BJU Press Vs Abeka: WHICH Christian Curriculum is BETTER?

Are you struggling to choose between BJU Press and Abeka for your Christian homeschool curriculum needs? Today, I'm going to give you a detailed comparison of BJU Press and Abeka, leaving no stone unturned as I explore their similarities and differences. We'll compare BJU Press and Abeka in terms of content, price, teaching method, and overall effectiveness.

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[angelicarmts]

I think there are some points that were made that are very biased. Especially if you are trying to sway people towards BJU.
I agree that both programs are excellent choices. They will both offer a solid Christian and academically rigorous education.

It is worth noting for all of your audience from someone who has used Abeka from K4 - 2nd grade that they is a big misconception about Abeka ONLY focusing on memorization. I can tell you that that is not the case.
While Abeka doesn’t put emphasis in memorizing fact to help the student with their mental math skills, both the lesson plans and video lesson explain the WHY? behind each concept. Most people that have this opinion have only tried to use the Abeka workbooks on their own without the lesson plans or videos. Abeka is not designed to be used that way. The lesson plans and videos are vital to get the hands on and explanations to what is being taught.

Also, the mention of Abeka’s customer service being sub par is and has never been my experience. I’ve had to call Abeka several times and I’ve always been met with excellent service.

In regards to Abeka not being present at homeschool conventions, I don’t quite understand because Abeka has ALWAYS been at every homeschool convention I’ve ever been to. Even secular conventions.

BJU only holds these hotel meetings because they use “reps” to sale their curriculum and Abeka doesn’t do that.

Abeka like BJU is constantly working on updating their videos. There are quite a lot of subjects from BJU that are very outdated. Both companies are working hard to update and release updated content in the years coming.

I understand that you used Abeka as a child as did my husband and he will tell you that while it’s very similar to his education he appreciates the way that the information is presented today than 20+ years ago.

I would also like to add that Abeka’s K4 - 4th grade workbooks are excellent quality and very colorful. They don’t tear easily and it’s much less to sort and organize. The worksheets are well laid out and don’t feel overwhelming.

Lastly something worth noting is that BJU has a longer timeframe to access your videos and DVD’s than Abeka. Abeka is 12 months and BJU is 18 months which is phenomenal.

I hope that this information is informative. I appreciate the time you took to make this video. I understand that you favor BJU but I think it’s fair to get feedback from people who have actually used Abeka recently.

I love both programs. I intend to use Abeka for my children from K4 through 3rd and then switch them to BJU for ELA. I may stick with Abeka Arithmetic but that isn’t set in stone.

Have a blessed day.

[AmaaJehova]

Todavia no he probado BJU press. Si prove Abeka. Y ese curriculum es fustrante. No era lo que buscaba. Ahora voy a probar el BJU press ojala que vaya bien. Sino es bueno probare con otro.

[dawnkennedydavis]

I have a rising 9th grader, and this is our first homeschooling. I purchased your program and sent you an email with some questions, but havent heard back. I am a little on the anxious side with these new changes and trying to make a good decision. Love your videos and looking forward to hearing from you

[Scvaldez]

The price for Abeka has been increasing drastically in the past 4 years. When I first started looking at these programs, about 4 years ago, BJU accredited was more expensive then Abeka accredited. But Abeka is now way more expensive. My kids still prefer the Abeka videos and have loved the curriculum so we are staying with them. But it does hurt the wallet. I think one of the ways they justify the cost is to say that you can do a payment plan. But its really getting ridiculous and I know of a few loyal abeka families aho are switching due to how big the yearly price increase have been.

[annak]

Something's wrong with youtube. I have subscribed to you 3 -4 times and every time I come back and watch another of your videos I see that I am not subscribed any longer. This is so frustrating.

[kitdole]

Abeka is not purely about memorization, it is spiral. The neuroscience of learning shows that fit long term learning spiral methods works best. The problem with the mastery method is that there a lot of forgetting involved. I am biased towards Abeka, it is the highest quality and best researched curriculum out there. If you are interested in actually learning, that's the way to go.

[Jess-ANR]

I’m interested in homeschooling. How do you write your child’s transcript.

[halieruppe]

My son was in a private Christain school last year for 5th that used Abeka. The history was painfully boring, and hard to study but I did like the Language Arts, Science and Health portions. How do you feel about history for 6th grade?

[deboraalvim]

Living in Europe, Can I get the BJU books here? Thanks

[AB-limz]

After much research I am most certain I will be selecting BJU for my child this year. This is my first time homeschooling and I am so thankful for videos like yours to help with the selection process. We will be doing the kindergarten program. I was originally thinking I would select the textbook only option, before I knew they had an online with books option. Do you suggest the online format over the textbook format for the k5 kit? I was kind of hoping he could do some online classes and some taught by me. Is it possible to do it that way if I select the online format? Hope that makes sense.

