How I use A Beka K5 Lesson Plans

I taught my first four kids to read with the A Beka book homeschool curriculum and that went very well.

I’m working my way through the A Beka K5 with my fifth child using the same strategies I used with my other four and we are already seeing progress.

This curriculum is written for a classroom of a variety of kids. Because I don’t need that, I do a simplified version of it. Here’s a look at what we do and don’t use and how I do it.

The book I’m using is an older version, but they are very similar so I don’t worry about it.The new ones have the A Beka Numbers lesson plans written in it rather than it being a separate book. I don’t use the numbers lesson plans so that doesn’t bother me. More about that below.

Why A Beka ?

When I was starting out as a new homeschool mom years ago, I didn’t know what to say or even what to teach. My daughter was curious and asking questions but I was pretty clueless about how to direct her. It just didn’t come naturally to me as maybe it does others.

My older sister at the time directed me to the A Beka book Phonics program. I was so excited to finally have an example of how to do it all. She did caution me to take it slow and had said that there were more important things to learn at three and four, then how to hold a pencil and start formal learning (wise advice). So I bought the A Beka K4 program and spent two years on it, putting it aside at first when she was not as interested.

She learned to read so quickly and easily with the A Beka K4 and K5 program that I thought it must be too easy. (I was wrong), it was just working so well. However, I had four kids five and under and as they were getting older I needed too learn how to streamline the process for my homeschool (and sanity).

Thankfully, because many of the flashcards are said aloud and I reviewed them daily I actually found it way easier to teach my younger children. They were listening the whole time while playing in the room. (Lord help the younger child who corrects the older one or maybe that’s the other way around! haha).

By the time I tried to teach my fourth child phonics at 4 years old, he just looked at me and said “Mom, I know all this already.” Talk about a one room school experience!

So why didn’t I start with A Beka for my fifth child ?

Well, honestly I have a 10 year age gap between my two youngest children and a lot of the new curriculum sounded cheaper and simpler to start with (less pieces). Also, so many people were raving about them, that I tried out some other things first. It was great at first and fun. The problem was I felt like these other curriculums were not reviewing enough. I was ok with him going slower and starting later so we kept going. I assumed it would get easier if we kept with it.

He started to to get more and more frustrated and that was when I decided to go back to what we knew. I started off just by trying to supplement with A Beka for extra review in his Kindergarten year to help him feel more confident and it was working. Then, I decided to drop it again and keep moving forward with other curriculums.

Not too long after, I started to see the frustration working its way back in again. In fact, the things that were working well for him, were mostly from the little bit of K4 we did. So for the second half of his 1st grade year we went back to the A Beka K5 homeschool curriculum.

I’m sure a lot of the other curriculums I tried work great for a lot of other kids and maybe because I had already successfully taught my others to read with this one, I just understand this one better. Either way it is what’s working for us.

How Do I Use the Lesson Plans ?

Phonics Reading and Writing K5 Lesson Plans –

1. Review – The lesson plans provide a great deal of review, not all of which needs to be utilized. I pick one or more review options that my child needs to practice either because he is struggling, it’s a new concept, or he just hasn’t practiced it in a while.
2. Main Instruction / Application – I will teach the new concept or lesson for the day. I might teach it using a different method than suggested like writing in the dirt, it doesn’t matter, I just try to make it fun if I have time. (If I’m really busy I might just do step 2, but I try to keep reviewing at least three times a week even if its at a separate time because that will build confidence and help them to retain what they are learning.) Sometimes for the worksheets I will have him do it orally.
3. Handwriting – I teach the basic how to write in the lines and have him practice on his hand or on a chalkboard (anything really) and skip the rest of the writing instruction. I require less handwriting rather than more because I agree with Charlottte Mason in that it trains the habit of good penmanship. In that case we do less of the worksheet.
4. Phonics Review – For this part, I will again pick something if the practice is needed or it has been a long while since practiced, otherwise I will skip it.
5. Numbers – I skip this and use a different math curriculum. This works well, but I prefer the other because we use it all the way through high school. You can read more about what I’m using here.

Tips:

–It’s pretty simple. If I have a struggling student, we use more of the practice. Otherwise, we use less.

-When we’re short on time, we only do step 2, orally review a page, and have them practice a little handwriting. That’s maybe 15 minutes of our day, otherwise I will add some review and it will be altogether 25-30. I’m okay combining lessons as well.

-Since I can get distracted, I try to set a timer for 30 minutes and stop. We can always pick back up the next day if we didn’t finish. I usually work it out so that we do.

-I like practicing alphabet flashcards at bedtime or simple words we know (not too many) during our reading time to break it up a bit. Check out how I schedule our evening routine here.

What Other A Beka K5 Materials Do I Use ?

A lot of these materials I could probably do without, but having the materials ready and streamlining the lesson plans.

• I Learn to Read, Books A-D
• I Do Read, Books 1-4
• I Can Read Well, Books 1-4
• Letters and Sounds K (I do use this resource, but sometimes I will just say it out loud with him)
• Writing with Phonics K5 (I use the classwork pages and skip the extra practice and seat work pages)
• Kindergarten Writing Tablet (I have this, but any basic writing pages would do)
• Basic Phonics Flashcards
• Home School Edition Phonics Charts and Games
• Home School Edition Learning Games (Probably my kid’s favorite resource, they were always pulling this out to review anything)
• Blend Practice Cards A
• Blend Practice Cards B
• Clue Word Cards
• Basic Phonics Flashcards
• Letter Picture Flashcards
• Blend Ladders (these are fun and big)

What Materials Don’t I Use:

• My Blend and Word Book (I have a separate set of blend ladders so I don’t need this, otherwise its good to have)
• The Miniature Alphabet Flashcards (I just don’t think they are necessary and find we don’t really use them)
• Mini ABC Bible Memory Cards ( I had used a few of these but it was just more pieces for me to manage) We use Simply Charlotte Mason’s Bible Verse packs instead.
• Cursive Formation Flashcards
• Name Tag for Desk
• I don’t use any of the materials for the Numbers lessons.

Should I Teach Mastery Since it’s a Spiral curriculum ?

Yes, because if you keep skipping along, the amount of new information will build up and stifle your little one. Instead, take it slow at first. The spiral aspect is great in that it provides review and is building it into your child’s long term memory.

Should I Do Every A Beka K5 Lesson ?

I don’t think every lesson is necessary. For example, you may go slow through the A Beka K5 curriculum feeling like you need to do every lesson because your child is doing well with and needs it, but then when you hit the first grade you might find the first 90 lessons are way too easy for your child and the last 30 are pretty much review. Also, a concept being reviewed might be so easy you combine a couple lessons at a time throughout the year.

I feel like this curriculum is customizable that way. You will have to decide what your kid needs. It should be easy and yet not too easy. Haha, it’s honestly not an easy thing to explain. If you’re not sure, you could try and combine a couple lessons and see how they are doing, if frustration is setting in, go back or slow it down.

For more homeschool curriculum reviews and what I’m using check out this page.

Comment on any questions you have on how I utilize the A Beka K5 Lesson Plans.