Accelerated Christian Education Curriculum Review
A Homeschooling Mom from Excelsior Springs, MO, Abby Turner, gave us the following review of A.C.E. (Accelerated Christian Education) aka, PACEs
The A.C.E. program is a comprehensive, highly structured, and mastery-based Christian curriculum that runs from preschool all the way to college courses. This program centers around the concept that children should be allowed to progress at their own individual pace and should be responsible and accountable for their own learning, given the appropriate support.
All of the material a student and parent needs is contained in a PACE (Packet of Accelerated Christian Education), which resembles a thin workbook. For example, a student will have 12 PACES for each subject per year, for a total of 60 PACES per school year if the student takes 5 subjects. Courses like Literature and Creative writing, Biology, etc may require supplementary books, videos, etc. The Pace contains the written instruction, work to be completed, checkups, a self test and the test which is administered when the student has completed the PACE.
The fact that ACE is mastery based means a student must score over an 80% on each test to move on to make sure he or she has mastered the material. The student learns how to set and complete daily goals and even scores his or her own work, making this an easy and simple program for families to follow. Since the instructional material is contained in the PACE which the student reads, there is no need for teachers guides, lesson planning or a multitude of books and workbooks.
The curriculum is relatively inexpensive compared to some others, and puts lots of emphasis on Biblical truth, scripture memorization and the development of positive character traits.
For students exiting public schools, the ACE company offers free online diagnostic testing to identify learning gaps and to place the student in the proper courses at the appropriate level based on his or her individual needs and learning patterns. Younger students who are ready to read are tested to determine their readiness for the reading program, "ABCs with ACE and Christi" which makes up the the first 12 weeks of first grade. The reading program is clear, simple and grounded in phonics. This curriculum company has been around for decades and has a long track record for upholding high academic standards with an unapologetically Christian basis.
I love this curriculum and couldn't be happier with it. I used it last year to teach my daughter and another little girl to read, and they had excellent results with very little stress on my part. My daughter is only 5 but is now in second grade, working at her own pace, doing her work independently and thriving because she is challenged and undertands what she is expected to do.
www.aceministries.com
