Last fall I tried a more traditional home schooling curriculum, A Beka video streaming, and I wrote the reason why HERE and a preliminary review HERE. I’ve had several emails since then asking me to do an update. Did I end up liking it after the honeymoon period ended? Would I do it again? How did the kids like it?
So here’s my take on the A Beka Homeschool Video Streaming after one year of using it with a Kindergarten girl, a 2nd grade girl, a 3rd grade girl, a 6th grade boy, and an 8th grade girl.
Hmmm. How do I begin? I’d have to tell you some of our family dynamics, which reminds me that I can’t reiterate this enough. Every family is different. Every child is different. Every woman is different in a million different ways. All of these things come into play when selecting a curriculum that will fit well. And it may only be a slick fit for one or two years (or a week) – and then something comes along that upsets the apple cart – and away you scramble to figure out how to tweak the whole mess so you’ve got something new that will work for the following year.
Off on another rabbit trail—but have you ever felt guilty telling your husband, “Um, you know that curriculum that I thought would be JUST PERFECT for Johnny? Well, turns out it was a huge flop. A snoozeburger with a side of yawns. BUT HAVE NO FEAR MY DARLING! I’ve discovered homeschool nirvana in a BRAND NEW CURRICULUM. Just wait until you see THIS!”
I’m with you. Oh Girl, I’m with you. But after talking to 3,497 homeschooling moms over the last 17-18 years, I’ve discovered everyone does that, so it’s all good. We’ve got important reasons to keep correcting the steering wheel. Reason One: ditch on the right. Reason Two: ditch on the left. Right?
So here’s how it worked with our different kiddos.
Kindergarten Girl
This particular child is the most compliant, sweet, easy child I’ve ever even met in my entire life. I never have to discipline her. I just say a word of correction, and she is instantly corrected—with a sweet smile on her face. The jury is still out on whether or not she is of divine origin or a mere mortal like the rest of us. I’d love to say it is my rock star parenting skills, but if you met some of my other kids, you’d instantly see through that lie.
Which brings me to another rabbit trail. (If you came over here for a straightforward, no-nonsense A Beka review, I apologize. You’d better Google another review because this blogger is ALL ABOUT rabbit trails. Hop hop hop.) Very few people are awesome parents. That’s because we are all Wemmicks, and Wemmicks are silly and sinful. Just come to terms with this. Make peace with yourself.
Whenever you see a Mommy looking perfectly quaffed with a darling little princess sitting in her shopping cart saying not one word, and when you see (out of the corner of your eye) that Mommy give you a disdainful look because your peanut-butter-covered 4-year-old boy is somehow, miraculously pulling the 2-year-old brother’s almost non-existent wispy hair, sending said brother into howls of protest, while the 6-year-old accidentally topples a jar of spaghetti sauce off the tippy top of a lovely pyramid display of Ragu, sending red sauce and shards of glass splattering over a ten-foot radius including your cart, your kids. And you. WHEN THAT HAPPENS—please remember that she got one of those rare angel-people, and you got what most Wemmicks get. Wemmicks.
If she goes on to have 8 more kids, she’ll get a real variety of interesting specimens, and she won’t give disdainful looks anymore. I promise. So back to A Beka and my own angel-girl. She did fabulous with A Beka Video Streaming. Duh. Kindergarten is not as long—about 2 hours of watching—and she would stand and sing all the songs with great GUSTO. When the class prayed, she dutifully bowed her head and prayed fervently. She watched attentively (OK – she sucked her thumb – a bad human habit we are trying to break) and did her workbook pages with pleasure. She really enjoyed it.
But she would enjoy anything. She’s an angel, remember? If you have a child like this, rejoice. You can do any curriculum you want to, and your angel will be as happy as a grandpa on a Sunday drive.
Next year I will do A Beka again with her, but I plan to do the teacher-directed curriculum where I do the teaching. No video. I’ll tell you why in my next post.
