ABEKA 1st GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS - REVIEW & FLIP THROUGH

[@f3nw1ckfamily]

I really appreciate the time and hard work you put into your Abeka videos. I'm especially grateful that they were for 1st Grade, which is where we'll be soon. You clarified many things that I was wondering about. Thank you!

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

I enjoy doing them ☺️ thanks for sharing your appreciation! I’m glad they’re helpful to you!

[@ciara6309]

My daughter also writes her books from back to front 🥰 I appreciate that she enjoys writing on her free time outside of school. It shows her love for learning.

[@IsabelRodriguez-nv2ue]

Thank you so very much for your dedication in preparing this video and sharing with all these wonderful learning resources from ABEKA! It is truly helpful to see all these books. Also for sharing your personal homeschooling experience for all to learn. Many heavenly blessings to all!

[@HerDailyJourney]

I did so much research on LA curriculum and I found myself piecing together so many different parts that was to make something I felt worked. I had Abeka in mind and then finally after looking over it again I found the curriculum to be a great overall for an LA curriculum. I love that it just has everything and I don't have to piece together several curriculums for each area of LA. Looks like such a solid curriculum. Great overview. We're gonna be using it for 1st grade...yes to modifying it to your child.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

I looked and looked and looked! We tried a few different things but landed on Abeka for the kindergarten and early elementary years! Good luck using it! I hope it works well for you guys!

[@abbe1abbe156]

We've been using Abeka since K4. My oldest is now in 2nd grade. I love the way you simplify learning with Abeka.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

I’m so happy to hear that!! 🥰

[@ashlyne4]

Thank you thank you thank you for these videos!! My girls are just behind yours in ages and it is so helpful to see what you have been through and loved or not loved!! 💗

[@brittanyolga]

Your daughter’s story was so cute 🥰. I cannot wait to see your review on Abeka k5 once your all are done. 😍

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

It definitely meant more to me than any other random paragraph that a book made her write. And I’ll definitely have a K5 review at the end of the year!

[@lauraramosadams2249]

Thanks for this! We are just finishing up Abeka's K5 and next month we will be starting 1st grade with Abeka. I already know my little one will struggle with the creative writing part of it. He loves it when we write a book together and illustrate it. We have a collection of his books. So I know I'll want us to keep doing that in 1st grade. I'm like you.... I want to foster a love of reading and writing. And honestly sometimes if we follow everything from Abeka to a T, I feel like it does just the opposite so I need to tweak it.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Best of luck with first grade. It’s such a fun year! And I think you’re totally right…it’s way too much if you follow EVERYTHING. You definitely have to prioritize. It sounds like you found a nice balance of you guys writing your books together…love it! 🥰

[@steffa648]

Girl I am sooo with you on the creative writing portion. We just passed the halfway point in LA where they introduce creative writing and I was like "NOOOOOO" Not something else to add! Quickly I realized that my son doesn't need it at this time. He is only 6, does a ton of writing in their worksheets and their handwriting portion so yeah, I am with you on just cutting it out. Also, he has written a book all on his own without my prompting either and that to me is creative writing! It is sooooo sweet!

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Good for you! Yes 6 is SO young! He’s got years ahead of him of formal writing. Cultivate that love for writing on his own. Love to hear that!!

[@elizabeth0265]

Thanks so much for your Language arts reviews! I am looking forward to seeing math reviews as well. I am having a hard time deciding between abeka or TGATB.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

You’re welcome! I’ll definitely give more of a math review as we get more into it! 😊 both math programs are great just totally different!

[@melindamercier6811]

I cannot speak for Abeka’s Math, as I only use it for LA, but I can say that Simply Good and Beautiful Math (That’s the name of tGatB’s revamped Math curriculum) is really easy to follow and significantly more streamlined than it used to be. The old versions were SO overwhelming even for my advanced student-just very cumbersome. But the new version is working even for my more difficult student. ☺️

[@lifewithginab]

First one here to make my mark!! Haha just felt like commenting that... back to watching ❤ hope you are having a beautiful day friend!

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Thanks so much for the support dear friend! I appreciate it 😌😊

[@GardenMinistry.]

Thanks for the disclaimer about the writing tablet! That's super helpful. I agree that learning the phonics and writing the few sentences in the workbook is SO enough! I agree on letting the student take the lead, and doing what they are capable of. That's one of the positives of homeschooling right?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Glad it was helpful! Yup, first graders are still really developing and we don’t wanna kill that spirit of learning and writing before it even gets a chance to develop!

