Any downsides to Abeka K?

[sixglides]

They're coming to our area & had been planning on doing their K, but just wondering if there are any downsides. Looking for others opinions/experiences.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Not sure what sort of downside you are looking for. We used it for each of my children to give them a great start in phonics and reading. Easy to use and fast, I used it 3 x a day about five mins each time. However, by the time they were reading cvc words pretty smoothly I would switch to BJU because the reading selections were not forced vocabulary.

[sixglides]

Did you use just the phonics/reading portion? Wondering about writing also. What do you mean 'forced vocaularly'?

[Guest]

My son did both the Abeka K phonics and math workbooks. We started the Social Studies K, but it was really boring. Really enjoyed the math and LOVE their phonics program. My son has been through quite a few math programs, for his age, and I don't find anything wrong with Abeka math, I just at this moment like Saxon better. On this end of the math pendulum, I would say Abeka would be a "go-to" if we decided we didn't like Saxon anymore. My son is an excellent reader and speller, and I can't praise the Abeka phonics enough for that. My daughter has started the Abeka phonics now.

 

As for the forced vocabulary, we mix up Abeka readers and other readers to get a wide variety.

 

ETA: While I think their core subjects are very strong, I think there are a lot of other options out there for things like history, science, and art. We ended up doing Galloping the Globe and our own science for K, and it was a lot of fun.

Edited April 1, 2011 by Guest

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

What I mean by forced vocabulary is a reader using only cvc words like Pat had a hat. type of sentence. My children get tierd of this same thing in all the books and it makes the stories very dull. Not that you are asking about BJU but I am just showing you the contrast. BJU readers, even at an early start, use the phonics they know but along the way they are learning a bunch of service words (these are words that might follow a phonics sound but the student hasn't been exposed to it ye)t to help the story be more engaging. These are in addition to the sight words learned. You might have a sentence that looks like this(service words in blue) Marta had a blue hat like mother's.

 

I also just used the phonics and reading portion. The workbooks were optional for us, some times we did them but they were not the meat of the program.

[Georgiana Daniels]

We started the kids with ABeka K for phonics/reading, and math. I LOVE the phonics program! K moves slowly, but 1st grade picks up and they can read very well by the end of 1st. Math is a good, solid program, but I'm still looking to supplement next year.

[NorCalMom]

We love Abeka for the primary years here! We only use phonics & math. DD is an excellent reader and speller, and she transitioned to Saxon 5/4 in 4th grade beautifully! DS is now on the same path and things are going great. I only use the teacher additions - just don't think the actual curriculum plans are necessary at this stage. ;) I would add that once they are reading, you can fill in with other books instead of their readers. I looked through the SL catalog, made a list & hit the library.

 

Blessings,

[sixglides]

Thank you, thank you...just the kind of information I was looking for!!

[3peasinapod]

We have used Abeka math k-2. I really like the K curriculum for that grade, and will use it with our last dd. The reason I don't like the 1 and 2 grade maths are I feel it is weak on story problems and mental math, and I find the IG cumbersome to comb through. It takes us so much longer than I think it needs to. We will start doing math mammoth in 1st grade from now on, and my other DDs are not continuing with Abeka math. Hope that makes sense. I'm in a bit of a hurry.

[KeriJ]

We use Abeka K for phonics, handwriting and math. I'm using it with my 2nd child now. It works great for us. Especially when I learned to adapt the teacher's manual to work for us. We don't do all of the suggested review. I stick with the bolded, scripted parts and do whatever review I think we need. It doesn't take us much time at all.

 

Both of my daughters, as well as my nieces and nephews have become very solid readers through this program.

 

Quite honestly though, that is all of ABeka that we use for K. We did FIAR for the rest and had a wonderful K year!

[kristin0713]

Well, I will say that I hated the instructor's guide. It was designed for a classroom and is very scripted.

[Mesa]

You name it I've tried it for nearly every subject. I feel like Abeka has been the best fit for us for Phonics. After my kids get a SOLID foundation in Abeka reading we switch to SL reading, since I like their book selections.

 

Math... Abeka math was OK. Rigorous but lacking a bit in teaching understanding.

 

Science and History I beef up. Science I add another full program, and History I add a Literature based curricula.

 

That being said. We left Abeka, and now have gone back for a bit of teaching help. I'm using Abekas dvd's for all of my kids. This is my version of "sending my kids to school" I need a break. So far we are on day 5 with all 3 of my boys and everyone is loving it. I have so much of a break we are adding in TruthQuest for history and Apologia for science. So far it's been really nice.

 

Jackie

[Aconnolley]

We have used Abeka math k-2. I really like the K curriculum for that grade, and will use it with our last dd. The reason I don't like the 1 and 2 grade maths are I feel it is weak on story problems and mental math, and I find the IG cumbersome to comb through. It takes us so much longer than I think it needs to. We will start doing math mammoth in 1st grade from now on, and my other DDs are not continuing with Abeka math. Hope that makes sense. I'm in a bit of a hurry.