Second Grade Girl
Katie has some learning issues and a speech dysfluency, and she has been in therapy for three years. I’m not sure A Beka video streaming was the best fit for Katie. She was bored watching the videos, and I had a hard time getting her to actively participate. That said, she definitely learned more this year than in previous years, and over all, I’m glad she had this experience. We are doing something different next year with four of our kids, including Katie, but I will write about that in my next post.
Third Grade Girl
This child also has learning issues as well as psychological challenges. She’s actually a year behind in school due to her special needs. We knew she was cut from a different cloth when she was born, and every stage of her growth has been extremely challenging. It has been a long, painful journey with many dead ends trying to figure out what is wrong – and how to help. We have recently started occupational therapy, and she has her first appointment with a pediatric psychiatrist this week. We hope to get an accurate diagnosis and some serious help soon, because puberty is now kicking into full swing too. Enough said.
All of this is important when it comes to her education. She actually did better with this type of format than with anything else we’ve tried. She enjoyed having a teacher (all the teachers have been absolutely top-notch), and she loved listening to the stories and explanations of how to do things. She would often come to me excitedly to share something new she had learned. Science was especially enjoyable for her.
She did not like the homework. Because she is a more active, easily distracted child, she really struggles with focusing on those kinds of tasks. This was a daily battle, and toward the end, especially, she had multiple fits (related to her other issues) because she didn’t want to do her work. That said, she learned more with this curriculum than anything else we’ve tried so far.
Sixth Grade Boy
Tim did great with A Beka. He enjoyed his teachers, stayed focused, learned a lot, and did excellent on his Iowa Basics testing at the end of the year. I would do A Beka again with him in a heartbeat – but as I’ve already hinted, we are doing something totally different next year.
Eighth Grade Girl
Aimee also did well with this program. She struggles with motivation a little bit – so it took her all day to complete her school simply because she took a lot of breaks and did some day-dreaming. I think it was a good discipline for her though, and she enjoyed learning this way. She had some incredible teachers too. This girl truly wished to be with the other kids in the video though! She enjoys being around people, so her biggest struggle right now is the feeling of isolation in our home. She was involved in a homeschool choir and drama troupe this year, and that helped alleviate some of her feelings of isolation, but we are taking it a step further next year.
Summary
A Beka worked beautifully, overall, for what I needed this past year. I wanted a break from all the school planning tasks as well as the teaching so I could focus on other major family needs, but I also wanted my kids to be home, have excellent teachers, and really do some hard work on core subjects. A Beka helped me reach all of those goals, and I’m so pleased with how the year went.
We are correcting the steering wheel once again next year, and I’d like to tell you more about that next time.
Question: Have you ever used A Beka? If so, share your experiences with other readers in the comment section! You can leave a comment by clicking here.
I was educated in a small Christian day school. We used a lot of A Beka, along with Saxon math. I always loved English/Lit. class in which we used A Beka (I also had wonderful teachers) I know it worked well for me.
Now that I’m a first year home-schooling mom, though, I don’t think I could handle all the lesson plans and teaching. We did ACE’s (Accelerated Christian Education) ABC program for Kindergarten. My daughter (who is also a pretty compliant kid) whizzed through it and is reading. She’ll be 1/4 of the way through first grade when we take summer break. The thing I like about ACE is that the student works on their own, although I am there to answer questions. Once the student can read, they don’t need a lot of hands-on involvement from mom. My daughter whines about doing her workbooks, but even so she can get the work done in a couple hours. (we’ll see how my active boy does in a couple years:) Each workbook (PACE) teaches character traits and Bible verses. When my children are teens, they will have the opportunity to enter ACE regional and then international competitions. (This year’s International Student Convention was held in our hometown and it was so inspiring to see over 2,000 students come from all over the globe!) We also do a home school co-op 2x a month. My kids love it.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Trisha! We never tried a coop – but looking back, I wish we had for my two older boys. It’s something I think about for my toddler guys when they are older.
