Your favorite "workbook" style curriculum for high school?

My Dd12 and Ds15 have requested to use workbooks for all but math next year. We have limited experience with a subject or two of ACE paces. I have looked at ACE paces, AO Lifepacs and CLE. Can you share your favorites or ones you stay away from to help me decide? TIA!

 

Grammar I would choose Easy Grammar. For literature you could just use a lit guide (sort of workbookish) like Progeny Press. Wordly Wise or Jensen's would work for vocabulary.

We used Lifepacs for home economics and they were ok. They were set up well and might be good for someone who likes the workbook approach.

 

I'm a big fan of CLE, but haven't used any of their high school stuff yet. My 9thdd had to begin in Language Arts 700 based on the diagnostic testing...I love it! It's very challenging imo. I intend to use more CLE for her 10th grade year!

I also love Wordly Wise for my 3rd grader and will be trying it with her next year!

 

Personally, I will stay away from ACE unless the student I'm working with happens to be a sort of below-average kind of kid. I just don't think it engenders as much in the way of thinking skills as some others. I MAY consider one or two of their "college level" courses, if I can get a really good look at them sometime.

I'm going to stick with CLE as much as possible through high school. Their literature course for 9/10 has an anthology reader, with lightunit study guides alongside. The grammar for 9/10 is lightunits (workbooks), and the whole 11th grade is in lightunits. The 12th grade, though, is another literature book with lightunit study guides. The whole high school course, 9-12, is in the Sunrise Edition. IMHO, Sunrise Edition wins hands down over lifepacs.

For Bible, Science, and History/Geography, I will probably stick with CLE or go with Lifepacs, which are pretty similar because the CLE at the upper levels isn't in Sunrise Edition for these yet.

CLE now has algebra I in Sunrise Edition, so I'm going to go with that before I likely switch to Saxon (old editions, which I already have) for above that.

 

We have been using ACE's biology for my Ds15 this year because of the incredible deal I got for the complete set plus lab DVDs. I totally and completely agree with your opinion of it. It just seems that they want the student to rewrite the text with fill-in-the-blanks. I have rarely seen anything that challenges them to think. Even the short answer questions are just regurgitated facts. The only plus for us with this course is that my Ds15 can read the text and remember it, so it has been an easy and informative course for him. My Dd would not do well with it.

I am leaning toward CLE for Dd12 next year for science and social studies. I also found a research paper elective for both of my kids to use. I'm not sold on CLE's LA since my Dd12 has used Easy Grammar so far and has never diagrammed a sentence.

Lindina, do you purchase your units from CLE or is there another place you use to order?

 

These sound like good choices for me!

 

I get mine straight from the company. I don't think anybody carries them at a discount or anything like that. They do a really good job of keeping the costs down as much as they can, so even though most of the science and social studies are like lifepacs without color, they're also less expensive.

CLE has an Extra Practice book for learning diagramming, specifically for those who have never diagrammed before who are changing to CLE at an upper grade level. http://www.clp.org/store/by_course/155 When I get a kid who has never had diagramming before, I ask them to label every single word in the sentences that are given to diagram on the placement test. If they get every word, it's a pass on that item.

ETA: Brooke, you might ought to have both kids take the diagnostic/placement tests for LA if you're going to try the CLE. There aren't any for above 8th grade, but if they pass the 8th grade level they'd be good to go for the high school. If not, keep testing down a level at a time until you get to where they need to be.

 

Lindina, right now the Lifepacs are 10% off plus free shipping. If you had the option at the same price, would you still choose CLE? Also, it looks like Lifepacs don't diagram....is that right? (and thanks for answering my questions!)

 

I like CLE! This is our first complete year to use them and I love the challenge it gives the girls.

 

Lifepacs do diagram sentences. I don't know how much they teach on it but it is there.

 

Are they still diagramming at the high school level? I didn't notice it in the scope and sequence.

 

Brooke, no way at any price would I use Lifepacs again over CLE for LA. Even if they were free.

 

:lol: Thanks for the heads up. :lol:

 

9th grade they have diagraming in one of the books, i saw it in my teacher books. I also know he did a bit, not a lot though. BJU does a lot of that sort of thing. My older ds used some BJU and some Abeka in a private school he went to so I have some extra books , one for lit and one for grammar. I am thinking of using these as they did not use much of the work up. IT has storys and q and as, not as many as LPs do. My ds is getting tired of all the fill in the blanks and spaces so I am not sure what we will do next year. The school he would end up going to if I teach is ( me teaching him as well as doing a class or two and watching play ground duty grading etc because ds asked if I can try to do that like I did with dd) using SOS for most classes and we are tired of that, like it for spanish but tired of it for Science , he has been blessed to use many other Science and English choices so we are looking around..

Looks like you are chooseing LPs for History from another thread, I like that one! My dd did lps and has a great knowledge of history of US and World.

 

I haven't used either all the way through high school (yet). When I did use Lifepacs, the math and the LA both felt sort of disorganized to me. I found that the Lifepacs sometimes gave assignments without real directions on how that should be done, for instance. Their courses on American and Brit Lit might be just fine; never used them.

CLE has wonderful "hand-holding" instruction for everything I've used so far, and I can't imagine that they will have changed that in the high school levels. CLE has two "how to write a paper" electives, one that is actually a fifth grade regular unit (507) and one that is an eighth grade unit (807). Very hand-holdy, which I need!!!

The CLE Grammar for 9th grade is the first 5 lightunits, and the 10th grade is the second 5 lightunits of high school English. So conceivably, if you want to, you could do it all in one school year and move on. (Theoretically, half the 9th grade is grammar and half is literature, and half the 10th grade is grammar and the other half literature. But if you are doing some other plan for literature, you could do all ten lightunits in one year.)

 

That's the kind of user information I needed, Lindina. I did see that the 807 was for a research paper, which is what my Ds needs. After researching the last few days quite a bit, I am actually leaning toward having Ds do a full course of CLE LA.

I did like the things that the Lifepacs 12th grade Government/Economics covered. I need to dig through the scope and sequences again to see if CLE has the comparable program.

 

Lindina~I PM'd you a question about this! Don't want to take over Brooke's thread.

Brooke~Thanks for starting this thread!

 

I don't mind hijackers! Usually it turns out to be helpful information being shared for everyone.

 

I just asked if the CLE writing would be good for my 8th grader that couldn't write anything to save his life.

 

I was considering having my Ds15 do the CLE 8th grade LA right along with his younger sister next year. My trouble is that Ds CAN write....he just hates it and I feel like I dropped the ball. He now needs a crash course in technical writing for essay answers, research papers, etc. I still can't seem to commit. Now that I've looked at CLE's 11th grade LA, I really like how it is set up....too....many....choices....