Homeschoolers/Christian schoolers

[beautybelle]

Is there anyone out there that can tell me about ACE Accelerated Christian Education? My son just started Christian School Monday and is using the curiculum and he brought his books home today and to be perfectly honest Im wondering if this is going to be (gosh whats the word Im looking for here) uh for lack of a better term...educational enough. I mean I like the thoughts of the Bible based theme but I was hoping for a little of that, with more in depth information as well. Ya know what Im saying? Any insight would be great. Thanks.

 

[bear74]

What grade is yhour son in? I went to a Christian school and that is what we used. But we used what we called PACE. I graduated when I was 16 and went to college. I am now an RN. I really liked being able to do my work at my own pace. I just wish I could find something like it here in Austin. The private schools that I know of are using something called the BECCA program. Which I think is like the public schools curiculeum.
Sorry I could not be of more help.

 

[blessedby3]

Just thought I would give you my take on the ACE paces. I homeschooled my DD from 1st thru 4th grade and tried different things. Someone mentioned the paces and when I looked at them at a convention I just wasnt impressed. I did order the animal science unit for her when she was in the 2nd or 3rd grade because she liked animals. This did not replace Science though, just something extra. We have a private Christian school in our area that uses them, and that is why we dont go to that particular school. Our children go to another Christian school and they use ABeka. I believe that is what the previous poster is talking about. Im not sure what the previous poster means by it being like public school material. It is Bible based Christian material, and therefore is taught from a Christian perspective. The books are mainly consumable, meaning not used again like public school books. My kids have Bible, Penmanship, Spelling, Language/ Grammar, History, Science, and Math. I think that is it. They have been in this for years. My oldest DD is 15 in the 10th grade and had to go to public school at 9th because our school only went up to 8th. She didnt want to go to the school that had the ACE and I didnt want her to either. It was work at your own pace on your own and I could have homeschooled her again instead of paying for tuition if this type of curriculum. She made the transition into public high school great. She had 8 kids in her 8th grade class and about 300 in her 9th grade public school class. She had also done many more research papers, projects, etc. than her public school classmates so I feel confident she was getting a wonderful private school education before. She also went into honors classes at public school with no problems. Good luck with your private school experience. Maybe if you dont like the materials at your school you could look into others. I must say I had the same reservations you have and that is why we avoided them Again, good luck!

 

[MelodyMack]

My daughter attends a Christian school and they use the Beka book program. I am really impressed with it. I don't know much about homeschooling, but as far as Bible based programs, I think the Beka book is really well done.

HTH-
Mel

 

[Bellefan66]

Our two older children went to Christian school and used ACE which I believe they called Paces. It was awesome for my daughter,who needed little "prodding along".She worked great at her OWN pace,and was able to keep up. Different story for our son,who really needed a more traditional teaching method. He ended up being behind his classmates. We ended up moving to another school which DID use Christian cirricula,but not ACE.Hope that helps. Remember,YOU know your children,their weaknesses as well as their strengths.If you think they might not do well to go at their own pace,it may not be for them.

 

[beautybelle]

Well my son is in the 3rd grade and he is somewhat slower in his academics and I feel that going at his own pace would be better for him. The only thing im wondering about is the educational value of ACE.

 

[angiedora]

My daughter attends a Christian school and they use the Beka book program. I am really impressed with it. I don't know much about homeschooling, but as far as Bible based programs, I think the Beka book is really well done.

HTH-
Mel

My children go to a Christian school and they use Abeka. I feel like it's a very good program. There is another school in our area that does PACE and the parents I've spoken too liked it too.

 

[cashout]

My wife and I both attended Christian schools, and we homeschool our oldest 3 children now. I was in ACE for some of my schooling; my wife in Alpha/Omega (which is close to the same.) We have tried using ABeka for our kids, but are now using Bob Jones curriculum on satelite. That said, the ACE paces may not look that educational at the start; but as they get more difficult during the year, your child will not miss out. Remember, with a traditional school book, you can see a whole year at one time; with the paces, you are basically only seeing chapter one to start the year.