I appreciate your follow up review. You have some great words of wisdom no matter what curriculum someone chooses to use. I personally think your bunny trails is what helped your review to be throrough.
It’s always nice to come to the end of the year and actually finish what was started too!
Ah! So true!
Hi Natalie! I am mom to 14 children ages 29-9, 7 boys and 7 girls. We also have been educating our children at home for MANY years. We have gone through many ways of schooling/curriculum to find what was best for our family. For a short time some of our school age children were in a Christian school when my husband was teacher/principal. The school used A Beka.
We started home educating prior to the Christian School. We had very little income and there was no such thing as home computers let alone the internet. So except for a phonics program, Play-n-Talk on LP’s, I was left to use my poor, tired, exhausted brain. When my children tested to be placed in the Christian school they were a semester ahead of the grade they were going into!
Eventually we brought them home to educate once again. A Beka was expensive for seven scholars. We went through many types of curriculum and ways of schooling before realizing that A Beka was the best for our family. I did parent direct teaching for several years but found that no matter what I did I never had time for the math drills. I was suffering deeply from post-partum depression and knew that we needed to make some changes. So we used every bit of our tax refund to purchase the A Beka video. At first I felt like a failure, but educating eight children in seven different grades, we have one set of twins, and taking care of a preemie, there was not enough of me to go around. It ended up being the best thing for our family. I enjoyed listening to the teachers and was able to help my scholars if they “just did not get it”.
You are correct that every family, child, and woman is different. I love the video program and for now it is working great for us. We have finished our 8th year of video/streaming. We have gone through all the revisions on video and have had TWO complete K-5 through 12th grade curriculum, previous and revised! I keep thinking one day we may need to go back to parent directed teaching and that is okay.
It has been a joy to read your blog and your A Beka Update. I am looking forward to hearing what you will be doing for your next school year.
Have a blessed day!
Christy
Thank you for telling us about your experience, Christy! It will be helpful for others to see how slick it can be for many years when you have many children to educate. I wish I could have talked with you a few years ago. 🙂
We home schooled our four children, starting from day one of kindergarten for the two youngest. We tried other curriculums because of the great expense but always came back to Abeka. We used their books for some of the 22 years we home schooled but most of the time we did their videos. My children LOVED Abeka in the lower grades but as they got into the higher grades they lost interest, but most do no matter what curriculum is used. The Abeka master teachers are absolutely great. They make learning fun. Their worksheets are colorful and interesting. When time came, our children tested well above average on the SAT test. We are empty nesters now but if I had to do it all over, Abeka would be the first curriculum I would examine. Abeka was very expensive for us and we did everything we could to minimize the costs, we even purchased a less expensive home. All in all it was well worth it!
You mentioned the top two things I loved – the excellent teachers – and the beautiful worksheets. My kids were so much more motivated to do their work on a colorful worksheet than in a black and white book.
I used Abeka to teach my girls K4, used Calvert for K5, and am now a firm believer in the Abeka phonics. My girls were so far ahead of the Calvert program, it was almost as if we took the year off! My girls are 13 mo apart, and my younger has kept up with my older. I never intended on keeping them at the same grade level, but my younger has kept up so well. So, for their 1st andand 2nd grade I used the Abeka DVD program and they really enjoyed it and I did not need to focus my attention on lesson plans. In the interest of saving money, and inveating for our other 5 kiddos, for their 3rd grade I am going to use Abeka, but I am going to do the teaching again. So far I love Abeka and plan on sticking with there curriculum. I don’t think I can express enough how much I love the phonics/reading “program”! Oh, and the video teachers were fantastic, I also learned a few things from their teaching styles. 🙂
Thank you for bringing up their phonic program. It is fabulous. The grammar for the older kids is excellent as well.
