Why we aren't using Abeka this year

If you've followed our family for a bit, you would know that I love using Abeka for my kiddos for schooling.  I used Abeka for elementary and middle school for Josh, Beth and Brenna.  And I've used it  for Silas, Callie and Micah since kindergarten. But, this year we did a big change up.  After lots of prayers, and lots of research, we are no longer using Abeka this year.  I can't narrow it down to one exact reason why, I guess you could say there are many little reasons.  A few ladies have asked me what I'm using and why, so I thought I'd share it here.  But, first, let me tell you why I really like Abeka.  (And if I had to do the past 8 years again, I would choose to use Abeka up until this point all over again.)

Why I have loved Abeka:

 ~I love having the DVDs for them to watch. I put in the DVD each day and know they are getting a complete education for each class.

~ I know they are getting a really good education. Time and time again students that use Abeka test out high on state testing.

 ~The teachers really are the best! I love how they use songs and games to teach many concepts.  (Especially geography.  Ms. Amsbaugh is my favorite!)

  ~I love the way they use a lot of repitition.  Repetition is the key to learning.! :o)

  ~ I love that each of my kiddos has their monitor with their grade level teacher and their space.  They get done the work they have been assigned and I know they are getting what they need.

 ~ I love that Abeka is Bible based.  You get a christian view in every subject.

 ~ I love that it is all King James when they quote Scripture.

But, even though I have loved it, we still switched.  I started feeling the need for something different last February.  It started with 7th grade spelling.  The list is very, very long.  There was a lot of vocabulary as well.  I felt that there was so much information, but were my kiddos retaining it?  Yes and no.  They were retaining much of it, and I am thankful.  But, they were missing a lot of it, too.  I felt that if we condensed the list and took off  half of the words, that I could help them retain more.  I decided that those 10 words could be used in stories and in our everyday speech.  I found that we could talk about them and research them and then, boom, they had those 10 words learned!  So, in March we did a lot of reworking in spelling, vocabulary and language.  We kept notebooks where we kept track of what they were reading and writing.  They wrote more letters to businesses, friends and family.  We made what they were learning real and they loved it.  And so did I. 

 I began praying and asking the Lord if we needed to switch things up for them for the next school year.  Through the end of the schoolyear I just couldn't get this idea out of my head.  Then a friend of mine asked me if I ordered my Abeka books yet because their price had gone up.  I checked into it and wow, she was right!  I went Patrick and we started praying and researching together.  Halfway through the summer we knew it was best for our kiddos to changeup our curriculum.

Why we aren't using Abeka anymore:

~Even though this isn't the sole reason why, it's pretty big.  We simply feel that Abeka is too expensive.  We were looking at $4,000.  That just is out of our budget. 

~Our kiddos had gotten too used to it and had lost a lot of the excitement. It seemed to be predictable to them.  And it had just lost its sparkle if that makes any sense.

~They were learning so much that they weren't retaining as much for the amount of time they put in.  We started about 8:30 and would go until about 3 or 4.  After that their brains seemed so fried that I felt bad having them practice their instruments or the piano.  They were just done and as kids they needed time to play.

~I want my kiddos to have more practicality in their schooling. I want them to learn things that they are interested in and that will be used in the future, while still learning grammar, algebra and chemistry.  

~I want them to have time for other things such as music, home ec, mechanics, finances and ministry.

~I want to tailor their learning according to each of my kiddos learning styles.  They are all so different! I have one that is a major reader and one that is not so much.  I have one that thrives on science and how things are built and  tick.  I have one that would  love to incorporate art into everything and likes to make special posters to show what they've learned.  They are each so different and if I could tweak their assignments according to their learning styles, they would learn more.  And more efficiently.

So, after much research, I've found some resources that will help fill in the gaps that we were having. I think I've found some good curriculum to help as we raise our treasures to honor the Lord.  I am so excited about this upcoming schoolyear!!!

I'll share more in the next post. :o)