Over the twenty years that I’ve been involved with school, I have been in many discussions about curriculum. I have learned lots about both of the common curricula we use in the United States.

This article is to show the differences and similarites between aBeka and CLE. I have talked with representatives from both publishers and feel like I understand where they are coming from with their individual approaches, but there is no guarantee I got it all right! Please do let me know if you see things differently than I do. I am always happy to talk about curricula!

My first exposure to aBeka was, of course, when I was in grade school. I strongly disliked school and had NO sentimental attachment to anything that went on there.

Fast forward to the fall of 2002. I was a brand new teacher in the old crumbly school at West Point, MS. I started opening boxes of books. Basic Mathematics looked like an old friend to me and it was at that point that I fell head over heals in love with aBeka. That love had nothing to do with the course itself or how well I learned all the info or even comparing it to anything else. I had no reason to love it other than it felt familiar in that faraway place. Mississippi felt like a different country compared to South Dakota. That book looked like something familiar. That love was strictly sentimentality.

I continued unboxing and came across the reading. Christian Light Education. Light units. No color. Boring looking stories. Ugh. This opinion also had nothing to do with my knowledge of how the curriculum works or any opinion of the stories aside from a cursury glance through.

A few months into school I was very frustrated with the reading. It seemed advanced for our children and the questions felt like Sunday School. At that point, Silver Burdett and Ginn seemed like a great option, but there again, it was because those reading books were what I was familiar with. I was not comparing any lessons or character building properties. If I had, CLE would have won easily.

Thankfully, about this time a wedding came up that we planned to go to at Macon. I decided I was going to find out who the upper grade teacher was and talk to him. I was hoping for some good advice from a seasoned teacher. (I’m going to call him Mr. Ensz, although I’m not sure what his name was. Maybe someoone can tell me who was teaching upper grades at Macon about 23 years ago? Please let him know his advice set me up for making a success of teaching!) I told him my reading woes – boring, unending workbook pages, grown-up questions with SS answers, and hard to check. He listened to me rant, gave me soome good pointers for grading, then gave me the best advice anyone could have. “Eva, you agreed to teach at West Point. They are using CLE reading so it’s your job to learn to teach it AND learn to love it! When you said ‘yes’ to WP, you also said ‘yes’ to the curricula they are using.” That was the best advice anyone could have given. (It holds true for just about all situations in life – learn to love where you are!)

Over the next while, I changed my opinion about CLE. I started seeing its strengths. I realized it was ok to have slighlty ‘boring’ stories, because those stories taught good things. All the Bible verse memorization was only a good thing. And I would rather have loving families pictures than same sex couples raising families together. I did learn to grade the books like Mr. Ensz suggesed, but my attitude change helped even more.

And I did learn to love it. It’s sort of like a difficult child. You come out on the other side of those difficulties with a new and deeper viewpoint. The easy love (aBeka) wasn’t diminshed. I still feel sentimental about it and aBeka stull seems like the ‘real’ curriculum, but I’m not blinded by that. The harder love (CLE) had things to teach me that had more to do with than just currciulum or school. Following the course the school board has set out is a very important part of teaching shcool. It also taught me that there’s more than one way to do things, and that includes curriculum choices.

Why am I telling yoou this back story? Because I want you to know that I understand all the complaints about what our schools take. I get it! I felt the same way as some of you and if I can change my attitude I’m sure anyone can adjust.

Here is what I’ve learned and observed over the years. Some of this article is fact, some is opinion and some comes from observation from years of being curriculum agent and now having two girls in school. Any mistakes are my own and I’m happy to have you correct me!

ABeka was first published in 1972.

CLE was first published in 1974.

That was the first surprise for me. I’m impressed that they have both been in print about the same amount of time.

Many of us grew up with the aBeka experience. The classrooms of my childhood felt very structured, fast-paced and clearly academic. (Some of that was the teacher, I know.)

CLE entered the picture in our schools around 25 years ago. These classrooms feel like they are moving more slowly. It feels like less is being taught. (Chanting charts has made a lasting impression in our brains.) Parents have been left wondering if students are falling behind. Many times I’ve heard the question if this is as strong as what we had before.

Similarities

Aside from first publishing dates, CLE and aBeka use the exact same premise for teaching. That was the second really big surprise for me. I was expecting different modalities.

They both use the spiral approach. Spiral can mean slightly different things or have slightly different connotations. I’m not 100% sure how each company uses it and talking with representatives of each company didn’t totally clear that part of it up, but here is a standard explanation.

Spiral Learning is an approach where students are introduced to a concept, then return to it repeatedly over time with increasing depth, difficulty and application.

Instead of teaching a skill once and moving on permanently, spiral learning gives students repeated exposure so they can review, strengthen, and build on what they have already learned.

For instance: Fractions are introduced in the second grade. They learn a bit, maybe about 1/2 and 1/4, then move on to other things. They continue to review what they have learned, then later in the year, they add another layer to what they already know about fractions. Eventually, they are finding common denominators and adding or subtractiong fractions. This all happens over all eight years of school.

This spiral approach can apply to every subject a child will take in school, and it is the main method that both aBeka and CLE use. Even though they use the same foundational approach, there are some key differences in application that make them feel very different from each other.

