momster67
- Reviewed on Friday, July 03, 2009
- Grades Used: 7th - 11th
- Dates used: 2009
For a couple of years I researched A2 to make an educated decision about this curriculum. I read all the reviews and looked over their website thoroughly. It looked so enticing!
Still unsure as to whether it would truly be complete enough, I was thrilled to find a used copy for sale, so for a fraction of the original price ($99 + s/h) I was able to experiment with this promising program.
A2 has made an honest effort to "bring back" the educational methodologies of the past that produced positive results; and while I agree with this goal, I wonder if simply copying old texts is the best way to accomplish this.
With the plethora of homeschool materials available out there, I feel that A2 is more useful as a spine than a complete curriculum. It has a LOT of information on one CD, but can be a bit monotonous in format and tone.
So, my conclusion about A2 is this:
-it is a time and space-saver
-it is classical in nature
-it is a wealth of teaching materials on one CD
-it is affordable
BUT, it is also:
-not totally complete (no science, math, or electives)
-monotonous visually
-has some not-so-Biblical references
-does not cater to various learning styles and levels.
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wjebs
- Reviewed on Wednesday, August 20, 2008
- Grades Used: 2nd - 9th
- Dates used: 2008-present
We have only just started using A2 but I have to say that this is the best curriculum! We have tried many curriculums over the years but this is by far the best and easiest. I have some major health problems and was actually considering putting my children in public school. I stumbled upon this curriculum one night and decided to try one more time since the price was very reasonable. I am so glad I did! My children love reading and hate a bunch of "busy work" so they all love this curriculum. I will never use another curriculum and will definitely be keeping them at home. We are all set for the rest of their years of school.
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momo6hmscr
- Reviewed on Thursday, May 29, 2008
- Grades Used: 3rd-10th
- Dates used: 2006-2007
I loved the idea of this curriculum. Daily lesson plans, just print out & use. Math included.
Well, I found it hard to use because there was no answer key for the English assignments. I had to spend a lot of time correcting without that answer key.
The printable copywork prints out too small for my little ones to see the text clearly. I can use these for my older students though.
The math book was incredibly diffucult for me to follow. Not enough explaination on how to do the work. I loved the printable woksheet program though! We still use that sometimes if we get stuck in a certain area.
What keeps me from really using the rest of the program is the printing. We just can't afford the ink & the paper costs. We refill our ink cartridges & we still can't afford it. It's also very time consuming for me to print everything. Sometimes our printer jams or runs out fo ink, & I will have to figure out where it happened & start over. This is my personal problem though, not a problem with the program.
Overall, I love the program. I am hoping, with some tweaking, to use this program. Just not the math book.
If we spend a lot of time with the English program. I think we can get it to work too. I believe the owner is making an answer key for it .
There is a yahoo group that really helps you implement the program. They have lot's of tips.
The owner of the program has also been very helpful when I've emailed.
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Lainie
- Reviewed on Thursday, March 27, 2008
- Grades Used: 7th
- Dates used: 2008
Impossibly difficult in upper grades. My daughter is smart, GT identified and had excellent PS grades. Switched to HS in January. She struggles with the antiquated English used in almost everything she is exposed to in A. Achievement. Lots of amazing historical and rich literary texts, but schedule an extra hour of dictionary time to each day's lesson because you'll need it! Also, I've spent hours writing tests, study guides and planning projects, searching on-line for modern examples of the language usage. Crazy amount of time to get the point across. I do not like the lack of tests, answer keys and the sketchy on-line support. Had to buy math and science from other sources. I didn't realize I needed to do that going into it.
However, I'm glad I bought it for all the richness of it and plan to use AA for enrichment purposes. But we will be switching to something more realistic for daily lessons.
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