ACE World Geography 9th Grade Review

I've never used anything from ACE before. I've heard many negative reviews, and not so many positive ones. The reviews I've read all say it is too "easy", or that students just read the paces, and "regurgitate" the answers in fill in the blank, multiple choice workbooks. Parents also complain that their children don't retain the information they read.

I beg to differ. Unsure what to use for Colleen's 9th grade year for social studies, I researched several options. Eventually I came down to deciding between Abeka's 9th grade World Geography, and ACE's. The deciding factors were 1.) price. ACE is several hundred dollars less expensive than Abeka, and 2.) A comparison from a fellow homeschool mom who owns both of these. I figured, for the price, I might as well give it a shot, and see for myself.

Colleen has just completed the first PACE. Normally, a pace is to take about 3 weeks to read, answer, do the mapwork, and do the self checks and final test. We took over 4 weeks, due to the deaths in our family last month, and the plumbing and vet emergencies we had. Is it easy? Colleen says, "Yes." Does she have to mindlessly regurgitate answers? Yes, some of the time. She reads, and answers questions, just like any other publisher or textbook. She answers FAR more questions than were she to use a textbook curriculum, and although many of them ARE just multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank, she also has mapwork, and open ended questions that require thought. She can not just skim through her reading, because she would not be able to answer the questions without fully reading the material, and she spends much time flipping back and forth from her workbook pages, (called an Activity Pac) and her actual reading in the PACE. She spends maybe 30 to 45 minutes a day with this subject. She says it is interesting, not boring. (Which it is; I read the PACE too.) It is colorful, which believe it or not, I never knew ACE was, till I had it in my hands. Colleen likes that they explain things, and not just write a bunch of facts, with no explanation. She doesn't like the mapwork, but she has never liked any mapwork in any curriculum.

She averaged an A throughout the PACE, usually only missing 2 or 3 questions, if that, each day. Last week she had her test. I warned her to study, and her reply was, "Studying is stupid. I don't need to study." I thought, "Hmm. We'll see about that tomorrow when you take your test then, Little Miss Smarty." Even with her begative attitude, and not studying, she certainly DID retain the material. She got an 88% on the final test. While, in my opinion, that isn't great, it isn't horrible, either. It's a good, solid B, and it's her own fault she didn't want to review or study. And actually, it gives me an even better gauge of how well she retained the information learned because she DIDN'T review it one bit.

All in all, after completing the first of `12 Paces for the year, both Colleen and I like ACE's 9th grade World Geography. She did well. She found it interesting. We both prefer it to the standard, boring, dry textbook production of the topic. There is virtually no lesson planning or teacher-intensiveness to it. She can do this completely independently, with me only helping her if she truly can not find something, and me to grade the test and self-checks. I like it so well that I would definitely consider, and AM considering, using ACE for some other subjects. I wouldn't want to use this format for every subject, but I wish I had checked it out much sooner than going-into-my-6th-year-of-homeschooling.

Summer school update

Story of turtle below.

Less than a month before the other kids go back to ps. We have been schooling off and on through the summer. 2 or 3 days/week, 2 hours each day for dd9, and maybe an hour each day for dd5.

C and I had a goal of the first 20 Math lessons, plus the investigations and tests that accompany them. We met that goal last week, and now are on "Math break". When we return full time to school I need a compass for her lessons. Since when do 4th graders use compasses?!?

C and I also had a goal to finsish 2 chapters in her LA book. We are only about 2/3 of the way through that goal. Sentence structure and Capitalization is boring, so we both tend to spend most of our "school time" on Math or History/Geography.

History...well, we are both LOVING Ancient times. She asks for us to do that almost daily. I am learning as much as she is. I don't remember learning any of this in school. We are over halfway through the book, and we spend about an hour each day that we do it.

We have done no formal science, but I have found out LIFE is science. Things always seem to come up. An example: 2 days ago a large snapping turtle appears in our driveway. This led to observing the turtle, calling the Humane Society and having them come pick up the turtle (after interrogating them as to their intentions after getting the turtle), watching how they captured the angry, jumping, snapping, and hissing (yes, they hiss) creature, and then spending an hour or two researching snapping turtles online. Both girls drew their own snappping turtle, and C added a list of interesting facts on her page. E was able to just tell me the facts. Then E and I read 2 stories in Aesop's Fables that had to do with turtles. I have seen plenty of turtles in my life fishing and camping, but never one in our own driveway that needed to be removed to a safe location. And for any of you concerned about what happened to it, my husband was getting a load of gravel down at the pit, and actually spoke to the Humane Society guys while they released the turtle in the beautiful, wild area around the old gravel pits and lakes. So he is much better off.

Back to the update. E has finished 50 out of 100 lessons in Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. (cheesy name, not-too-bad book) She is about 1/3 through 1st grade phonics, almost halfway through her K math book, and is averaging a 100% in spelling. She is working on memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance. (unlike a certain presidential nominee...oh, wait! That's a different blog)

E loves "playing" with the globe, and can locate the equator, the continents, the Oceans, and Hawaii. She also knows the difference between the North and South poles, and knows by name the Pacific Ocean. She can tell me tons of information about Africa, it's people, it's animals, and it's major features, such as rainforests, deserts, and savannah's. She knows the Sahara is the largest desert in the world, and where it is. She knows the Nile is the longest river in the world, and can point it out, too.

I have a short unit study prepared for both girls featuring the Olympics, since it's almost time for them to begin. C and I are already studying ancient Greece, so it works out great, and I didn't even plan it that way.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.