A Beka Book

As we have established, aBeka is spiral. It has lots of rote learning and what feels like a slant towards the mastery style of learning.

Rote learning is learning through repetition and memorization. Students practice something again and again until they can remember is quickly, even if they do not fully understand all the reasons behind it.

You do remember all the charts you chanted? That’s a great example of rote learning. Rote learning makes for quick wins, expecially in lower grade. The lower grades advance quickly. Rote learning doesn’t necessarily mean a child knows more, it’s just really easy for us to see what they know. With rote learning, children learn a lot, quickly. Rote learning evens out a bit as a child moves up in shcool. The learning curve evens as they get past the 3rd grade.

How aBeka fits the Mastery modality

ABeka isn’t a ‘mastery’ style curriculum, but there are parts of it that can feel that way, which is a huge difference from CLE as we will see later.

Mastery learning is an instuctional approach where students must demonstrate full comprehension of a specific topic or skill before advancing to the next lesson.

In other words, with mastery, a student must learn a concept thouroughly, practice it repeatedly, and demonstrate understanding before moving on. Here is how aBeka fits that mold:

ABeka tend to:

• Introduce a skill clearly and directly
• Provide lots of practice with that skill
• Expect proffiency
• Uses frequest tests and quizzes and long reviews

Using math as an example, here is what that looks like.

In third grade, double digit multiplication is taught. There are quite a few days of working those problems on the board together. The review section of each leasson will have 4-8 of the same type of problems. In the next number of lessons, the student will have worked dozens of double digit multiplication problems. This approach is similar to mastery in the fact that you work many of the same problems and a student is expected to have ‘mastered’ this before it’s time to move on.

ABeka does differ from a traditional mastery curriculum becasue it is fast-paced and grade level driven. Most mastery curriula are student-paced, meaning they move forward when the student is ready. They don’t go by grade levels. You typically just start at the beginning of a course and move throught it at your own speed. A true mastery course would allow a student to stay on a concept inedefintiyly, but aBeka expects the class to continue moving through the lessons according to the scope and sequence set at the beginning of the year.

aBeka’s approach:

Teach it thoroughly.

Practice hard.

Keep moving.

Christian Light Education

CLE is spiral with a tendency towards incremental learning. In truth, it’s more than just a tendency, as you will see.

Incremental learning is the process of acquiring knowledge gradually. Instead of cramming large amounts of information all at once, learners digest material in small, consistent steps, constantly building upon previously mastered concepts to reduce cognitive overload.

This approach not only feels slower than what most of us are used to, it is slower! Especially in lower grades which is where those of us that took aBeka are expecting to see quick results.

Incremental learning can look like a child isn’t learning a lot. That, in fact, is the whole point with incremental learning. CLE believes that gentle forward movement and lots of review helps a child retain what they are learning. They also show children the smallest parts of the problem because understanding helps retention.

Typically, a child using a curriculum that implements incremental learning sees a real burst of understanding around the fourth grade. That is when the different strands of the rope they are braiding start to come together and really start to make sense. Parts that seemed disconnected begin to click together.

Is CLE slower?

Why does CLE look and feel slower? It’s because of the incremental approach. Lessons are broken into smaller steps. Students practice each concept. There is less moving ahead quickly.

A slower early pace does not mean less learning is taking place.

It is true that faster paced programs in early grades may appear to be ahead. There is a good chance students may read more fluently sooner. Things may sink in more quickly.

This difference is noticable and real.

Consider these points:

• Gentler paced curricula don’t mean inactive learning.
• A less intensive pace doesn’t mean inactive learning.

Understanding these differences will give you the best chance of making a go of teaching, of helping teachers, or helping yourself as the parent.

CLE’s approach:

Teach in increments.

Review constantly.

Build over time.

I have heard by the grapevine that a few shcools have done comparisons of report cards when their school was aBeka for core subjects, versus CLE for core subjects. According to what I heard, by the time the students were in uupper grades their reports were about even.

ABeka’s reports were stronger in lower grades, which is just what we would expect after studying their methods. CLE’s were a bit lower but that arc was closing as the students reached middle grades and it was basically even by the time they graduated.

Another issue worth talking about is the teacher guidebooks in both CLE and aBeka. Many times I have heard the complaint about CLE that there is no review in the guidebook and nothing to follow for teaching. I think that needs challenging. I do understand that if you are comparing how aBeka’s curriulum looks to CLE’s, it seems like CLE has nothing. The core difference I see between the two is that aBeka’s curriculum has things listed at least partly as bullet points (anyway it did when I taught), and CLE’s is listed in paragraphs (at least partly). I have checked CLE’s curriculum numerous times and I always find a number of review options in there. It just takes a little bit more looking and slowing down to understand what they are saying!

Do I have a preference?

That’s really hard to say. I absolutly love curriculum and seeing what’s out there. I’ve been known to go to homeschool conventions by myself just to be able to peruse all those lovely books. My favorite part of the school year is when I start getting shipments of new books somewhere in June or July. I cannot wait to open those boxes and start sorting books. I just love school books!

I actually think my favorite curriculum is what we are taking at school. Right now, that’s CLE in core subjects and mostly aBeka for science and history.

I love them both and I’m confident our children can learn form wither one of them.

Let me know what you think! Did you know the methods that abeka and CLE use?