I was gifted 3rd grade A Beka- there is soooo much

[lulalu]

So I was just wonderfully gifted all of A Beka 3rd grade. It really is wonderful. A friend who is also overseas finished up and surprised me. It has everything. And there is sooooo much. I really didn't realize how much stuff A Beka had. 

Anyways although this is really amazing financially as it is over here and I don't have to pay for the books or shipping. I really don't like all of it. And we have some favorites already. 

I had planned history to rotate field trips utilizing where we live. So I don't want to do American history until we make a long visit back in the states. I have planned field trips this upcoming year visiting Europe cathedrals and castles (if everything opens again this fall). 

So help me out here. What do you like of A Beka? Do you take gifts of materials and switch programs with math, English, and so forth. Or do you stick with your favorites? I feel like 2nd grade we really made great strides in our work, and ds really has our routine and knows what to do down. So part of me feels like switching will just give us another year of figuring out a different curriculum. But this saves A LOT of money. 

So I am torn. Help! 

[Lori D.]

Absolutely stick with what works.
"Don't fix what ain't broke." 
Successful learning is about what *works* for *your* student and *you*-- esp. for core areas of LA and Math.
Extra/gift curricula is nice, but only use bits that work in with what you already are using -- or not at all. You are NOT obligated to use any of it.
Saving money is nice, but not at the expense of train-wrecking your homeschooling and potentially causing a student to hate learning.

Now that I have that out of my system... (lol) I'd suggest looking it over carefully and see if there are some parts you can use here and there, and plug in as a supplement. For example, I sometimes used bits of Saxon along with Singapore for DS#1, just to provide alternate ways of seeing the math.

Could you just wait and use the Abeka history book in a year or two when you do American History? I've often used as supplement materials that are a fit for us that are either "up" or "down" a grade level or two from working grade level.

I was never given any curriculum, and we also were never on a super tight budget while homeschooling (not that I ran out and went wild with spending, lol), so I can't help with your situation. But I did have DS#2, who in particular who required very specific materials due to mild LDs, and DS#1, who was fairly flexible in what I could use but who did much better with routine. And traditional school-at-home box of materials were never a match for either DS. So I probably would have said thank you to the super kind lady, and either passed the whole set on to someone else who would use it, or, if there was no one else using it, possibly try and sell it as a whole set and use the funds to purchase what does work for us.

(Assuming it was a true "gift", and not one with emotional strings attached, like "Because I'm so generous, you WILL use it, right? Because otherwise I'll be totally offended." -- because if it's that sort of "gift", I would thank her but return it, saying "How generous! It's just that we don't use Abeka, and I'm sure you'd want this to go to someone who does.")

If I was feeling extremely guilty, I'd probably leave the materials on my shelf for a year, and then do either gift it or sell it to someone else, so that if generous friend asked, I could honestly say: "So very kind of you! It was nice to have as one of our resources to draw on last year!" 

BEST of luck in deciding what to do! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Lori D.

[lulalu]

Thanks. I just needed to hear that I wasn't crazy for not wanting to use the gift. Although so wonderful and saving a lot of money, I just want to keep doing what we know works. 

[Junie]

I have used some Abeka, but you are correct that there is so much of it and I don't like all of it, either.

Generally, we only used the student books to save on expenses.  Also, I think that Abeka has a tendency to quiz kids to death.  Even if I were gifted the quizzes/tests, I'm not sure that I would use many of them.

What we used from 3rd grade:

Language Arts -- student workbook

Arithmetic -- student workbook  -- We used Abeka math through 3rd grade before switching to Saxon for the duration.  It seems to be a good transition.

Readers -- I don't think we have all of them

Spelling

History -- The student book is one of my favorite Abeka books.  It is very well done and some of my kids read through it multiple times.

Science

Health

 

The readers, history, science, and health were just used as independent reading.  I don't really do a lot of teaching other than Language Arts and Math during the elementary years.  My kids do a lot of independent interest-led learning.

[almondbutterandjelly]

At that age, I loved Abeka's Health, Safety and Manners book, plus their Songs We Enjoy CD.  I also quite like their Spelling, but I have a very natural speller.