ACE - Accelerated Christian Education

[Pretzel Head]

I have been schooled through the ACE curriculum since Grade 2. I'd be interested to know if anyone here was also? Its reasonably popular in Australia, but a lot more popular in the States i know.

Ace and Christy anyone?

[tgraveline]

Never even heard of it man. Tell me more

tg

[Tarkheena_Finduilas22]

I'm into Saxon and I think A-Becca in some things. It's not really one program. Mom just buys a bunch of different books.

[Pretzel Head]

I think i did Becca for one year... maybe grade 2. All i remember is there being one book for an entire year in one subject.

[ace_acs]

I have been schooled through the ACE curriculum since Grade 2. I'd be interested to know if anyone here was also? Its reasonably popular in Australia, but a lot more popular in the States i know.

Ace and Christy anyone?

yeah i am being schooled in the ACE curriculum where did u go to school at?

[ace_acs]

did u ever go to the international student conventions????

[Elendil]

:eek:
PEOPLE! I've been trying to find out about this!!! Can you PLEASE tell me more!

[Midnight Rider]

:eek:
PEOPLE! I've been trying to find out about this!!! Can you PLEASE tell me more!
It's this homeschool curriculum(sp?). Instead of books, it has little mazazine-type thing called PACE's. One goes through a lot of PACE's a year per subjectm, has little comic-type things around in a PACE.
Yeah I did it from kindergarden to third grade, until we switched to Rod and Staff for 4th-6th.
Hehe the comics are so fun to make fun of. I'll be like, "Mother, we should not say "shut up". it would not make Jesus happy. We should do our best to do right always" :p

[Samwise Gamgee]

I've done Saxon and A-beca. Right now I am doing A-beca biology and things from Sunlight.

[Tsukiko]

I've done Saxon and A-beca. Right now I am doing A-beca biology and things from Sunlight.

I do Saxon too. Saxon Math that is..:p

[Midnight Rider]

Rod and Staff is like this Mennonite thing but it's still pretty cool. and way cheap.

[Eärendil the Mariner]

My curriculum is ACE! :D

[Ephinie]

Yup, I did PACE's from 8th grade on for the subject of history. I went to a Christian school for 6th, 8th, and 9th grades. They used A Beka and Bob Jones for most of the subjects, but ACE was used for history starting from 7th grade and going up. They also stuck someone in PACE's if they were having trouble with a different subject (like if they were behind in math, they'd do PACE's for math). I started at the beginning of my 8th grade year doing the history PACE's for 8th grade. By the time I had finished 9th grade the following year, I had completed every year of history through 12th grade. Having run out of history for me, they then had me do geography. Then government. So basically, I completed six years worth of work in two years.

Even in spite of this, I did not particularly care for PACE's. The reason was that I had come from being homeschooled, so the appeal of school for me was classroom interaction. History was my favorite subject, and so they effectively stripped me of classroom interaction regarding my favorite subject. But that ended up being no big deal in the end, because I've gotten plenty of classroom discussion done in college. My need for stimulating conversation is more than filled.

I never took PACE's for any of the other subjects, because I was never behind in those subjects. So when I voice my opinions, it is specifically in regard to their history program.

Advantages: They allow you to work at your own pace. You can get your work done incredibly quickly because there are no outside distractions. Very ideal for homeschooling because of how they are set up. (Though LOTS of private schools use ACE exclusively for their cirriculum these days. I don't see the reasoning. I think that if, as a parent, you want your children to learn using that system... just homeschool them. Private school is really expensive, so I'm not going to send my child to school so they can do the exact same work that they could do for less than half the cost at home.)

Disadvantages: INCREDIBLY biased cirriculum. Much more interested in indoctrinating you than in educating you. Takes away invigorating, classroom discussion about what you are learning.

For those of you who have expressed interest in finding out more about the system, I suggest checking out this link: http://www.aceministries.com/Default.aspx

[Eärendil the Mariner]

Yup, I did PACE's from 8th grade on for the subject of history. I went to a Christian school for 6th, 8th, and 9th grades. They used A Beka and Bob Jones for most of the subjects, but ACE was used for history starting from 7th grade and going up. They also stuck someone in PACE's if they were having trouble with a different subject (like if they were behind in math, they'd do PACE's for math). I started at the beginning of my 8th grade year doing the history PACE's for 8th grade. By the time I had finished 9th grade the following year, I had completed every year of history through 12th grade. Having run out of history for me, they then had me do geography. Then government. So basically, I completed six years worth of work in two years.

Even in spite of this, I did not particularly care for PACE's. The reason was that I had come from being homeschooled, so the appeal of school for me was classroom interaction. History was my favorite subject, and so they effectively stripped me of classroom interaction regarding my favorite subject. But that ended up being no big deal in the end, because I've gotten plenty of classroom discussion done in college. My need for stimulating conversation is more than filled.

I never took PACE's for any of the other subjects, because I was never behind in those subjects. So when I voice my opinions, it is specifically in regard to their history program.

Advantages: They allow you to work at your own pace. You can get your work done incredibly quickly because there are no outside distractions. Very ideal for homeschooling because of how they are set up. (Though LOTS of private schools use ACE exclusively for their cirriculum these days. I don't see the reasoning. I think that if, as a parent, you want your children to learn using that system... just homeschool them. Private school is really expensive, so I'm not going to send my child to school so they can do the exact same work that they could do for less than half the cost at home.)