When my parents homeschooled my siblings and me in the ’90s, we had a few A Beka books mixed into the curriculum we were using. They were good books with solid teaching. This fall, my husband and I will begin our homeschool adventure with our soon to be 6yo son. We’ll be using CLASS and seeing how that works for us. My parents used CLASS, so I’m used to the format and most of the text books. Hopefully, the familiarity will make it less stressful for me (and the children)!
I really appreciated your “rabbit trail” about “angel” children. =) It’s crazy: people tell us all the time how wonderful and well behaved our children are! We just smile, say “thank you”, and wonder what they’re seeing that we’re missing! Oh well. As you say, we are all Wemmicks with Wemmick children; nobody’s perfect. =) Thank you, Natalie.
I have used parent directed Abeka for the last five years for my first born boy who is going into fifth grade, my second boy who is going into third grade and my third, a daughter who is going into second grade. I have had babies every other year and have four children who are ages newborn-5. Abeka is excellent at teaching the kids how to read well, no matter how poorly I am teaching it. It has been a real GRIND for us though. The format has been a lot harder for the distracted and active second boy. Not a lot of love for school around here. And that is a shame sooo…. we are going to do a different curriculum next year, My Fathers World, but are going to continue with the basic phonics workbooks for the K-3, the Abeka math K-3 and Saxon for the 5th grader 🙂 And we are VERY excited for a change! Looking forward to your next post. Sure have appreciated your perspective of late and just wanted to let you know I am with you on this journey just 15 years behind 🙂 Thank you
I’ve heard good things about My Father’s World. We used Tapestry for many years (I loved that) – and several people told me MFW is quite similar. I hope you enjoy the change!
I have been homeschooling for the past 21 years. I have used the same curriculum all the way through. Christian Liberty Press, A Beka, Saxon Math and a little bit of Bob Jones. I had no idea what I was doing and so I went with Christian Liberty Academy because they pick and choose from different publishers. I have never had to bother about which is best. We have just used what they have chosen.
So each year I go through my older editions of different books and I just fill in what we don’t have with new things from Christian Liberty Press. It has saved me much time and money. I have graduated 3 of my 6 children.
One of the most helpful things that I found to do, is to make up a binder for each child for each year. Here in NY we have quarterlies we are required to send in to our school district. So all the info that I have to send in I copy and put into my binder. This includes a list of books that I use, a copy of each of my quarterlies, my letter of intent, Aptitude tests, PSAT scores and their SAT scores (these are all required). To them I add, a report card for each quarter. When they are graduating from High School and need a transcript for college, I have all of my information in one place. When we finish our school year out, I spend a week or so, making up my plans for the next year and include getting my letter of intent out to the school for the new year.
At the end of high school, I combine my records into a few binders along with some special things like drawings, poems, and stories and then I give it to them for their own records. I can also pull out one of the older children’s binders and compare how each one is doing with the same subjects. Two of my children had some difficulty with grammar and so I used Easy Grammar with them instead of Christian Liberty’s Grammar for extra drill and they were able to pick Christian Liberty back up the next year. I don’t hear of anyone talking about Christian Liberty’s Curriculum, but it has worked well for us!
Oh, one other plus is that they will make up tests and answer keys for the A Beka books at a fraction of the cost.
http://www.shopchristianliberty.com/
Lots of good tips here. Thank you for sharing them!
I’m not a homeschooling parent, yet. My parents used A Beka with me for awhile. I had the old school book teaching. LOL I would say it was very helpful during the earlier grades when you have to learn the basics. However, as I got to 6th grades I needed stimulating and the best fit for me there was Unit studies. As I am the oldest of 7 I can vouch for the fact that every child is different.
Thank you for chiming in with a student’s perspective, Kim!
Okay so we’ve never used Abeka, however I can see how family dynamics/ages/amount/situations of family could benefit from video schooling.
I’m chomping at the bit to hear what you’re going to do! Ooooohhhhh…. Hurry up already girl!
We finished up our first year of Classical Comversations and loved it. Looking forward to doing it again next year. Although unlike most people who do it with a group, we do it at home on our own for the flexibility. But I like the idea of a coop someday.