:iagree:

 

We used all Abeka for K-2 plus some of the math in 3rd for the first two kids and just the phonics for the third child. The phonics is wonderful! You have to make it work for you and not be a slave to the curriculum guide, but it lays a great foundation for spelling and reading.

 

I don't feel that the math provides a strong conceptual understanding and also feel that the mental math aspects are lacking. My 9yo son could do the problems, but wasn't making some important connections, especially as it related to place value. I also felt that his problem solving abilities needed improvement. We switched to MM last fall. The program was not a good fit for him. He needs spiral and something that he can do without so much direct interaction with me. The one on one math is not good for us with Abeka or MM. But one thing I can say, is that his mental math and problem solving abilities have greatly improved with MM. There is a huge difference between the word problems and how problem solving in general is approached in Abeka compared with MM. Though I may have to switch away from MM for my son due to needing to take me out of the picture more, (maybe TT or some other computer or video program supplemented with some conceptual math?) overall I think that for many kids it is excellent. My youngest (almost 6 yo) is thriving with MM 1. She would be fine with Abeka, but I am pretty sure that I wouldn't be seeing the kind of lightbulb moments that are happening so often. And MM is woking fine for my 8yo dd too. It was a challenge for the older two coming to it in 3rd and 4th. At first they thought that the mental math was going to kill them, but we just kept plugging on. :tongue_smilie: I can see how much easier it will be for my youngest. I really like how MM promotes mathematical thinking. :001_smile:

 

So overall, though their math program isn't my favorite, I think that Abeka is a solid program that works well with kids that like worksheets, but it can also suck the life from you if you aren't that type. I was so burned out after using their DVD program with the 1st two kids that when it came time to teach my youngest to read, I used their materials, but rarely got out the curriculum guide. I love how well their reading program works for my kids. I just couldn't face being locked in that box again. I am happy to report that even when used in a creative, relaxed manner that Abeka phonics helped my youngest to be an excellent reader that loves to read. What more could I ask? ;)

 

Angela

[sixglides]

Okay, so thinking, Abeka phonics/writing, Saxon K for math. And, just wait on everything else. She'll pick up lots of science type / cooking, etc, from the family life & older siblings. Is that enough for K?

[Mom28kds]

Okay, so thinking, Abeka phonics/writing, Saxon K for math. And, just wait on everything else. She'll pick up lots of science type / cooking, etc, from the family life & older siblings. Is that enough for K?

 

I think it is. All I'll do with my K this year will be phonics and numbers and writing. Still deciding what I want to use though. Thinking about ABEKA and All About Handwriting myself.

[lmnew2004]

I will just piggyback on what others have posted. Abeka has a SOLID phonics foundation. My five year old is reading - well. She also understands the phonic rules (and exceptions) very well.

 

I am not doing Abeka for other subjects, but it's our family's preference for phonics/reading.

[scrappyhappymama]

Okay, so thinking, Abeka phonics/writing, Saxon K for math. And, just wait on everything else. She'll pick up lots of science type / cooking, etc, from the family life & older siblings. Is that enough for K?

 

 

I think this sounds great.

 

I started with A Beka K4 with my oldest, because I wanted a lot of handholding my first year homeschooling. We abandoned the math pretty quickly, and with my second son, I didn't bother with the A Beka social studies or science. But I LOVE A Beka for the phonics, and use it from K4-1st. It's a good cohesive phonics and writing program, and if you continue it through the end of 1st grade, all the "special sounds" in phonics will be covered. You are fine starting with K5, it covers everything that K4 does, just at a quicker pace. But my littles so far have all wanted to "do" school at 4, so we use K4 and love it.

 

You will need to decide if you want to do cursive or manuscript for the writing. We've chosen to do cursive right from the start, even with our four year olds, and it's been wonderful. There's something so cute about a 5 year old writing their name in cursive. :)

 

The K4 math is super basic, and covers only numerals from 0-20. We actually use it as a preschool numbers curriculum, very informally, for our three year olds who demand to do school like their older siblings. :D We switched to Saxon for math with our oldest when he was four, because we heard that Saxon could be used a year ahead, especially in early elementary, and we found this to be true. So we use Saxon K for pre-K, and Saxon 1 for kindergarten. Incidentally, we lost our love for Saxon beyond Saxon 1, and now use Math Mammoth instead (love it!). But we still use Saxon K and 1 with our littles as they come up the line, before they are ready to start MM1 in first grade.

 

As far as any other subjects in K, I tend to lean toward your approach- school of life and lots of read alouds. But I will say if you are looking for anything structured science-wise, we are currently loving Intro to Science from Elemental Science. It is basically a bunch of read alouds with some fun activities and experiments scheduled in- just the level of fun/a little structure that I need, but still very relaxed.

 

Good luck! K is such a fun time. :001_smile: