A Beka Math
Ratings Summary:
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Category
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Average
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Count
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| Effectiveness |
3.5 |
2 |
| Usability |
3.5 |
2 |
| Price/Value |
3 |
2 |
| Overall Average |
3.33 |
2 |
A Beka offers a large collection of arithmetic books and products for students in grades pre-K through 12. The program uses a spiral learning method and teaches from a Christian perspective.
https://www.abeka.com
Calvert Math
User Reviews
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| Reviewed by Catherine |
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Created at
4:53 PM EDT on
August 3, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
3 |
| Usability |
3 |
| Price/Value |
2 |
| Overall Average |
2.67 |
Boy, is math an adventure! I had researched meticulously what math program I wanted my oldest to use before he approached school age. I saw the frustration of other homeschooled children when their mothers switched programs and I didn’t want to put my son through that. I discovered that reviews are helpful – but often one just needs to try a curriculum. Yes, we now have a math library, from many math adjustments. Below is our story of how Abeka has worked and not worked for us. (For those on limited time, at the end of this review is an itemized list of our likes and dislikes.)
Abeka is highly acclaimed and always has high reviews. One reason I chose to start my children on this curriculum was the review by “The Well Trained Mind” and the older version of Seaton Homeschool. To tell you the truth, I couldn’t find any cons against the program in any review. Abeka operates on a spiral approach to math – building and yet always reviewing, rather than just rote memorization. Sounded great to me, so we went to a display to order the books. My children and I were instantly drawn to the colorful workbooks! It is SO colorful! The colors made it fun. Besides, why should math be so monotone and dull? However, when I saw the order form I was not impressed. The books were overpriced and the sheer number of required materials are out of reach for those on a lower budget. A workbook, teacher edition, curriculum book, flashcards, drills/test, games, answer guide to tests, etc… Since when did math become so complicated? (For your information, for the younger grades, one only needs the curriculum book not the teacher edition. The teacher edition is the answer guide to the workbook, no scripts are given.) Luckily, it is very easy to find used copies. I decided not to take the publisher's suggestions and only bought K workbook, homeschool edition curriculum book and the charts/games. While my son did well – I found the curriculum guide that has the script to be obsolete. It didn’t give suggestions to teach math or understand its meanings except to show some examples on the board and drill flash cards with a little game here or there. I thought it was overpriced and found much of what I bought unneeded.
Abeka overall, was a great fit academically. The accelerated pace and challenge motivated him. Before we knew it he completed the K workbook. Since we school year around, I thought we could finish Saxon 1st grade during the summer before Abeka 1st grade in the fall. What a flop. Saxon was so easy! Abeka far surpassed what Saxon did in 1st grade in the K curriculum! In addition, Saxon’s worksheets were too repetitive and so boring looking compared to the bright Abeka text. He hated it. So, back to Abeka, and happily!
As we went to 1st grade, I noticed he really didn’t "get" math. He couldn’t skip count, counted on his fingers (despite trying numerous counters and tens blocks with the Abeka program) and didn’t understand the concept of why we do what we do in math. Abeka wasn’t working! I didn’t want to switch, but it wasn’t meeting his needs. I wanted a challenging program but one that taught math differently, so we went with Singapore. We did well; it was much more challenging than Abeka. When we got to Book 2b, we still had the same problems reappearing. Now I noticed he failed to understand place value. The text asked to rename in the hundreds. Our base ten blocks literally took the whole length of the room to lay out and solve the problems. He started to hate math. So we stopped.
We went to an educational therapist for help. We tried the educational therapist's recommendation to implement Making Math Real. The program offers an intro DVD for free but it didn’t show enough where I felt confident I could teach math with it. To get a script one had to pay thousands of dollars in training in CA to learn the program. That was out. This is when we found RightStart Math. RS teaches math according to the Asian style of visualizing math in groupings of 5 or 10. It is kinesthetic, and visual, with games to offer practice not workbook pages. It uses an abacus and many other non-base ten manipulatives. It teaches lessons according to the method outlined by Dr. Marie Montessori. I am starting my K on this program and have switched my second grader. My visual learners didn’t need color, they needed to see the whole/big picture. RS teaches the big picture to them.
While Abeka is a good program, it is not for everyone. And even though you might be like me, hoping to find the dream curriculum to use from the beginning without switching, sometimes your child needs you to adjust. Homeschooling is about having the flexibility to find the best fit for your child. Reviews can be helpful, but for us, trying out many programs was the best review of all.
Dislikes:
1. No placement tests available.
2. The script didn’t help to teach math other than rote formulas. It didn’t help to give the child the hows or whys of a problem or math in general.
3. No help offered for when a child is struggling. Just a standard explanation with no troubleshooting for when problems occur.
Likes:
1. Challenging/fast paced
2. Color!
3. Easy to buy used
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| Reviewed by dknh4home |
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Created at
8:55 PM EST on
February 19, 2008
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Category
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Score
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| Effectiveness |
4 |
| Usability |
4 |
| Price/Value |
4 |
| Overall Average |
4 |
I use the Abeka Math program with my children for the early elementary years and have enjoyed it very much. The books start out very simple with bright colors and cute pictures. There are poems and coloring activities that help engage the younger student. There are pictures on most pages that can add to your schooling whether it is an animal or a continent. We have actually done geography based on what place is mentioned in our math book.
As the child progresses through the books, the math begins to get more difficult but is always presented in a way that makes sense. When there is a new concept to be learned, there is a very clear explanation at the top of the page with several problems to work on. The backside of the page is usually review of the concepts preciously learned.
My children do not have any trouble working with a standard math workbook. However, I can see how this program might not work for all learning styles. It does move a long at a quick pace and can be a little dry. There are many problems for each concept and I end up circling a few from each set, as having my child do all of them gets to be too much.
There is also a Christian theme running through the book. This may turn some people off, but it is sprinkled here and there and doesn’t hit you over the head on each page.
I don’t really have to prepare for a lesson each day as there is so much review. We discuss what the new concept is and that is usually all it takes. The book has supplemental pages at the back if the child needs more problems to work on –we have not had to use these. Also, the price is reasonable.
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