[jennesset]

How are the video lessons for bju press accessed? We have one computer and one laptop. Would an iPad work?

[LynDiLynX]

Will an iPad be compatible with the BJU online homeschool? Thanks! :)

[themodernhomemaker]

I would pick bju but it does seem like abeka is more popular, why is that?

[kitdole]

Abeka video lessons are more expensive but they include the Bible lessons, whereas BJU video lessons don't. With BJU you have to add it to the package and this will bump the price up to pretty much the same as Abeka.

[matudavis]

Thank you for the videos, you are excellent with it! If I could explain my situation, I'm curious to know your thoughts... (sorry if I go a bit long here).

My children currently go to a private school that uses bju. We are a conservative Christian family. We are currently doing a test run with our oldest (6th grade) on our own this year. We were recommended Acellus Academy, but I find that a bit too easy. It's all online and there's no printable material... which sounds okay until I realized how easy it was to breeze through the content and with all the redos he would be allowed, it felt like the material may go to the short term memory instead of long term. I wanted my child to have the content kind of "drilled in" if that makes sense. I then found Miacademy and I noticed it was secular but I could add Bible (both in miacademy and elsewhere). I also was highly impressed with how customizable the parent side of things are... As an example, I found in one of the history classes they would have a rap video to do a class overview... I'm not okay with that so I could simply uncheck that specific video. So any content that I don't like, I'd have complete control over. I also saw that Miacademy has PDF printouts to go along with every lesson... so instead of buying a book, you could literally print it out. At first I had thought it was entirely online until I realized many lessons are meant to be printed and completed and then the assessment completed online. This felt a bit more like the BJU method. The videos are also quite current and keep your attention better - the gripe I do have is that sometimes the teachers are a bit too kiddish when they talk. However, the material itself isn't too easy (Which is what matters the most to us). Miacademy seems like it's a newer curriculum or at least they've been pushing it hard more recently and adding classes and features regularly... which I find valuable.

My thoughts so far:
-I don't care for secular like I would Christian - no even close. However, I can add Bible for little to no money.
-The core classes (like math) - can be taught/learned without hindering Christian growth in knowledge (from what I see). We also go to church 3 times a week and go to many church events.
-The customization on the parent side is absolutely incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if it is the top in the entire industry.
-The idea of education games and spending gold coins is great to help him learn even more.
-The actual content seems solid so far (I've watched quite a few video lessons in each subject).
-The ability to add classes at anytime and as many as you want is really nice and there is a wide selection.
-The cost of Miacademy is cheap. $36 a month (or less) is far cheaper than other options.
-The student can work at their own pace and the content caters to long term memory and not just quickly pass and move on.
-I feel Mia has a mid-level involvement as a parent - like that's how much it asks for... which you can go to very little or a lot if you so desire... but I kind of like the in-between that it presents. You are aware of what you child is doing, you help guide them, you make sure the PDFs are printed and that they have completed their work, but you don't have to grade the tests and you don't have to doublecheck all their practice questions (Mia would do that).

How much have you actually used Miacademy?
Are there reasons that you'd say "stay away from Miacademy"?
When it comes down to the core classes (math, social studies, english) and classes such as computer skills and typing is there really a benefit BJU would have over mia? (Not including science, cause I want a biblical science for sure).
I'm trying to decide if I should switch to BJU ultimately or if the blend of Mia with some Bible and science from another school would be the way to go? - The question there is "Am I able to save money, but yet my child still get the same education he would get from BJU?
I'd also be curious on your thoughts of BJU at home vs sending my son to a private school that uses BJU? I feel like in the classroom my son has to wait a lot (for other students) and he may be able to knock out his schooling faster at home.

Thanks for reading :)

[lindsaysimplified]

I am currently going through the 25 hours of free content from Abeka Academy and I honestly find the Abeka videos so boring and long. I feel that if I’m bored my kids will 100% be bored. We are in a hybrid school, my first grader is doing 1st grade Abeka completely, my 3rd grader is doing Abeka math and the rest with BJU Press. If we don’t do the hybrid school we will likely do BJU Press Distance Learning option.

[amandafalon]

In other videos I have heard you say you use bju press but I also saw you used aop. I’m very new and trying to figure this out for my 7th grader. He’s in advanced classes which I don’t want to ruin. In placement tests he’s testing in 8th. What would you recommend?