I know there are other threads on this subject, but I have read through tons of posts and still don't have an answer to my question. My daughter is 9 and going into 5th grade (we started both kids in k5 @ 4yo). We have done mostly Abeka up until now but I want to switch things up on her. She has done the Abeka DVDs for 2 years but I was going to teach her the Abeka grammar myself, skip all the writing assignments, and do IEW. Now I'm considering doing Shurley instead. What level should she do after Abeka 4? Pros and cons of each? Also, I was thinking of trying to do grammar together with my son (going into 3rd) Could he do Shurley 3? Abeka 2 doesnt have a lot of grammar. It has a lot of complete sentences, punctuation, adding suffixes, etc. would it be possible to do Shurley 3 and 5 together? (or I've read that you can skip levels, ds could do 4,6, and 7). Could 2 and 4 be done together? Shurley needs placement tests!!!

You can do Sonlight and still add in Abeka for math, phonics, language, etc. I agree! If you want the strengths of both curriculums, look into Abeka grammar and spelling (skip their writing and get institute for excellence in writing) and Abeka math. For "fun" get SL reading, history, and science!

For reference, I started both kids at 4yo in their K5 program. I wouldn't say my kids are "gifted" but they had no problems ( other than ds not liking seaworthy in 1st grade) and both score very well on standardized tests. The only thing my daughter was "only" proficient on was algebraic functions and probability in math. Abeka hadn't covered that, but she was way ahead in everything else.

I would say, if you're going to use Abeka, it's BEST in the early years! But I wouldn't say its not customizable! I'd say it's as customizable as any other curriculum. The best parts are Grammar (with spelling) and Math (for sure in the little years.) I you like the rest, go for it. If not, customize.

Because its well laid out, easy to use, and thorough. Gets the job done. And you know your kids will most likely be "advanced" because of it. Now I'm freaking that my use of "laid" is incorrect. Bad spelling/ grammar on a homeschool forum is not cool! ;)

Abeka's grammar is advanced. I don't like the way they teach writing (my fab is institute for excellence in writing), but their grammar is good. The only thing I have found that compares (from reviews) is Shurley. I would like to know how well other curriculums do on usage (Abeka DRILLS correct usage!) and every day skills. i.e. dictionary skills, business letter formats, etc.

You don't have to you HFR if you are using the charts everyday, but after awhile I got tired of juggling all the charts and used only HFR and I would skip aroun and do whatever I liked. I like to think of HFR as Abeka's entire phonics program condensed. Drill work only. Btw has anyone else ever used the Victory Drill Book?

Oh, thank you for giving me the chance to give my opinion about Abeka! ;) we have used Abeka for 5 years now so I can give you a pretty good opinion on its strengths and weaknesses. And by the way, EVERY curriculum has weaknesses. Abeka is very traditional. Like school. Like others have said. Some say it's boring, I think that just depends on personality. I like it, my daughter loves it! The biggest weakness, I have to agree, is there's not a lot of critical thinking. Just because something comes out of a "textbook" and not a "living book" doesn't make it evil. I think the "living" part comes through the person teaching. Not every part of Abeka is 100% fun, but there are some things in life that just need to be done. For someone looking at Abeka, here are my recommendations- K5-1st 100% After that, I would change the readers to Sonlight or Veritas. They're simply more interesting. Abeka's Grammar stays solid, but one could use Shurley if so desired. I haven't seen Shurley, but I would sub all of Abekas writing for IEW (institute for excellence in writing) starting in 3rd grade. Abeka's Arithmetic is solid at least until 5th. I sometimes feel it needs some deeper critical thinking, but it is still rather advanced. One could supplement with Singapore or Miquon. OR Singapore has math cd-rom games that would be fun. As far as science and history goes, if you assume the student will hate it, they probably will. I would rather use Apologia/Sonlight/Veritas Press but I just didn't have time for so much collaboration this year so ds (7) and dd (9) did Abeka DVD and both enjoyed science and history. Hope that helps someone. :) Holly Wife to Daniel, mom to Susanna (9) Ethan (7) Molly (3) Gabriel (2) Bookkeeper, piano player, gardener, etc.

Ever consider Veritas Press? http://www.veritaspress.com

Let me say I agree about the layout of VP's website. I loved the descriptions of each book, but I didn't think it explained the sequence very well either. That being said, I was always shy to jump into it bc I didn't know quite where to start. Now that I'm going into my 6th year of homeschool, I wish I had done vp history all the way. My daughter is going into 5th and we are playing "catch up" in vp history. I am using their selfpaced online courses to help with that. I will also be switching to vp reading this year (from Abeka) and possibly even Shurley English so I would also like opinions on the layout of their lesson plan. Nothing against Sonlight, but I just like VP's books better. I keep Sonlight titles on my shelf for added fun, but I feel like VP has more depth.

Homeschool would be great- if it weren't for the writing! My son is 7 and still hates it. I turn on the timer though and have him try to beat the clock. Works on some days. ;)

My kids did Abeka in K5 and 1st and we enjoyed it. We used the flashmaster from sonlight though. They're $50 but I didn't like doing the drill work with flash cards!

I can't comment on Shurley (I'm looking for a good comparison myself) but I have to say I agree with the other comments on Abeka vs. Saxon math. We did abeka for k5 and tried switching to Saxon for 1st. My daughter thought it was super simple after a year of abeka. I hated the word for word scripting in the teacher's manual. I even didn't like the meeting book. I just wanted it all in one place. That being said, Ive heard abeka takes a dive in later grades, but for the earl years, I vote for Abeka!

I know this is a very old post, but thought my input might help someone else out in this situation. I have really been considering Thinkwell 6 for my 5th grader so I've been reading reviews nonstop. Somewhere along the line I read that Thinkwell Pre-Algebra is actually remedial (well not quite remedial but perhaps for students jumping into Thinkwell at the Prealgebra stage). That is why they don't have a placement test for that course. My daughter passed the placement test for Thinkwell 6 just fine, but I'm still scared it will be too hard for her. She's done Abeka math all the way so I'm thinking of getting her the Abeka Arithmetic 5 for extra practice/explanation until we're comfortably settled with Thinkwell.