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This is another article in my guest-written curriculum review blog series!! In this series I am introducing you to some of my homeschooling friends. I am interviewing each in turn to gain knowledge from them that I can share with you.
No one homeschooling parent can be completely familiar with all the different homeschooling curriculum and approaches out there. This series is an opportunity to learn from people who are experienced in different ways of homeschooling. Each article in this series will be focusing on a different homeschool curriculum or method. They will be in interview format and will each feature a different homeschooling mom. Read along, and learn from others’ experience right along with me. You never know; you might find someone whose story sounds similar to yours!!
From this point forward, my questions and comments will be in bold, while Amy’s answers will be in normal type.
Hello, Amy! Welcome to my blog! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your children?
Hello! My name is Amy. I have two children and have homeschooled for 15 years. We started when my kids were preschool age. My older child just graduated high school and will be attending college, and my younger child will be a junior in high school this year.
What curriculum are we discussing today?
A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education), by School of Tomorrow
How long have you used this curriculum?
We have used this curriculum for four years.
What made you want to try this curriculum initially?
We were looking to try something new for history, so we decided to try out the A.C.E. paces for my older child. My children enjoyed worktext formats from other curriculums we’ve used in the past, so I thought A.C.E. might be a good fit.
For what grade levels did you use it?
We used it for some middle school and high school classes.
For what subjects did you use it?
We used it for English, word building, mathematics, American history, world geography, civics and economics, U.S. Constitution and collectivism, music, health, physical science, biology, chemistry, and Bible.
In your opinion, compared to other homeschool curriculum options what is the cost of using this curriculum? Low, medium, or high
A.C.E is extremely affordable. Each subject has twelve worktexts that are around $44 for the set, and each subject has 4 answer keys that are around $14 for the set.
Is this curriculum resuable for younger students in the family? How much of it is consumable?
You can reuse the answer keys but need to buy new workbooks for each student.
Is this curriculum all-inclusive or does it require additional items or time preparing?
The curriculum is all-inclusive for the most part. Almost no additional prep time is needed. For the lower grades, there are some additional items needed for science.
Would you say this curriculum is self-paced, teacher-dependent, or somewhere in between?
It is designed for the students to work independently including scoring their own work (except for tests which the teacher grades).
In your opinion, what are the strengths of this curriculum?
Students learn independently. It is very easy to use, isn’t overly time consuming and covers concepts well. It is mastery based and students can advance at their own pace. The A.C.E paces are numbered and not labelled by grade level, so students could be on a 6th grade math level and 5th grade English level and no one would know by looking at their worktexts. They also have placement tests to see where your student might have learning gaps. Single paces (the workbooks) can be purchased if there are any learning gaps from previous curriculums. A student is expected to complete 12 paces a year. Another benefit that many like of this curriculum is that students can easily bring their school work with them if they travel or do school away from home. Since they are worktexts, they don’t have to carry heavy textbooks around. They just bring the few paces with them that they are currently working on, which takes up very little space.
In your opinion, what are the weaknesses of this curriculum?
Some of the subjects are slightly outdated. This curriculum seems weak on writing assignments for English and critical thinking activities. Some people say the curriculum in the elementary grades is too easy. Since it is designed to be an independent curriculum, I think it starts off easier so that children are successful and find learning fun and not frustrating. It gets more academically challenging by the middle school and high school grades.
For what type of family/child would you say this curriculum would work best for?
It worked well for both of my children despite different learning styles. Busy families who want a solid curriculum that still leaves time for other types of learning and activities would enjoy this curriculum.
Thank you, Amy, for your time and efforts in helping to put together this review! It is always interesting to find out more about a curriculum which I have not used. And it is great to see how different curriculums work great for various people and families!
And to my readers: I hope you have also learned something new about ACE curriculum. Feel free to comment below any thoughts or questions that you have.
Thank you for this helpful interview! I now have a better understanding of A. C. E.