[@sparkles4181]

Oh my goodness super helpful, thank you! Pray this grandma survives first grade.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

You got this 🤜

[@conniemarrowbone1002]

I think you made a good call on the writing. Even if a child enjoys writing there are more than enough prompts to choose from. It gets to be a lot.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

I agree! There are plenty of prompts

[@emilylong9887]

Did you purchase the entire set? Like parent kit and child kit?? I want that solid foundation that you talk about but I’m on a budget. I’m thinking I can find the readers used and then purchase the workbooks but is the parent kit necessary??

[@melindamercier6811]

This was so incredibly helpful, thank you!

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

So happy to hear that! My pleasure!

[@rojo1124]

Did you use the phonics hanbook and finish that after where you left off at the end of kindergarten?

[@falakm1993]

Thanks for all the info, do you think we can skip the lesson planning book and just get the curriculum to self teach it?

[@YasminB-u9d]

This was excellent, thank you. I will be using these workbooks this coming year and am trying to figure out if the huge Lesson Plan book is necessary or if the workbooks are self-explanatory enough that I can teach from them without the Lesson Plan and various charts and phonics cards. Did you do phonics every day + a page from each workbook + reading practice from the readers? How much time do you think that was total?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Yes we did phonics practice, a sheet of each workbook and reading. I would usually break it up so it wasn’t all together. The lesson plans are highly recommended! You don’t need to do everything in them but it’s definitely a good guide!

[@YasminB-u9d]

@@thepracticalhomeschooler thank you!

[@joyscreations6412]

THIS WAS GRRRRRREEEEAAAAATTT THANKS.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

You’re so welcome!! ☺️😊

[@ASMRXAME]

Do you think we need the LA lesson plans book ? Or could we just do just letter & sounds + Language 1 without the lesson plan book?

[@isabelleya7806]

can you share the pdf of this book, it’s a wonderful book for first grader

[@Caliknight17]

Could I do this without the teachers guides?

[@conniemarrowbone1002]

I too love A Beka first and Second grade.

[@SufficientForTheDay]

I find it a bit frustrating that towards the end of the seatwork book they are supposed to write so many sentences without having learned what a sentence is. My son will write a fragment but capitalize the first word and put a period at the end and think it’s all good. Do you have any thoughts on why they have so much sentence writing without having learned how to properly write one?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

For sure! They definitely don’t teach any parts of speech or what a subject and verb is, so you’re right, who’s to say that won’t write fragments? I’m thinking it’s to get them used to the writing process?? I couldn’t say for sure! But I’ve never been a huge fan of their writing program in general 😬. I think they leave too much up to the teacher/parent to instruct and I feel it needs to have a little more guidance and structure like their grammar program. I will say though, I’ve done the second grade LA and they do emphasize that the sentence has to have a subject and verb and express a complete thought.

[@tanyacagle2423]

Honestly with spelling they don’t need a handwriting book. Would you say you need the lesson plan teacher book or can you just use the handbook to read and get away with that?

[@tjalvarez24]

Did you purchase the teacher key by any chance? Is it necessary? Thank you!

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

No I didn’t. I think it this level it’s pretty self explanatory

[@hasjayzasanchez9851]

Do you think the lesson plan is necessary? Idk if I should buy it is pretty pricey.

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Some people do and some don’t. I personally like them for grades 1-3. And you can purchase it used on eBay or Facebook for much cheaper

[@kchapyful]

How many lessons are in the spelling book? Is it 170?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Not lessons but weeks…I think it’s 30? Maybe 32?

[@kchapyful]

@@thepracticalhomeschooler thank you!

[@gloryandshinepk8974]

So beautiful upload always connect you

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Thank you!

[@jenniferchildress9785]

Do you think the Lesson Plans are necessary?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Great question! Some people say 100% yes, absolutely. Others would say they are totally not necessary at all. I’m of the inclination of whatever YOU feel most comfortable with. If that’s using the lesson plans exactly as laid out, or just using them loosely to get a general idea, or never ever using them at all…at the end of the day, you’re the one doing the teaching and you know yourself and your child best. I’m not sure if that is helpful or not, but that’s truly how I look at it. I did a lesson plan video that shows how we used them that you might find helpful in deciding one way or another .

[@Lipstickncurlsfitness]

So your kids still use abeka for language or are you using the good and the beautiful?

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Yes (both!) haha. My 4th grader only uses TGTB, my 2nd grader uses TGTB for grammar but Abeka for spelling and reading comprehension. And my kinder only uses Abeka for LA. So we’re just a big ole mix over here! Lol

[@Mbradford]

I like how you ignored “My house is very boring” in the Language book 😂🤣

[@thepracticalhomeschooler]

Lol ehh I don’t take their things personally 😂