the student worktext. Mary Pride liked BJUP's literature better than ABeka's, too.

 

And actually, I like BJUP better for history and geography, as well. More interestingly written, less emphasis on minute details, a wider variety of assignments (chapter reviews and like that). Of course, you didn't say which "other things" you're using, so maybe you've tried and disliked BJUP. :-)

[ciyates]

I wouldn't do Abeka's grammar/comp, not unless your dd has had significant grammar instruction. Also, unless you buy the curriculum guide, there won't be enough writing, as most assignments are in the guide, not in the student workbook. I would lean more toward BJUP for grammar/comp: less grammar each year, more writing, and everything is in the student worktext. Mary Pride liked BJUP's literature better than ABeka's, too.

 

And actually, I like BJUP better for history and geography, as well. More interestingly written, less emphasis on minute details, a wider variety of assignments (chapter reviews and like that). Of course, you didn't say which "other things" you're using, so maybe you've tried and disliked BJUP. :-)

 

I personally prefer Abeka to BJUP. It is a great place to be if you are starting out. It is designed so that you can open the box and start. We used Abeka for a few years when we first started and until I felt comfortable picking and choosing. Go to Abeka's website and see when they are having a hotel demonstration in your area. This will allow you to go and actually see everything they offer. I have used BJUP in the past and just didn't like it. However as you will find out everyone has an opinion and they rarely agree. :001_smile: I would also try and find a local homeschool group and asked the people there what they have they would loan you to look at. I am a big proponent of having the books in hand to judge. Good luck!

[DB in NJ]

I am new to home schooling, I started mid-year home schooling my bright 8th grade daughter.

 

For 9th grade I am thinking about using A beka for Language arts, georaphy and History. (I am using other things now and not overly happy)

Apologia for Biology + local biology lab classes

Algerbra 1 from Saxon math

We also will be doing Latin, informal logic and she is doing weight traning and competitive hockey as well as high school hockey for PE.

 

I don't feel like I know enough about good curriculums to know if I have made a good choices for her. Please any help would be appreciated.

 

I agree about trying to go to a hotel meeting so you can actually see the ABeka stuff. Personally, I prefer ABeka to Bob Jones. Ellie mentioned that Mary Pride prefers BJU (she's a homeschooling "expert" from way back when. A pioneer, if you will). I have found that I disagree with Mary Pride more often than not, so that just confirms my opinion. As a matter of fact, when I read what Ellie said, I thought, "Well whaddya know! I'm not surprised!" LOL

 

If you go with the ABeka for Language, make sure you use all of the components that comprise "Language Arts" (sorry, Ellie!); this would include the Language Workbook, Vocabulary/Spelling, and Literature. Otherwise, you need to be sure to cover these topics separately (unless you go with BJU, then you're looking at doing the same thing).

 

Let us know if you have more questions! And welcome to homeschooling :)

[gwyche]

Although I don't recommend A Beka for everything, I know they are among the best for instilling grammar in their Language Arts curriculum. I use it for my 8th and 9th grade daughters.

[Melissa in Australia]

I . Also, unless you buy the curriculum guide, there won't be enough writing, as most assignments are in the guide, not in the student workbook. :-)

 

 

 

I never even knew there was a curriculum guide. the Australian supplier doesn't even sell it.

 

Is there a placement test available online? that could help you work out what level of grammar to use.

Edited April 24, 2009 by melissaL
poor grammar

[Michelle in MO]

We used Abeka grammar for years, and my older two daughters have done especially well with English and scored very high on their tests. I would not recommend Abeka for literature, though. Rather, I would read The Well-Trained Mind and The Well-Educated Mind and follow those suggestions for literature. You might also check out the Omnibus series, which is published by Veritas Press. Here's a link to Omnibus I, which is intended for 7th grade but really is quite meaty enough for any 9th grade curriculum in any school.

 

Back to grammar: Abeka's 9th grade Grammar & Composition book is fairly easy for you, as the parent, to use, but make sure you get all of the teacher's guides.

 

I really, really disliked Abeka's writing (except for some projects) in the grammar-stage years (i.e., K-6), but the writing in their Grammar & Composition series is quite an improvement over their earlier series. You do have to skip around in the book a bit, though; so if you follow their lesson plan schedule, your dc will sometimes be working in the back of the book (where the Composition section is) and sometimes in the front of the book. I would agree, though, that it's not really enough for writing. We did do most of those assignments, but we also did some online tutorials, primarily with Cindy Marsch of Writing Assessment Services. Specifically, we did her Progymnasmata Tutorials, and I also had her do additional evaluations of my girls' writing that they did for Omnibus II, which is part of the ongoing Omnibus series being published by Veritas Press. If you do Omnibus, history (studied in a 3-year cycle, chronologically) is also included; however, I would have your student read all of the chapters either in the Spielvogel Western Civilization book or the World History book (which is an older text; you might have to search for that online; its full title is World History: A Human Odyssey). Between the readings in Omnibus and either the Western Civ. text or World History text, your student will have a thorough background in history.

 

From the little I've seen of BJUP's Literature, I think they do a better job than Abeka with instructions in interpreting and analyzing literature, but I don't think there is enough reading in either BJUP literature and definitely not Abeka.

 

I'm glad you're not using Abeka for math; their math component at the high school level is not very good.

 

A little bit to get you started! HTH!

[ValRN]

I would say that I prefer Abeka. I've used Abeka for my children, but decided this year to use BJUP for my 8th grader. We both hated it and ended up ditching it and going back to Abeka. What a waste of money. It may have been that we were more familiar with Abeka's layout and the rhythm of the lessons. I can't say that Abeka is the BEST program. I'm just saying that it worked for us better than BJUP. Abeka AND BJUP are very work intensive. I don't like the writing instruction in either program. To be honest, we are looking for something other than both Abeka and BJUP for next year's grammar.