 

[meandtheguys2]

That is a good point, plus, the first 6 weeks in school is usually review of last years material. (Give or take a week, so no one screams at me!)

 

[beautybelle]

cashout: you have a point that I havent considered before. Everyone that knows me knows Im such a worry wart. I think I will just chill and watch the school year unfold and see what happens. My sister in law has my nephew in another Christian school in the lower part of town and they use ACE and she loves it, I just wanted some other peoples input too.

 

[barkley]

ya got me wondering-so i just walked over and took a look at my daughter's books she brought home tonight (5th grade at a christain school): spelling-"great source", handwritng "based on scripture verses"-"the concerned group"/taken from "the living bible", reading/reading skills-"dept. of education, gen. conf. of seventh day adventists". so i think our school uses a variety.

p.s. my kids would get a kick out of doing review for the first few weeks! they started 2 weeks ago and picked up right where they left off last year (the 4th graders had finished their curriculum by about april of last year so they began doing the 5th grade work ahead of time, day 1 at school they started with the page they left off with in june)

just remember-not every christian school is a good fit for every parent or kid. they can vary greatly! we moved our from a larger one that was fartoo concerned with standardized test results (and how good they looked for their recruiting brocheers) than the how the students were actualy learning and retaining information. we opted for a smaller school that emphasised the learning process and individual learning styles (funny, they tell the kids to relax and not stress over the standardized tests yet their students still test 2 or 3 grade levels above the norm in most categories ). so make sure the school is a good fit for both you and your child.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I was on the curriculum review committee of our christian school and we threw the ace program out of the window of consideration. We use the A Beka program for the most part but not math. Also spanish they use the public school curriculum. A Beka is a spiral curriculum that builds upon and reviews the concepts taught in the previous grade as well as introducing the new grade material.

 

[beautybelle]

luvmarypoppins: Can you tell me your committees reasons for throwing out ACE?

 

[deanainnc]

We just switched to Ace this year. My kids both went to a private christian school that used Abeka. We started homeschooling dd in 5th grade and used Abeka. Abeka is a very good curriculum, but we found it to be a very difficult curriculum. In 3rd grade my dd started taking seizure medication and the particular med. affected her comprenhsion and the doctor send notes to the school so they would know. Then in 4th grade she had a horrible teacher that informed me that my dd did not need to be at this school she wasn't cutting it. So we decided to homeschool. When she went into 6th grade we switched to Alpha Omega she did alot better. We went to SOS for 7th and 8th grade and it was great. So this year,9th grade we are using some subjects in ACE and some in Alpha omega with her.

My ds is in the 5th grade and really been struggling. So a lady at my church that homeschools told me about ACE and how her ds was struggling so bad and cring every morning trying to work through his school work and how switching to ACE he is really catching up to where he needs to be and actually is understanding what he is doing and learning it. So far my ds is doing better with ACE than he did with Abeka or Alpha Omega. ACE is to the point with what they want you to do and the kid can understand it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

luvmarypoppins: Can you tell me your committees reasons for throwing out ACE?

It was a while ago, but generally the committee was saying like if all the kids go at their own pace, why do you need the teacher etc. The teacher also might have to go around to each child teaching one concept and not a lesson per say in the "group" sense. I think they thought it cut down a little on a structured day. I would just say our school in general is pretty much of the mentality that "we all must stay on the same track" etc. I can/could see where it (Ace) would work much better if there were a higher percentage of gifted kids in a class, but I've only known of 2 in our school who could really accelerate far beyond the others, and then you have the other end of the spectrum where there are kids who really need help that would be so far behind even if they went at their own pace, for that some of the school districts pay for a special teacher to come in, who generally works on the classroom concepts being taught one on one with the student and then others chose to use the school resource teacher, but her time is rather limited. Then you have the general middle of the road kids. Also when you have say approx 14 kids going at their own pace and then its time for the state testing which the kids have to make the minimum etc. for, brought up another bunch of issues. We did look at alot of curriculums. We did like Bob Jones 2nd for the math. We looked at Rod and Staff, Alpha and Omega and secular stuff too. I must admit I had a fondness for the SRA reading box. Good luck.