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Many parents are looking at the LIFEPAC curriculum program as an alternative to what
they are using for home schooling now. Take a look at some of the questions and answers
on this page so you can decide if it is right for you and your family. Have a question
of your own? Click here ask a question. If we
share your question on one our webpages we will pay you $25.00 US as a thank you for
helping other home schoolers!
With LIFEPAC your children work in full-color worktext books, combining
exercises, projects, review, and tests. LIFEPAC is similar to
SOS (Switched-On Schoolhouse)in that
your children must truly master the context and skills of one unit before
progressing on to the next. LIFEPAC combines the Bible and the academic subjects,
providing the opportunity for students to evaluate their lessons from a Christian
perspective.
An award-winning curriculum, LIFEPAC has been developed to provide the best learning
experiences for each of your children through personalized instruction and self-pacing.
Both Switched-On Schoolhouse (SOS) and LIFEPAC are stand-alone programs and can be
purchased individually. Materials for both LIFEPAC and SOS can also be mixed and
matched or used together. For a complete comparison go to the
Alpha Omega Publications page.
Each LIFEPAC subject comes with ten worktexts. Sometimes, however the word worktexts is
used differently by different publishers. Basically a worktext is a workbook that has
the instruction included. It is a combination of lessons and worksheets. The worktexts
vary from thin thirty page workbooks to four hundred page thick workbooks. With the thin
worktexts you usually get ten per subject and with the thick ones you get one book per
subject.
One workbook takes approximately three to four weeks to complete. That means that your
child could finish all ten workbooks in 30 weeks which is about seven and a half months.
Worst case scenario is that it takes the full ten months to finish.
LIFEPAC is available for grades K-12 in five core subjects — Bible, Language Arts, Math,
History and Geography, and Science. Electives are also available such as Accounting,
American Literature, and Art.
There are a range of methods that you can use to teach your children. There are textbooks,
pre-recorded classes on DVD and video, audio tapes that accompany reading books, and
worktexts which combine text-based instruction and the workbook exercises in one or a
series of booklets. There is also satellite TV programming that you can have right in your
own home to supplement the other methods of teaching you are giving your children already.
Some parents and / or students prefer using worktexts that cover the whole year in one
subject. This means that both the instruction and the worksheets are all in one book
for each. Most of these worktexts have two to three pages of reading and / or exercises for
each day of the school year. Most home schooled students are required to attend one hundred
eighty days of school per year. That number is based on twenty school days per month times
nine months in a year. The worktexts range in page count from one hundred forty to five
hundred forty pages so that one to three pages can get covered each school day. A subject
such as spelling would probably have one page per day and one spelling test per week. The
science worktext would probably have two pages of reading and one page of questions or a
quiz to review each day. The exercises and quizzes are there to make sure the student
understands the material covered that day.
Parents sometimes prefer to use a textbook for each subject and a series of workbooks so
that their children get a sense of accomplishment. Children have to complete one workbook
each month, and they often get done ahead of time. Now they can look forward to a fresh new
workbook next month. Parents and children also have a gauge for progress. Children tend to
stay motivated and they often finish early. If they have ten workbooks to get through in a
ten-month school year they stay motivated since like to stay ahead of where they need to be.
Self-motivation is the key in this method. Minimal prodding and pep talks often carries
through the child’s whole life.
My family has tried both textbooks with a series of workbooks, and the worktexts where each
subject is in one thick book. The general consensus has been a preference for the workbook
series. The kids like the set of 10 workbooks better because they get a sense of
accomplishment each time they finish one. Usually they finish the school year early because
they get each one done ahead of time. This helps them be more self-motivated. It is also
easier for me as their teacher because I can tell whether they are ahead or behind schedule.
Having encyclopedias handy or other textbooks especially for subjects like science with
illustrations is a big help. Sometimes the workbooks come without the need for a textbook.
Other workbooks have enough built-in instruction, exercises, quizzes and tests to suffice.
Some workbooks are plain text or have limited diagrams and illustrations. A picture paints
a thousand words so it is very important (especially in science) to have photographs and
clear illustrations like you get with encyclopedias. Having them in living color is best.
If you are interested in other options for curriculum other than the LIFEPAC curriculum go
to our home school textbooks
page. Alpha Omega Publications also make Horizons, Switched-On Schoolhouse and Weaver.
For more information use the links below.
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