Disadvantages: INCREDIBLY biased cirriculum. Much more interested in indoctrinating you than in educating you. Takes away invigorating, classroom discussion about what you are learning.

For those of you who have expressed interest in finding out more about the system, I suggest checking out this link: http://www.aceministries.com/Default.aspx
As to the Classroom interaction, Our Teacher is AWESOME! So, We just ask her any question & she'll give like a 20 minute talk on just about ANY subject...I love going to Private School using this curriculum...But thats just me, It wouldn't be the same at home...

[Ephinie]

As to the Classroom interaction, Our Teacher is AWESOME! So, We just ask her any question & she'll give like a 20 minute talk on just about ANY subject...I love going to Private School using this curriculum...But thats just me, It wouldn't be the same at home...
We weren't allowed to talk in our PACE room. If we had a question, we had to put a flag up on our desk, and the supervisor would come over to quickly whisper with us. There was no open discussion allowed, for fear that it would disturb the other students working. We had to maintain a quiet atmosphere at all times. Also, we didn't even have real teachers to supervise us. The people there were just there to maintain order so that we could work.

Basically, the reason they were using ACE for history was because they had no qualified history teacher on staff. So they used ACE to fill that gap.

[Eärendil the Mariner]

We weren't allowed to talk in our PACE room. If we had a question, we had to put a flag up on our desk, and the supervisor would come over to quickly whisper with us. There was no open discussion allowed, for fear that it would disturb the other students working. We had to maintain a quiet atmosphere at all times. Also, we didn't even have real teachers to supervise us. The people there were just there to maintain order so that we could work.

Basically, the reason they were using ACE for history was because they had no qualified history teacher on staff. So they used ACE to fill that gap.
Yeah, I think thats the way its supposed to be, But like I said, Our teacher is AWESOME! :D
I mean its still orderly, but if we have a question for class discussion, she'll let us ask it.
BTW, I agree about it being a little too indoctrinating...

[Ephinie]

Yeah, I think thats the way its supposed to be, But like I said, Our teacher is AWESOME! :D
I mean its still orderly, but if we have a question for class discussion, she'll let us ask it.
BTW, I agree about it being a little too indoctrinating...
If your class sizes are smaller, I think it would be easier for your teacher to open the floor to discussion. The more students you add that are working on their PACE's, the harder it would be to address a variety of problems. Mainly because, yah, each student would NEED the time to get their work done. Plus, the likelihood of students being at least close to each other in what point their work is would be less.

But it's good that your teacher has it worked out so that she can handle a classroom atmosphere and still give you all the quiet time you need to work through the books.

I think the biased material they present is only part of the reason that PACEs are indoctrinating. They are also set up so that you read a few paragraphs of text, then answer questions where you have to write in answers from what you just read. So it's double-reinforcement. This is good for memorization-style learning, but it does not encourage critical evaluation of the material.

[Eärendil the Mariner]

If your class sizes are smaller, I think it would be easier for your teacher to open the floor to discussion. The more students you add that are working on their PACE's, the harder it would be to address a variety of problems. Mainly because, yah, each student would NEED the time to get their work done. Plus, the likelihood of students being at least close to each other in what point their work is would be less.

But it's good that your teacher has it worked out so that she can handle a classroom atmosphere and still give you all the quiet time you need to work through the books.

I think the biased material they present is only part of the reason that PACEs are indoctrinating. They are also set up so that you read a few paragraphs of text, then answer questions where you have to write in answers from what you just read. So it's double-reinforcement. This is good for memorization-style learning, but it does not encourage critical evaluation of the material.
You may not believe it but our school has 8 people! :eek: :p
B/c we live in a VERY small town & most people go to Public school. So yeah, lots of classroom interaction :D

I absolutely agree about the indoctrination stuff, Glad to know I'm not the only one! :D

[Ephinie]

You may not believe it but our school has 8 people! :eek: :p
B/c we live in a VERY small town & most people go to Public school. So yeah, lots of classroom interaction :D

I absolutely agree about the indoctrination stuff, Glad to know I'm not the only one! :D
Wow... 8 people! Okay, that suddenly makes a whole lot more sense, then. Having 8 students makes it more like homeschooling a large family, so I can see how your teacher can work it so that everyone benefits from each student's questions even if they are not working specifically on that unit. It also makes sense that the ACE system would be the most logical choice in picking a cirriculum that will work the best for everyone involved.

[Eärendil the Mariner]

Wow... 8 people! Okay, that suddenly makes a whole lot more sense, then. Having 8 students makes it more like homeschooling a large family, so I can see how your teacher can work it so that everyone benefits from each student's questions even if they are not working specifically on that unit. It also makes sense that the ACE system would be the most logical choice in picking a cirriculum that will work the best for everyone involved.
Yeah, its a lot of fun. It started as like 27 people, but some people left & others graduated, Plus they aren't accepting any more applications, B/c the lady that teaches, is gonna quit as soon as everyone already here has graduated.

[Ephinie]

Yeah, its a lot of fun. It started as like 27 people, but some people left & others graduated, Plus they aren't accepting any more applications, B/c the lady that teaches, is gonna quit as soon as everyone already here has graduated.Ah, that's too bad. But it is nice that your teacher is sticking with you all to the end, even if she ultimately wants to quit.

[crazycigirl]

Yah, I did ACE from kindergarten to grade 6 at a private school. They were pretty good, except for the "comic strip" part. I always thought the characters were a little too perfect to be true. And a little strangely named...

But homeschool is way better! (and more interesting)