mmattern
- Reviewed on Thursday, August 27, 2009
- Grades Used: 1st
- Dates used: 2008-2009
We love the Abeka phonics/reading curriculum! At the end of my dd's kindergarten year, I was concerned that she just wasn't "getting" reading (we were using 100 Easy Lessons). I decided to try Abeka for 1st grade because a friend used it and her dd read very well. DD quickly grasped the concept of marking the vowels and learning the special sounds. Within a few weeks she was able to read BOB Books (something that had been a struggle before)! After we finished up the 1st grade program, I am happy to report that dd enjoys reading and can read simple chapter books (Mercy Watson, Little House) with ease.
The materials I used were: Phonics 1, Language 1 and Spelling 1. I purchased the curriculum guide and one of the readers, but did not use them. The guide is basically a schedule of the workbooks, which I created on my own. The reader was ok, but not that great. We preferred to read real books (which she was able to do after a few lessons). I did find the special sounds flash cards and charts handy. These were great for drilling orally and taking in the car.
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hannahB
- Reviewed on Wednesday, April 22, 2009
- Grades Used: PreK
- Dates used: .
I learned to read with this great program! (am now in 9th gr) And taught my younger sis (now 1st gr) how to read with it too.
It is very thorough and starts kids reading fairly quickly. (age 4) I like the little readers that they have. It makes the child feel like she's accomplished something. I would see my sis beam once she read a little reader like "I just read a big book!!" They have a "blend book" to practice the phonics rules/blends. The penmanship workbook that goes with it correlates with phonics, which I liked. It does a great job teaching kids to read.
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familyschool
- Reviewed on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
- Grades Used: k-4 - 2
- Dates used: 2004-2009
I love Abeka for language, but I don't like this phonics program. The material is presented in a way that is confusing. There is not enough practice for new concepts. My child is an advanced reader and usually has no problems understanding or sounding out words. However, with this program I have had to add phonics practice form other sources. The concepts could be better taught using simpler words the children will/can recognize. I will continue to use Abeka for the rest of her language arts, but will not be using this phonics.
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wandac
- Reviewed on Sunday, March 01, 2009
- Grades Used: K-1st
- Dates used: 2006-2008
My son used Abeka phonics for K-1st. We used all the flashcards, teachers lessons and readers for K-1st.
The best thing I can say about Abeka phonics is that it is thorough. Sometimes it's so thorough you feel like it's draining the life out of you. By the time we reached 1st grade, I figured out that I could combine lectures and save time and boredom. So, we might do the lectures and board work for 2 lessons on one day and then do 2 days of worksheets the next day. This made the coursework much more bearable.
We did not use a workbook phonics program for 2nd grade because we had drilled those 132 Special Sounds in Abeka until we were sick of them. Instead, I had my son do the 100 lessons in Click N' Phonics for his phonics review during second grade.
Language Arts is not my thing to teach. Abeka definitely does the thinking for me and does a good job of it. I will use it again for ds4 for K-1st and then switch to something else for 2nd grade. And I'll use Click N' Phonics for K-2nd as reinforcement/review.
To get the full benefit of any Abeka product, you must use the teacher's manual. That's a negative for us because the cost is too high, especially now that you have to buy so many separate books per subject as you progress to higher grades (student test book, test key, review/quizes, workbook answer keys, teacher book, etc). Luckily, you don't need answer keys for K-1st!!
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