A Beka History

[MissKNG]

Is anyone using this for elementary? I read all sorts of posts about other history programs and nothing about A beka.

[NavyWifeandMommy]

My daughter uses the A Beka history when we are traveling. She just reads the sections and answers the questions. I go over the vocab words and we will go to the library to get related books.

[MissKNG]

Do you like it?

[kmacnchs]

Probably the reason Abeka History is not talked about much on this forum is because it is a textbook - NOT recommended in WTM. There are bits and pieces of history (nothing in depth really). I taught Abeka History for 5th grade and I was impressed with the geography aspect but that's about it.

[reachup]

We have used Abeka history for 3rd and 4th.

 

When we started using it we were very new to hs and the decision to hs come on us in a matter of wks so I went with a boxed curriculum. About 3 months into our 4th grade yr I really changed things up alot. Added lapbooks and read alouds and hands on activities. Once I did that we loves it.

 

Abeka gave us a great place to start but I think next yr for us a literature based curriculum will work much better.

 

Abeka 3rd & 4th covers early American History and did a great job. They also cover alot of geography during that time.

 

Moe

[Zoo Keeper]

Abeka history in elementary grades is mostly American history; this is fine if you want that to be your focus in elementary, but others chose to cast our nets a little wider (like in SOTW). The books are good at presenting a squeaky clean, uplifting, Christian perspective of history. Some parents want that slant, others don't. The textbooks are colorful and nicely designed, but the info can be basic and (sometimes) bland. This could be easily corrected by adding in historical fiction, craft/activity books, etc. My biggest gripe with Abeka history in elementary is that many kids just get bored with it--you can only hear the same facts about Washington and Lincoln so many times without some sort of history-induced coma setting in. If I had to use Abeka history, I would probably be adding/subtracting quite a bit to make it fit for my family.

 

But having said all that, it's not a bad program, just a different focus and slant than I want to teach.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Zoo Keeper

[MissKNG]

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure I can find ways to expand the depth. And I'm pretty sure my state standards focus on US History in the early elementary verses world history - which is why A Beka caught my attentions!! Thanks again!

[KrissiK]

I have a couple of used A Beka 1st grade History readers I picked up for a couple bucks each. Probably wouldn't have bought them otherwise. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of A Beka's LA and Math, but IMHO, they are very light weight when it comes to history, at least in the early grades. I will use these books, but mostly for cultural education, ie. this is who George Washington is, these are our American symbols, etc. THey are not History Books. I think BJU does a much better job with Am. History in the lower grades. Although, with that being said, we dropped that mid-year because my boys were bored silly. We are now doing SOTW 1 and my oldest DS can't get enough of ancient Egypt.

[Cinder]

I used Abeka 4 history for 3d grade as our spine. We'd read a section, go over the review questions, then get a book from the library on the same topic to go more in-depth. Ds would narrate from the library book. We only did half the Abeka, just prior to Civil War. I had planned to do the second half in the same manner for the next year but was having a baby and moving, so I went with Sonlight 4 that year. But the Abeka year was one of our best and ds really got a lot out of it.

 

 

Cinder

[Grace Academy]

We tried Abeka 4th history for about 3 weeks before we just put it away. It is very dry, the story doesn't flow, they mainly try to teach names and dates. If you are looking for a textbook, maybe try Rod and Staff.

[MissKNG]

Just a heads up that just because your state has a particular timetable for their public schools doesn't mean that you have to follow that at home.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the note! My concern is the assessment tests...if the tests are all on US History and we've been studying ancient history for years, she's not going to pass!:tongue_smilie:

 

I figured I could order them, when the time comes, and preview them. I'm just looking for ideas now!

[TracyP]

If you like Abeka - great, but if you are only worried about assessments I would not worry. I know that from what I've seen of first and second grade ps classes it is Social Studies - not history. Fire safety, mail service, police, etc. I was going to buy a Walmart book to fill in the blanks for assessments because I was worried too. However in looking through the contents I saw that there was nothing dd didn't already know. I hope that helps.:001_smile:

[Dina in Oklahoma]

Hello ~

 

My DD is studying the countries of the eastern hemisphere for geography and Ancient Civilization through the Roman Empire for history this year. I am using A BEKA Old World History and Geography as an overview for both.

 

ABEKA provides her with a context on which to base her studies as well as snipets about the countries we are not highlighting while reinforcing our geography studies. For geography, I purchased Discovering the World of Geography series of workbooks by Mark Twain press for actual application. I also use Geography Songs by Troxel and some fun games.

 

History is primarily reading a variety of books from each civilization. For example The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Pyramids, Exodus,The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt,The Story of the Greeks, The Story of the Romans, The Mystery of the Roman Ranson, Famous Men etc.

 

One additional note-- I tie her writing to the period of history we are studying, in our case IEW Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons. We have found this approach reinforces what she is learning and is fun as well as educational.

 

HTH,

 

Dina :001_smile:

 

ETA: We select some titles the summer before to start her thinking about the period she will be studying.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Dina in Oklahoma

[Hoggirl]

I have known of folks who have combined Abeka's 3rd and 4th grade textbooks (at least I think those are the right grades) with Sonlight 3 and 4 replacing the Landmark book with the Abeka book for a spine.

[HollyDay]

I loved Abeka 5th grade history. It is World History and the geography that accompanies it is also excellent.

[LivingUnderGrace]

My 2 oldest kids choose Abeka history for their line up for next year, as they both felt it was interesting. (Grades 9 and 10) We do add in more literary type stuff on the side, but yes, I think Abeka makes an excellent history spine.

 

HTH

[thowell]

we use this as a spine to keep us in the flow of history but we add in alot of extra books and projects on the major time periods that the girls are interested in.

[AngelBee]

I have some Abeka history books that we use as a reference sometimes. I really like them.

[NavyWifeandMommy]

My DD does like the workbook and would like to use them for 5th grade. It is also on the list of maybes. I can make it simple, read and answer questions or just write a summer of what the section/chapter was about. We can add books from the library and research more on the internet.