Thanks for those trails! Keep hopping 😉
Wowzer. Is tomorrow OK? 😉
We have used A Beka DVD’s/streaming for the past 8 years and we love it. (Does anyone else miss seeing Miss Wheeler every morning?!) As you mentioned, every child is different and the Lord seems to be calling us into a different direction.
MANY of my kids Sunday School teachers comment on how well my kids know the bible. Without a beat, I say “A Beka!”
It is nice to know that they give such a strong academic and biblical foundation. And yes, we love the teachers! 🙂
Yes, the Bible memory is another bonus. I do love all the reciting exercises – including the poetry.
Is there a lot of parent planning or parent involvement with the abeka streaming? I am a mom with kidney failure and I go to dialysis several times a week. I am homeschooling my 7 year old, but its very hit and miss depending on how I feel. We are only about a 1/4 way through his first grade year and we started last fall (2013). We are currently using Christian Light Education which I like but as with a lot of curriculum’s it takes 2-4 hrs to do with him and it generally only happens when I feel up to it. Which isn’t that option. I’ve wondered if abeka videos or streaming would be a better fit, but i’ve been very deterred by the cost (we really can’t afford it).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Ginger, you are brave to keep trying to do all of that. The A Beka streaming requires ZERO prep on the part of the parent! You just pull out their worksheets and they do the rest. You do need to correct the papers and help them if they get stuck on anything – but maybe someone could help you do that?
Thank you Natalie! I appreciate that information. Perhaps I will have to look into it some more and pray about it. If its God’s will I’m sure he will make a way for us to afford it. Also my husband could probably help with the grading if I got behind.
Hi Natalie. I’ve been doing some catch up blogging today and have been able to read a few of your latest posts. I pray all goes well with the direction the Lord is leading your family in the days ahead…peace, heart-tying and His blessings, to name a few. Funny…I just wrote a post on how I organize full-grade ABeka for younger children. I love the completeness and excellence of this curriculum in building a good foundation with our younger children, especially. I linked directly to that post for those of your readers that are looking for a way to manage all the paper that comes with this full curriculum. We have used the DVD option versus the LIVE streaming. Thanks for sharing your review {“real”ness and “rabbit tracks”…it’s what made your post a joy}.
Blessings and continued prayers for you ~
Thank you for sharing that link! Very helpful!!
When my husband and I see kids having an absolute melt-down in a public place, we’re the ones who are trying to give you a kind and friendly smile while biting back the urge to burst out laughing. 😛
Why are we laughing? Well, we’ve heard the stories about what we were like during childhood trips to the store.
I – sweet, gentle, and compliant, – was generally a good trooper. Well, except for that time I was four and launched myself into the middle of one of those circular clothes racks shrieking like a banshee. Mom was very pregnant with my youngest brother and was on her hands-and-knees trying to drag me out as I clung to the rack with both hands and one foot. My dad was no help because he was laughing so hard because in his words “You have to admit; it was funny….” After 20 years, she’s willing to admit the scene was probably funny.
But I was a piece of cake compared to my husband. He thought those clothes racks made great forts. He’d wait until his mom was turned away, would bolt, climb into the fort, and start day-dreaming….silently. She’d have to go rack to rack to find him. She finally stopped that habit by “leaving” him at the store.
So, if you see adults biting back smiles, remember we’re all pulling for you!
Funny! Those racks are SO attractive to kids. Hey! That’s a good Christmas gift idea! A closet that doubles as a fort!
Could you tell me if I would still need to hire an evaluator at the end of the year to look through work? I’m in PA. I know that standards are different state to state, but maybe someone else on here, if not you, may be able to answer that question.
With A Beka, you can go the accredited route if you want to. That just means you send their work (tests and papers) into A Beka to be evaluated, and then you are “under” their accreditation standards. This should satisfy most, if not all, state standards.