Religious Home School Programs - Seton Vs Abeka

Parents are becoming more concerned about the education their children are receiving at either a public or private schools and many have considered the option of home schooling. Home school programs are options that are becoming more attractive to parents as time goes on. There are different methods of home schooling, and the method you choose will decide the curriculum.

Many of the parents that are considering home schooling look into home school programs that have more of a religious curriculum. There are a few religious based home school programs out there, but to two most popular are Seton and Abeka. Although both programs are religious based they are a bit different.

The Seton home school program is a very popular form of Catholic Home schooling that was developed by Dr. Anne Carroll in 1980. In 1985, Dr. Mary Kay Clark took over as director and Seton continued to grow and now has an enrollment of more than 10,000 students. Unlike some other home school programs, Seton is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which means that students enrolled in the program and graduate from Seton's high school program receive a diploma.

Seton believes that home schoolers today are the leaders tomorrow and offers Catholic curriculum for grades kindergarten through twelve. A student enrolled with Seton, must have quarterly tests and assignments sent in for grading. Parent graded items also comprise part of the student's grade. When you enroll with Seton, you'll receive daily lesson plans, testing and academic counseling.

Lets take a look at the Abeka home school program. The Abeka home school curriculum is the most popular home school curriculum around and is fundamentally Christian based. This is a good curriculum for families who are very organized or need a highly structured program. Abeka uses a Christian message throughout all its texts. If you want an advanced and accelerated method of home schooling your children, then Abeka is what you're looking for.

With Abeka, you know exactly what needs to be accomplished for a certain day. They tell you exactly what to do and say with your child. You can buy teachers manuals, tests, lesson plans and textbooks. If you choose to use the DVD versions of Abeka home schooling, you get a whole year of schooling at once including textbooks, DVD classroom lessons, and the assessments.

Besides the DVD and text book options of Abeka they also have the Abeka Academy Traditional Parent-Directed option, which is a fully accredited college prep program. Abeka provides teacher manuals that explain exactly how to follow and teach the curriculum. You teach the material and Abeka keeps the records for you. You will send in all the work and tests. Abeka grades them and issues a report card. You'll get an academic calendar and progress reports.

Abeka is one of the more expensive curriculum and some students burn out on Abeka because of the huge amount of material to read and do. But it does set a strong foundation during the early years and continues to challenge students through high school.

Whether you choose the Seton or Abeka home school programs your child is bound to get a good home-schooled education with a religious base.