I teach 5th and 6th grade using the aBecka curriculum at a small Christian school, but next year I will be homeschooling my children instead. I too am looking around for the right curriculum. I can say that I definitely do find plusses with this curriculum.
Every year that I have taught, the majority of my students LOVE the history. I think it is very interesting and informative, but I wish it incorporated more in depth studies of cultures and helped develope critical thinking skills. I will say that the curriculum is intensive on learning quite a bit of geography that we adults have never been exposed to.
The science is really cool in my opinion. It has indepth study with awesome pictures, and it incorporates scripture to further explain controversial (worldly views) issues. The kids in all my classes have always been commended on science related field trips for their knowledge. If I could change anything, I suggest incorporating a science experiment kit. Hands on learning is important to keep the attention of kids.
We all find the Bible curriculum very satisfying. It has great stories with wonderful Bible memorization. I wish, however, it was a little more interactive and thought provoking.
My complaints are with the language and math. Since you are not considering math, I will not delve into that, but I find the same problem in both subjects. The language above all is way too advanced. This is a very aggressive curriculum with tricky wording and exception to the rule questions on tests. By sixth grade, the child has to write an indepth research report (I think this is great); know all state of being verbs, helping verbs, and linking verbs; know the correct verb usages (present, present participle....); know the difference between an adjective or an adverb; know a direct object, indirect object, predicate nominative, predicate adjective, and objects of prepostions; know all pronouns (nominative, objective, possessive, indefinite, demonstrative, and interagative); know how to diagram all this information; and they must know all underlining, hyphening, quotation, and comma rules. I think some of this is above many of the kid's comprehension level, but this is not my concern. I am bothered how fast these concepts are presented. Everyday there are one or two new concepts presented. It goes way too fast with little review and mastery.
One plus for sticking with this curriculum is that most Christian schools use this curriculum. If you ever decided to go the Christian school route, your children would have an easy transition and would be on level. I hope this didn't bore you and was informative.
In His Service,
Marcey
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