ABeka Book Publishers

Overview:

Abeka is one of the oldest Christian textbook publishers. They have a solid reputation, and are one of the most used curriculums in Christian private schools, particularly in the younger grades. Abeka was one of the first complete publishers of Christian textbooks. They advertise heavily for the homeschooling market and are used successfully by many. Their metholodgy is clearly designed around an age-segregated classroom environment. Abeka builds a strong, early foundation, as they are very drill and repetition oriented, which may be good for younger students memorizing multiplication tables and grammar concepts.
However, they are slow to leave that methodology as students progress to higher grade levels where higher order thinking skills should have a greater focus. Drills will help students master their multiplication tables, which is vital, but it does not lay the foundation needed for processing the logic and order for algebra.

Many homeschoolers love ABeka, and it does work when used by students who are very early readers and clearly advanced in most academic areas. ABeka prides itself in covering material a year or two ahead of most public schools. Sometimes this is appropriate, given the state of many schools. The challenge is that the sequence of concepts is not in line with most curriculums or national standards, meaning switching to Abeka from any other curriculum after third grade will place a good student in the position of having gaps in core concepts, because Abeka covered those concepts in a different order than any other publisher.

The Abeka reading program is good in that it is one-hundred percent phonics based. The program is based on the forty-four sounds that make up the English language. They do not teach all seventy-five phonograms and thirty-one spelling rules, which leaves a small percentage of deductive reasoning students frustrated with the process. (Mostly boys) Children from a family that has a history of Dyslexia should only use a program based 100% on the Orton Gillingham system. Refer to the Reading First section of this website for more information on reading.

The Abeka Reading Program is laid out in this brochure: Six Steps to Teach Phonics.