Jen F
- Reviewed on Friday, March 05, 2010
- Grades Used: 3-5
- Dates used: 2006-2009
There are things I liked and did not like about this history program:
Pros:
This curriculum is not concerned about political correctness; it just tells history the way it was, but in an age-appropriate manner.
It presents the Founding Fathers and America in general in a positive light.
In addition to the usual historical figures, I read about important people that I never learned about in public school. My son is more fully informed than I was at his age.
The books present the Bible as being accurate and truthful, and in the 5th grade history book, it explained who many of the ancient peoples mentioned in the Bible are, and who their modern descendents are. This helped ME immensely in my understanding of the Bible and the current Middle East conflicts.
Good, practical, geography lessons. Lots of maps and worksheets which my son loves.
Cons:
This is a traditional, memorize-names-and-dates approach.
It doesn't delve as deeply as I would like into topics.
It is very Pro-Protestant. My Catholic husband was irritated at the subtle jabs made toward the Catholic Church. They went over my son's head, but did not escape our notice.
All I can say is attend a materials display (you can find one near you at www.abeka.org), flip through a history book, and check it out for yourself. I hope this helps!
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SoaringEagle
- Reviewed on Friday, January 08, 2010
- Grades Used: Grade 1
- Dates used: September 2009 - January 8, 2010
We just finished reading the grade 1 reader, My America and My World. Even though it was short, I liked it and my dd did too. We read 2-3 pages once a week. Very colorful, beautiful pictures, overview of some of our presidents, symbols, states, countries, etc. I'll be using this with my son too. A gentle intro to history.
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foreverd04
- Reviewed on Monday, April 20, 2009
- Grades Used: 4th
- Dates used: 2008-2009
Abeka's 4th grade U.S. History is a nice, simple, overview of our history from a Christian perspective. I am a huge history buff, so it was not as complete as I would have liked. I felt it left a lot of important information out, especially in the second half. However, we added many read-alouds and assigned reading from "living" books, and had many discussions to add to Abeka's basic, "cleaned up" version of history.
The book was relatively short. We spent maybe 20-30 minutes per day 4-5 days/week with it, and it took us a total of 6 months to complete, even with our add-ons and Christmas break.
What I liked best about this was the accompanying Geography Maps and Reviews book. Abeka provided great worksheets and maps, and my dd enjoyed them. All in all it wasn't bad as a spine, but I feel Abeka could have added much more to the text.
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dgraves
- Reviewed on Wednesday, July 09, 2008
- Grades Used: 4th - 12th
- Dates used: 2008-2009
I am a sixty three old person that has elected to begin a new career teaching in a small Christian School using the A Beka Book History Series. I will teach geography in addition to Civics and Economics. Having a degree with History and Public Administration majors and three hours short of a Minor in English. I spent almost twenty years as a city manager with another ten or so years in the private sector management.
There has nothing in my tenure all these years that has given me the excitement of teaching young people using Christian literature such as the A Beka Book Series. When I acted as a substitute in the public school system, I had to be very discret in talking about God and His place in History. That God I can now do this in a mannor that He would want me to do.
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